Xxx Sedao, Javier Prada-Rodrigo, Agathe Cavanna, Ionut-Alexandru Bunea, Antoine Gonon, William Ravisy, Yannick Bleu, Christian Seassal, Yves Jourlin, Laurent Dubost, Nicolas Crespo-Monteiro, Razvan Stoian, Yoan Di Maio, Claire Deeb, Isabelle Verrier, Emilie Gamet
We demonstrate a novel method for fabricating densely packed, high-aspect-ratio cavities (depth to diameter ratio > 1) in silicon wafers coated with diamond-like carbon (DLC). The process combines femtosecond laser irradiation with subsequent wet etch (potassium hydroxide-based) or plasma etch (chlorine- and oxygen-based). The femtosecond laser is used to pattern precise openings in the DLC layer, exposing the underlying silicon, which is then rapidly etched to form well-defined cavities. This combined laser ablation and etching approach enables high-throughput fabrication of densely packed micrometer cavities and offers scalability toward industrial production. The resulting hybrid DLC-coated silicon structure, featuring densely packed cavities, may exhibit antireflective properties in the far-infrared spectrum range.