Specific features of formation of self-induced gratings on metal foils during scanning by a tightly focused femtosecond laser beam

Formation of self-induced gratings on a metal surface scanned by a focused femtosecond laser beam has been investigated. It is experimentally shown that application of femtosecond IR radiation allows one to form more ordered self-induced gratings as compared with the gratings formed by visible light. The dependence of the tilt of grating lines with respect to the beam polarisation direction on the distance between tracks and the beam motion direction in adjacent tracks is analysed. Formation of two-dimensional periodic gratings during double laser beam passage along the same trajectory but with a small difference in the beam polarisation directions has been found for the first time.