2013 Volume 82 Issue 2 Pages 129-132
We perform an interferometric time-resolved observation of a femtosecond-laser pulse interaction with glass at a 50 fs time resolution and 1µm spatial lateral resolution. The phase and amplitude images reveal the sequence of events after the irradiation of a single 45 fs laser pulse at close-to-threshold intensity. The proposed method is applicable to the characterization of the processes induced by tightly focused fs-laser pulses during three-dimensional structuring of glass and crystals for fundamental studies and optical applications. The generation, diffusion, and recombination of carriers, thermal expansion and diffusion, the generation and propagation of shockwaves, and the formation of refractive index changes and voids are experimentally observed.
