title: Polarization-selective etching in femtosecond laser-assisted microfluidic channel fabrication in fused silica.
abstract: We fabricate microchannels in fused silica by femtosecond laser irradiation followed by etching in diluted hydrofluoric acid. We show a dramatic dependence of the etch rate on the laser polarization, spanning 2 orders of magnitude. We establish the existence of an energy-per-pulse threshold at which etching of the laser-modified zones becomes highly polarization selective. The enhanced selective etching is due to long-range, periodic, polarization-dependent nanostructures formed in the laser-modified material.
authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada. cyril.hnatovsky@nrc.ca
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hnatovsky
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Simova
authors.forename: V R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Bhardwaj
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Rayner
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Corkum