Microsphere near-field nanostructuring using picosecond pulses

In laser material processing the use of nonlinear multi-photon and near-field effects allows to produce nanostructures smaller than the wavelength of the processing laser. In the near-field of small particles locally restricted field enhancements occur, allowing a focusing of pulsed laser radiation far beyond the diffraction limit. In this contribution a basic study of near-field and beam-matter interaction phenomena in microsphere near-field nanostructuring using picosecond laser pulses shall be presented.