Polarization dependence of the self-organized microgratings induced in SrTiO3 crystal by a single femtosecond laser beam.

In this paper, self-organized microgratings are fabricated in SrTiO(3) crystal just by scanning the focus of a tightly-focused linearly-polarized femtosecond laser beam to form a single line. The polarization direction of the laser beam is rotated by a λ/2 waveplate to check the effect of the polarization azimuth on the micrograting morphology. Fourier analyzing of the microscopic images of the microgratings indicates that the polarization plane azimuth of the laser beam does have influence on the microgratings in the aspects of groove orientation and groove spacing. A possible mechanism of polarization dependence is also proposed.