On the mechanism of photoinduced refractive index changes in phosphosilicate glass

The photoinduced growth of the refractive index of phosphosilicate glass during Bragg grating inscription and the thermal decay of the grating have a number of unusual features. The observed index variations are interpreted in terms of a new model for photoinduced glass network rearrangement. The model assumes the formation of photoinduced voids (nanopores) in the glass network near point defects. The nanopores may migrate through the network via bond switching when the network is in a "soft" state. The photoinduced variations in network density lead to index variations.