Thermal-dynamical analysis of blister formation in chirped mirror irradiated by single femtosecond lasers.

Abstract

The laser-induced damage behaviors of chirped mirrors (CMs) are studied by single 800 nm, 38 fs lasers. The CMs provide group delay dispersion of around -60 fs² and average reflectivity of about 99.4% with bandwidth range of 200-300 nm at a central wavelength of 800 nm. Interestingly, a circular blister feature appears in the CMs at a wide range of laser fluence. An optical microscope, atomic force microscope, scanning electron microscope, and surface profiler are applied to describe the blister characteristics. An adiabatic expansion model of ideal gas is adopted to illustrate the formation dynamics of blisters. The evolution of blisters can be explained by partial evaporation of the film and a subsequent gas expansion, driving the bulging of the film stack up to the stress limit, where the blister fractures. According to this model, the energy absorption ratio of blisters increases monotonously with increasing laser fluence before the occurrence of the focal spot confinement effect.