The elastic properties of a series of Ge-Se glasses are measured during irradiation with sub-band-gap light using a laser-induced transient grating method. The elastic modulus is found to decrease prominently with increasing irradiation intensity. The process is found to be less prominent in glasses of high average coordination $\langle r\rangle$. Measured kinetics in the millisecond range are found to be too slow for a photoinduced electronic process and instead suggest a thermal origin. Infrared thermography is performed during irradiation to monitor temperature changes during photodarkening, photoexpansion, and photoelastic measurements. It is found that in the conditions of irradiation where photoelasticity is observed, all photostructural changes are directly associated with a change in temperature. comsol modeling of thermal flow through the sample closely reproduces the kinetics of photodarkening. Transient grating measurements as a function of temperature confirm that the change in elasticity during irradiation is essentially a thermally induced process. Currently available experimental evidence indicates that the photoelastic phenomena are not an optoelectronic process but rather the result of laser heating.

• Received 13 June 2021
• Revised 19 September 2021
• Accepted 15 December 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.104.214209