This National Science Foundation (NSF) Integrative Activities (CFDA 47.083) Project Grant award of $299,838 to the University of New Mexico (UNM) is funding research to investigate stress-induced birefringence and refractive index changes in glass materials. The goal is to advance the capability of ultrafast laser micromachining techniques to reliably alter material properties and create sub-micron features in glass for fabricating novel optical components like waveguides, waveplates, and diffractive elements. The project team, which includes a collaborator at the University of Arizona, will measure birefringence, stress, and refractive index changes in glass samples subjected to different ultrafast laser processing conditions. They will also develop a finite element model to simulate the stress fields and local electric fields in the laser-processed regions. This work aims to improve the quality of laser-written optical components and enhance the efficiency of diffractive elements, with potential applications in astronomy, space communications, and virtual reality technologies.