The “Bivoj” 10 J, 10 ns, 10 Hz, Yb:YAG (1030 nm) diode-pumped solid state laser (DPSSL) at the HiLASE Centre was used to investigate the laser-induced damage of optical glasses with different refractive index (BK7, SF8, FS, LIBA2000). The samples were polished using a combination of methods and cleaned in ultrasonic bath or with ion beams. Sample surface was characterized using white-light interferometry (WLI) and laser confocal microscopy (LCM). For the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT), an S-on-1 procedure was selected, the testing taking place in accordance with the ISO 21254 standard. Due to the high energy per pulse of the “Bivoj” system we were capable of using beams with more than 500 μm diameter (using a long focusing mirror) and thus, including different surface defect in the LIDT measurement. The damage of the glasses was usually observed on the rear side (ballistic damage) due to constructive interference, however we manage to see on few samples front damage also. Values above 50 J/cm2 were common for all tested samples.
So-called hybrid mirrors, consisting of broadband metallic surface coated with dielectric reflector designed for specific
wavelength, becoming more important with progressing development of broadband mid-IR sources realized using
parametric down conversion system. Multiple pulse nanosecond laser induced damage on such mirrors was tested by
method s-on-1, where s stands for various numbers of pulses. We show difference in damage threshold between common
protected silver mirrors and hybrid silver mirrors prepared by PVD technique and their variants prepared by IAD.
Keywords: LIDT,
Fused silica based optical fibers are broadly used for beam delivery in laser technology, mostly for continuous lasers. However, powerful pulsed beams are still very challenging for optical fiber technology; in particular in the field of pulsed lasers providing ns-length pulses or shorter at high repetition rate. According to the current knowledge, laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of optical fiber surfaces does not achieve values generally represented for properly treated fused silica. Therefore, broader testing and understanding of optical fibers surface laser induced damage threshold and influencing factors is a key in utilization of optical fibers in pulsed lasers.
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