Femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures not only have the capability in modifying the physicochemical properties of the material interfaces, but also possess the features of mask-free and one-step processing, which promise wide applications in multidisciplinary fields. Currently, however, there are some challenges in this technology, such as the poor structural regularity, dimensional inflexibility and low production efficiency. This paper firstly reviews progresses in fabricating highly regular one-dimensional subwavelength periodic structures with the improved efficiency on metal films, under irradiation of the single-beam femtosecond laser pulses. Then we introduces novel methods to control one-dimensional structure features (including the regularity, periodicity and orientation) on both metals and semiconductors, by utilizing the collinear propagation of double femtosecond laser beams associated with certain temporal delays. Two-dimensional arrays of the subwavelength periodic structures are successfully achieved with different geometric profiles such as the triangle, rhombus, elliptical rod, and ripple-particle hybridization. Some ultrafast physical phenomena are discovered during the control formation of the periodic surface structures. The transient correlation effects between ultrafast dynamic processes of laser-material are elucidated for the incidence of temporally-delayed pulses.