Gas breakdown with nanosecond CO2 laser radiation

The thresholds for CO₂ laser induced breakdown and their variation with pulse width have been measured at various pressures for Ar, N₂ and an 8/1/1 laser mixture of He/CO₂/N₂ using 3–40 ns duration pulses. These measurements indicate that excited state production plays a dominant role in determining the threshold for nanosecond duration pulses. This has been confirmed by the good agreement obtained between the measured and theoretical thresholds.     

Pulse-width influence on the laser-induced structuring of CaF2 (111)

We have investigated the morphology of CaF₂ (111) irradiated by 780 nm laser pulses of varying pulse width (200 fs-8 ns) with fluences above the damage threshold. Large differences can be observed which we relate to the mechanisms and dynamics of defect production in this wide band gap material. The best defined and most controllable ablation is obtained for laser pulse widths of a few picoseconds. For nanosecond and femtosecond pulses strong fracturing of the crystal is observed with damage outside the laser irradiated zone. This has a thermal origin for nanosecond pulses but a non-thermal origin for pulse widths below approximately 1 ps.     

CMOS电路瞬态辐照脉冲宽度效应的实验研究

 在“强光一号”加速器上,对两种CMOS反相器和一种CMOS存储器进行了长脉冲状态和短脉冲状态下的辐照实验,测量了CMOS电路的瞬时辐照效应规律,得到了CMOS电路辐射损伤阈值与脉冲宽度的关系,分析了CMOS电路在不同脉冲宽度下的效应差异。实验结果表明：CMOS电路的辐射损伤阈值随脉冲宽度的增加而降低,在20 ns的脉冲宽度辐照下,CMOS反相器4007和4069的闩锁阈值大约为150 ns脉冲辐照下的2倍,CMOS存储器6264的翻转阈值在20 ns脉冲宽度辐照下为150 ns脉冲宽度辐照下的3倍。     

强脉冲CO2激光对红外材料的破坏现象

实验表明强激光对红外材料的破坏分为两种类型:烧蚀和冲击破坏。在空气中,光功率密度低于大气的光学击穿阈值时,以烧蚀为主。超过击穿阈值时,冲击破坏是主要的。在我们的实验条件下,用强激光辐照红外脆性材料的靶,靶极易产生微裂纹或粉碎性破坏,其破坏效果与激光的脉冲能量、功率密度、脉冲宽度,以及着靶面积有关。为了直观,文中给出了不少辐照损伤的照片。 关键词：     

Surface ablation оf aluminum and silicon by ultrashort laser pulses of variable width

Single-shot thresholds of surface ablation of aluminum and silicon via spallative ablation by infrared (IR) and visible ultrashort laser pulses of variable width τ_las (0.2–12 ps) have been measured by optical microscopy. For increasing laser pulse width τ_las < 3 ps, a drastic (threefold) drop of the ablation threshold of aluminum has been observed for visible pulses compared to an almost negligible threshold variation for IR pulses. In contrast, the ablation threshold in silicon increases threefold with increasing τ_las for IR pulses, while the corresponding thresholds for visible pulses remained almost constant. In aluminum, such a width-dependent decrease in ablation thresholds has been related to strongly diminished temperature gradients for pulse widths exceeding the characteristic electron-phonon thermalization time. In silicon, the observed increase in ablation thresholds has been ascribed to two-photon IR excitation, while in the visible range linear absorption of the material results in almost constant thresholds.     

短脉冲激光辐照下SiO2损伤微观机理简化模型

 从电子密度速率方程出发，建立短脉冲激光辐照下SiO₂材料中导带电子增长简化模型，计算了SiO₂中光致电离速率和电子雪崩速率，得到SiO₂激光损伤阈值与脉冲宽度的关系，计算分析了光致电离和碰撞电离两种电离机制在导带电子累积过程中的不同作用。结果表明：脉冲较长，碰撞电离几乎能提供全部的导带电子，激光损伤阈值与脉宽的0.5次方成正比；脉冲较短时，导带电子主要由碰撞电离产生，光致电离提供碰撞电离的初始电子，激光损伤阈值随着脉宽的减小，先增加后减小。     

Influence of oxygen post-treatment on laser-induced damage of antireflection coatings prepared by electron-beam evaporation and ion beam assisted deposition

Antireflection coatings at the center wavelength of 1053 nm were prepared on BK7 glasses by electron-beam evaporation deposition (EBD) and ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD). Parts of the two kinds of samples were post-treated with oxygen plasma at the environment temperature after deposition. Absorption at 1064 nm was characterized based on surface thermal lensing (STL) technique. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) was measured by a 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser with a pulse width of 38 ps. Leica-DMRXE Microscope was applied to gain damage morphologies of samples. The results revealed that oxygen post-treatment could lower the absorption and increase the damage thresholds for both kinds of as-grown samples. However, the improving effects are not the same.     

