On the mechanism of quartz surface crimping under laser irradiation

The influence of an artificial inhomogeneity on the surface of a solid on the formation of periodic structures under laser irradiation has been studied experimentally. Inhomogeneities of this kind are found to catalyse the arising of periodic structures which appear in the vicinity of inhomogeneities and are of a regular nature. A theory is suggested to explain the principal experimental patterns such as the size of a periodic structure, its only weak dependence on laser radiation intensity, angular dependences, etc.