Imaging femtosecond laser-induced electronic excitation in glass

While substantial progress has been achieved in understanding laser ablation on the nanosecond and picosecond time scales, it remains a considerable challenge to elucidate the underlying mechanisms during femtosecond laser material interactions. We present experimental observations of electronic excitation inside a wide band gap glass during single femtosecond laser pulse (100 fs, 800 nm) irradiation. Using a femtosecond time-resolved imaging technique, we measured the evolution of a laser-induced electronic plasma inside the glass and calculated the electron number density to be on the order of 10(19) cm(-3). (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.