Brief communication: Ambient-pressure femtosecond laser ablation as a solid-phase sampling method for water ice

Nielsen, Robin Vinther; Bertsia-Kanatouri, Ioanna; Peensoo, Kerttu Maria; Fassel, Simon Alexander Munk Wael; Malegiannaki, Eirini; Gkinis, Vasileios

doi:10.5194/egusphere-2026-4182

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https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4182

Preprints

30 Jul 2026

| 30 Jul 2026

Status: this preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).

Brief communication: Ambient-pressure femtosecond laser ablation as a solid-phase sampling method for water ice

Robin Vinther Nielsen, Ioanna Bertsia-Kanatouri, Kerttu Maria Peensoo, Simon Alexander Munk Wael Fassel, Eirini Malegiannaki, and Vasileios Gkinis

Abstract. High-resolution ice-core analysis requires sampling methods that preserve millimeter to sub-millimeter spatial information. We evaluate ambient-pressure femtosecond laser ablation (fs-LA) as a solid-phase and geometry-tolerant sampling method for water ice under cold, dry laboratory conditions. At 35 µJ and 50 kHz, visible localized craters were produced at all tested exposure times, with mean inner diameters of approximately 87–165 µm. Crater formation was repeatable at a 0.5 mm pitch along 400-position scan paths. The 1 s exposure produced the smallest sampling footprint and largest fraction of craters without visible rims, supporting fs-LA as a platform for future cryospheric analyses.

Received: 13 Jul 2026 – Discussion started: 30 Jul 2026

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Robin Vinther Nielsen, Ioanna Bertsia-Kanatouri, Kerttu Maria Peensoo, Simon Alexander Munk Wael Fassel, Eirini Malegiannaki, and Vasileios Gkinis

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RC1:
'Comment on egusphere-2026-4182', Anonymous Referee #1, 02 Sep 2026 reply
The work “Ambient-pressure femtosecond laser ablation as a solid phase sampling method for water ice” presents a fundamental evaluation of the crater morphology upon the ablation of Mili-Q water ice with a novel ambient pressure femtosecond laser ablation unit. The work aims to assess crater morphology by visually inspecting the rim generated by the interaction between the laser and the ice sample. Although interesting I consider this work need a substantial amount of work to be completed and I consider major revision is needed.
The characterization of crater morphology currently relies primarily on optical images and the determination of the inner crater and rim-to-crater diameters. While these parameters provide useful initial information, they may not be sufficient to fully describe the laser-sample interaction. Additional parameters, such as ablation depth and the reproducibility of crater dimensions among replicate ablation spots, would provide a more comprehensive assessment of the ablation process and strengthen the conclusions regarding the performance and robustness of the method.

The generated craters and the consequent rims are generated at fixed energy and spot size conditions by just changing the exposure time between 1 and 16 seconds. The work would greatly benefit from a more general analysis including more experimental parameters.

The rim generated upon the ablation of ice is assessed visually and the authors refer to the rim as a consequence of processes such as refreezing, sublimation, condensation and redeposition. Is there any other quantitative metric that could help to understand when is the rim generated?

I recommend to include Appendix D in the main manuscript due to its relevance in the discussion and overall understanding of the work.

The authors state that the ablated material could be coupled to different detection techniques. While this is an interesting perspective, the manuscript does not provide experimental evidence regarding key aspects required for successful downstream analysis of ice samples, such as elemental fractionation, refreezing or sublimation effects, and the reproducibility of the ablation process. As these factors can significantly influence the suitability of the generated aerosol for subsequent analytical measurements, a more detailed discussion of these limitations and/or supporting evidence would strengthen this claim.

The work would benefit significantly from the inclusion of a proof-of-concept study involving natural ice samples, as this would provide a more realistic demonstration of the applicability of the proposed approach. In this context, and as acknowledged by the authors, a more comprehensive evaluation of parameters such as ablation yield, crater morphology, and potential material redistribution processes would further strengthen the manuscript and help assess the performance of the method under representative conditions.

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Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-4182-RC1

Robin Vinther Nielsen, Ioanna Bertsia-Kanatouri, Kerttu Maria Peensoo, Simon Alexander Munk Wael Fassel, Eirini Malegiannaki, and Vasileios Gkinis

Data sets

Supporting data for: Ambient-pressure femtosecond laser ablation as a solid-phase sampling method for water ice Robin Vinther Nielsen et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21099024

Model code and software

LA Crater Analyzer Robin Vinther Nielsen https://github.com/MarsRob/LA_crater_analyzer

Robin Vinther Nielsen, Ioanna Bertsia-Kanatouri, Kerttu Maria Peensoo, Simon Alexander Munk Wael Fassel, Eirini Malegiannaki, and Vasileios Gkinis

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Short summary

Ice cores can preserve past climate information in layers, but melting or cutting samples for measurements can mix or blur that information. We tested femtosecond laser ablation, a method that removes material with ultrashort laser pulses, to sample ice directly in a cold laboratory. It made repeatable craters less than 0.2 millimeters wide, spaced 0.5 millimeters apart. This could support studies of very old ice cores, where layers are very thin, while leaving most of the sample intact.


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