Laser micro- and nanostructuring

The removal of material by intensive laser irradiation is termed laser ablation or photoablation. Mainly pulsed lasers are used. By understanding the complex phenomena of this process, it can be utilized for the controlled micro- and nanopatterning of material’s surfaces.

Surface relief grating in Ta2O5	Pattern transfer by laser induced forward transfer

Excimer lasers, due to their beam parameters, are well suited for processing by mask projection. The machining pattern is inserted into the beam in form of a mask. By projecting this mask onto the work piece, the pattern is reproduced on the surface in form of an ablation pattern. In this way it is possible to drill holes, ablate microfluidic channels, or fabricate complex, optically effective relief patterns. The wavelengths of the excimer lasers in the ultraviolet spectral range allow feature sizes below 100 nm.

Nanostructured fused silica surface	Thin film ablation edge

The core competences are in the fields of micro- and nanomachining with lasers of short wavelength (193 nm and 157 nm) or with short pulses (sub-ps at 248 nm) with emphasis on the processing of optical materials (glass, quartz, thin films).

Further information:

J. Ihlemann
Laser Micromachining
In: Laser Materials Processing – Fundamentals, Applications and Developments, P. Schaaf Editor,
Springer Series in Materials Science 139, 169-187, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg 2010