Laser-Induced Bulk Damage of Various Types of Silica Glasses at 532 and 355 nm

Abstract

Laser-induced bulk-damage threshold (LIDT) of various types of silica glasses at 532 and 355 nm caused by lasers with pulse widths of ≈5 ns (refered as nanosecond laser [NSL]) and 30 ps (refered as picosecond laser [PSL]) were observed. The LIDTs of fused quartzes (FQs) produced by melting natural quartz powder were less than those of synthetic fused silicas (SFSs) at both wavelengths. At 355 nm, the LIDT of SFS containing 1000 ppm of Cl was almost the same as that of FQ at 1 pulse, and that at 12000 pulses was between those of SFSs and FQs. The variation of LIDT among samples for PSL is less than that for NSL.