Femtosecond laser-induced formation of submicrometer spikes on silicon in water

We fabricate submicrometer silicon spikes by irradiating a silicon surface that is submerged in water with 400 nm, 100 fs laser pulses. These spikes are less than a micrometer tall and about 200 nm wide-one to two orders of magnitude smaller than the microspikes formed by laser irradiation of silicon in gases or vacuum. Scanning electron micrographs of the surface show that the formation of the spikes involves a combination of capillary waves on the molten silicon surface and laser-induced etching of silicon. Chemical analysis and scanning electron microscopy of the spikes show that they are composed of silicon with a 20-nm-thick surface oxide layer. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.