Data on laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) in optical materials show the damage energy fluence dependence on the laser wavelength. Also, these LIDT measurements depend on the type of materials and its physical properties. The fundamental mechanism of materials damage can be due to ablation, melting, vaporization and/or thermal stresses. In general, optical materials require a very high-energy fluence for its damage. Therefore, the LIDT in optical materials can be considered as a limiting case for the materials damage due to the propagation of the ELectro- magnetic radiation. In this paper, equations for materials damage by a laser radiation are derived based on the melting and vaporization processes. The measured and calculated data are found to agree well.

Date Published: 3 March 2000
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 3902, Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 1999, (3 March 2000); doi: 10.1117/12.379294

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3902:
Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 1999
Gregory J. Exarhos; Arthur H. Guenther; Mark R. Kozlowski; Keith L. Lewis; M. J. Soileau, Editor(s)