Femtosecond laser processing of crystalline silicon

This paper reports the surface morphologies and ablation of crystalline silicon wafers irradiated by infra-red 775 nm Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser. The effects of energy fluences (below and above single-pulse modification) with different number of pulses were studied. New morphological features such as pits, cracks formation, Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) and ablation were observed. The investigation indicated that there are two distinct mechanisms under femtosecond laser irradiation: low fluence regime with different morphological features and high fluence regime with high material removal and without complex morphological features.