Nanostructures produced by ultraviolet laser irradiation of silicon. I. Rippled structures

One- and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) nanorippled structures produced in silicon by ultraviolet laser irradiation were investigated using atomic force and scanning electron microscopy. One- and two-beam illumination of the substrate was used to generate the nanostructures. Single-beam irradiation was done using p-polarized laser light, while the two-beam incidence was achieved employing a Lloyd’s mirror arrangement to reflect part of the beam onto the substrate. The structures were characterized by direct measurement of the ripple spacing or by measurements done on the fast Fourier transform of their atomic force microscopy (AFM) images. Under single-beam illumination, only 1D gratings were generated on the substrate surface. The grating lines were perpendicular to the projection of the electric field of the incident light on the substrate surface. For the two-beam illumination, it was very difficult to obtain the Lloyd’s mirror characteristic interference pattern due to the poor coherency of the laser employed. Nonetheless, the use of a Lloyd’s mirror not only enhanced the production of rippled structures strongly but also produced 2D gratings. The gratings generated with this arrangement are many millimeters long and cover the entire laser illuminated area. In contrast with one-beam illumination, linearly polarized light was not required to promote the rippled structures. Experimental evidence strongly suggests the following: (1) the p component of the laser light is responsible for ripple formation; (2) ripples can propagate with increasing number of pulses; and (3) the ripple structure is produced while the silicon is melted. The occurrence of melting is further supported by a computer simulation of the thermal field during the laser pulse. An estimate done using the lubrication approximation indicates that liquid is displaced from the hotter into the cooler regions by the gradient of surface tension. At angles of incidence equal or larger that 50°, the ripple spacing data indicate that incident laser light promotes the generation of plasma oscillation in the liquid silicon. These surface electromagnetic waves are responsible for the formation of ripples with lines that run parallel to the projection of the wave vector of the incident wave on the substrate surface. The simple irradiation procedure used to produce these nanostructures opens the possibility of using them as a template for ordering other nanostructures on a vast scale.