Precipitation of bismuth nanoparticles and elements distribution in bismuth germanate glass induced by femtosecond laser

Bismuth nanoparticles are directly precipitated inside a bismuth germinate glass by irradiation with a 1030 nm, 500 kHz femtosecond laser, which are confirmed by means of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope and Raman spectra. In addition, the results of electron probe microanalyzer indicate that the elements distribution around the focal point is induced simultaneously. We suggest that the precipitation of Bi nanoparticles and redistribution of ions with different diffusion coefficients should mainly be ascribed to the heat accumulation effect and thermal diffusion. The results provide a novel approach to produce Bi nanoparticles inside glass and have promising applications for the fabrication of photonic devices.