Holographic encoding of fine-pitched micrograting structures in amorphous SiO2 thin films on silicon by a single femtosecond laser pulse

Fine-pitched micrograting structures were holographically encoded in amorphous (a-) SiO2 thin films on silicon wafers by colliding a pair of focused pulses split from a single, mode-locked Ti: sapphire, femtosecond laser. A method enhancing the third-harmonic generation resulting from the nonlinearity of air adjusted the optical paths of the two pulses. Surface-relief-type gratings were formed on SiO2 glasses due to laser ablation when the laser power exceeded more than 0.3 mJ/pulse, while shallow grating structures were imprinted on a-SiO2 thin films by volume compaction (∼3%) when the irradiation power was reduced to ∼50 μJ/pulse. The postirradiation deepening of the valley of the grating structure was possible with chemical etching. The minimal spacing of 430 nm was encoded using the 800 nm laser.