Effect of impurities and stress on the damage distributions of rapidly grown KDP crystals
Development of high damage threshold, 50 cm, rapidly grown KF*P frequency triplers for operation of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the 14 J/cm2, 351 nm, 3 ns regime requires a thorough understanding of how the crystal growth parameters and technologies affect laser induced damage. Of particular importance is determining the effect of ionic impurities (e.g. Cr3+, Fe3+, Al3+) which may be introduced in widely varying concentrations via starting salts. In addition, organic particulates can contaminate the solution as leachants from growth platforms or via mechanical ablation. Mechanical stresses in the crystals may also play a strong role in the laser-induced damage distribution (LIDD), particularly in the cases of large boules where hydrodynamic forces in the growth tank may be quite high. WE have developed a dedicated, automated damage test system with diagnostic capabilities specifically designed for measured time resolved bulk damage onset and evolution. The data obtained make it possible to construct characteristic damage threshold distributions for each sample. Test results obtained for a variety of KDP samples grown from high purity starting salts and individually doped with Lucite and Teflon, iron, chromium, and aluminium show that the LIDD drops with increasing contamination content. The results also show that solution filtration leads to increased damage performance for undoped crystals but is not solely responsibility for producing the high LIDDs required by the NIF. The highest LIDD measured on a rapidly grown sample indicate that it is possible to produce high damage threshold material using ultrahigh purity, recrystallized starting salts, continuous filtration and a platform designed to minimize internal stress during growth.
- 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:
- 647027
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC-128091; CONF-9710116-; ON: DE98052077; BR: DP0212000; TRN: 98:009268
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 29. annual Boulder damage symposium on optical materials for high power lasers, Boulder, CO (United States), 6-8 Oct 1997; Other Information: PBD: 20 Dec 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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