Polarisation-dependent generation of fs-laser induced periodic surface structures

The formation of laser induced periodic surface structures (LIPPS) was investigated on polished stainless steel surfaces under irradiation with fs-laser pulses characterised by a pulse duration τ = 300 fs, a laser wavelength λ = 1025 nm, a repetition frequency frep = 250 Hz and a laser fluence F = 1 J/cm2. For this purpose line scans with a scanning velocity v = 0.5 mm/s were performed in air environment at normal incidence utilising a well-defined temporal control of the electrical field vector. The generated surface structures were characterised by optical microscopy, by scanning electron microscopy and by atomic force microscopy in combination with Fourier transformation. The results reveal the formation of a homogenous and highly periodic surface pattern of ripples with a period Λexp ≈ 925 nm aligned perpendicular to the incident electric field vector for static linear polarisation states. Utilising a motor-driven rotation device it was demonstrated that a continuously rotating electric field vector allows to transfer the originally well-ordered periodic ripples into tailored disordered surface structures that could be of particular interest for e.g. absorbing surfaces, plasmonic enhanced optoelectronic devices and biomedical applications.