Subwavelength ripples adjustment based on electron dynamics control by using shaped ultrafast laser pulse trains.

This study reveals that the periods, ablation areas and orientations of periodic surface structures (ripples) in fused silica can be adjusted by using designed femtosecond (fs) laser pulse trains to control transient localized electron dynamics and corresponding material properties. By increasing the pulse delays from 0 to 100 fs, the ripple periods are changed from ~550 nm to ~255 nm and the orientation is rotated by 90°. The nearwavelength/subwavelength ripple periods are close to the fundamental/second-harmonic wavelengths in fused silica respectively. The subsequent subpulse of the train significantly impacts free electron distributions generated by the previous subpulse(s), which might influence the formation mechanism of ripples and the surface morphology.