Presented study addresses the nano-size defects acting as damage precursors in nanosecond laser pulse irradiation regime. Defects embedded within the surface of glass are investigated in terms of defect ensembles. Damage frequency method and raster scan procedure are directly compared on the set of two samples: uncoated fused silica substrates and SiO₂ monolayer films. The extracted defect ensembles appear to be different from each other. The limitations of compared methods such as pulse-to-pulse variation of laser intensity and sample contamination induced by laser ablation were identified as the main causes of observed differences.

Date Published: 23 November 2015
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 9632, Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2015, 96321N (23 November 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2195332

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9632:
Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2015
Gregory J. Exarhos; Vitaly E. Gruzdev; Joseph A. Menapace; Detlev Ristau; MJ Soileau, Editor(s)