The optical properties and laser irradiation of some common glasses

Abstract

The reflectance spectra of four common glasses have been measured from 300 to 2000 cm-1. The glasses examined were Vitreosil, Tempax, Sodalime, and BK7. A Kramers-Kronig analysis of the reflectance data was used to calculate the real and imaginary parts of the refractive index. These were used to predict how the glasses would react to high-power carbon dioxide laser irradiation. The results indicated that the lower optical absorption coefficient and the lower thermal expansion coefficient of the Vitreosil glass should make it less susceptible to laser induced damage.