Submicron structuring of solid targets with femtosecond laser pulses

Possibilities to fabricate sub-micron structures in thin metal films, metal coatings, and glass substrates using femtosecond laser pulses are systematically studied. Structures are produced by direct femtosecond-pulse laser ablation of solid targets at atmospheric pressure. Tight focusing and imaging techniques are applied. Dependencies of the structure size on laser pulse energy and pulse number are investigated.