Abstract
Excimer laser induced structure formation in different polymers (polyester, polyvinylchloride,. . .) at laser fluences just below the ablation threshold has been investigated. Different surface formations of hexagon and/or roll types were registered in the irradiated regions. The laser treatment yielded a highly oriented regular structure at large scale and disordered structure at small scale. The structure formations in areas subjected to uniaxial stress were different from the changes observed in unstretched samples under the same conditions. The observed peculiarities in surface morphology are explained in terms of Marangoni-type material convections governed by temperature gradient and released mechanical stress fields.