V. A. FEDOTOV, K. F. MACDONALD, G. STEVENS and N. I. ZHELUDEV

We show that the strong nonlinear optical response of gallium/silica interfaces to nanosecond laser pulses, at wavelengths between 440 to 680 nm, is the consequence of light-induced melting in a layer of gallium just a few tens of nanometers thick. This conclusion is supported by numerical modeling of the interaction between laser radiation and a gallium/silica interface and of subsequent changes in the thermal and optical properties of the structure.