Abstract

Light can permanently change the optical properties of glass. The change is desirable for “photosensitive” glass, in which an induced refractive index change is used to write optical-fiber gratings and volume holograms in glass. But “optical damage,” which generally includes induced index change and absorption, is undesirable when manifested as reduced transmission in expensive ultraviolet (UV) photolithography lenses. These effects are linked to each other, but researchers have only recently begun to exploit this connection.

© 1996 Optical Society of America