Elemental redistribution behavior in tellurite glass induced by high repetition rate femtosecond laser irradiation

•Abnormal elements redistribution behavior was observed in tellurite glass.•The refractive index and Raman intensity distribution changed significantly.•The relative glass composition remained unchanged while the glass density changed.•First time report on the abnormal element redistribution behavior in glass.•The glass network structure determines the elemental redistribution behavior.

The success in the fabrication of micro-structures in glassy materials using femtosecond laser irradiation has proved its potential applications in the construction of three-dimensional micro-optical components or devices. In this paper, we report the elemental redistribution behavior in tellurite glass after the irradiation of high repetition rate femtosecond laser pulses. The relative glass composition remained unchanged while the glass density changed significantly, which is quite different from previously reported results about the high repetition rate femtosecond laser induced elemental redistribution in silicate glasses. The involved mechanism is discussed with the conclusion that the glass network structure plays the key role to determine the elemental redistribution. This observation not only helps to understand the interaction process of femtosecond laser with glassy materials, but also has potential applications in the fabrication of micro-optical devices.