Full-scale optic designed for onsite study of damage growth at the Laser MegaJoule facility.

Large fusion scale laser facilities aim at delivering megajoules laser energy in the UV spectrum and nanosecond regime. Due to the extreme laser energies, the laser damage of final optics of such beamlines is an important issue that must be addressed. Once a damage site initiates, it grows at each laser shot which decreases the quality of the optical component and spoil laser performances. Operation at full energy and power of such laser facilities requires a perfect control of damage kinetics and laser parameters. Monitoring damage kinetics involves onsite observation, understanding of damage growth process and prediction of growth features. Facilities are equipped with cameras dedicated to the monitoring of damage site growth. Here we propose to design and manufacture a dedicated full size optical component to study damage growth at increased energy, on the beamline, i.e. in the real environment of the optics on a large laser facility. Used for the first time in 2021, the growth statistics acquired by this approach at the Laser MegaJoule (LMJ) facility provides a new calibration point at a fluence less than 5 J cm-2 and a flat-in-time pulse of 3 ns.

Sub-picosecond laser damage growth on high reflective coatings for high power applications.

Growth of laser damage on High Reflection (HR) thin film coatings is investigated at the wavelength of 1.030µm in the sub-picosecond regime. An experimental laser damage setup in a pump / probe configuration is used to study the growth behavior of engineered damage sites as well as laser damage sites. Results demonstrate that engineered sites and laser damage sites grow identically which indicates that the growth phenomenon is intrinsic to materials and stack design. In order to analyze the experimental results, we have developed a numerical model to simulate growth. Using FEM simulations, we demonstrate that growth is governed by the evolution of the electric field distribution in the mirror stack under the successive laser shots, which is supported by time-resolved observations of damage growth events. Eventually the results are compared to laser damage observations made on of full scale PETAL mirrors, which fully support the approach.

Laser damage growth with picosecond pulses.

Laser-induced damage growth has been investigated in the subpicosecond regime at 1030 nm. We have herein studied the growth of damage sites initiated on a high-reflective dielectric coating under subsequent laser irradiations at a constant fluence. We show through an experimental approach that growth can be triggered for fluences as low as 50% of the intrinsic damage threshold of the mirror. Moreover, once growth starts, damage areas increase linearly with the number of laser shots. The behavior of defect-induced damage sites has been observed more extensively, and it appears that their growth probability depends on their initiation fluence.

Assessment of mono-shot measurement as a fast and accurate determination of the laser-induced damage threshold in the sub-picosecond regime.

Standard test protocols need several laser shots to assess the laser-induced damage threshold of optics and, consequently, large areas are necessary. Taking into account the dominating intrinsic mechanisms of laser damage in the sub-picosecond regime, a simple, fast, and accurate method, based on correlating the fluence distribution with the damage morphology after only one shot in optics is therein presented. Several materials and components have been tested using this method and compared to the results obtained with the classical 1/1 method. Both lead to the same threshold value with an accuracy in the same order of magnitude. Therefore, this mono-shot testing could be a straightforward protocol to evaluate damage threshold in short pulse regime.

Laser damage density measurement of optical components in the sub-picosecond regime.

A rasterscan procedure adapted to the sub-picosecond regime is set to determine laser-induced damage densities as function of fluences. Density measurement is carried out on dielectric high-reflective coatings operating at 1053 nm. Whereas laser-induced damage is usually considered deterministic in this regime, damage events occur on these structures for fluences significantly lower than their intrinsic damage threshold. Scanning electron microscope observations of these "under-threshold" damage sites evidence ejections of defects, embedded in the dielectric stack. This method brings a new viewpoint for the qualification of optical components and their optimization for a high resistance in the sub-picosecond regime.