<title>Femtosecond laser induced surface instability resulting in self-organized nanostructures</title>

Abstract

The fundamental mechanisms and dynamics of laser ablation are reviewed, based on experiments with femtosecond laser pulses to exclude secondary effects like the interaction of the incident laser light with the ablation plume or with a target preconditioned during the initial slope of the laser pulse. It is shown that the incident energy drives the target into a state of instability, far from thermodynamic equilibrium. The subsequent ultra-rapid relaxation results in the formation of self-organized regular nanostructures in the irradiated and ablated area.