Response of graphene to femtosecond high-intensity laser irradiation

We study the response of graphene to high-intensity, 50-femtosecond laser pulse excitation. We establish that graphene has a high (similar to 3 x 10(12) Wcm(-2)) single-shot damage threshold. Above this threshold, a single laser pulse cleanly ablates graphene, leaving microscopically defined edges. Below this threshold, we observe laser-induced defect formation leading to degradation of the lattice over multiple exposures. We identify the lattice modification processes through in-situ Raman microscopy. The effective lifetime of chemical vapor deposition grown graphene under femtosecond near-infrared irradiation and its dependence on laser intensity is determined. These results also define the limits of non-linear applications of graphene in femtosecond high-intensity regime. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3623760]