Formation of laser induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on Ti upon double fs pulse exposure

Abstract

Recently a parametric decay model was proposed in order to foresee LIPSS interspaces, and experimental results are in reasonable agreement. To confirm the possibility assumed by the model of pre-formed plasma generation, Ti surface was irradiated by a femtosecond (fs) laser beam composed by double fs pulses, with a fixed delay of 160 fs. The fluence of the first pulse (FPP), responsible for surface plasma formation, was varied in the range 10-50 mJ cm^-2 and always kept below the LIPSS formation threshold fluence (FLIPSS) of Ti for 50-single-shots exposure. The fluence of the delayed pulse (FLP), responsible for LIPSS formation, was varied in the range 60-150 mJ cm^-2 and always kept above FLIPSS. Regardless the specific fluence FLP of the delayed pulse, the interspace of the grating structures increases with the increase of FPP, that is the increase of the surface plasma density. This tendency suggests that a variation of the surface plasma density, due to a variation of FPP, actually leads to a modification of the grating features, highlighting the driving role of the first pulse in LIPSS formation. Moreover, we observed that the LIPSS periodicities after double pulse exposures are in quite good agreement with data on LIPSS periodicities after single 160 fs pulse irradiations on Ti surface and with the curve predicted by the parametric decay model. This experimental result suggests that the preformed plasma might be produced in the rising edge of the temporal profile of the laser pulse.