Laser micro-machining and applications of glasses in optoelectronics

For glass machining and laser-induced crystallization, a neodymium:yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser was used. In the glass machining process, a laser drilled hole can be created by laser ablation with a transparent wavelength of 1064 nm. To create laser-induced silver metallic particles as seeds for nucleation in photosensitive glass containing Ag/sup +/ and Ce/sup 3+/ ions, the pulse width and frequency of the laser used were 8 ns and 10 Hz, respectively. Heat treatment was conducted at 570/spl deg/C for 1 h, following laser irradiation, to produce crystalline growth, after which a LiAlSi/sub 3/O/sub 8/ crystal phase appeared in the laser-irradiated Li/sub 2/O-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/-SiO/sub 2/ glass. For the present study, we compared the effect of laser-induced crystallization on glass crystallization with that of spontaneous crystallization by heat treatment.