Laser induced reverse transfer of gold thin film using femtosecond laser

Laser induced reverse transfer (LIRT) has been executed first time using a Mega Hertz pulse frequency femtosecond laser radiation under ambient conditions. Research has been conducted to understand the evolution of deposited structures with regard to pulse energy. Solid deposition of gold could be deposited on quartz substrate only if pulse energy falls within a certain range. For the experiment conducted in this work, it is 36-40 nJ. For energies above this range, crests appear in the middle of the deposition. There is a threshold in maximum applicable pulse energy, 82 nJ in this exepriment, beyond which further increase in pulse energy results in only traces of deposited material. Results also show that the width of deposited line increases with the increase in pulse energy and decreases with the increase in scan speed. These observations have been explained using the dynamics of ablated plume.     

Micromachining of a thin film by laser ablation using femtosecond laser with masks

A gold thin film was machined by laser ablation using a femtosecond laser with mask patterns in the shape of lines and numbers. The patterns were successfully transferred with proper focusing and laser fluence. The optimal femtosecond laser fluence to keep the line width was about 5.2 mJ/cm² on the mask, and 99 mJ/cm² on the film. The processing resolution was 13 μm, and the narrowest line width was about 4 μm.     

Metal thin film ablation with femtosecond pulsed laser

Micromachining thin metal films coated on glass are widely used to repair semiconductor masks and to fabricate optoelectrical and MEMS devices. The interaction of lasers and materials must be understood in order to achieve efficient micromachining. This work investigates the morphology of thin metal films after machining with femtosecond laser ablation using about 1 μm diameter laser beam. The effect of the film thickness on the results is analyzed by comparing experimental images with data obtained using a two-temperature heat transfer model. The experiment was conducted using a high numerical aperture objective lens and a temporal pulse width of 220 fs on 200- and 500-nm-thick chromium films. The resulting surface morphology after machining was due to the thermal incubation effect, low thermal diffusivity of the glass substrate, and thermodynamic flow of the metal induced by volumetric evaporation. A Fraunhofer diffraction pattern was found in the 500-nm-thick film, and a ripple parallel to the direction of the laser light was observed after a few multiple laser shots. These results are useful for applications requiring micro- or nano-sized machining.     

Sub-micron ablation of metallic thin film by femtosecond pulse laser

The ability to machine very small features in a material has a wide range of applications in industry. We ablated holes into thin film of 100 nm thickness made from various metals by femtosecond pulsed laser ablation. Using a Ti:Sapphire laser which supplies a laser pulse of 150 fs duration at central spectrum wavelength of 400 nm, we have produced a series sub-micron holes, whose diameters are less than 200 nm with a focused laser spot of 1.7 μm. We found that the material damage threshold has a great influence on the quality of the produced features. Experimental results shows that the heat-affected zone and the degree of being affected reduce with the increase of threshold value.     

Single-shot front-side nanoscale femtosecond laser ablation of a thin silver film

Nano- and microscale holes, as well as related sub-ablative nanospikes and sub-micron bumps, were produced in a 30-nm thick silver film on a silica substrate by single femtosecond laser pulses with variable pulse energies, focused by different strong focusing optics. Characteristic laser energy deposition dimensions exceed the expected focal spots by nearly 2 microns, indicating the considerable lateral thermal transport in the film, while the effective hole formation thresholds decrease versus increasing numerical aperture of focusing optics. Morphologies of the sub-ablative solidified surface nanostructures and numerical estimates of deposited volume energy density undermine blowing-off the molten film due to subsurface boiling and near-critical phase explosion at lower and higher sub-threshold fluences, respectively.     

Femtosecond pulsed laser ablation of thin gold film

Laser micromachining on 1000 nm-thick gold film using femtosecond laser has been studied. The laser pulses that are used for this study are 400 nm in central wavelength, 150 fs in pulse duration, and the repetition rate is 1 kHz. Plano-concave lens with a focal length of 19 mm focuses the laser beam into a spot of 3 μm (1/e² diameter). The sample was translated at a linear speed of 400 μm/s during machining. Grooves were cut on gold thin film with laser pulses of various energies. The ablation depths were measured and plotted. There are two ablation regimes. In the first regime, the cutting is very shallow and the edges are free of molten material. While in the second regime, molten material appears and the cutting edges are contaminated. The results suggest that clean and precise microstructuring can be achieved with femtosecond pulsed laser by controlling the pulse energy in the first ablation regime.     

