Nanograting formation through surface plasmon fields induced by femtosecond laser pulses

Ablation of solid surfaces irradiated with superimposed multiple shots of low fluence femtosecond (fs) laser pulses often results in the formation of periodic nanostructures on the target surface. We demonstrate that the self-organization process of nanostructuring can be regulated to fabricate a homogeneous nanograting on the target surface in air. A simple two-step ablation process was used to control the nanoscale energy deposition that should be developed through the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) during the fs laser-surface interaction. The results obtained for crystalline gallium nitride represent exactly the nature of a single spatial standing wave mode of SPPs of which periodically enhanced near-fields ablate the target surface to form the nanograting with a period of ∼200 nm. The calculated results for a model target reproduce well the observed nanograting period and explain the origin of its characteristic properties.

[1]  L J Wang,et al.  Formation of subwavelength periodic structures on tungsten induced by ultrashort laser pulses. , 2007, Optics letters.

[2]  Kenzo Miyazaki,et al.  Ultrafast dynamics of periodic nanostructure formation on diamondlike carbon films irradiated with femtosecond laser pulses , 2006 .

[3]  Costas Fotakis,et al.  Dynamics of ripple formation on silicon surfaces by ultrashort laser pulses in subablation conditions , 2012 .

[4]  P. Corkum,et al.  Optically produced arrays of planar nanostructures inside fused silica. , 2006, Physical review letters.

[5]  William L. Barnes,et al.  Photonic surfaces for surface-plasmon polaritons , 1997 .

[6]  Kenzo Miyazaki,et al.  Femtosecond-laser-induced nanostructure formed on hard thin films of TiN and DLC , 2003 .

[7]  Jeff F. Young,et al.  Laser-induced periodic surface structure. I. Theory , 1983 .

[8]  S. Varlamov,et al.  The laser polarization as control parameter in the formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures: Comparison of numerical and experimental results , 2011 .

[9]  Harold K. Haugen,et al.  Subwavelength ripple formation on the surfaces of compound semiconductors irradiated with femtosecond laser pulses , 2003 .

[10]  G. Miyaji,et al.  Role of multiple shots of femtosecond laser pulses in periodic surface nanoablation , 2013 .

[11]  A. Rosenfeld,et al.  On the role of surface plasmon polaritons in the formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures upon irradiation of silicon by femtosecond-laser pulses , 2009 .

[12]  T. Uenoyama,et al.  First-Principles Calculation of Effective Mass Parameters of Gallium Nitride. , 1995 .

[13]  S. Juodkazis,et al.  Mechanism of fine ripple formation on surfaces of (semi)transparent materials via a half-wavelength cavity feedback , 2011, Nanotechnology.

[14]  E. Mazur,et al.  The thresholds of surface nano-/micro-morphology modifications with femtosecond laser pulse irradiations , 2010, Nanotechnology.

[15]  Zhi‐zhan Xu,et al.  Origin of laser-induced near-subwavelength ripples: interference between surface plasmons and incident laser. , 2009, ACS nano.

[16]  Pal Molian,et al.  Coulomb explosion-induced formation of highly oriented nanoparticles on thin films of 3C–SiC by the femtosecond pulsed laser , 2004 .

[17]  L. V. Seleznev,et al.  Femtosecond laser writing of subwave one-dimensional quasiperiodic nanostructures on a titanium surface , 2009 .

[18]  Kenzo Miyazaki,et al.  Periodic Nanostructure Formation on Silicon Irradiated with Multiple Low-fluence Femtosecond Laser Pulses in Water , 2012 .

[19]  Kenzo Miyazaki,et al.  Fluence dependence of femtosecond-laser-induced nanostructure formed on TiN and CrN , 2005 .

[20]  Kenzo Miyazaki,et al.  Femtosecond-laser-induced nanostructure formed on nitrided stainless steel , 2013 .

[21]  Kenzo Miyazaki,et al.  Mechanism of femtosecond-laser-induced periodic nanostructure formation on crystalline silicon surface immersed in water. , 2012, Optics express.

[22]  Kenzo Miyazaki,et al.  Reflectivity in femtosecond-laser-induced structural changes of diamond-like carbon film , 2005 .

[23]  Kenzo Miyazaki,et al.  Origin of periodicity in nanostructuring on thin film surfaces ablated with femtosecond laser pulses. , 2008, Optics express.

[24]  Philippe M. Fauchet,et al.  Stimulated Wood's anomalies on laser-illuminated surfaces , 1986 .

[25]  K. Yamasaki,et al.  Fabrication of Gallium Nitride Grating by Interferometric Irradiation Using Focused Femtosecond Laser , 2006 .

[26]  Jörg Krüger,et al.  Femtosecond laser interaction with silicon under water confinement , 2004 .

[27]  Kenzo Miyazaki,et al.  Nanoscale ablation on patterned diamondlike carbon film with femtosecond laser pulses , 2007 .

[28]  Florenta Costache,et al.  Ripples revisited: non-classical morphology at the bottom of femtosecond laser ablation craters in transparent dielectrics , 2002 .

[29]  Klaus Sokolowski-Tinten,et al.  Generation of dense electron-hole plasmas in silicon , 2000 .

[30]  H. Zimmermann,et al.  Formation mechanism of femtosecond laser-induced high spatial frequency ripples on semiconductors at low fluence and high repetition rate , 2013 .

[31]  Qihong Wu,et al.  Femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structure on diamond film , 2003 .

[32]  Takashi Jimbo,et al.  Optical properties of wurtzite structure GaN on sapphire around fundamental absorption edge (0.78–4.77 eV) by spectroscopic ellipsometry and the optical transmission method , 1997 .