Single shot ultrafast laser processing of high-aspect ratio nanochannels using elliptical Bessel beams

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates ultrafast laser processing using elliptical Bessel beams to create high-aspect ratio nanochannels in glass, enabling precise internal stress induction and clean cleaving of transparent materials.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of elliptical Bessel beams for ultrafast laser nanochannel fabrication with high aspect ratio and surface uniformity.

Findings

Successfully fabricated nanochannels of 350 nm x 710 nm in glass.

Achieved sub-micron cleaved surface uniformity.

Demonstrated non-ablative internal stress-based cleaving process.

Abstract

Ultrafast lasers have revolutionized material processing, opening a wealth of new applications in many areas of science. A recent technology that allows the cleaving of transparent materials via non-ablative processes is based on focusing and translating a high-intensity laser beam within a material to induce a well-defined internal stress plane. This then enables material separation without debris generation. Here, we use a non-diffracting beam engineered to have a transverse elliptical spatial profile to generate high aspect ratio elliptical channels in glass of dimension 350 nm x 710 nm, and subsequent cleaved surface uniformity at the sub-micron level.