title: Structural relaxation phenomena in silicate glasses modified by irradiation with femtosecond laser pulses.
abstract: Structural relaxation phenomena in binary and multicomponent lithium silicate glasses were studied upon irradiation with femtosecond (fs) laser pulses (800 nm central wavelength, 130 fs pulse duration) and subsequent thermal annealing experiments. Depending on the annealing temperature, micro-Raman spectroscopy analyses evidenced different relaxation behaviours, associated to bridging and non-bridging oxygen structures present in the glass network. The results indicate that the mobility of lithium ions is an important factor during the glass modification with fs-laser pulses. Quantitative phase contrast imaging (spatial light interference microscopy) revealed that these fs-laser induced structural modifications are closely related to local changes in the refractive index of the material. The results establish a promising strategy for tailoring fs-laser sensitivity of glasses through structural mobility.
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer IKTS, Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems, Winterbergstraße 28, 01277 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seuthe
authors.affiliation: Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy, Max-Born-Straße 2a, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mermillod-Blondin
authors.affiliation: Technische Universität Berlin, Department of Optics and Atomic Physics, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grehn
authors.affiliation: Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM), Unter den Eichen 87, 12205 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jörn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bonse
authors.affiliation: Otto-Schott-Institute of Materials Research, Fraunhoferstraße 6, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Lothar
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wondraczek
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer IKTS, Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems, Winterbergstraße 28, 01277 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eberstein