脉宽对中红外激光带内损伤HgCdTe材料的影响

研究了脉宽对于中红外脉冲激光带内损伤碲镉汞（HgCdTe）材料阈值的影响,使用一维自洽模型对激光辐照HgCdTe材料程中的载流子数密度,载流子对数目流,载流子对能流,载流子温度和材料晶格温度等相关参数进行仿真计算。仿真结果表明,波长2.85 μm,脉宽30 ps～10 ns单脉冲激光带内辐照HgCdTe材料的损伤阈值为200～500 mJ/cm2。其中,300 ps～3 ns脉冲激光的损伤阈值相近,均为200 mJ/cm2且低于其他脉宽激光的损伤阈值。搭建实验光路并进行相关实验验证仿真模型的正确性。实验发现,波长2.85 μm、脉宽300 ps的单脉冲激光带内辐照HgCdTe材料的损伤阈值在200 mJ/cm2左右。相同条件下,10 ns单脉冲激光带内辐照HgCdTe材料的损伤阈值约474 mJ/cm2。百皮秒脉冲激光对HgCdTe材料的损伤过程结合了热击穿和光学击穿效应,其独特的毁伤机理加剧了材料的损伤。     

后向受激布里渊散射诱导的光学材料破坏机理研究

 区别于传统的受激布里渊散射(SBS)发生器和放大器，提出了一种新型的SBS模型：自供种子光模型 (self Stokes seeding，SSS)。数值求解了SBS耦合波方程组，得到了SBS诱导应力的时空分布。基于SSS建立了高功率激光辐照下光学材料破坏阈值的计算模型，研究了SBS破坏阈值与激光脉宽以及作用区长度的关系。研究发现，SBS作为一种破坏机制，表现为前表面破坏，且破坏阈值与激光脉宽以及作用区长度均成反比。     

Mechanisms of femtosecond laser-induced damage in magnesium fluoride

We studied the single-shot damage in magnesium fluoride irradiated by 800 nm femtosecond (fs) laser. The dependence of damage thresholds on the laser pulse durations from 60 to 750 fs was measured. The pump-probe measurements were carried out to investigate the time-resolved electronic excitation processes. A coupled dynamic model was applied to study the microprocesses in the interaction between fs laser and magnesium fluoride. The results indicate that both multiphoton ionization and avalanche ionization play important roles in the femtosecond laser-induced damage in MgF₂.     

Femtosecond laser-induced damage in reflector

We have investigated the damage for ZrO₂/SiO₂ 800 nm 45° high-reflection mirror with femtosecond pulses. The damage morphologies and the evolution of ablation crater depths with laser fluences are dramatically different from that with pulse longer than a few tens of picoseconds. The ablation in multilayers occurs layer by layer, and not continuously as in the case of bulk single crystalline or amorphous materials. The weak point in damage is the interface between two layers. We also report its single-short damage thresholds for pulse durations ranging from 50 to 900 fs, which departs from the diffusion-dominated scaling. A developed avalanche model, including the production of conduction band electrons (CBE) and laser energy deposition, is applied to study the damage mechanisms. The theoretical results agree well with our measurements.     

Femtosecond laser ablation of crystals SiO2 and YAG

Damage threshold of crystals SiO₂ and YAG against 60-900 fs, 800 nm laser pulses are reported. The breakdown mechanisms were discussed based on the double-flux model and Keldysh theory. We found that impact ionization plays the important role in the femtosecond laser-induced damage in crystalline SiO₂, while the roles of photoionization and impact ionization in YAG crystals depend on the laser pulse durations.     

Nanosecond laser damage resistance of differently prepared semi-finished parts of optical multimode fibers

Optical multimode fibers are applied in materials processing (e.g. automotive industry), defense, aviation technology, medicine and biotechnology. One challenging task concerning the production of multimode fibers is the enhancement of laser-induced damage thresholds. A higher damage threshold enables a higher transmitted average power at a given fiber diameter or the same power inside a thinner fiber to obtain smaller focus spots.In principle, different material parameters affect the damage threshold. Besides the quality of the preform bulk material itself, the drawing process during the production of the fiber and the preparation of the fiber end surfaces influence the resistance. Therefore, the change of the laser-induced damage threshold of preform materials was investigated in dependence on a varying thermal treatment and preparation procedure.Single and multi-pulse laser-induced damage thresholds of preforms (F300, Heraeus) were measured using a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm wavelength emitting pulses with a duration of 15 ns, a pulse energy of 12 mJ and a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The temporal and spatial shape of the laser pulses were controlled accurately.Laser-induced damage thresholds in a range from 150 J cm⁻² to 350 J cm⁻² were determined depending on the number of pulses applied to the same spot, the thermal history and the polishing quality of the samples, respectively.     

Single mode oscillation of TEA CO2 laser with an interference resonator

An effective single-longitudinal mode (SLM) pulse TEA CO₂ laser operation was demonstrated using a Michelson’s type resonator with a tilting Fabry-Perot etalon. A modified numerical model of the interference resonator was investigated for designing the laser. The experimentally measured values were found to have good agreement with the numerical model. A pulse width of about 90 ns and the maximum pulse energy of about 300 mJ were achieved at 10.59 μm in SLM and TEM₀₀ mode. The reliability of producing SLM pulses was 100% and there was no damage on the etalon. By turning the interference resonator, the SLM output was tuned 44 lines of the CO₂ spectrum.     

