%0 Journal Article %T Influencing the Crystallization of Glass-Ceramics by Ultrashort Pulsed Laser Irradiation after Nucleation %A Florian Senn %A Ronald Holtz %A Sonja-Michaela Gross-Barsnick %A Uwe Reisgen %J New Journal of Glass and Ceramics %P 1-11 %@ 2161-7562 %D 2018 %I Scientific Research Publishing %R 10.4236/njgc.2018.81001 %X An ultra-fast laser with central wavelength at 1064 nm and 10 ps pulse duration was used to tightly focus laser radiation with a microscope objective inside the volume of nucleated Lithium Aluminosilicate (LAS) glass-ceramic. The nonlinear absorption of the LAS glass-ceramic was measured for different laser parameters and a thermal simulation was performed to determine the temperature field inside the laser-modified area. After laser processing, the samples were crystallized in a furnace and the effect of the laser-induced modifications on the microstructure was analyzed with SEM. The SEM analysis shows an increase in the length and size of whisker-shaped ¦Ā-spodumene crystals in the laser-modified area. By increasing the dimension of these whisker-shaped crystals, the flexural strength of LAS can be improved locally. First four-point bending flexural tests were performed to examine the influence on the mechanical properties. %K Glass-Ceramics %K Microstructure %K Nonlinear Absorption %K Picosecond Laser %U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=81653