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Lin ZY, Liu K, Cao T, Hong MH. Microsphere femtosecond laser sub-50 nm structuring in far field via non-linear absorption. Opto-Electron Adv 6, 230029 (2023). doi: 10.29026/oea.2023.230029
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Article Open Access
Microsphere femtosecond laser sub-50 nm structuring in far field via non-linear absorption
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Abstract
Creation of arbitrary features with high resolution is critically important in the fabrication of nano-optoelectronic devices. Here, sub-50 nm surface structuring is achieved directly on Sb2S3 thin films via microsphere femtosecond laser irradiation in far field. By varying laser fluence and scanning speed, nano-feature sizes can be flexibly tuned. Such small patterns are attributed to the co-effect of microsphere focusing, two-photons absorption, top threshold effect, and high-repetition-rate femtosecond laser-induced incubation effect. The minimum feature size can be reduced down to ~30 nm (λ/26) by manipulating film thickness. The fitting analysis between the ablation width and depth predicts that the feature size can be down to ~15 nm at the film thickness of ~10 nm. A nano-grating is fabricated, which demonstrates desirable beam diffraction performance. This nano-scale resolution would be highly attractive for next-generation laser nano-lithography in far field and in ambient air.-
Keywords:
- non-linear effect /
- microsphere /
- femtosecond laser /
- far field
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References
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Lin ZY, Liu K, Cao T, Hong MH. Microsphere femtosecond laser sub-50 nm structuring in far field via non-linear absorption. Opto-Electron Adv 6, 230029 (2023). doi: 10.29026/oea.2023.230029
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Figure 1.
(a) Experimental setup of non-contact microsphere femtosecond laser irradiation. (b) Side view of microsphere focusing with femtosecond laser beam.
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Figure 2.
(a) SEM and (b) AFM images, as well as (c) corresponding cross-sectional profile of sub-50 nm nano-lines created at the laser fluence of 0.38 mJ/cm2 and scanning speed of 100 μm/s.
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Figure 3.
Formation mechanism of microsphere femtosecond laser irradiation. (a) Focusing via 50 μm microsphere by 800 nm laser irradiation. (b) TPA of Sb2S3 thin films under 800 nm femtosecond laser irradiation. (c) top threshold and high-repetition-rate femtosecond laser induced incubation effects.
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Figure 4.
Different nano-structures created by microsphere femtosecond laser irradiation on 30 nm thick Sb2S3 thin films. Nano-dots fabricated at different laser fluences of (a) 0.30, (b) 0.42, and (c) 0.46 mJ/cm2. Single nano-lines made at a scanning speed of 100 μm/s and different laser fluences of (d) 0.38, (e) 0.42, and (f) 0.46 mJ/cm2. Irradiation results of arbitrary structures. (g) Irregular sub-50 nm triple nano-lines, (h) single sub-100 nm, and (i) double sub-50 nm wavy nano-lines.
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Figure 5.
SEM and AFM images of the nano-structures created on Sb2S3 thin films at the film thickness of (a–c) ~25, (d–f) ~35, and (g–i) ~42 nm. (j) Linear fitting analysis of the FWHM vs ablation depth.
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Figure 6.
SEM images of the reflective grating by microsphere femtosecond laser irradiation at a period of (a) 1, (c) 2, and (e) 4 μm, respectively. The diffraction pattern, diffraction intensity, and angle observed in reflection for grating structures at a period of (b) 1, (d) 2, and (f) 4 μm, respectively. The number refers to the diffraction order of each reflective grating.
