Self-organization of ordered nano- and microstructures on the semiconductor surface under the action of laser radiation

Experimental results on the formation of ordered nano- and microstructures on the surface of semi-conductors under the action of laser pulses with various durations and fluences are interpreted from the unified view point of the theory of the defect-deformation (DD) instability of surface relief. A universal linear dependence of the period of the structures on the thickness of the subsurface layer enriched with mobile point defects and formed due to the laser action and occurrence of two scales of modulation of the surface relief are established and described. The structure symmetry and its evolution with an increasing laser fluence and magnitude of external anisotropic stress are described. Similarities with the formation of nanostructures under ion-beam irradiation and electrochemical etching are revealed and discussed within the framework of the DD instability theory.