Abstract

The formation of microstructures in transparent materials (dielectrics and semiconductors) under intense femtosecond laser irradiation is of interest for determining fundamental mechanisms for the appearance of such structures and also from the point of view of practical applications (3D memory, photon crystals, etc.).^1,2 The two-photon mechanism of laser light absorption, which takes place in semiconductor materials with a relatively narrow forbidden band, allows us to believe that modified structures with dimensions smaller than in the case of linear absorption will be obtained.

© 2001 Optical Society of America