On the wavelength dependence of femtosecond laser interactions inside band gap solids

摘要

3D laser microfabrication inside narrow band gap solids like semiconductors will require the use of long wavelength intense pulses. We perform an experimental study of the multiphoton-avalanche absorption yields and thresholds with tightly focused femtosecond laser beams at wavelengths: 1.3μm and 2.2μm. For comparisons, we perform the experiments in two very different materials: silicon (semiconductor, ～1.1 eV indirect bandgap) and fused silica (dielectric, ～9 eV direct bandgap). For both materials, we find only moderate differences while the number of photons required to cross the band gap changes from 2 to 3 in silicon and from 10 to 16 in fused silica.