Nanotexturing of gold films by femtosecond laser-induced melt dynamics

Using tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses one can produce sub-micrometer holes and periodic structures in almost all solid materials. But with structure sizes below one micron, femtosecond laser structuring forfeits its universal character. In this paper we concentrate on the discussion of the influence of electron-phonon coupling strength in metal ablation morphology. In metals with weak electron-phonon coupling, results of femtosecond laser ablation can be dominated by solidified flow dynamics in molten material. One can make use of this phenomenon for ablation-free nanotexturing of gold films.