Etching of semiconductors and metals by the photonic jet with shaped optical fiber tips

Abstract: The etching of semiconductors and metals by a photonic jet (PJ) generated with a shaped optical ber tip is studied. Etched marks with a diameter of 1 micron have been realized on silicon, stainless steel and titanium with a 35 kHz pulsed laser, emitting 100 ns pulses at 1064 nm. The selection criteria of the ber and its tip are discussed. We show that a 100/140 silica ber is a good compromise which takes into account the injection, the working distance and the energy coupled in the higherorder modes. The energy balance is performed on the basis of the known ablation threshold of the material. Finally, the dependence between the etching depth and the number of pulses is studied. Saturation is observed probably due to a redeposition of the etched material, showing that a higher pulse energy is required for deeper etchings.