Data from: Tuning optical properties of densified silica glass via high pressure and ultrafast laser excitation

Silica glass exhibits diverse structural configurations accompanied by
densification under varying temperature and pressure conditions; these
factors significantly influence its optical properties, such as the
refractive index. However, the fundamental structural mechanisms
underlying the optical properties change induced by
high-pressure/high-temperature (HPHT) and femtosecond laser direct writing
(FLDW) remain incompletely resolved. Herein, we report the similarities
and differences in the optical responses of densified silica glass induced
by these two methods. The most significant difference is that the
laser-irradiated region evolves toward a glass structure characteristic of
a high fictive temperature (1600−2000 K) by incorporating non-bridging
oxygen defects associated with edge-sharing SiO4 tetrahedra, which induces
distinctly different photoluminescence behaviors compared to high-pressure
treatment. Our findings demonstrate the ability to locally tailor the
glass structure to exhibit unique optical characteristics, thereby
enabling the flexible design of optical communication systems and
photoelectric fusion devices.