In the Heart of Femtosecond Laser Induced Nanogratings: From Porous Nanoplanes to Form Birefringence

It is demonstrated that the form birefringence related to the so-called nanogratings is quantitatively correlated to the porosity-filling factor of these nanostructures. We reveal that matters surrounding the nanopores exhibit significant refractive index decrease which is likely due to the fictive temperature increase and/or the presence of a significant amount of interstitial O2. The control of the porosity was achieved by adjusting the laser pulse energy and the number of pulses/micron i.e. the overlapping rate. Applications can be numerous in fast material processing by the production of nanoporous matter, and photonics by changing the optical properties.