Recrystallization of germanium surfaces by femtosecond laser pulses

The damage morphology of germanium surfaces using femtosecond laser pulses of various fluences and number of pulses is reported. The single pulse damage threshold in the present experiment was 9.7±4.0×10⁻¹³ W/cm². The experimental threshold value was compared with theory, considering the damage threshold as the melting threshold. The cooling rate calculated on the basis of present results is 2.4×10^15°C/s. Recrystallization was the common feature of the damage morphology. For fluences greater than the single pulse damage-threshold micropits and spherical grains of micron size were formed in the damaged surface. Ablation (surface removal) was also observed at higher fluences (at two or three times of damage threshold value). The damage morphology, induced by multiple pulses, was unaffected for linear and circular polarization.     

Single-shot ablation threshold of chromium using UV femtosecond laser pulses

Single-shot ablation threshold for thin chromium film was studied using 266 nm, femtosecond laser pulses. Chromium is a useful material in the nanotechnology industry and information on ablation threshold using UV femtosecond pulses would help in precise micromachining of the material. The ablation threshold was determined by measuring the ablation crater diameters as a function of incident laser pulse energy. Absorption of 266 nm light on the chromium film was also measured under our experimental conditions, and the absorbed energy single-shot ablation threshold fluence was \(46 \pm 5\)  mJ/cm². The experimental ablation threshold fluence value was compared to time-dependent heat flow calculations based on the two temperature model for ultrafast laser pulses. The model predicts a value of 31.6 mJ/cm² which is qualitatively consistent with the experimentally obtained value, given the simplicity of the model.     

Ablation of microstructures applying diffractive elements and UV femtosecond laser pulses

A new method for simple and economic fabrication of diffractive optical elements (DOEs) with three and four phase levels, by UV nanosecond (ns) laser ablation is presented. The technique is based on the combination of two sequentially generated complementary 2-level phase elements. During the fabrication, complete ablative removal of a highly absorbing silicon suboxide layer by pixelated backside illumination ensures the necessary high precision and optical quality. Full functionality of the new DOEs is demonstrated by fabricating micro-structures using UV femtosecond pulses.     

Absorption and ionization of molecular nitrogen by UV femtosecond laser pulses

Mechanisms of non-linear absorption and ionization of molecular nitrogen gas by UV femtosecond laser pulses were studied using photogalvanic and photoacoustic techniques. The effect of the intermediate Rydberg resonance, its dynamic Stark perturbation and ponderomotive upshift of the first ionization potential of nitrogen molecules by the intense laser pulses has been revealed by observing an increase of a power slope of ion yield from three to four at increasing laser intensity.     

Towards nanostructuring with femtosecond laser pulses

Detailed investigations of the possibilities for using femtosecond lasers for the nanostructuring of metal layers and transparent materials are reported. The aim is to develop a simple laser-based technology for fabricating two- and three-dimensional nanostructures with structure sizes on the order of several hundred nanometers. This is required for many applications in photonics, for the fabrication of photonic crystals and microoptical devices, for data storage, displays, etc. Measurements of thermionic electron emission from metal targets, which provide valuable information on the dynamics of femtosecond laser ablation, are discussed. Sub-wavelength microstructuring of metals is performed and the minimum structure size that can be fabricated in transparent materials is identified. Two-photon polymerization of hybrid polymers is demonstrated as a promising femtosecond laser-based nanofabrication technology. Received: 20 November 2002 / Accepted: 20 January 2003 / Published online: 28 May 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-511/2788-100, E-mail: ch@lzh.de     

Nanostructuring with spatially localized femtosecond laser pulses

Spatially localized femtosecond pulses have been produced by a combination of scanning near-field optical microscopy with ultrashort pulse lasers. With these pulses direct ablative writing on metal surfaces is demonstrated. Possible applications of this technique for nanostructuring, repair, and production of lithographic masks are discussed.     

