Nanoscale reshaping of resonant dielectric microstructures by light-driven explosions

Maxim R. Shcherbakov (), Giovanni Sartorello, Simin Zhang, Joshua Bocanegra, Melissa Bosch, Michael Tripepi, Noah Talisa, Abdallah AlShafey, Joseph Smith, Stephen Londo, François Légaré, Enam Chowdhury and Gennady Shvets
Additional contact information
Maxim R. Shcherbakov: University of California
Giovanni Sartorello: Cornell University
Simin Zhang: The Ohio State University
Joshua Bocanegra: University of California
Melissa Bosch: Cornell University
Michael Tripepi: Hillsdale College
Noah Talisa: The Ohio State University
Abdallah AlShafey: The Ohio State University
Joseph Smith: Marietta College
Stephen Londo: Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS) at Centre Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, Institut national de la recherche scientifique
François Légaré: Advanced Laser Light Source (ALLS) at Centre Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, Institut national de la recherche scientifique
Enam Chowdhury: The Ohio State University
Gennady Shvets: Cornell University

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Femtosecond-laser-assisted material restructuring employs extreme optical intensities to localize the ablation regions. To overcome the minimum feature size limit set by the wave nature of photons, there is a need for new approaches to tailored material processing at the nanoscale. Here, we report the formation of deeply-subwavelength features in silicon, enabled by localized laser-induced phase explosions in prefabricated silicon resonators. Using short trains of mid-infrared laser pulses, we demonstrate the controllable formation of high aspect ratio (>10:1) nanotrenches as narrow as $${\sim }{{{{{\boldsymbol{\lambda }}}}}}{{{{{\boldsymbol{/}}}}}}{{{{{\boldsymbol{80}}}}}}$$ ~ λ / 80 . The trench geometry is shown to be scalable with wavelength, and controlled by multiple parameters of the laser pulse train, such as the intensity and polarization of each laser pulse and their total number. Particle-in-cell simulations reveal localized heating of silicon beyond its boiling point and suggest its subsequent phase explosion on the nanoscale commensurate with the experimental data. The observed femtosecond-laser assisted nanostructuring of engineered microstructures (FLANEM) expands the nanofabrication toolbox and opens exciting opportunities for high-throughput optical methods of nanoscale structuring of solid materials.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42263-w

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