Accumulated surface damage on ZnS crystals produced by closely spaced pairs of picosecond laser pulses

Conference · Thu Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6178653

Chase, L L; Lee, H W.H.

Excitation of a transparent ZnS crystal by repetitive picosecond dye laser pulses causes an accumulated surface modification leading to optical damage. The onset of the damage is detected by an abrupt increase in the emission of neutral Zn (and possibly S/sub 2/) from the surface. Comparison of the neutral emission thresholds with pulse-pair and single-pulse excitation shows that linear absorption is the dominant laser-surface interaction. In general, this measurement technique shows considerable promise for investigating the possible influence of nonlinear absorption or excitation processes on damage mechanisms. The data suggest that heating of small absorbing regions produces the surface modification that leads to the observed surface ablation. The nature of the damage observed at fluences above the threshold suggests that it is caused by heating of a relatively large (/approximately/10 - 100 ..mu..m) surface region that has been modified by the accumulation pulses. 3 refs., 5 figs.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6178653
• Report Number(s): UCRL-99741; CONF-8810284-2; ON: DE89008813
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700208* -- Fusion Power Plant Technology-- Inertial Confinement Technology
CHALCOGENIDES
CRYSTALS
DAMAGE
DYE LASERS
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EQUIPMENT
EXCITATION
INORGANIC PHOSPHORS
LASERS
LIQUID LASERS
OPTICAL EQUIPMENT
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHOSPHORS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SULFIDES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SURFACES
ZINC COMPOUNDS
ZINC SULFIDES