Photoinduced surface deformations in ion-conducting Ag–As–S glasses. I. Isotropic deformations produced by small light spots

Abstract

Prominent surface deformations appear in Ag–As–S chalcogenide glasses when exposed to focused laser beams. Deformation behaviors change with the beam diameter, the photon energy, the temperature at which illumination is provided, and the sample composition. In thin AgAsS2 films exposed at room temperature to a 2.0 eV light spot with a diameter of 2 μm, an isotropic convex structure with a height of ∼0.1 μm appears. The expanded region accompanies an Ag-content enhancement by ∼3 at. %, which suggests that the deformation is caused by photoinduced accumulation of Ag+ ions.