Laser damage studies of ZnS via neutral Zn particle emission

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6594671

Arlinghaus, H F; Calaway, W F; Young, C E; Pellin, M J; Gruen, D M; Chase, L L

Emission of neutral atoms from ZnS surfaces due to laser irradiation has been observed at power densities two orders of magnitude below the single pulse damage threshold of the material. We have measured the velocity distribution and absolute yield of neutral Zn atoms generated by exposure of ZnS single crystals to XeCl excimer laser irradiation (308 nm) using time-of-flight and high-resolution two-photon laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. The distributions are in agreement with Maxwell-Boltzmann distributions. The characteristic temperature increases from 2000 to 9000 K as the fluences are raised from 17 to 80 mJ/cm/sup 2/, respectively. The absolute Zn yield also increases from 10/sup 8/ to 10/sup 12/ atoms per laser pulse as the laser fluence is increased. The results suggest formation of a plasma that interacts with the surface and leads to catastrophic failure. For consecutive laser shots at constant laser fluences, a nearly exponential increase in the Zn particle density is observed, yet visible damage did not occur until 150,000 laser shots. Our results show that neutral particle emission is of considerable importance in the identification of fundamental damage mechanisms and that microscopic damage occurs far below the single-pulse damage threshold. 4 refs., 2 figs.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA); Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38; W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6594671
• Report Number(s): CONF-881002-33; ON: DE89004212
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420300* -- Engineering-- Lasers-- (-1989)
656003 -- Condensed Matter Physics-- Interactions between Beams & Condensed Matter-- (1987-)
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CHALCOGENIDES
DAMAGE
EMISSION
EQUIPMENT
INORGANIC PHOSPHORS
LASER POWER TRANSMISSION
LASERS
NEUTRAL PARTICLES
OPTICAL EQUIPMENT
PARTICLES
PHOSPHORS
POWER TRANSMISSION
SULFIDES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
ZINC COMPOUNDS
ZINC SULFIDES