Crystalline patterning in Sm-doped sodium borate glass by CW Nd:YAG laser irradiation

Laser irradiation of glass materials has drawn much attention because this technique can offer a new processing method for spatially selected structural modification and/or crystallization in glass. Crystallized line and dot patterns at the micrometer scale were fabricated on the surface of Sm-doped sodium borate (Na2O–B2O3) glass by irradiation of a continuous-wave Nd:YAG laser at λ = 1064 nm. The pattern sizes could be controlled by adjusting such parameters as scan rate, exposure time, and laser power. Analyses by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction revealed that the crystalline phase is Na3Sm2(BO3)3.