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Timestamp: 2019-04-21 11:10:10+00:00

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We report on the formation and structural evolution of embedded self-organized, polarization-dependent nanogratings in sodium germanate glasses induced by an 800 nm, 1 kHz femtosecond laser. Optical birefringence dependent on the femtosecond laser polarization as well as the sodium oxide content is observed when the sample surface is perpendicular to the laser propagation direction. Scanning electron microscopy images of the written lines reveal the formation of periodic platelet or nanovoid arrays, which are aligned perpendicularly to the laser polarization direction after mechanical polishing. The influences of sodium oxide content on the morphology and period of the nanogratings are discussed.
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Fig. 1 Optical microscope images of the horizontal lines fabricated by translating the sample perpendicular to the laser propagation direction with different laser polarizations (indicated by θ) under laser pulse energy fixed at 1.5 μJ. (a), (c) and (e) Birefringence signal in the same region between cross polarizers (indicated by P1 and P2). (b), (d) and (f) Bright field images. (g) Birefringence intensity distribution corresponding to lines written with different laser polarizations.
Fig. 2 SEM images of self-organized nanogratings in the plane perpendicular to the laser propagation axis in 95Ge with different laser polarizations (indicated by θ) under laser pulse energy fixed at 1.5 μJ. (a) Overview. (b)-(j) Lines written with different laser polarizations.
Fig. 3 (a)-(c) SEM images of self-organized nanogratings in 95Ge with different period under various laser polarizations (indicated by θ). (d) The dependence of grating period and the θ.
Fig. 4 Optical (a)-(c) and SEM (d)-(f) images of modified region of 100Ge, 95Ge and 90Ge glass. The pulse energy was 1.5 μJ and the scanning speed was 2μm/s. The angles between translating direction and laser polarization direction are indicated by θ. The optical images are just for revealing the potential structure of the nanograting and the chromatic aberration may be due to the different camera, white balance and contrast ratio.
Fig. 5 (a) and (b) SEM image of the nanogratings in 100Ge glass. (c) Concentration distribution of Ge and O elements along the white dotted line by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The black bars indicate the O/Ge ratio corresponding to the white crosses in (a). The blue dotted line indicates the average level of O/Ge ratio in glass matrix.
Fig. 6 (a) and (b) SEM image of the nanogratings in 95Ge glass. (c) Concentration distribution of Ge and O elements along the white dotted line by EDS. The black and red bars indicate the O/Ge ratio corresponding to the white crosses in (a). The blue dotted line indicates the average level of O/Ge ratio in glass matrix.

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