Fabrication of micro grooves on silicon by micro optical fiber enhanced pulse laser irradiation

We report a microfabrication technique on micrometer to submicrometer scales using optical fiber enhanced irradiation. Micro quartz fibers with diameters of less than 5 μm were prepared and used as the focusing unit. Micro grooves with widths of microns and submicrons were fabricated. The influence of processing parameters such as fiber diameter, laser pulse energy and laser wavelength on groove features was studied. Finite difference time domain (FDTD) solutions were used to simulate the fiber optical field. Comparison between the results of simulation and experiment were made and discussed. (paper)