Nanoscale investigations of femtosecond laser induced nanogratings in optical glasses

Femtosecond (fs) laser irradiation inside transparent materials has drawn considerable interest over the past two decades. More specifically, self-assembled nanogratings, induced by fs laser direct writing (FLDW) inside glass, enable a broad range of potential applications in optics, photonics, or microfluidics. In this work, a comprehensive study of nanogratings formed inside fused silica by FLDW is presented based on high-resolution electron microscopy imaging techniques. These nanoscale investigations reveal that the intrinsic structure of nanogratings is composed of oblate nanopores, shaped into nanoplanes, regularly spaced and oriented perpendicularly to the laser polarization. These nanoporous layers are forced-organized by light, resulting in a pseudo-organized spacing at the sub-wavelength scale, and observed in a wide range of optical glasses. In light of the current state of the art, we discuss the imprinting of nanoporous layers under thermomechanical effects induced by a plasma-mediated nanocavitation process.