Sub-70 nm surface structures on femtosecond laser irradiated GaAs in distilled water and sensing application

This study reveals the possibility of distinct ablation mechanisms at different radial positions of the ablated track on GaAs when ablated with femtosecond pulses in distilled water. From the center to the edges of the ablated track, fascinating features such as micron-sized cones, nano-pores, and nano-ripple trenches (average size of 60-70 nm) were observed. The requirement for simulations incorporating the variations in a Gaussian beam fluence and dynamics of the melt flow/surrounding media is discussed. Deep-subwavelength structures, i.e., nano-ripple trenches with a ripple size of ∼λ/11 are achieved on the GaAs surface in this study. Further, these GaAs surface structures acted as excellent hybrid surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy platforms upon gold coating.