Femtosecond laser writing of waveguide structures in sodium calcium silicate glasses

摘要

Waveguides were written in soda lime silicate glasses with a composition of xNa2O xCaO (1-2x)SiO2, where x = 15and 20, using an amplified femtosecond laser. The waveguides formed around, not inside the exposed regions. This issimilar to the waveguide behavior our group first observed in a phosphate glass, Schott IOG-1, and is distinctly differentfrom fused silica in which the waveguides are inside the exposed regions. This data supports the rapid quenchingtheory, i.e. that the exposed regions cool rapidly, locking in a glass structure with a high fictive temperature, with thedependence of the refractive index on the glass cooling rate determining the qualitative behavior of the waveguides.