Measurements of laser induced degradation

We investigate laser induced degradation of optical materials.

fused silica - damage on beam exit surface
fused silica exit surface

Laser induced degradation can appear after a single laser pulse if fluence or power are high enough (above damage threshold) or tiptoeing after millions of pulses. Often mistakes in beam guiding (e.g. shift of a lens) lead to damages in optical materials. Some examples of damages in disk laser substrates are shown above.

Fused silica - damage in the bulk
Fused silica - damage in the bulk

Another source of trouble are optical layers which change their properties with time (e.g. inclusion of chemical impurities). The images on the left show laser-induced damages in fused silica after multi-pulse exposure to 248 nm laser radiation.

IPHT Jena

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Investigating the ArF laser stability of CaF2 at elevated fluences PDF-Download (407 kB)


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Leiter
Dr. Wolfgang Paa
Telefon +49 (0) 3641 · 206 411
Telefax +49 (0) 3641 · 206 499