Abstract

The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) was measured for a ${{\rm ZnGeP}_2}$ crystal exposed to 0.3–9.5 ps 1030-nm laser pulses. Single-pulse LIDT fluence was ${\sim}{0.22}\;{{\rm J/cm}^2}$ for the laser pulse widths of 0.3–3.5 ps and increased until ${0.76}\;{{\rm J/cm}^2}$ for 9.5-ps pulses. Multi-pulse LIDT fluence for 0.3-ps pulses at repetition frequencies in the range of 100 Hz–1 kHz was ${\sim}{0.053}\;{{\rm J/cm}^2}$ and decreased further at higher, multi-kHz, pulse repetition frequencies. The coating of the ${{\rm ZnGeP}_2}$ crystal surface with an anti-reflection multi-layer thin film increased the multi-pulse LIDT by one order of magnitude, up to ${0.62}\;{{\rm J/cm}^2}$ (about ${2}\;{{\rm TW/cm}^2}$). The significant increase in LIDT coupled with a decrease in reflection losses provides a way to cardinally improve efficiency of frequency conversion of popular 1-µm ultrashort pulses into mid- and far-IR ranges with a thin AR-coated ${{\rm ZnGeP}_2}$ crystal sample.

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