Laser-induced microexplosions in transparent materials: microstructuring with nanojoules

Christopher B. Schaffer; Andre Brodeur; Nozomi Nishimura; Eric Mazur

doi:10.1117/12.351827

4 June 1999 Laser-induced microexplosions in transparent materials: microstructuring with nanojoules

Christopher B. Schaffer, Andre Brodeur, Nozomi Nishimura, Eric Mazur

Proceedings Volume 3616, Commercial and Biomedical Applications of Ultrafast Lasers; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.351827
Event: Optoelectronics '99 - Integrated Optoelectronic Devices, 1999, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

We tightly focus femtosecond laser pulses in the bulk of a transparent material. The high intensity at the focus causes nonlinear absorption of the laser energy, producing a microscopic plasma and damaging the material. The tight external focusing allows high intensity to be achieved with low energy, minimizing the effects of self-focusing. We report the thresholds for breakdown and critical self- focusing in fused silica using 110-fs pulses at both 400-nm and 800-nm wavelength. We find that permanent damage can be produced with only 10 nJ (25 nJ) for 400-m (800-nm) pulses, and that the threshold for critical self-focusing is 140 nJ for the 400-nm pulses and 580 nJ for the 800-nm pulses. The critical self-focusing thresholds are more than an order of magnitude above the breakdown thresholds, confirming that self-focusing does not play a dominant role in the damage formation. This lack of self-focusing allows a straightforward interpretation of the wavelength and bandgap dependence of bulk breakdown thresholds. The energies necessary for material damage are well within the range of a cavity-dumped oscillator, allowing for precision microstructuring of dielectrics with a high repetition-rate laser that is roughly one-third the cost of an amplified system.

Citation Download Citation

Christopher B. Schaffer, Andre Brodeur, Nozomi Nishimura, and Eric Mazur "Laser-induced microexplosions in transparent materials: microstructuring with nanojoules", Proc. SPIE 3616, Commercial and Biomedical Applications of Ultrafast Lasers, (4 June 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.351827

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