Modification of borosilicate glass induced by ultraviolet laser illumination

Abstract

There have been many investigations into the changes in the properties of transparent materials, e.g. optical, physical and chemical properties, induced by focused ultrafast laser beams. In this letter, we report the modification of borosilicate glass using an ultraviolet nanosecond laser. A laser beam operating at a wavelength of 266 nm was focused inside the glass. Interestingly, although penetration depth of the laser beam was only 110 μm, emission was observed in the glass at the depth of approximately 1100 μm after several laser shots. The emission moved toward the light source with further laser illumination, and modification of the glass along the trajectory of the emission was observed. The modified area became deeper with increasing focusing depth. The deepest modified area was located at a depth of approximately 1800 μm. No clear dependence of the modification on the pulse repetition rate was found; therefore, heat accumulation was not prominent in the modification process. The subsequent etching rate of the modified area was faster than that of the unmodified area. The etching rate in aqueous KOH was 60 μm/h where continuous modification was obtained. A microchannel with a depth of approximately 400 μm and a diameter of approximately 30 μm was formed after 10 h etching.