Explosive boiling of Ge35Sb10S55 glass induced by a CW laser

• Interaction of the CW 785 nm laser with chalcogenide GeSbS glass.
• First demonstration of the explosive boiling induced by CW laser in glass.
• Different processes as photo-induced oxidation, expansion, and viscosity-flow observed.
• Applied diagnostics SEM, DHM, AFM, force spectroscopy, and micro-Raman spectroscopy.
• Damage threshold determined at 1.2 × 1024s−1 cm−3 of absorbed photons.

The response of bulk Ge35Sb10S55 glass to illumination by a continuous wave (CW) laser, sub-band-gap photons, was studied specifically with an atomic force microscopy including a force spectroscopy, with a digital holographic microscopy and with a scanning electron microscopy. Depending on the number of photons absorbed, photo-expansion, photo-oxidation and explosive boiling were observed.

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