At Barr & Stroud, dedicated laser damage assessment facilities have been established for a number of years. These are based on a "Q"-switched Nd:YAG laser, a "Q"-switched pumped dye laser and a CO2 TEA laser. This paper describes the facilities, some of the methods used to assess optical damage and then gives practical examples of how the assessment may lead to improvements in the laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of optical components.

Date Published: 1 April 1990
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 1191, Optical Systems for Space and Defence, (1 April 1990); doi: 10.1117/12.969656

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1191:
Optical Systems for Space and Defence
Alan H. Lettington, Editor(s)