Femtosecond laser induced forward transfer techniques for the deposition of nanoscale, intact, and solid-phase material

The subject of this thesis is the study of the Laser Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) technique with femtosecond duration pulses. In principle, femtosecond-LIFT should offer a number of advantages over traditional nanosecond-LIFT in terms of achievable resolution and transferring intact and solid phase material.A novel solid phase etching technique that uniquely allows for simultaneous deposition of the etched material, also in solid phase, has been presented. Micron deep holes and trenches have been produced in Si and silica substrates by the generation of large shocks in a thin Cr layer by absorption of femtosecond pulses. The shock initiated the propagation of cracks in the bulk substrates that ultimately lead to etching of whole sections of material