Femtosecond laser pulses used in a regime below the ablation threshold have two noticeable effects on Fused Silica (a-SiO2): they locally increase the material refractive index and modify its HF etching selectivity. The nature of the structural changes induced by femtosecond laser pulses in fused silica is not fully understood. In this paper, we report on nanoindentation and birefringence measurements on fused silica exposed to low-energy femtosecond laser pulses. Our findings further back the hypothesis of localized densification effect even at low energy regime.

© 2006 Optical Society of America

1. X. Liu, D. Du, and G. Mourou, "Laser ablation and micromachining with ultrashort laser pulses," IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 33, 1706-1716 (1997). [CrossRef]
2. K. M. Davis, K. Miura, N. Sugimoto, and K. Hirao, "Writing waveguides in glass with a femtosecond laser," Opt. Lett. 21, 1729-1731 (1996). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
3. A. Marcinkevičius, S. Juodkazis, M. Watanabe, M. Miwa, S. Matsuo, H. Misawa, and J. Nishii, "Femtosecond Laser-assisted three-dimensional microfabrication in silica," Opt. Lett. 26, 277-279 (2001). [CrossRef]
4. A. Strelsov and N. Borrelli, "Study of femtosecond-laser-written waveguides in glasses," J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 19, 2496-2504 (2002). [CrossRef]
5. C. Hnatovsky, R. S. Taylor, E. Simova, P. P. Rajeev, D. M. Rayner, V. R. Bhardwaj, and P. B. Corkum, "Fabrication of microchannels in glass using focused femtosecond laser radiation and selective chemical etching," Appl. Phys. A 84, 47-61 (2006). [CrossRef]
6. Y. Bellouard, A. Said, M. Dugan and P. Bado, "Fabrication of high-aspect ratio, micro-fluidic channels and tunnels using femtosecond laser pulses and chemical etching," Opt. Express 12, 2120-2129 (2004). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
7. S. Juodkazis, K. Yamasaki, V. Mizeikis, S. Matsuo, and H. Misawa, "Formation of embedded patterns in glasses using femtosecond irradiation," Appl. Phys. A 79, 1549 (2004). [CrossRef]
8. S. Juodkazis, H. Misawa, T. Hashimoto, E. G. Gamaly and B. Luther-Davies, "Laser induced microexplosion confined in a bulk of silica: Formation of nanovoids," Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 201909 (2006). [CrossRef]
9. W. C. Oliver and G. M. Phar, "Measurement of hardness and elastic modulus by instrumented indentation: Advances in understanding and refinements to methodology," J. Mater. Res. 19, 3-20 (2004). [CrossRef]
10. P. Bado, A. Said, M. Dugan, T. Sosnowski, and S. Wright "Dramatic improvements in waveguide manufacturing with femtosecond lasers," in NFOEC, Dallas, Sept. 2002.
11. T. Colomb, F. Dürr, E. Cuche, P. Marquet, H. Limberger, R.-P. Salathé, and C. Depeursinge, "Polarization microscopy by use of digital holography: application to optical-fiber birefringence measurements," Appl. Opt. 44, 4461-4469 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
12. T. Colomb, E. Cuche, F. Charrière, J. Kühn, N. Aspert, F. Montfort, P. Marquet, and C. Depeursinge, "Automatic procedure for aberration compensation in digital holographic microscopy and applications to specimen shape compensation," Appl. Opt. 45, 851-863 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
13. T. Colomb, F. Montfort, J. Kühn, N. Aspert, E. Cuche, A. Marian, F. Charrière, S. Bourquin, and C. Depeursinge, "Numerical parametric lens for shifting, magnification and complete aberration compensation in digital holographic microscopy," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A doc. ID 69126, (posted 5 July 2006, in press). [CrossRef]
14. E. Cuche, P. Marquet, and C. Depeursinge, "Spatial filtering for zero-order and twin-image elimination in digital off-axis holography," Appl. Opt. 39, 4070-4075 (2000). [CrossRef]

Appl. Opt.

• T. Colomb, F. Dürr, E. Cuche, P. Marquet, H. Limberger, R.-P. Salathé, and C. Depeursinge, "Polarization microscopy by use of digital holography: application to optical-fiber birefringence measurements," Appl. Opt. 44, 4461-4469 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• T. Colomb, E. Cuche, F. Charrière, J. Kühn, N. Aspert, F. Montfort, P. Marquet, and C. Depeursinge, "Automatic procedure for aberration compensation in digital holographic microscopy and applications to specimen shape compensation," Appl. Opt. 45, 851-863 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• E. Cuche, P. Marquet, and C. Depeursinge, "Spatial filtering for zero-order and twin-image elimination in digital off-axis holography," Appl. Opt. 39, 4070-4075 (2000). [CrossRef]

Appl. Phys. A

• C. Hnatovsky, R. S. Taylor, E. Simova, P. P. Rajeev, D. M. Rayner, V. R. Bhardwaj, and P. B. Corkum, "Fabrication of microchannels in glass using focused femtosecond laser radiation and selective chemical etching," Appl. Phys. A 84, 47-61 (2006). [CrossRef]
• S. Juodkazis, K. Yamasaki, V. Mizeikis, S. Matsuo, and H. Misawa, "Formation of embedded patterns in glasses using femtosecond irradiation," Appl. Phys. A 79, 1549 (2004). [CrossRef]

Appl. Phys. Lett.

• S. Juodkazis, H. Misawa, T. Hashimoto, E. G. Gamaly and B. Luther-Davies, "Laser induced microexplosion confined in a bulk of silica: Formation of nanovoids," Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 201909 (2006). [CrossRef]

IEEE J. Quantum Electron.

• X. Liu, D. Du, and G. Mourou, "Laser ablation and micromachining with ultrashort laser pulses," IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 33, 1706-1716 (1997). [CrossRef]

J. Mater. Res.

• W. C. Oliver and G. M. Phar, "Measurement of hardness and elastic modulus by instrumented indentation: Advances in understanding and refinements to methodology," J. Mater. Res. 19, 3-20 (2004). [CrossRef]

J. Opt. Soc. Am. B

• A. Strelsov and N. Borrelli, "Study of femtosecond-laser-written waveguides in glasses," J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 19, 2496-2504 (2002). [CrossRef]

Opt. Express

• Y. Bellouard, A. Said, M. Dugan and P. Bado, "Fabrication of high-aspect ratio, micro-fluidic channels and tunnels using femtosecond laser pulses and chemical etching," Opt. Express 12, 2120-2129 (2004). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Opt. Lett.

• K. M. Davis, K. Miura, N. Sugimoto, and K. Hirao, "Writing waveguides in glass with a femtosecond laser," Opt. Lett. 21, 1729-1731 (1996). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• A. Marcinkevičius, S. Juodkazis, M. Watanabe, M. Miwa, S. Matsuo, H. Misawa, and J. Nishii, "Femtosecond Laser-assisted three-dimensional microfabrication in silica," Opt. Lett. 26, 277-279 (2001). [CrossRef]

Other

• P. Bado, A. Said, M. Dugan, T. Sosnowski, and S. Wright "Dramatic improvements in waveguide manufacturing with femtosecond lasers," in NFOEC, Dallas, Sept. 2002.
• T. Colomb, F. Montfort, J. Kühn, N. Aspert, E. Cuche, A. Marian, F. Charrière, S. Bourquin, and C. Depeursinge, "Numerical parametric lens for shifting, magnification and complete aberration compensation in digital holographic microscopy," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A doc. ID 69126, (posted 5 July 2006, in press). [CrossRef]

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