Damage Threshold Studies in Laser Crystals: Beam Intensity Profile and Self-Focusing

Abstract

The results of a number of experiments are presented which were aimed at detailed characterization of the spatial profile of the laser beam both before and after amplification. Revised values of previous damage thresholds are presented as well as the results of measurements of damage threshold as a function of lens focal length. In other experiments, the time evolution of the damage tracks in ruby and sapphire was studied using a fast streaking camera. Because of the importance of self-focusing considerations in damage studies, a detailed derivation of theoretical results reported recently by other workers is presented as an appendix.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1971
Accession Number
AD0722074

Entities

People

  • Concetto R. Giuliano
  • Donald F. Dubois
  • Gerald R. Rickel
  • Robert W. Hellwarth

Organizations

  • HRL Laboratories

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Amplifiers
  • Boltzmann Equation
  • California
  • Cameras
  • Computer Programs
  • Contracts
  • Diffraction
  • Electrons
  • Equations
  • Far Field
  • Focal Planes
  • Gaussian Distributions
  • Laser Beams
  • Laser Pulses
  • Optical Pumping
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Theoretical Analysis.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy