Femtosecond micro-machining of high index and photo-sensitive glasses in air

Summary form only given. It is well-known that micromachining with high intensity femtosecond pulses has significant advantages over nanosecond laser pulses including increased ablation rates although there are many complex interaction processes involved. They have been shown to be effective in creating microstructures in fused silica, particularly gratings. We are investigating the interaction of high intensity (/spl sim/10/sup 14/ W/cm/sup 2/) 110 fs laser pulses with a variety of glasses to determine their potential for detailed structural micro-fabrication in transparent media, and through analysis of the changes in material structure and chemical properties, assess the interaction processes involved.