Ultrashort laser-induced periodic structures on ZnSe substrate

High-power, ultrashort laser-induced periodic surface structures (also referred as ripples), which has been observed on metals, dielectrics and semiconductors surface, could be generated and deliberately modulated by controlling the incident laser pulse. The periodicity, orientation and structure are the typical parameters in the study this near/sub-wavelength structures. The formation mechanism of LIPSS is still under investigation, and the current formation mechanisms on LIPSS include classical surface scattering model, self-organization, second/third harmonic generation, excitation of surface plasma polaritons, coulomb explosion, and cavitation instability and so on. In our work, 1-on-1 and N-on-1 laser-induced damage experiments were conducted on ZnSe substrate by using 170 fs laser and few-cycle laser to verifying the structure dependence with polarization, periodicity, and laser-induced damage threshold. Damage mechanism based on phenomenon was proposed.