Abstract

The application of chirped pulse amplification to short-pulse lasers [1] has led to a dramatic increase in the number of high-power, sub-picosecond laser systems. Accordingly, knowledge of the short-pulse damage thresholds of optical components and the scaling of the damage thresholds with pulsewidth has become increasingly important. The development of high energy, (e.g., kilojoule class) short-pulse lasers is contingent on the ability to produce optical components capable of withstanding high fluence nanosecond and femtosecond pulses. In tins paper, we report on our measurements of the front-surface damage threshold of many different dielectric materials including windows, multilayer mirrors, and diffraction gratings over the pulsewidth range of 0.1 to 3000 ps.

© 1994 Optical Society of America