Femtosecond Laser Fabrication of Silver Microstructures in Nanoporous Glasses

Abstract

This paper presents the results of studying the process of laser formation of microstructures from silver nanoparticles in nanoporous quartz glasses. Glass samples were impregnated with organometallic molecules Ag(hfac)COD in a supercritical carbon dioxide environment. The formation of point and linear microstructures was carried out by high-frequency (70 MHz) femtosecond laser radiation with a wavelength of 525 nm and energy in the pulse up to 1 nJ. It was found that the formation of microstructures occurs due to photo- and thermal decomposition of precursor molecules with the formation of plasmonic silver nanoparticles. It is shown that the developed temperatures can exceed the melting point of glass, which leads to the appearance of microstructures with altered refractive index. A qualitative model explaining the individual stages of cluster formation in the glass volume under point laser impact is presented.