Redistribution of a material at femtosecond laser ablation of a thin silver film

Abstract

Energy-dispersive X-ray microspectroscopy is used for the first time to quantitatively study the spatial displacement of the material of a 100-nm silver film irradiated by a single femtosecond laser pulse focused on a small spot in the diffraction limit. The silver mass distribution over radial cross sections is determined and matter balance is analyzed for the resulting radially symmetric submicron structures of a microcone with a nanospike with various heights and a through hole. Hydrodynamic processes and phase transitions inducing the melting of the film, motion of the melt, and its recrystallization within a focal spot are studied.