The evolution of a microstructure on Si by a femtosecond laser

Femtosecond laser micromaching silicon is investigated by a Ti:sapphire laser (800 nm, 1 kHz) with a pulse duration of 130 fs. It is investigated that the result is affected by fluences at a different number of pulse. In the experiment, we have observed the periodic surface structure such as microholes, and found that the direction of the array holes was parallel to the laser polarization direction. This result has potential application in the fabrication of two-dimensional photonic crystals. We have determined the optimal conditions for producing these surface structures. At the same time, when we change the fluence and the pulse number, the ripples and the columns emerge. If the pulse number remains unchanged, we also investigated the evolution of a crater at a different pulse fluence. The microholes will become regular cracks on the outer irradiation area, and the ripples will gradually disappear. But, the column structures will appear. At a higher fluence, ripples only appear when the number of pulses (N) is less than 200 and a column structure exists at the center region when N is above 600.