Key role of surface plasmon polaritons in generation of periodic surface structures following single-pulse laser irradiation of a gold step edge

Terekhin, Pavel N.; Oltmanns, Jens; Blumenstein, Andreas; Ivanov, Dmitry; Kleinwort, Frederick; Garcia, Martín E.; Rethfeld, Baerbel; Ihlemann, J.; Simon, Péter

doi:10.1515/nanoph-2021-0547

Cited by 18 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…In case the component of the laser electric field is enough to initiate the surface modification, the orientation of periodic nanostructures follows the orientation of artificial seed rather than the laser polarization (Figure S12, Supporting Information). [ 52 ] If the crossing angle ϕ between seed orientation and laser polarization is too small, one can further employ circular polarization (Figure 4f) to obtain curved nanogratings. We expect that more complicated nanotexturing can be achieved by rationally designed seeds.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial Seeds‐Regulated Femtosecond Laser Plasmonic Nanopatterning

Geng

Shi

Sun

et al. 2022

Laser & Photonics Reviews

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Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), being localized at nanoscale and coherent with driving field, are attractive for large‐scale surface nanopatterning. Under femtosecond laser irradiation, the interference between incident light and excited SPPs is efficient to produce periodic nanostructures. However, it generally relies on self‐initiated seeds, which are random and uncontrollable, leading to irregular patterns. Here, controllable laser plasmonic nanopatterning is experimentally illustrated in terms of artificial seeds that are pre‐structured by laser direct writing. The approach is demonstrated on bilayer ultrathin films, consisting of a 50‐nm‐silicon coating on a 100‐nm‐platinum (Pt) or silver (Ag) film. The artificial seeds are in form of silicon oxide. The Pt is utilized to support SPPs, and the nanopatterning occurs in Si film via laser‐induced periodic oxidation. The underlying mechanisms of this approach are numerically investigated and experimentally verified. The typical problems, such as bifurcation, distortion, wavy, and poor splicing are all solved by the artificial seeds. Therefore, large‐scale nanogratings with extremely high uniformity are readily produced. Furthermore, manipulating the orientation of periodic nanostructures by the artificial seeds associated with controlled light polarization is illustrated. When using circularly polarized lasers, the artificial seeds can facilitate a diverse range of periodic patterns with arbitrary while controllable orientation.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial Seeds‐Regulated Femtosecond Laser Plasmonic Nanopatterning

Geng

Shi

Sun

et al. 2022

Laser & Photonics Reviews

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“…The interaction of short laser pulses with matter has drawn broad attention over the last few decades due to its importance for fundamental science as well as for a plentitude of applications in diverse fields [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Advances in laser technology have opened new possibilities and new research areas [10][11][12] and allowed for remarkable qualitative improvements of temporal, spatial and energy resolution of experiments [13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical Properties of Gold After Intense Short-Pulse Excitations

2022

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Intense ultrashort laser pulses can create highly excited matter with extraordinary properties. Experimental and theoretical investigations of these extreme conditions are very complex and usually intertwined. Here, we report on a theoretical approach for the electron scattering rates and the optical properties in gold at elevated temperatures. Our theory is based on the degree of occupancy of the conduction band as well as inputs from ab initio simulations and experimental data. After the electron system has reached a quasi-equilibrium, the occupancy is fully determined by the electron temperature. Thus, our approach covers the important relaxation stage after fast excitations when the two-temperature model can be applied. Being based on the electronic structure of solids, the model is valid for lattice temperatures up to melting but the electron temperature might exceed this limit by far. Our results agree well with recent experimental data for both the collision frequencies and the conductivity of highly excited gold. Scattering of sp-electrons by d-electrons is found to be the dominant damping mechanism at elevated electron temperatures and depends strongly on the number of conduction electrons, hence, revealing the microscopic origin of the conductivity change after heating. The supportive benchmarks with experiments are very valuable as the underlying scattering rates determine a number of other transport, optical and relaxation properties of laser-excited matter.

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“…For metals, this modulation results mainly from an interference between the incident light and surface scattered light assisted by surface plasmon polariton (SPP) excitation. [ 19–34 ] In principle, the IED can be partly calculated with analytical expressions [ 21,27,35 ] or with numerical approaches such as finite‐difference time‐domain (FDTD) simulations. [ 20,22–24,36 ]…”

Section: Hierarchical Structure Formation Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%