Laser induced damage in multilayer dielectric gratings due to ultrashort laser pulses
Chirped pulse amplification is increasingly used to produce intense ultrashort laser pulses. When high-efficiency gratings are the dispersive element, as in the LLNL Petawatt laser, their susceptibility to laser induced damage constitutes a limitation on the peak intensities that can be reached. To obtain robust gratings, it is necessary to understand the causes of short-pulse damage, and to recognize the range of design options for high efficiency gratings. Metal gratings owe their high efficiency to their high conductivity. To avoid the inevitable light absorption that accompanies conductivity, we have developed designs for high efficiency reflection gratings that use only transparent dielectric materials. These combine the reflectivity of a multilayer dielectric stack with a diffraction grating. We report here our present understanding of short-pulse laser induced damage, as it applies to dielectric gratings.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 104439
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC-120187; CONF-9505264-10; ON: DE95016610; TRN: 95:020411
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1. annual solid-state lasers for application to inertial confinement fusion meeting, Monterey, CA (United States), 30 May - 2 Jun 1995; Other Information: PBD: 26 May 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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