Femtosecond laser-generated shockwaves in transparent media: Experiments and Simulation

Interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with transparent materials has been a topic of growing interest in the past decades [1] . Among others, two features are particularly attractive. First, unprecedented material processing quality can be achieved as very small amount of energy is sufficient to induce the desired modification. Second, owing to localization of the laser peak intensity and the threshold-dependent nonlinear interaction, three-dimensional processing of transparent materials becomes possible. Although a growing number of applications exist [2] , several limitations are present. As an example, there is an everlasting need to minimize the laser affected volume and thus avoid unwanted crack propagation or mechanical defect generation during in-bulk material processing.