Forced Laser Nanostructuring of the Surface of Alumina-Oxide Ceramics

The possibility of creating quasiperiodic nanostructures on the surface of articles made of ceramic materials based on α-Al 2 O 3 under the action of a laser beam moved by a two-coordinate linear stepping motor (LSM) is shown. It is shown that the cause of the arising non-uniformity of heat release and convective instability of the molten layer are electromagnetic surface waves at the “conductor–insulator” interface, while the “conductor” is the melt layer. The discreteness of the laser beam movement due to the LSM makes it possible to create a regular wave-like relief on the melt surface, which plays the role of an input diffraction structure for generating a surface wave of TM polarization.