Femtosecond laser-induced microstructures in glasses and applications in micro-optics.
Femtosecond laser has been widely used in microscopic modifications to materials due to its ultra-short laser pulse and ultrahigh light intensity. When a transparent material e.g. glass is irradiated by a tightly focused femtosecond laser, the photo-induced reaction is expected to occur only near the focused part of the laser beam inside the glass due to the multiphoton processes. We observed various induced structures e.g. color center defects, refractive index change, micro-void and micro-crack, in glasses after the femtosecond laser irradiation. In this paper, we review the femtosecond laser induced phenomena and discuss the mechanisms of the observed phenomena. We also introduce the fabrication of various micro-optical components, e.g. optical waveguide, micro-grating, micro-lens, fiber attenuator, 3-dimensional optical memory by using the femtosecond laser-induced structures. The femtosecond laser will open new possibilities in the fabrication of micro-optical components with various optical functions.
Qiu
Jianrong
J
Photon Craft Project, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kyoto 619-0237, Japan. jrq@photon.jst.go.jp
D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry*; D007477:Ions / Q000737:chemistry; D007834:Lasers; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D010316:Particle Size; D013499:Surface Properties
D007477:Ions; D008670:Metals