Experimental X-ray investigations of changes at the “solid-solid interface” boundary after pulsed focused laser irradiation

•X-ray investigations of “solid-solid interface” laser ablation are provided.•Object of study was nanolayer under laser radiation.•Found appearance of peak at 28.4° that corresponds to cubic silicon nanoparticles. Investigated in this work were plates of Zerodur connected to a solid monolith block with the aluminum nanolayer of the 100-nm thickness. The object of the study was this nanolayer that changed its optical transparency under action of pulsed laser radiation. Zerodur plate located on the back side after ablation was step-by-step thinned by grinding and polishing up to the boundary with aluminum nanolayer. After each thinning step, we performed the X-ray phase analysis by using the diffractometer Philips X’Pert PRO – MRD. Used in this study was Cu Kαl emission line with the wavelength λ = 0.15405980 nm). The anode potential was 45 kV, and current – 40 mA. It has been ascertained that the changes in phase composition are present within the region of 50⋯100 nm from the aluminum nanolayer boundary. It has been found the appearance of the weak but sharp peak at 28.4° that corresponds to the reflection (1 1 1) of cubic silicon nanoparticles. Their size is approximately 12 nm. It was revealed the weakly pronounced but clear peak at 44.78° that corresponds to the reflection (2 0 0) attributed to cubic aluminum.