Formation of periodic disruptions induced by heat accumulation of femtosecond laser pulses

The absorption and heat accumulation of successive ultrashort laser pulses in fused silica leads to melting of the material. We analyze the structure and formation of disruptions that occur within the trace of the molten material. We employed focused ion beam (FIB) milling to reveal the inner structure of these disruptions. The disruptions consist of several small voids which form a large cavity with a diameter of several tens of micrometer. Based on the observations, we suggest a model explaining the formation of these disruptions as a results of a fast quenching process of the molten material after the laser irradiation has stopped. In addition, we analyzed the periodic and non-periodic formation of disruptions. The processing parameters strongly influence the formation of disruptions. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America