Photo-induced structural changes in glass

This paper describes the application of femtosecond laser techniques to producing structural changes in transparent media, particularly various types of glasses, including soda lime and lead silicate glasses and chalcogenide glasses. Two processes that involve material ablation are investigated, deep-hole drilling in millimeter-thick materials and rapid micro-via or grating fabrication at the micron level. In addition we describe the fabrication of micron-scale optical waveguides in thin film photo-sensitive glasses by inducing structural changes that change the refractive index of the material