Optical Microfabrication of Chalcogenide Glasses

Abstract
It was found that chalcogenide glasses can be shaped by stressing the glass under light illumination because light illumination enhances the fluidity of the glass. The mechanism of photoinduced fluidity was found to be photoelectronic, that is, athermal. The process can be applied to microfabrication of optical fibers and glassy films with a typical dimension of 10 to 100 micrometers.