Efficient submicron processing of metals with femtosecond UV pulses

The generation of submicron-sized holes on metal surfaces by applying femtosecond UV laser pulses was investigated. Different optical schemes based on a Schwarzschild-type reflective objective were used to reach optimized ablation quality and efficiency in different applications (hole ablation, through-hole drilling, generation of surface patterns consisting of holes, etc.). Submicron-sized holes and hole patterns were ablated onto metal surfaces and drilled through ∼5-μm-thick steel foils with 600-nm diameter on the output side. Using a special optical interferometric method, large-area surface processing of high-conductivity materials in the submicron regime was performed. Combining these techniques with the application of high-repetition-rate ultra-short UV laser sources, large-area sub-μm processing of all kinds of materials in industrial environments is possible. Received: 28 February 2002 / Accepted: 12 March 2002 / Published online: 25 October 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-551/503599, E-mail: psimon@llg.gwdg.de     

Irradiation of glass with infrared femtosecond laser pulses

We report a novel resistive random access memory using tri-layer dielectrics of GeO _x /nano-crystal TiO₂/TaON and low cost top Ni and bottom TaN electrodes. Excellent device performance of ultra-low 720 fJ switching energy, tight distributions of set/reset currents, and exceptionally long endurance of 5×10⁹ cycles were achieved simultaneously. Such excellent endurance may create new applications such as those used for Data Centers that are ascribed to the higher-κ nano-crystal TiO₂, hopping pass via grain boundaries, and fast switching speed of 100 ns to improve the dielectric fatigue during endurance stress.     

Ablation experiments on polyimide with femtosecond laser pulses

Some applications of polymer films require the microstructuring of partly uneven substrates. This cannot be achieved by conventional photolithography, usually performed with ultraviolet short-pulse lasers (excimer, fourth harmonic Nd:YAG). When processing thermally sensitive or undoped polymers with low optical absorption, the use of femtosecond laser pulses can improve the ablation precision, also reducing the heat-affected zone. Therefore, a Ti:sapphire laser system was employed to perform ablation experiments on polyimide (PI). The irradiated areas were evaluated by means of optical and scanning electron microscopy. Highly oriented ripple structures, which are related to the polarization state of the laser pulses, were observed in the cavities. The relationship between the ablation threshold fluence and the number of laser pulses applied to the same spot is described in accordance with an incubation model.     

Three-dimensional second-harmonic generation imaging with femtosecond laser pulses

A three-dimensional reflectance scanning optical microscope based on the nonlinear optical phenomenon of second-harmonic generation is presented. A mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser producing <90-fs pulses at ~790nm was used, and the images were constructed by scanning of an object, which possessed local second-order nonlinearity, relative to a focused spot from the laser. The second-harmonic light at ~395nm generated by the specimen was separated from the fundamental beam by use of dichroic and interference filters and was detected by a photodiode. The technique was then used to characterize the distribution of second-order nonlinearity and microstructure of the nonlinear material lithium triborate.     

采用飞秒激光诱导制备彩色金属

采用脉宽为35～65 fs,中心波长为800 nm的飞秒脉冲激光对经抛光的镍片进行表面扫描处理,并在金属表面上制备了彩色镍图案;设置不同的激光扫描速度和能量密度扫描处理不锈钢表面,亦制备了彩色图案。介绍了实验过程,分析了实验结果,扫描电子显微镜(SEM)形貌分析显示,经过飞秒激光扫描处理的金属表面出现了纳米量级的激光诱导周期表面结构(NC-LIPSS),在镍上形成的结构周期约为480～510 nm,在不锈钢上形成的结构周期约为480～540 nm。     

Numerical modeling of laser shock peening with femtosecond laser pulses and comparisons to experiments

A physics-based model has been developed for laser shock peening (LSP) with femtosecond (fs) laser pulses (fs-LSP), which has never been reported in literature to the authors’ best knowledge. The model is tested by comparing simulations with measured plume/shock wave front transient propagations and the LSP-induced hardness enhancement layer thickness. Reasonably good agreements have been obtained. The model shows that fs-LSP can produce much higher pressure than LSP with nanosecond (ns) laser pulses (ns-LSP), and it can also generate very large compressive residual stress in the workpiece near-surface layer with a thickness up to ∼100 μm. The developed model provides a powerful guiding tool for the fundamental study and the practical applications of fs-LSP. This study, together with the recently reported work by Nakano et al. [Journal of Laser Micro/Nanoengineering 4(1) (2009) 35-38], has confirmed the feasibility of fs-LSP on both theoretical and experimental sides.     

