title: Beat the diffraction limit in 3D direct laser writing in photosensitive glass.
abstract: Three-dimensional (3D) femtosecond laser direct structuring in transparent materials is widely used for photonic applications. However, the structure size is limited by the optical diffraction. Here we report on a direct laser writing technique that produces subwavelength nanostructures independently of the experimental limiting factors. We demonstrate 3D nanostructures of arbitrary patterns with feature sizes down to 80 nm, less than one tenth of the laser processing wavelength. Its ease of implementation for novel nanostructuring, with its accompanying high precision will open new opportunities for the fabrication of nanostructures for plasmonic and photonic devices and for applications in metamaterials.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Physique Moléculaire Optique et Hertzienne, Université de Bordeaux, Talence, France. m.bellec@cpmoh.u-bordeaux1.fr
authors.forename: Matthieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bellec
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Royon
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bousquet
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bourhis
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Treguer
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cardinal
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Canioni
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D007834:Lasers; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity