Laser-driven self-organized evolution of 1D- and 2D-Nanostructures from metal thin-films on silicon: Influence of alloying and oxidation

One- and two-dimensional laser-induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) formation of various metal (Ag, Cu, Fe, Zn, Ti) thin films on silicon wafers is achieved by irradiation with circularly polarized 532 nm nanosecond laser pulses. The occurrence and the evolution of pseudo-1D linear periodic, 2D honeycomb-like structures, and 2D periodic nanoparticle arrays were mapped for each element in dependence on the energy applied, i.e. the effective pulse number, and the metal thin film thickness. Samples series with increasing pulse counts monitor, like snapshots, the progressive pattern evolution. Because the metal thin films are of nanometer thickness only, the co-structuring of the silicon substrate must be taken into account in all cases. Even more complex are LIPSS formations on samples carrying two stacked thin films. The LIPSS formation process of thin films becomes rather complex as soon as co-structuring of the substrate, oxidation of the material, and alloy formation with substrate material or a potential second thin film layer are considered. All these effects affect the morphology of the formed LIPSS patterns.