Circular ripple patterns on silicon induced by bubble-diffracted femtosecond laser pulses in liquid.

We report on a new technique of silicon surface nanostructuring in liquid with a pair of Gaussian-shaped femtosecond laser pulses. The bubble, generated in liquid near the molten silicon surface by the first pulse, serves as a dynamic microscale obstacle for spatial modulation of the intensity profile of the second pulse following at a certain delay via scattering processes. As a result, the circular ripple patterns with anomalously high surface-relief modulation, undersurface annular nanocavities, and interfacial smoothness are produced at the surface. The possibility of the control over the specific pattern through the laser intensity variation is shown.