Spontaneous formation of 10-μm-scale periodic patterns in transverse-scanning femtosecond laser processing

We report spontaneous formation of 10-μm-scale periodic patterns in transverse-scanning femtosecond (fs) laser processing inside a glass substrate. The formation of the periodic patterns was critically dependent on the distance of the focus from the back surface; they formed only when fs pulses were focused slightly inside (∼ a few micrometers) from the back surface. The periods ranged from 7 to 16 μm, which is much longer than the distance between neighboring irradiation spots (0.1-1 μm in the present experiments), the diameter of the individual modified spots (about 2 μm), and the wavelength (0.8 μm). The patterns formed without any intentional modulation; just by scanning the sample at a constant speed during irradiation of fs laser pulses. The dependence on scanning speed and repetition rate of the laser were also investigated, and a possible formation scenario for this "long" periodic pattern was described.