Thermomechanical response of glassy materials following laser induced superheating

Stavros Demos, Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE)

Hopeman 224

The quest for achieving higher energy outputs in modern laser systems is encompassing exposing the constituent optical components to electric fields that can significantly alter their local optical properties.  Such process typically increases the localized absorptivity facilitating coupling of the laser energy into the materials that leads to their failure, typically refed to as “laser-induced damage”. For pulses on the order of 10^-8 second or shorter, laser induced damage is associated with rapid superheating of the material that is followed, after the termination of the laser pulse, by a much slower spontaneous relaxation. The focus of this presentation is to understand the response of glassy materials to laser induced superheating. The study uses an array of experimental and modeling tools to capture the material behavior. The ultimate goal is to use such knowledge to design materials and optical components that offer improved performance as well as advance material science at extreme conditions.