Abstract

Recently, we have observed that silicate- based glasses containing approximately 10% or more boron by weight exhibit selective etching when exposed to intense 532-nm laser pulses.¹ We believe that a two-photon process is the dominant channel leading to charge production, diffusion, and recombination in these glasses and that it results in an inhomogeneous charge distribution. The preferential etching is believed to occur at special reactive sites where trapped charges produce enhanced etching rates.²

© 1995 Optical Society of America