A Nanoscale Modification of Materials at Thermoplasmonic Laser-Induced Backside Wet Etching of Sapphire

Abstract

Laser-induced backside wet etching using water solution of plasmon precursor (AgNO3) as an absorbing medium provides effective structuring of such a complex material as sapphire. At the same time, this process is accompanied by the formation of silver nanoparticles and a significant modification of a surface layer of sapphire. Hybrid plasmon structures are formed on the surface of sapphire. In this paper, the structure and phase composition of surface layer formed during the transformation of the materials in the process of etching have been studied using electron microscopy methods, electron diffraction, and EDX analysis; possibilities of creating of new plasmon nanostructures have been analyzed.