The quest for device miniaturization and control over surface interactions motivate the rigorous efforts to artificially fabricate surfaces with improved properties. One of the potential methods is laser irradiation and the aim of this thesis is to determine the (i) process dynamics and (ii) surface characteristics after such treatment of metals in unconventional surroundings – different gases, liquids, and confining geometries. We diverge from classical studies through development of appropriate observation methods and discover that a fixed-type secondary cavity followed by re-entrant injection of liquid can occur when breakdown is induced near a sharp edge. We develop a new method for fabricating curved meandering grooves with submicrometer spacing by exploiting thermocapillary forces to manipulate the bubbles, used as circular diffraction objects. In gases, our focused ion beam cross sections clarify that laser-induced periodic surface structures formed by nanosecond pulse irradiation (compared to picosecond) compose of a thin modulating oxide layer with negligible topographical variation of bulk. We further demonstrate that surface oxidation, a consequence of laser-induced heating without topographical alteration, is responsible for changing the optical properties due to interference of light reflected at the thin oxide film and that high fluence irradiation can be implemented to enhance the surface wettability.
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