Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 21, 2025
13:02
Fabrication of 1-D Photonic Crystal Cavity on a Nanofiber Using Femtosecond Laser-induced Ablation
Published on: February 25, 2017
9.7K
Laser nanofabrication inside silicon with spatial beam modulation and anisotropic seeding.
Rana Asgari Sabet1,2, Aqiq Ishraq2, Alperen Saltik1
1Department of Physics, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.
Nature Communications
|July 16, 2024
Summary
Researchers developed a new method for precise nanofabrication deep inside silicon wafers. This breakthrough enables the creation of 100nm structures, advancing 3D nanophotonics and integrated systems.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Optics
Background:
- Silicon nanofabrication is typically limited to the surface.
- Current methods lack sub-micron precision for subsurface or in-chip fabrication.
- Existing techniques struggle with nonlinear effects and laser diffraction limits within silicon.
Purpose of the Study:
- To overcome dimensional barriers in silicon nanofabrication.
- To achieve controlled, high-precision nanofabrication deep inside silicon wafers.
- To demonstrate the creation of sub-micron feature sizes within silicon.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing spatially-modulated laser beams.
- Exploiting anisotropic feedback from preformed subsurface structures.
- Developing controlled nanofabrication techniques for silicon.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated buried nanostructures with feature sizes down to 100 ± 20 nm.
- Achieved subwavelength and multi-dimensional control in nanofabrication.
- Fabricated nanophotonics elements, including nanogratings with enhanced diffraction efficiency and spectral control.
Conclusions:
- Established controlled nanofabrication capability deep inside silicon.
- Improved the state-of-the-art in subsurface nanofabrication by an order of magnitude.
- Paved the way for 3D nanophotonics, micro/nanofluidics, and integrated electronic-photonic systems.
