Ablation area quasiperiodic oscillations in semiconductors with femtosecond laser double-pulse delay

A surprising repeatable phenomenon regarding semiconductor ablation area changes has been discovered. Irradiated by femtosecond double pulses, the ablation area quasiperiodically oscillates as the pulse delay increases from 0 to 1 ps at a material-dependent fluence range. In contrast, the ablation area monotonically decreases as the pulse delay increases beyond 1 ps or if the total fluence increases close to or beyond the single-shot threshold. Similar unexpected patterns of area quasiperiodic oscillations with the double-pulse delay are observed in various semiconductors, including Ge, Si, GaAs, and ZnO. The comparison study shows the same phenomenon in Au-plated ZnO. Yet, its oscillation periods are shorter and more stable than those in bulk ZnO, which implies that the localized carrier density is the key factor in oscillation periods.