Laser-induced periodic surface structure. II. Experiments on Ge, Si, Al, and brass

We report the results of a detailed investigation into the properties of the periodic damage structure that can be produced on nominally smooth surfaces of solids when they are irradiated with a single beam of intense laser radiation. The study is primarily concerned with extracting information from the Fourier transform of the damage structure as observed via the Fraunhofer diffraction pattern produced by reflecting a cw laser beam from the …