Analysis of nascent silicon phase-change gratings induced by femtosecond laser irradiation in vacuum.

ABSTRACT: The formation of periodic surface structures is a general effect of femtosecond laser irradiation of solid targets showing promising interest in material science and technology. However, the experiments are typically carried out in air, a condition in which the target surface becomes densely decorated with nanoparticles that can influence the formation of the surface structures in the early stage of the irradiation process. Here we report an investigation of structures generation on a silicon surface irradiated in vacuum (10^-5 mbar) with a low number of laser pulses (N ≤ 10) that exploits several microscopy techniques (optical, atomic force, electron and Raman). Our analyses allow identifying the creation of silicon phase-change gratings consisting of alternating amorphous and c

SUBMITTER: Gesuele F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6104067 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature