Contamination damage in pulsed 1-um lasers

Floyd E. Hovis; Bart A. Shepherd; Christopher T. Radcliffe; Henry A. Maliborski

doi:10.1117/12.240348

27 May 1996 Contamination damage in pulsed 1-μm lasers

Floyd E. Hovis, Bart A. Shepherd, Christopher T. Radcliffe, Henry A. Maliborski

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2714, 27th Annual Boulder Damage Symposium: Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 1995; (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.240348
Event: Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 1995, 1995, Boulder, CO, United States

Abstract

Although thin film coating technology has evolved to the point that damage thresholds of several hundred MW/cm² can be routinely achieved, sealed laser systems which must be operated for extended times or at elevated temperatures frequently experience failure due to optical damage. This damage, which is frequently due to the build up of gas phase contaminants in the sealed optical compartment, occurs in spite of the fact that the lasers were designed such that the intracavity intensities are only a few tens of MW/cm². Since much of our work involves designing Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers that operates over extreme environmental conditions, eliminating contamination damage at 1 micrometers is of particular interest to us. In this paper we will describe our current understanding of contamination induced damage at 1 micrometers and give an overview of the processes that can be used to eliminate such damage in fielded systems.

Citation Download Citation

Floyd E. Hovis, Bart A. Shepherd, Christopher T. Radcliffe, and Henry A. Maliborski "Contamination damage in pulsed 1-μm lasers", Proc. SPIE 2714, 27th Annual Boulder Damage Symposium: Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 1995, (27 May 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.240348

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