Ultrafast modification of optical anisotropy in fused silica

Abstract

We demonstrate that femtosecond modification of anisotropic nanostructure, which can indicate form birefringence created by sub-wavelength scale interfaces of defect structures in fused silica, with a time constant of ± 200 fs. We interpret this dynamics of anisotropic light-matter interaction in terms of lowering threshold for structural defect formation and the enhanced coherency of the electron plasma wave. Such anisotropic photosensitivity in homogeneous material also indicates a remarkable non-reciprocity.