In this paper we analyze features of absorbing inclusion-initiated laser-induced failure of a transparent dielectric surface in a multishop irradiation regime. Ablation and thermoelastic stress-induced damage mechanisms are investigated. The ablation is shown to be the dominant mechanism in the ultrashort pulsewidth domain, whereas the latter is realized at longer pulses. The alteration of damage mechanisms at pulsewidth variation is also characteristic for intrinsic damage mechanisms. Resent experimental results obtained for the ultrashort pulse damage are critically discussed in a context of a theory developed in this paper.

Date Published: 20 April 1998
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 3244, Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 1997, (20 April 1998); doi: 10.1117/12.307037

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3244:
Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 1997
Gregory J. Exarhos; Arthur H. Guenther; Mark R. Kozlowski; M. J. Soileau, Editor(s)