Recent developments in military systems aimed at protecting sensors and human eyes from battlefield laser threats can be applied to more traditional ultraviolet laser hazards. The technique involves utilizing a reflective optical system containing a sacrificial component that can act quickly enough to defeat ultra-short pulse length lasers. However, below a certain damage threshold the system level transmission can be as high as 90%. Laboratory safety equipment can be one of the beneficiaries of this technology since traditional filter based equipment can significantly reduce the visible spectrum. In addition, since this technology relies on energy rather than wavelength for attenuation, a single piece of safety equipment can be used with either frequency agile lasers or entirely different laser systems. The factor that makes this approach financially and technically feasible is the self-aligning reflective optical system technology employing single point diamond turning fabrication methods.

Date Published: 21 July 1994
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 2134, Laser-Tissue Interaction V; and Ultraviolet Radiation Hazards, (21 July 1994); doi: 10.1117/12.180826

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2134:
Laser-Tissue Interaction V; and Ultraviolet Radiation Hazards
Steven L. Jacques; David H. Sliney; Michael Belkin, Editor(s)