[FLASH]光の極薄シートでナノ加工できる原理を解明

国立大学法人東京農工大学 大学院工学研究院の宮地 悟代 准教授は、同大学大学院生の飯田 悠斗 氏と二階堂 誓哉 氏(当時)とともに、硬質セラミックスの一種であるダイヤモンド状炭素薄膜表面に、光の持続時間が7フェムト秒(厚さにして2 μm)のレーザー光を照射するだけで、周期が60 nmのナノ構造体を表面から直接削り出せる現象の原因が、極薄の電子層に発生した短距離伝搬型表面プラズモン・ポラリトンであることをつきとめました。この現象をうまく利用することにより、近赤外のレーザー光でも周期サイズを数nmから数10 nmで制御できる新しい微細加工技術へと発展することが期待されます。

掲載論文情報

掲載誌:Journal of Applied Physics

出版日:2021年11月8日付(電子版)

論文名:Sub-100-nm periodic nanostructure formation induced by short-range surface plasmon polaritons excited with few-cycle laser pulses

著者名:Yuto Iida, Seiya Nikaido, and Godai Miyaji

DOI :10.1063/5.0069301

We have demonstrated that intense 7-fs, ∼810-nm laser pulses can produce a much finer periodic nanostructure on a diamond-like carbon film through ablation in air than that formed with intense 100-fs, ∼800-nm laser pulses. The minimum period size is ∼60 nm, corresponding to ∼1/13 of the center wavelength. To understand the physical mechanism responsible for the finer nanostructuring, we have observed a bonding structural change in the nanostructure with micro-Raman spectroscopy and a scanning transmission electron microscope. It has been found that the modified layer thickness with the 7-fs pulses is much thinner than that with the 100-fs pulses. The results show that the 7-fs pulses create a few-nm-thick layer with high-density electrons and excite short-range surface plasmon polaritons, which have a large wave number around the layer and induce the plasmonic near-field nanoablation. The period size estimated by using a model target reproduces well the observed size of nanostructures.

TUAT Miyaji lab.

Tokyo University of Agriculture & Technology, Japan Faculty of Engineering, Department of Applied Physics and Chemical Engineering