Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy of periodic surface structures formed on a femtosecond‑laser‑irradiated copper single crystal
摘要
We investigated the subsurface plastic deformation accompanying laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on a tensile-prestrained copper (Cu) single crystal irradiated by line‑scanned femtosecond (fs) laser pulses having a wavelength (λ) of 800 nm. Stable, sinusoidal LIPSS with a period of ~480 nm (≈0.6λ) and an amplitude of ~150 nm were reproducibly obtained at fluences between 0.49 and 0.65 J/cm2. Cross‑sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of a thinned sample revealed a high density of dislocations beneath the LIPSS crest within ~400 nm of the surface. Systematic two‑beam TEM analyses identified Burgers vectors consistent with slip on two {111} planes activated by uniaxial compression along the laser‑incident direction, while the LIPSS valley exhibited additional dislocations with Burgers vectors parallel to the laser-incident direction, indicating a locally more complex stress state. These results provide direct microstructural evidence that fs‑laser irradiation induces plasticity in Cu during LIPSS formation.