Photonic jet: direct micro-peak machining

Abstract

We report on the rst evidence of direct micropeak machining using a photonic jet (PJ) with nanosecond laser pulses. PJ is a high concentrated propagative light beam with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) smaller than the diraction limit. In our case, PJs are generated with a shaped optical ber tip. Micropeaks with a FWHM of around 1 $\mu$m, a height until 590 nm and an apex radius of 14 nm, were repeatability achieved on a silicon wafer. The experiments have been carried out in ambient air using a 100/140 multimode silica ber with a shaped tip along with a 35 kHz pulsed laser emitting 100 ns pulses at 1064 nm. This study shows that the phenomenon occurs only at low energies, just under the ablation threshold. Bulk material appears to have moved around to achieve the peaks in a selforganized process. We hypothesize that the matter was melted and not vaporized; hydrodynamic ow of molten material governed by surfacetension forces may be the causes. This surface modication has many applications. For example, this paper reports on the decrease of wettability of a textured silicon wafer.