Comparative study of ornamental granite cleaning using femtosecond and nanosecond pulsed lasers

Granite has been widely used as a structural and ornamental element in public works and buildings. In damp climates it is almost permanently humid and its exterior surfaces are consequently biologically colonized and blackened We describe a comparative analysis of the performance of two different la...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Rivas, T., Lopez, A.J., Ramil, A., Pozo, S., Fiorucci, M.P., Silanes, M.E. López de, García, A., Vázquez de Aldana, Javier R., Romero, C., Moreno Pedraz, Pablo Manuel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repositorio:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/146599
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/146599
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Granite
Femtosecond lasers
Nanosecond laser
Biological crust
Laser cleaning
Descripción
Sumario:Granite has been widely used as a structural and ornamental element in public works and buildings. In damp climates it is almost permanently humid and its exterior surfaces are consequently biologically colonized and blackened We describe a comparative analysis of the performance of two different laser sources in removing biological crusts from granite surfaces: nanosecond Nd:YVO4 laser (355 nm) and femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser at its fundamental wavelength (790 nm) and second harmonic (395 nm). The granite surface was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, attenuated total reflection – Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and profilometry, in order to assess the degree of cleaning and to characterize possible morphological and chemical changes caused by the laser sources.