Comparative studies of laser-induced damage threshold measurements in highly reflecting mirrors

Abstract

S-on-1 laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) dependence on the pulse duration at two different wavelengths was experimentally investigated in metallic and dielectric laser mirrors. LIDT's of high-reflective dielectric coatings made of alternating λ/4 layers of TiO2/SiO2 and Ta2O5/SiO2 and those of protected metallic Au and Ag coatings were tested at 800 nm and 400 nm wavelengths with Ti:Sapphire laser pulses of 46 fs, 130 fs and 1.8 ps duration. S-on-1 measurements were performed according to international ISO 11254-2 standard using 10000 pulses/per site and compared with 1-on-1 measurements.