Effects of laser fluence on silicon modification by four-beam laser interference

Abstract

This paper discusses the effects of laser fluence on silicon modification by four-beam laser interference. In this work, four-beam laser interference was used to pattern single crystal silicon wafers for the fabrication of surface structures, and the number of laser pulses was applied to the process in air. By controlling the parameters of laser irradiation, different shapes of silicon structures were fabricated. The results were obtained with the single laser fluence of 354 mJ/cm2, 495 mJ/cm2, and 637 mJ/cm2, the pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz, the laser exposure pulses of 30, 100, and 300, the laser wavelength of 1064 nm, and the pulse duration of 7–9 ns. The effects of the heat transfer and the radiation of laser interference plasma on silicon wafer surfaces were investigated. The equations of heat flow and radiation effects of laser plasma of interfering patterns in a four-beam laser interference distribution were proposed to describe their impacts on silicon wafer surfaces. The experimental results have shown that the laser fluence has to be properly selected for the fabrication of well-defined surface structures in a four-beam laser interference process. Laser interference patterns can directly fabricate different shape structures for their corresponding applications.