Observation of femtosecond laser-induced nanostructure-covered large scale waves on metals

Following femtosecond (fs) laser pulse irradiation, we produce a type of periodic surface structure with a period tens of times greater than the laser wavelength and densely covered by an iterating pattern that consists of stripes of nanostructures and microscale cellular structures. The morphology of this large scale wave pattern crucially depends on laser fluence and the number of laser pulses, but not on the laser wavelength. Our study suggests that this large scale wave is initiated by fs laser induced surface unevenness followed by periodically distributed nonuniform surface heating from fs pulse irradiation.