Redistribution of a material at femtosecond laser ablation of a thin silver film

Energy-dispersive X-ray microspectroscopy is used for the first time to quantitatively study the spatial displacement of the material of a 100-nm silver film irradiated by a single femtosecond laser pulse focused on a small spot in the diffraction limit. The silver mass distribution over radial cross sections is determined and matter balance is analyzed for the resulting radially symmetric submicron structures of a microcone with a nanospike with various heights and a through hole. Hydrodynamic processes and phase transitions inducing the melting of the film, motion of the melt, and its recrystallization within a focal spot are studied.     

Nanoparticle plume dynamics in femtosecond laser ablation of gold

This paper describes some recent results on femtosecond laser ablation of gold. We have studied both the fast vapour/plasma and slow nanoparticle plumes using Langmuir probe, time-resolved ICCD imaging and time-resolved optical absorption measurements. The nanoparticle plume dynamics was analysed by comparing the optical emission absorption measurements with an adiabatic isentropic model of ablation plume expansion, leading to an estimate of the amount of material in the nanoparticle plume.     

Tooth ablation using a CPA-free thin disk femtosecond laser system

Caries – the most frequent cause for dental surgery – still is mainly treated with conventional mechanical drills, although lasers have meanwhile been successfully applied to various clinical disciplines. Since ultrashort laser pulses with sufficient pulse energies have only been available at low repetition rates (< 1 kHz) in recent decades, solely continuous wave radiation or pulse durations longer than thermal diffusion processes were applied with the result of severe thermal damage and pain. In this report we present results on dental tissue ablation obtained with a novel thin disk Yb:KYW regenerative amplifier system that does not require chirped pulse amplification (CPA). We show that femtosecond laser pulses provide us with todays optimal tool to treat dental decay in an acceptable time, in an excellent quality, and with unsurpassed caries selectivity. The superior quality is a result of the non-thermal laser-tooth interaction. All our results are based on environmental scanning electron microscopy. PACS 42.62.–b; 06.60.Jn; 82.80.–d     

Dynamics of ablation plasma induced by a femtosecond laser pulse in electric fields

Direct observations of ablation plasma dynamics in electric field is presented. A time-resolved spatial profile of the ablation plasma induced by femtosecond laser ablation (fsLA) with high fluence is visualized using a planar-laser-induced fluorescence (P-LIF) method. The external electric field is produced by installing a mesh electrode at 6 mm from a Samarium solid target. The Sm ion plasma created by the fsLA showed collective motion regardless of the external electric field, until they reached close to the electrode. When the accelerating and decelerating field was applied, the ions almost disappeared behind the electrode from the field of view. The observations are understood utilizing a SIMION simulation with a conceivable potential gradient caused by Debye shield effect, which is that the ablation plasma keeps the same potential as the target voltage and follows electric potential gradient near the mesh electrode. It is also revealed that this effect degrades time-of-flight resolution at high fluence irradiation. This work gives a new direction for further developments of a fsLA time-of-flight spectrometer.     

飞秒双脉冲激光照射金属薄膜的热行为

通过双温方程对飞秒单脉冲与双脉冲照射金薄膜进行了计算模拟分析,得到了金靶的电子温度和晶格温度随着时间空间的变化。在同样激光能量密度下,单脉冲与双脉冲使得金膜温度的变化表明双脉冲使得更多的激光能量渗透到靶材内部,这些能量可以使得烧蚀深度更深,有利于提高激光烧蚀靶材的效率。计算结果显示随着激光能量密度的增加熔化面深度逐渐增加,单脉冲与双脉冲熔化面深度的变化明显不同。在激光能量密度高于损伤阈值附近,单脉冲的烧蚀深度大于双脉冲的烧蚀深度,随着激光能量密度增加,双脉冲的烧蚀深度将大于单脉冲的烧蚀深度。     

