Effect of pulse width and fluence of femtosecond laser on the size of nanobump array

Conical nanobump arrays were generated on gold thin film processed by interfering femtosecond laser. The transition of the height and diameter as functions of fluence and pulse width was investigated. When the fluence was 87 mJ/cm(2), the height and diameter were not so different at 350 fs or shorter pulse width. They decreased at longer pulse width, and no bump could be generated over 1.6 ps. The results suggest the decrease of size is due to the diffusion of electron to not-excited region, and due to heat conduction to not heated region or substrate, or change of absorbance of laser. At long pulse width of 2.4 ps and relatively higher fluence of 190 mJ/cm(2), nanobump had liquid-like structure as a stop motion of a water drop. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.