Mid-infrared femtosecond laser-induced damages in As2S3 and As2Se3 chalcogenide glasses

Chenyang You,Yinsheng Xu,Shixun Dai,Peiqing Zhang,Yingying Wang,Dong Xu,Rongping Wang

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-06592-3

Chenyang You, Yinsheng Xu + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-06592-3

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Journal: Scientific Reports	Publication Date: Jul 26, 2017
Citations: 40	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Ningbo University

Abstract

In this paper, we report the first measurements of mid-infrared (MIR) femtosecond laser-induced damage in two typical chalcogenide glasses, As2S3 and As2Se3. Damage mechanism is studied via optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and elemental analysis. By irradiating at 3, 4 and 5 μm with 150 fs ultrashort pulses, the evolution of crater features is presented with increasing laser fluence. The dependence of laser damage on the bandgap and wavelength is investigated and finally the laser-induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) of As2S3 and As2Se3 at 3 and 4 μm are calculated from the experimental data. The results may be a useful for chalcogenide glasses (ChGs) applied in large laser instruments to prevent optical damage.

Highlights

chalcogenide glasses (ChGs) have attracted intensive research interests in past decades due to their low phonon energies, high linear and nonlinear refractive indexes and wide transparency in the infrared region
Unlike optical damage caused by nanosecond pulses or longer pulses, the damage mechanism of the femtosecond laser is mainly due to accumulation of conduction band electrons (CBEs) rather than thermal accumulation[11]
We investigated laser fluence and wavelength dependence of damage features in bulk As2S3 and As2Se3 glasses under multiple MIR femtosecond pulses

Summary

Introduction

ChGs have attracted intensive research interests in past decades due to their low phonon energies, high linear and nonlinear refractive indexes and wide transparency in the infrared region. They have shown great potentials for applications in biosensors[1], atmosphere pollution monitoring[2], frequency metrology[3], and temperature sensors[4]. Using an OPA system delivering ~150 fs pulses, the effects of the laser intensity, wavelengths (3/4/5 μm), and band gap of the glasses on laser damage were investigated using different techniques including the super long depth of view optical microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM). LIDTs of As2S3 and As2Se3 at different wavelengths are essential to avoid contamination in the real applications since they contain poisonous element of Arsenic

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