飞秒双脉冲激光照射金属薄膜的热行为

通过双温方程对飞秒单脉冲与双脉冲照射金薄膜进行了计算模拟分析,得到了金靶的电子温度和晶格温度随着时间空间的变化。在同样激光能量密度下,单脉冲与双脉冲使得金膜温度的变化表明双脉冲使得更多的激光能量渗透到靶材内部,这些能量可以使得烧蚀深度更深,有利于提高激光烧蚀靶材的效率。计算结果显示随着激光能量密度的增加熔化面深度逐渐增加,单脉冲与双脉冲熔化面深度的变化明显不同。在激光能量密度高于损伤阈值附近,单脉冲的烧蚀深度大于双脉冲的烧蚀深度,随着激光能量密度增加,双脉冲的烧蚀深度将大于单脉冲的烧蚀深度。     

Selective ablation of thin Mo and TCO films with femtosecond laser pulses for structuring thin film solar cells

We report on recent results on selective ablation of TCO (SnO₂, ZnO) and metallic layers as a possible process for structuring thin film solar cells. The multipulse ablation thresholds determined for substrate and various thin films show a parameter window where the films can be completely removed by a single scan without at the same time damaging the underlying material. By employing ultrashort pulsed lasers, nonthermal ablation at repetition rates up to the megahertz regime enables high quality structuring combined with process speeds meeting industrial demands. PACS 42.65.Re; 42.55.Xi; 42.62.-b; 84.60.Jt     

Thermal characteristics of double-layer thin film target ablated by femtosecond laser pulses

Thermal characteristics of tightly-contacted copper--gold double-layer thin film target under ablation of femtosecond laser pulses are investigated by using a two-temperature theoretical model. Numerical simulation shows that electron heat flux varies significantly on the boundary of copper--gold film with different maximal electron temperature of 1.15×10³ K at 5 ps after ablating laser pulse in gold and copper films, which can reach a balance around 12.6 ps and 8.2 ps for a single and double pulse ablation, respectively, and in the meantime, the lattice temperature difference crossing the gold--copper interface is only about 0.04×10³ K at the same time scale. It is also found that electron--lattice heat relaxation time increases linearly with laser fluence in both single and double pulse ablation, and a sudden change of the relaxation time appears after the laser energy density exceeds the ablation threshold.     

Invertible dark-center diffraction of the metal film induced by femtosecond laser

We found reversible dark-center diffraction of the transmitted probe beam passing through the chromium film, which is induced by the pump femtosecond laser. The dark-center diffraction of the transmitted probe beam appears and disappears with and without the pump beam. A view of diffractive optics with binary phase plate is put forward, which explains the reversible dark-center diffractive optical phenomenon. The pre-ablated hole on the metal film can be regarded as a uniform light filed without phase modulation, the surrounding circular part around the pre-ablated hole can be regarded as “phase modulated”. Therefore, this diffraction optic view might be helpful for us to understand the phase change of the metal film introduced by the femtosecond laser pulse.     

Shaping of nanostructured surface in femtosecond laser ablation of thin films

We report that the nanostructured surface of diamondlike carbon films can be shaped so as to have a sawlike pattern with obliquely incident p-polarized femtosecond laser pulses. The nanoscale surface shape was observed as functions of incident angle, superimposed number and fluence of laser pulses and characterized with height and slope angle of the inclined surface. It is shown that the inclined shape is formed with the non-uniform spatial distribution of the local field enhanced on the nanostructured surface.     

Picosecond laser ablation of nano-sized WTi thin film

Interaction of an Nd:YAG laser, operating at 532 nm wavelength and pulse duration of 40 ps, with tungsten-titanium (WTi) thin film (thickness, 190 nm) deposited on single silicon (100) substrate was studied. Laser fluences of 10.5 and 13.4 J/cm² were found to be sufficient for modification of the WTi/silicon target system. The energy absorbed from the Nd:YAG laser beam is partially converted to thermal energy, which generates a series of effects, such as melting, vaporization of the molten material, shock waves, etc. The following WTi/silicon surface morphological changes were observed: (i) ablation of the thin film during the first laser pulse. The boundary of damage area was relatively sharp after action of one pulse whereas it was quite diffuse after irradiation with more than 10 pulses; (ii) appearance of some nano-structures (e.g., nano-ripples) in the irradiated region; (iii) appearance of the micro-cracking. The process of the laser interaction with WTi/silicon target was accompanied by formation of plasma.