Ablation of metal thin films using femtosecond laser Bessel vortex beams

Abstract

Femtosecond lasers can provide submicron ablation resolution, making them suitable and attractive for various micro/nanofabrication applications. Laser beam shaping lends further advantages and increases the versatility of these sources. In this work, we report on the use of femtosecond laser pulses with first-order Bessel function (Bessel vortex) beam profiles in ablation of metal thin films. The diffraction-free nature of Bessel beams provides significant convenience regarding alignment and repeatability. Ablation profiles with Bessel vortex beams generally consist of single or multiple concentric rings, determined by pulse fluence on target. We investigate single-pulse ablation behavior with two laser wavelengths (1,030 and 515 nm) and three different Bessel beam cone angles. For each case, we measure inner and outer ring diameters and compare our results with theoretical calculations.