Abstract

Femtosecond laser induced breakdown of dielectric thin films has gained a great deal of interest in fundamental as well as in applied science since it probes matter far from thermal equilibrium, for its importance in laser nano- and micromachining and in the development of optical coatings for the next generation of high-power ultrafast laser systems. Experimental and theoretical studies of oxide films suggested a scaling law for the breakdown threshold fluence F with respect to the material’s band gap E_g and pulse duration τ according to

© 2007 IEEE