Femtosecond laser ablation of dielectrics: Experimental studies of fundamental processes

The authors have observed, with a new MEB providing images with resolution better than 10nm on dielectrics, the surface of craters after ablation under various experimental conditions (number of shots, polarization, wavelength, etc.). Unexpectedly, the structures observed very much depends upon the material considered (SiO₂, Al₂O₃, MgO, KDP) showing that ablation is not only a pure plasma process, but that the materials properties play a major role in the final result of ablation.