Materials irradiated with multiple femtosecond laser pulses in sub-ablationconditions are observed to develop various types of self-assembled morphologiesthat range from nano-ripples to periodic micro-grooves and quasi-periodicmicro-spikes. Here, we present a physical scenario that coupleselectrodynamics, describing surface plasmon excitation, with hydrodynamics,describing Marangoni convection, to elucidate this important sub-ablationregime of light matter interaction in which matter is being modified, however,the underlying process is not yet fully understood. The proposed physicalmechanism could be generally applicable to practically any conductive materialstructured by ultrashort laser pulses, therefore it can be useful for theinterpretation of further critical aspects of light matter interaction.
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