Laser Damage Testing Of Coated Reflectors At Excimer Laser Wavelengths

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Abstract
An important parameter in the design of large-scale ultraviolet lasers - such as those envisioned for Inertial Confinement Fusion and Molecular Laser Isotope Separation - is the resistance to optical damage of windows, AR-coatings, and coated reflectors. In addressing the problem of evaluating and optimizing highly reflective dielectric stacks, we have measured the damage thresholds of a variety of 248-nm, 308-nm, and 351-nm reflectors. The coatings were composed of quarterwave stacks of oxide and/or fluoride films deposited on Suprasil 2 substrates. Testing was accomplished at 35 Hz with nominal 10-ns pulses focused to a mean 1/e2 diameter of 0.5 - 0.6 mm. Damage threshold - defined as the highest fluence at which 10/10 sites survived 1000 shots - ranged from 1 - 5 J/cm2, with a strong dependence upon laser wavelength and reflector coating materials.

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