Laser-Induced Standing Capillary Waves on Glassy Carbon and Their Polymer Replicas

Abstract—The physicochemical processes occurring during laser ablation of glassy carbon by femto- and nanosecond laser pulses have been studied. It is shown that laser irradiation of a material in the mode of laser drilling with various numbers of pulses leads to the formation of a homogeneous array of blind holes decorated with periodic structures of different scales and morphologies. The formation mechanism of the latter is related to the occurring thermocapillary instabilities of the melt. It is found that the depth and diameter of blind holes are determined by not only the thickness of the melt layer but also its chemical etching due to the oxidation by air oxygen. It is shown that, based on the obtained array of blind holes, one can design polymer replicas repeating the blind-hole morphology. Possible mechanisms of laser etching of glassy carbon and subsequent applications of polymer replicas are discussed.