Strengthening of Glasses by Femtosecond Laser Beam Irradiation

Abstract

The relationship between mechanical strengthening of glasses and the microscopic structures fabricated by irradiation of femtosecond laser beam in glass was investigated. The soda-lime silicate glasses were irradiated by focused femtosecond laser beam to try glass strengthening. The average bending strength of the samples was improved about 1.4 times as compared with non-irradiate samples. The difference of the cracks pattern between in irradiated area and in non-irradiated area was observed on the fracture of broken sample using SEM. These results indicate that the irradiated areas contribute to suppress the extending of cracks and the bending strength increasing.