Mask-free construction of three-dimensional silicon structures by dry etching assisted gray-scale femtosecond laser direct writing

A mask-free micro/nano fabrication method is proposed for constructing arbitrary gradient height structures on silicon, combining gray-scale femtosecond laser direct writing (GS-FsLDW) with subsequent dry etching. Arbitrary two-dimensional patterns with a gradient concentration of oxygen atoms can be fabricated on the surface of undoped silicon wafer by FsLDW in air. After dry etching, various three-dimensional (3D) gradient height silicon structures are fabricated by controlling the laser power, scanning step, etching time, and etching power. As an example, a well-defined 3D Fresnel zone plate was fabricated on silicon wafer, which shows excellent focusing and imaging properties. The combination of high precision from dry etching and 3D fabrication ability on non-planar substrates of FsLDW, may broaden its applications in microelectronics, micro-optics, and microelectromechanical systems.