In our recent experiment, it is discovered that the interaction of resonant metasurfaces and mid-infrared femtosecond laser pulses can realize damage patterns that overcome this limitation, and the geometry of the trench can be controlled by the pulse intensity, polarization, and the total pulse number. In this study, we report the particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of the interaction of the M-shape metasurface and 200-fs mid-IR laser pulses with high intensity. The simulation results suggest that localized lattice heating and explosions occur at a scale and in the relationship with the polarization consistent with the experimental data.
Understanding the physical mechanism behind the laser-induced damage of multilayer dielectric interference coatings is essential for developing ultra-high intensity laser systems. The previous work reported high damage thresholds of MLD mirrors and blister formation near the threshold. Here, we present the cross-sectional study of the blisters using transmission electron microscopy and focused ion-beam processing. The measurement shows evidence of void formation and phase transformation under the surface, interdiffusion, and intermixing at the interfaces. These findings provide valuable insights into the mechanisms behind laser-induced damage, facilitating the development of more robust and reliable optics for high-power laser applications.
The high-average-power petawatt-class Big Aperture Thulium (BAT) laser concept was proposed to meet the requirements for the next-generation compact particle accelerators. Our previous work reported the laser damage test and modeling of pulse compression gratings designed for the BAT laser and operating at 2 micron wavelength. Notably, we observed blister formation of the underlying layers at low fluences and ablation of the grating pillars at higher fluences. Here we present the measurement and analysis of these bulging damage precursors on the MLD gratings and mirrors using the cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy combined with focused ion beam processing.
Understanding the physical process behind laser-induced damage of multilayer dielectric (MLD) interference coatings (IC) is of supreme importance for building ultrahigh-intensity laser systems. We experimentally studied the S-on-1 laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) and damage characteristics of the SiO2/HfO2 high reflector quarter-wave stacks for three different femtosecond pulse durations operating at 1030nm wavelength. The S-on-1 LIDT for 1,10,100,1000 and 10000 pulses were recorded, and the values compare well with the state of the art. A strong correlation between single-shot damage morphology and laser focal intensity profiles was observed. Potential damage mechanisms of IC layers consistent with our observation will be discussed.
The pulse compression grating (PCG) is one of the most critical components of a high power chirped pulse amplification laser system to achieve the shortest pulse duration. Compared to metal gratings, a multi-layer dielectric (MLD) grating is a possible solution to improve the laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of PCGs. Our previous work reported simulations of electron excitation dynamics in the interaction of MLD mirrors and femtosecond pulses (<100 fs). Here we present the study of the interaction of a MLD grating and a 50-fs pulse using a 2D dynamic simulation modeling both the E-field enhancement and transient material responses.
The development of next-generation laser optics can be guided by studies looking to improve the laser-induced damage threshold of highly-reflective interference coatings. We model intense few-cycle pulses interacting with multilayer HfO2/SiO2 dielectric interference coatings using fully three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to which we have added a Keldysh model for photoionization and a dielectric model to include refractive properties of the materials. We explore the reflection, transmission, and absorption of the laser pulses. We use the predicted excited electron density and energy density to estimate damage thresholds for these optics.
This research was funded by DOE STTR grant no. DE-SC0019900.
The interaction of ultrafast laser pulses and dielectric materials has been under intensive research for improvement of laser induced damage of optics for high intensity lasers. A 2D model based on Keldysh photoionization and finite-different time-domain (FDTD) algorithm are used to simulate the ionization processes in multilayer interference coatings, taking nonlinear photoionization, impact ionization, and plasma collision into account. Simulation and experimental results of bulk fused silica with different pulse durations and angles of incidence are compared and discussed. We also simulated the interaction of a 40-layer SiO2/Ta2O5 high reflective interference coating designed for 45° angle of incidence and a p-polarized 5-fs pulse at a wavelength of 800 nm, and the damage threshold of the coating is estimated.
Femtosecond laser damage and ablation of various glasses and transparent oxides are studied using time-resolved surface microscopy. We try to understand the damage and ablation mechanisms and how they vary according to their material parameters like bandgap and internal structure.
Laser induced damage on dielectric mirrors and its rapid growth with successive shots have been and continue to be an important barrier to high power laser systems. Here the morphology of mitigation pit is optimized theoretically, and an ultrashort laser is utilized to totally remove damage on both high-reflective (HR) and anti-reflective (AR) coating. At the same time, the substrate is handled carefully and free of laser ablation, which lower the scattering loss and the amount of debris during laser machining process. Then, using R-on-1 test procedure, several mitigated sites with size of 1mm× 1mm are investigated by a Nd:YAG laser system with a flat-top spatial distribution of fully covering the mitigated site. The experimental results show even at the average fluence of 18J/cm2@6ns, there’s no damage initiation on AR coatings and no damage growth on HR coatings. It demonstrates that ultrashort laser machining is an effective and robust way to mitigate laser damage and a promising way to improve dielectric mirror performance of high power laser system in volume production.
A kind of defects on the incident surfaces of fused silica optics are reported having the potential to initiate the damages on the exit surfaces in the final optical assembly in high power lasers. In this light, the new safe criterions for defects on the incident surfaces are proposed to avoid the detrimental modulation effects in downstream.
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