Diffractive Surface Patterns through Single-Shot Nanosecond-Pulsed Laser Ablation

The present top-down/bottom-up techniques (like e-beam, ion-beam, and etching) for nano/microfabrication require expensive equipment, highly trained labor, and time-consuming multiprocessing steps. Here, we used a one-step, single-pulse nanosecond (ns)-laser ablation process to fabricate nanopatterns in a gold (Au)-coated glass substrate, through Denisyuk reflection holography. The ablation process was improved by optimizing the parameters of spacing between the substrate surface and laser source (D = 21 cm), the energy of the pulsed laser (E = 210 mJ/cm²), and the spacing between the substrate horizontal plane and the mirror (d = 0.2 cm). As a demonstration, we fabricated a diffraction grating with optimized parameters, computation modeling, and light diffraction property of the fabricated surface grating. This versatile method was also utilized to successfully produce 2D surface grating patterns of square (90°) and triangular (60°) nanostructures, FZP lenses, and we characterized their optical properties through computational modeling and experimentation. We anticipate that the single pulsed ns-laser ablation method may hold great potential in diffractive optical devices, sensors, and actuators.