Doping effects on ablation enhancement in femtosecond laser irradiation of silicon

We have conducted an experimental investigation on highly efficient femtosecond laser micromachining of silicon through N-type doping. We found that the material removal amount has a close relationship with the doping concentration rather than with the doping types. The amount of material removal was enhanced gradually as doping densities increased. When the doping density reached higher than 10(18) cm(-3), the ablation threshold was considerably reduced, up to 15%-20%. The results of the experiment indicate that the high density of initial free electrons by doping is the fundamental reason for efficiency improvement, and bandgap shrinkage also plays an important role. The electrons are excited more easily from the valance band to the conduction band and acquire higher initial kinetic energy, which then promotes the material ablation process. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America