Generalized Plasmonic Modelling of the Effect of Refractive Index on Laser-Induced Periodic Nanostructures

Abstract

Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) have been studied theoretically employing generalized plasmonic modelling on several dielectric materials such as SiO₂, Al₂O₃, ZnO, AlAs and diamond exposed to 800 nm wavelength multi-pulse femtosecond laser irradiation. The study of the optical properties of the materials during laser irradiation reveals a formation of a metallic like pseudo-material on the irradiated layer during excitation. A study of the grating periodicity of the nanostructures shows that the materials having a high refraction index allow LIPSS formation with a wide range of grating periodicities. Results also show High Spatial Frequency LIPSS formation with periodicities 3 to 8 times lower than the laser wavelength.