Repairing nanoscale scratched grooves on polycrystalline ceramics using optical near-field assisted sputtering

We propose an optical near-field assisted sputtering method for repairing scratches on the surface of polycrystalline ceramics in a self-assembling manner. An Al2O3 source was sputtered on substrates with laser radiation of wavelength 473 nm. The average depth of the scratched grooves on polycrystalline Al2O3 ceramic substrate decreased from 3.2 nm to 0.79 nm. Using a Hough transform, we also confirmed the selective repair of scratches.