Femtosecond laser-induced nanoperiodic structures and simultaneous crystallization in amorphous indium-tin-oxide thin films

Fabrication of crystalline indium-tin-oxide (c-ITO) nanogratings and smooth line patterns on amorphous ITO (a-ITO) thin films by femtosecond laser-induced structuring and simultaneous crystallization followed by chemical etching is demonstrated. Three types of c-ITO structures are obtained merely by controlling the laser pulse energy of a high-repetition rate femtosecond laser at wavelength 532 nm: nanogratings perpendicular to laser polarization direction with period of 130 ± 11 nm, smooth c-ITO line patterns as well as nanogratings parallel to laser polarization direction with period of 390 ± 10 nm. Large area c-ITO patterns and nanograting structures are fabricated, which are expected to be used in optoelectronic and micro-electronic devices.