Waveguide fabrication in phosphate glasses using femtosecond laser pulses

We report on the response of glass to focused femtosecond (fs) laser pulses during waveguide fabrication in a commercial sodium aluminum phosphate glass (Schott IOG-1). Single-pass longitudinal translation of IOG-1 glass with respect to the focused laser beam at a rate of 20 mum/s and pulse energies of 3.5 muJ results in the formation of two waveguides located on opposite sides of the laser-exposed region, which itself does not guide light. This behavior is different from that of the more widely studied silica glass system. The precise location of the waveguides in IOG-1 glass depends on the relative tilt of the fs laser beam with respect to the sample translation direction. Fluorescence imaging of the modified glass using a confocal microscope setup reveals the formation of color center defects in the exposed region but not within the waveguides. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.