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Refractive index change mechanisms in femtosecond laser written ceramic Nd:YAG waveguides: micro-spectroscopy experiments and beam propagation calculations

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Abstract

The effect that femtosecond laser filamentation has on the refractive index of Nd:YAG ceramics, and which leads to the formation of waveguide lasers, has been studied by micro-spectroscopy imaging, beam propagation experiments and calculations. From the analysis of the Nd3+ luminescence and Raman images, two main types of laser induced modifications have been found to contribute to the refractive-index change: (i) a lattice defect contribution localized along the self-focusing volume of the laser pulses, in which lattice damage causes a refractive-index decrease, and (ii) a lattice strain-field contribution around and inside the filaments, in which the pressure-driven variation of the inter-atomic distances causes refractive-index variations. Scanning near-field optical-transmission and end-coupling experiments, in combination with beam propagation calculations, have been used to quantitatively determine the corresponding contribution of each effect to the refractive-index field of double-filament waveguides. Results indicate that the strain-field induced refractive-index increment is the main mechanism leading to waveguiding, whereas the damage-induced refractive-index reduction at filaments leads to a stronger mode confinement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Física de Materiales, C-IV, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, 28049, Spain

    A. Ródenas, G. Lifante, E. Cantelar, J. Lamela, F. Jaque & D. Jaque

  2. CIOp, Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas, CIC-Conicet, CC 124, La Plata, 1900, Argentina

    G. A. Torchia

  3. Grupo de Óptica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

    G. A. Torchia & L. Roso

Authors
  1. A. Ródenas
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  2. G. A. Torchia
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  3. G. Lifante
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  4. E. Cantelar
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  5. J. Lamela
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  6. F. Jaque
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  7. L. Roso
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Correspondence to A. Ródenas.

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Ródenas, A., Torchia, G.A., Lifante, G. et al. Refractive index change mechanisms in femtosecond laser written ceramic Nd:YAG waveguides: micro-spectroscopy experiments and beam propagation calculations. Appl. Phys. B 95, 85–96 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-008-3353-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-008-3353-3

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