Effects of electron relaxation on multiple harmonic generation from metal surfaces with femtosecond laser pulses

Calculations are presented for the first four (odd and even) harmonics of an 800 nm laser from a gold surface, with pulse widths ranging from 100 down to 14 fs. For peak laser intensities above 1 GW/cm² the harmonics are enhanced because of a partial depletion of the initial electron states. At 10¹¹ W/cm² of peak laser intensity the calculated conversion efficiency for 2nd-harmonic generation is 3 × 10⁻⁹, while for the 5th-harmonic it is 10⁻¹⁰. The generated harmonic pulses are broadened and delayed relative to the laser pulse because of the finite relaxation times of the excited electronic states. The finite electron relaxation times cause also the broadening of the autocorrelations of the laser pulses obtained from surface harmonic generation by two time-delayed identical pulses. Comparison with recent experimental results shows that the response time of an autocorrelator using nonlinear optical processes in a gold surface is shorter than the electron relaxation times. This seems to indicate that for laser pulses shorter than ∼30 fs, the fast nonresonant channel for multiphoton excitation via continuum-continuum transitions in metals becomes important as the resonant channel becomes slow (relative to the laser pulse) and less efficient.     

Ultrafast electron dynamics of material surfaces under the action of femtosecond laser pulses

Electric collector investigations of the singleand multi-shot femtosecond laser ablation of optical-quality surfaces of different materials, including aluminum, copper, titanium, silicon, and graphite, show that the emission of erosion plasma is significantly lower than the energy density of laser ablation of these materials and replaces the dominant electron emission at lower energy densities. I–V characteristics and cumulative dependences of the collector signal are studied in the emission mode. The observed dependences of the electron and plasma emission signals on the laser pulse energy density are discussed.     

Far-field and near-field material processing with. femtosecond laser pulses

Recently, it has been proven that femtosecond lasers are ideal tools for the microstructuring of solid targets. Since thermal and mechanical influences are minimized, diffraction-limited structures can be generated in the far field. The diffraction limit can be overcome when one works in the near field. In this paper, concrete applications and new developments in both regimes are highlighted.     

Nanodissection of human chromosomes with near-infrared femtosecond laser pulses

Near-infrared laser pulses of a compact 80-MHz femtosecond laser source at 800 nm, a mean power of 15-100 mW, 170-fs pulse width, and millisecond beam dwell times at the target have been used for multiphoton-mediated nanoprocessing of human chromosomes. By focusing of the laser beam with high-numerical-aperture objectives of a scanning microscope to diffraction-limited spots and with light intensities of terawatts per cubic centimeter, precise submicrometer holes and cuts in human chromosomes have been processed by single-point exposure and line scans. A minimum FWHM cut size of ~100 nm during a partial dissection of chromosome 1, which is below the diffraction-limited spot size, and a minimum material removal of ~0.003mum (3) were determined by a scanning-force microscope. The plasma-induced ablated material corresponds to ~1/400 of the chromosome 1 volume and to ~65x10(3) base pairs of chromosomal DNA. A complete dissection could be performed with FWHM cut sizes below 200 nm. High-repetition-frequency femtosecond lasers at low mean power in combination with high-numerical-aperture focusing optics appear therefore as appropriate noncontact tools for nanoprocessing of bulk and (or) surfaces of transparent materials such as chromosomes. In particular, the noninvasive inactivation of certain genomic regions on single chromosomes within living cells becomes possible.