The use of lasers to create intricate three-dimensional and buried structures [1] in photostructural glass has been well demonstrated at The Aerospace Corporation over the past four years. In these instances the glass used (Foturan™, made by the Schott Group) forms a silver nucleation sites on exposure to intense UV laser light via a two-photon process. Subsequent annealing causes a localized crystal growth to form a meta-silicate phase which can be etched in dilute hydrofluoric acid at rates of 20 to 50 times that of the unprocessed glass. We are now in the process of experimenting with another formulation of photosensitive glass, also pioneered by Corning Glass Works, that behaves differently during the bake process. In the second case, a photoexposure and bake process creates a silver-halide crystal and forms an adjacent void in the glass. A second photoexposure and bake allows for the migration of more silver into the void creating patterned formations of silver nano-wires [2]. Recent experiments with this type of glass have shown that the manipulation of the size and density of the embedded nano-wires as well as the overall pattern of the clusters can be controlled using direct-write exposure to laser processing.

Forty-six users of the hallucinogen lysergic acid diethylamide were compared with 31 controls on a test of colour discrimination an average of two years after their last exposure to the drug. Controls performed better than users, and LSD users without flashbacks performed better than users with flashbacks. An analysis of variance between the three groups was significant at P <0.001. This study suggests that some users of LSD may have a sustained or irreversible impairment in colour discrimination.