Structural changes accompanying color center formation in lithium fluoride exposed to femtosecond laser pulses

This paper examines structural changes produced in crystalline LiF by high-power femtosecond laser pulses and provides some insight into the mechanisms of structural damage to the material. In the region of the onset of multiple femtosecond laser beam filamentation and in the central part of the filaments, we observed partial melting of the material, cracking, and the formation of structural nanodefects that showed up as step pyramids and nanogratings in atomic force microscopy images.