Investigation of stress wave and damage morphology growth generated by laser-induced damage on rear surface of fused silica.

Abstract

In this study, stress wave and damage morphology on the rear surface of silica during laser induced damage with cumulative UV pump shots is investigated. Time resolved imaging system, along with stress induced birefringence detecting, is used to demonstrate the development of stress wave. The properties of three types of stress waves, namely, compressive wave (P-wave), shear wave (S-wave), and Rayleigh wave (R-wave) are recorded and studied during the damage process. The experimental and simulated results indicated that R-wave exhibits the highest intensity among all the three stress waves. Because the R-wave is mainly localized at the region near the surface, it is responsible for the mechanical damage along the surface; in addition, it rapidly increases the damage diameter, which was observed from the front view of the damage.