Polarization-selective etching in femtosecond laser-assisted microfluidic channel fabrication in fused silica.
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.
Hnatovsky
C
C
National Research Council of Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada. cyril.hnatovsky@nrc.ca
Taylor
R S
RS
Simova
E
E
Bhardwaj
V R
VR
Rayner
D M
DM
Corkum
P B
PB