Femtosecond Laser Microstructuring of Photochromic Glasses for Photonic Devices

Interaction of the 800-nm femtosecond laser pulses with D6526 super brown photochromic glass sample is investigated. Two different types of microstructures, called darkening and bleaching respectively, due to the optical properties modification of the sample are observed at the irradiated regions with single laser pulses. Laser fluence and shot number dependency of induced structures are investigated. The pulse energy accumulation model is presented to prediction of the experimental results. The optical transmission of irradiated areas is analyzed spectroscopically. A negative change in relative transmission is observed in the bleached region indicating an enhancement in transmission

Keywords:

femtosecond pulses , microstructures , photochromic glass