Plasma-based nitrogen tail pulse shutter for CO2-TEA lidar dial systems

This paper presents the construction, use and characterisation of a laser-induced sealed plasma shutter to clip off the nitrogen pulse tail of a CO₂-TEA laser-based lidar dial system. Investigation of the optimum gas filling pressure, temporal profile of the clipped pulse, and the laser threshold power intensities to achieve ionisation growth and breakdown in helium, argon, and nitrogen are also presented. Values of these power density thresholds lie between 3×10¹¹ W cm^-2–5×10¹² W cm^-2, 2×10¹¹ W cm^-2–2×10¹² W cm^-2 and 3×10¹³ W cm^-2–2×10¹⁴ W cm^-2 for helium, argon, and nitrogen, respectively. The range resolution attainable with the present clipped pulses is 15 m, which is 30 times better than that readily obtained with the nitrogen-tailed pulses. Field measurements of the lidar returns with the clipped pulse from a co-operative target are presented. Received: 27 December 1999 / Revised version: 11 February 2000 / Published online: 27 April 2000     

高重频CO_2激光损伤HgCdTe晶体的数值分析

针对CO2激光作用下HgCdTe晶体的损伤问题进行了数值分析。首先,建立了高重频CO2激光损伤Hg0.784Cd0.216Te晶体的三维热传导物理模型;然后,利用有限元方法计算了单脉冲和高重频CO2激光作用下,Hg0.784Cd0.216Te晶体的损伤阈值;最后,分析了激光重频以及辐照时间对晶体损伤阈值的影响。研究结果表明:单脉冲激光辐照下,晶体的损伤阈值为64.5 J/cm2;高重频(f>1 kHz)激光辐照下,激光重频的改变对晶体损伤阈值的影响较小,损伤阈值应由平均功率密度表征,且与辐照时间密切相关;辐照时间的增加,可以有效地减小晶体的损伤阈值,当激光辐照功率密度<1.95 kW/cm2时,不会发生晶体损伤。研究结果对高重频CO2激光在激光加工以及激光防护的应用方面具有指导意义。     

Thermal effects investigation and cavity design in passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser with a SESAM

A diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO₄ laser with a five-mirror folded cavity is presented by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The temperature distribution and thermal lensing in laser medium are numerically analyzed to design a special cavity which can keep the power density on SESAM under its damage threshold. Both the Q-switched and continuous-wave mode-locked operation are experimentally realized. The maximum average output power of 8.94 W with a 9.3 ps pulse width at a repetition rate of 111 MHz is obtained under a pump power of 24 W, correspondingly the optical slope efficiency is 39.2%.     

Pulsed laser damage of proustite

Pulsed laser damage thresholds have been measured for proustite (Ag₃ As S₃) as the wavelengths 0.694, 1.065, 1.32 and 10.6 μm. The damage thresholds have been found to vary with both the wavelength and duration of the irradiating pulse. At 1.065 μm damage thresholds are 0.38 J/cm² for pulses of duration <50 ns whilst for durations >50 ns a value of 7 MW/cm² is appropriate. The results suggest that damage is initiated by absorbing inclusions approximately 0.6 μm in diameter embedded within the crystals. These inclusions are heated by an incident pulse to cause catastrophic damage of both the surface and interior of an irradiated sample. A model has been developed to enable a study of the thermal behaviour of inclusions irradiated by laser pulses with Gaussian time-dependence to be made.     

多脉冲激光辐照下介质损伤理论研究

针对纳秒脉冲和飞秒脉冲不同的损伤机制,分别建立了两种多脉冲激光损伤模型。脉宽小于10 ps时,损伤是由于等离子体形成造成介质发生烧蚀所致,对此建立了基于电子密度演化方程的介质击穿模型;脉宽大于100 ps时,损伤是由于热沉积造成介质发生熔融所致,对此建立了基于傅里叶热传导方程的介质热损伤模型。通过计算两种模型下激光参数和材料参数对多脉冲损伤的影响,发现由于损伤机理不同,不同参数对单脉冲损伤阈值和多脉冲损伤阈值的影响趋势不完全一致,敏感程度也不同。通过计算得到了与实验结果一致的多脉冲损伤阈值与脉冲数间关系,使定量预估多脉冲损伤阈值和元件使用寿命成为可能。     

Overcoat dependence of laser-induced damage threshold of 355 nm HR coatings

A series of HR coatings, with and without overcoat, were prepared by electron beam evaporation using the same deposition process. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) was measured by a 355 nm Nd:YAG laser with a pulse width of 8 ns. Damage morphologies of samples were observed by Leica-DMRXE Microscope. The stress was measured by viewing the substrate deformation before and after coatings deposition using an optical interferometer. Reflectance of the samples was measured by Lambda 900 Spectrometer. The theoretical results of electric field distributions of the samples were calculate by thin film design software (TFCalc). It was found that SiO₂ overcoat had improved the LIDT greatly, while MgF₂ overcoat had little effect on the LIDT because of its high stress in the HR coatings. The damage morphologies were different among HR coatings with and without overcoats.