Growth Characteristics and Mechanism of Surface and Bulk Damage in KDP and DKDP Crystals

By testing the number increase and size growth of surface and bulk laser induced damage in KDP and DKDP crystals, we observe different growth characteristics of surface and bulk damage under multiple 355nm laser irradiations. The size of the surface damage grows exponentially, but that of the bulk damage does not grow. In contrast, the bulk damage number increases, but that of surface damage does not increase significantly. We attribute the differences to the different formation of the damage initiators and the different damage testing volumes.     

A Thermal Approach to Model Laser Damage in KDP and DKDP Crystals

A thermal model is considered in order to better understand the mechanism of laser induced damage in KDP and DKDP crystals. We demonstrate that the expressions of pinpoint density and damage probability, predicted by the thermal model, are consistent with the experimental data. We also discuss the effect of particle interaction on the thermal model.     

不同波长三倍频DKDP晶体的激光损伤

采用传统降温法,利用高纯原料从氘化程度为80%的溶液生长了四方相磷酸二氘钾(DKDP)晶体,并按Ⅱ类三倍频方式切割晶体。三倍频用DKDP晶体的最大问题在于其抗光伤阈值低于KDP晶体,严重限制了激光输出的能量密度和晶体使用寿命。考察了不同波长下三倍频DKDP晶体的损伤阈值,以及激光退火效应。实验表明,激光退火对于DKDP晶体的损伤阈值有显著的提升作用,基频、倍频、三倍频的提升效果分别达到1.4,1.9,2.7倍,是改善DKDP晶体抗光伤能力的有效途径。     

Absorption modification by laser irradiation in DKDP crystals

Laser-induced modification at 355 nm of deuterated potassium dihydrogen phosphate(DKDP) crystals following exposure to nanosecond(ns) and sub-ns laser irradiation is investigated in order to probe the absorption mechanism in damage initiation. Laser damage resistance is greatly improved by sub-ns laser conditioning,whereas only a little improvement occurred after ns laser conditioning at the same laser fluence. Moreover, scattering and transmittance variations after the two types of laser conditioning indicate similar reduction of linear absorption. However, by contrast, large differences on nonlinear absorption modification are discovered using Z-scan measurement. This characteristic absorption modification by laser irradiation provides evidence that a nonlinear absorption mechanism plays a key role in damage initiation at 355 nm.     

Characteristics of 355 nm Laser Damage in KDP and DKDP Crystals

We present the characteristics of bulk damage induced by the third harmonic of Nd：YAG laser irradiation in KDP and DKDP crystals. Bulk damage occurs as a few or a series of pinpoints consisting of a core and the deforming zone. The results of a 1-on-1 test reveal that the pinpoint size increases with incvreasing fluence, and the pinpoint density increases exponentially with increasing fluence. The results of an s-on-1 test indicate that the pinpoint density increases gradually with laser pulse number, but the size does not grow. These results are consistent with a model in which nanoabsorbers are assumed to exist in the crystal and the initiation of damage is determined by heating them to the critical temperature.