  Femtosecond laser written patterns at the surface of brittle materials may
show a regenerative random transition from self-organized to disordered
structures. Here, we show that this random intermittent behaviour carries
relevant fracture statistics information, such as the so-called Weibull
parameters. Furthermore, we draw a phenomenological analogy with idle and busy
periods arising in queueing systems that we used to establish that these
successive laser generated cycles are statistically independent. Based on this
analogy and together with microscopic observations, we propose an experimental
method bypassing the need for many specimens to build-up statistically relevant
ensembles of fracture tests. This method is potentially generic as it may apply
to a broad number of brittle materials.
