Pulsed laser damage of proustite

Abstract

Pulsed laser damage thresholds have been measured for proustite (Ag3 As S3) as the wavelengths 0.694, 1.065, 1.32 and 10.6 μm. The damage thresholds have been found to vary with both the wavelength and duration of the irradiating pulse. At 1.065 μm damage thresholds are 0.38 J/cm2 for pulses of duration <50 ns whilst for durations >50 ns a value of 7 MW/cm2 is appropriate. The results suggest that damage is initiated by absorbing inclusions approximately 0.6 μm in diameter embedded within the crystals. These inclusions are heated by an incident pulse to cause catastrophic damage of both the surface and interior of an irradiated sample. A model has been developed to enable a study of the thermal behaviour of inclusions irradiated by laser pulses with Gaussian time-dependence to be made. Show more