Femtosecond laser-induced periodic structures: mechanisms, techniques, and applications

Abstract

Over the past two decades, femtosecond laser-induced periodic structures (femtosecond-LIPSs) have become ubiquitous in a variety of materials, including metals, semiconductors, dielectrics, and polymers. Femtosecond-LIPSs have become a useful laser processing method, with broad prospects in adjusting material properties such as structural color, data storage, light absorption, and luminescence. This review discusses the formation mechanism of LIPSs, specifically the LIPS formation processes based on the pump-probe imaging method. The pulse shaping of a femtosecond laser in terms of the time/frequency, polarization, and spatial distribution is an efficient method for fabricating high-quality LIPSs. Various LIPS applications are also briefly introduced. The last part of this paper discusses the LIPS formation mechanism, as well as the high-efficiency and high-quality processing of LIPSs using shaped ultrafast lasers and their applications.

Regular Periodic Surface Structures on Indium Tin Oxide Film Efficiently Fabricated by Femtosecond Laser Direct Writing with a Cylindrical Lens

“…These ablation stripes and random defects would lead to the uneven absorption of subsequent laser pulses on ITO film, resulting in an irregular distribution of nanoparticles and HSFLs. These surface patterns served as scattering sites for the following laser pulses, and surface plasmon polarizations (SPPs) could be excited on the surface [ 5 , 18 , 19 , 25 , 60 ], which is studied in detail in Section 3.2 and the corresponding descriptions. The interference between the incident laser and SPPs led to the periodic distribution of energy and electronic temperature.…”

“…The interference between the incident laser and SPPs led to the periodic distribution of energy and electronic temperature. The electrons then transferred the energy to the crystal lattice through electro-phonon coupling, which caused the ablation of the material and the formation of prototype LSFLs [ 5 , 11 , 25 , 60 ]. The appearance of LSFLs due to SPPs further enhanced light absorption and SPP excitation for subsequent laser pulse irradiation, causing the enhanced absorption for following pulses ( Figure 4 b).…”

“…Ultrafast laser has become an effective tool for micro/nano-processing [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Versatile methods are offered for cutting, drilling and modification of different kinds of materials [ 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”

“…In the large variety of subfields related to ultrafast laser micro/nano-processing, laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) have received considerable attention over the past decades [ 9 , 10 ]. The formation of LIPSSs is a universal phenomenon observed on semiconductors, dielectrics, metals and thin films [ 2 , 5 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. According to the relationship between incident laser wavelength λ and the period of induced surface structures Λ , LIPSS can be classified as high spatial frequency LIPSS (HSFL, Λ < 0.5 λ ) and low spatial frequency LIPSS (LSFL, 0.5 λ < Λ < λ ) [ 5 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”

“…The formation of LIPSSs is a universal phenomenon observed on semiconductors, dielectrics, metals and thin films [ 2 , 5 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. According to the relationship between incident laser wavelength λ and the period of induced surface structures Λ , LIPSS can be classified as high spatial frequency LIPSS (HSFL, Λ < 0.5 λ ) and low spatial frequency LIPSS (LSFL, 0.5 λ < Λ < λ ) [ 5 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. LIPSSs exhibit great potential for applications in many fields, such as structural colors [ 18 , 27 , 28 , 29 ], color-based anti-counterfeiting [ 30 ], superhydrophobicity [ 31 , 32 ] and birefringence [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ].…”