Effects of static and dynamic femtosecond laser modifications of Ti/Zr multilayer thin films

Suzana Petrović,E Stratakis,N Božinović,A Manousaki,A Mimidis,D Peruško,G D Tsibidis,A Kovačević

doi:10.1140/epjd/s10053-021-00291-5

Abstract

The experimental study of the static and dynamic femtosecond laser ablation of the multilayer 15x(Ti/Zr)/Si system is reported. The layer-by-layer selective laser ablation mechanism was studied by analysis of the surface morphology and elemental composition in static single pulse irradiation in a range of pulse energy from 10 to 17 upmu J. The selective ablations, as number of concentric circles in modified spots are increased with the pulse energy. The boundary between the circles was shown a change in the depth, comparable to the thickness of the individual layers. Changes in the elemental composition at the edges are associated with the removal of the layer by layer. The dynamic multipulse irradiation was observed via the production of lines with laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) at different laser parameters (scan velocities and laser polarization). The spatial periodicity of the formed LIPSS depends on changes in the effective number of pulses and laser polarization, as well as the nature of the material. For better interpretation of the experimental results, simulations have been conducted to explore the thermal response of the multiple layered structure 15x(Ti/Zr) after static single pulse irradiation.Graphic

Highlights

Micron and nano-scaled surface structuring confer additional functionalities to the material in terms of mechanical improving, bioactivation and photonic selectivity
We study the possibility to achieving the selective ablation as well as the formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on the multilayer the first layer (Ti)/Zr thin films [25]
According to the established procedure, the ablation threshold fluence Fth can be experimentally determined by representing squared diameter of the ablated areas D2 as a function of the logarithm of the applied pulse energies Ep, for the fs laser pulse and Gaussian distribution [26,27]

Summary

Introduction

Micron and nano-scaled surface structuring confer additional functionalities to the material in terms of mechanical improving, bioactivation and photonic selectivity. By irradiating different materials with ultrashort laser pulses in the various ambient conditions, the following surface structures can be formed: ripples, grooves, spikes, bumps, cavities, nanoparticles and cellular structures. The creation of these structures during the laser processing is caused by thermal and nonthermal processes such as plasma formation, interference effects, Coulomb’s explosion, surface plasmon generation, surface tension gradients, as well as hydrodynamical effects [9,10,11]. In femtosecond time domain the excitation of multiphoton and avalanche ionization together with free electron heating are occurred, but without significant changing the lattice temperature [13,14,15]

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Conclusion