Application of femtosecond lasers in micro- and nano-technologies

Marian Zamfirescu, Magdalena Ulmeanu, Razvan Dabu

marian.zamfirescu@inflpr.ro http://ssll.inflpr.ro/ Institutul Naional de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Fizica Laserilor Plasmei i Radiaiilor Departamentul Laseri, Atomitilor 409, 077125 Mgurele, Ilfov.

INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

Materials processing and characterizations with ultrashort laser pulses

Direct Laser Writing (DLW) with sub-micrometer resolution

- Two Photon Photopolymerization (TPP): SU-8, Ormocers, PMMA - Laser ablation: metal films, ceramics, semiconductors, dielectrics

Laser Induces Periodical Surface Structures (LIPSS) Laser Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) Near-field laser lithography Multiphoton Spectroscopy

INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

Laser structuring at sub-micrometer resolution

NIR two-photon vs. UV absorption
Focused femtosecond laser beam Threshold Generated Structure

NIR fs
2 NIR

UV
3D translation

UV

UV absorption: occurs in all the irradiated volume of the material. Fs-NIR absorption : occurs only at the waist of the focused fs laser beam. When the laser fluence is kept just above the threshold the material will be processed with precision under the diffraction limit.

10 m

INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

Direct Laser Writing (DLW) workstation

Microscope for 3D lithography and laser spectroscopy

INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

Microstructures produced by TPP in photopolymers

Applications : - Micro-optics components:

microlenses, photonic crystals, waveguides, optical couplers;

- OCT calibration samples; - Biocompatible microstructures; - Micro-fluidics.

INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

Applications of 3D TPP in Life Sciences

Scaffolds for live cells

Project FOTOPOL Contract PNCDI2 71-111

INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

Laser ablation with sub-micrometer resolution

Laser ablated structures on Co/Cu/Co films Grooves width 500 nm

Laser ablated holes on gold film 100nm. - Diameter ~ 830 nm - Pitch 1.5 m.
Project NANOSPAP 7-013/2008 INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

Laser ablation with sub-micrometer resolution

100 nm gold thin-film deposited on glass. Structures period 2 m. Laser wavelength 775 nm, duration 200 fs. Structures such as interdigital capacitors, electrodes for micro-sensors, etc. can be produced by laser ablation on metallic films, semiconductors, or ceramics usually difficult to be processed by chemical etching.
INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

Network of interdigital capacitors and stub inductances created on Gold thin films by femtosecond laser ablation

The designed geometry

Interdigital capacitor: - digits width sC = 10 m ; - interdigits space wC = 5 m ; - digits length LC = 250 m ; - gC = 65 m ; - Lg = 650 m ; - LC = 5 m ; - x = 20 m ; - Number of digits n = 10; - CCs = 106 fF ; LCs = 0.3nH . Inductive ground shorted stub: - length LC = 277 m ; - sL = 10 m ;
LL

sL w
L

- wL = 42 m ; - CCp = 25 fF ; LLp = 0.13nH ; - CLp = 20 fF.

Frequency [GHz] Project FEMAT Contract PNCDI2 11-030

INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

Near-field laser lithography on colloidal nanoparticles

The field enhancement at the interface of a monolayer of colloidal nanoparticles with a solid substrate produces nanoholes by laser ablation.
700 nm diameter Silica spheres deposited on glass substrate with an intermediate 50 nm thick silver layer. Numerical FDTD simulation of optical field enhancement underneath the spheres.
9.468

Project IDEI 268 INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

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Structures obtained by near-field laser ablation

Glass substrate

Gold Film 50 nm

1 m
Spheres dimension: 700 nm Structure dimension : ~110 nm Spheres dimension: 3 m Structure dimension : ~350 nm

Ulmeanu et al., J. Appl. Phys. 2009.

INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

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L Laser induced periodical surface structures (LIPSS)

X - direction scanning
When laser fluence is maintained near the ablation threshold, by scanning ZnO probe, periodical structures are obtained orientated perpendicularly to the laser polarization direction. SEM images reveal structures with 150 nm period, much lower than laser wavelength (775 nm).

1 m Y - direction scanning

E E

Structures period <150 nm Scanning direction

1 m
Laser 775 nm, 200 fs Laser fluence 0.45 J/cm2 Applications of LIPSS Nanogratings Micropolarizers Enhanced surface sensitivity of micro-sensors
Zamfirescu et al., J. Laser Micro and Nano Eng. 2009. INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

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Multiphoton Spectroscopy

In the confocal configuration, the DLW workstation is connected through an optical fiber to a spectrometer. A 100 m optical fiber gives about 5 m lateral resolution on the sample. By scanning the sample surface the two photon microscopy image can be recorded.

Light emission from two-photon excited samples.

SHG from fused silica Luminescence from KBr:Er2+

INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

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Conclusions

A laser direct writing system was configured for laser processing with femtosecond laser pulses. The laser set-up is compatible with laser processing techniques, such as laser micromachining, near-field lithography, LIPSS, LIFT, TPP, and Multiphoton Spectroscopy. The system allows us to obtain 2D and 3D structures with submicrometric precision. The obtained structures have applications for micro-sensors, microoptics, metamaterials, etc.

INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

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Thank you for your attention!

Solid State Lasers Group

http://ssll.inflpr.ro/

INFLPR, Atomitior 409, 077125 Mgurele, Romnia, http://ssll.inflpr.ro

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