Material and biological response of femtosecond photo-modification in hydrogel and cornea

Abstract

Systems and methods for optimizing laser damage threshold and induced phase change range in a method of writing phase change structures in a hydrogel material with a femtosecond laser writing system focusing a laser beam into the hydrogel material. A laser pulse width and a laser effective NA are selected for a given focused laser average power range to increase the laser damage threshold relative to use of laser pulse widths shorter than the selected laser pulse width and/or use of laser effective NAs greater than the selected laser effective NA. In a particular embodiment, the focused laser average power is from 1 to 5000 mW, the selected laser pulse width is greater than about 165 fs, and the selected laser effective NA is less than 0.50. Applications of the techniques described include laser induced refractive index change (LIRIC) customization of contact lenses, intra-ocular lenses, and other ophthalmic materials.

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