Prethreshold Effects, when Copper and Its Alloys Were Impacted to Ultraviolet Laser Pulses

The prethreshold processes on the surface of copper and its alloys are investigated. In the absence of obvious traces of melting, while preserving the metal in a condensed state, under a nanosecond ultraviolet laser radiation energy density of 0.1–1.0 J/cm², manifestations of high-temperature plastic deformation were observed. These are sliding and cracking along grain boundaries, within which crystallographic slipping was observed. A microprotrusion was formed on the surface of the irradiated zone, which was outwardly similar the distribution of laser radiation in the spot. The height of the microprotrusion reached 1 μm, and sometimes even more. An increase in the number of impacting impulses led to the accumulation of damage. The data obtained are in many ways similar to the acoustoplastic, electroplastic, and magnetoplastic effects. By analogy, we consider it possible to call the discovered effect optoplastic.