Generic incubation law for laser damage and ablation thresholds

Abstract

In multi-pulse laser damage and ablation experiments, the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) usually changes with the number of pulses in the train, a phenomenon known as incubation. We introduce a general incubation model based on two physical mechanisms—pulse induced change of (i) absorption and (ii) critical energy that must be deposited to cause ablation. The model is applicable to a broad class of materials and we apply it to fit data for dielectrics and metals. It also explains observed changes of the LIDT as a function of the laser repetition rate. We discuss under which conditions the crater-size method to determine LIDTs can be applied in multi-pulse experiments.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Feb 20, 2015
Source ID
10.1063/1.4913282

Entities

People

  • Matthias Lenzner
  • Wolfgang Rudolph
  • Zhanliang Sun

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • Coventry University
  • University of New Mexico

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Thermal Physics or Thermal Science.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy