Laser damage characteristics of the YAG ceramics

Abstract

Interest in the YAG (Y3Al5O12) transparent ceramics for laser systems has been increasing. As the laser gain medium in laser systems, especially in high power laser systems, the laser damage resistant of YAG ceramics are required to be evaluated. The laser damage characteristics of four ceramics with the dimensions of 30mm×15mm×3mm were investigated. It is found that the bulk laser induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) of the YAG ceramics are lower than their surface LIDTs. The bulk LIDTs are related with the transmissions of the YAG ceramics. The surface damage morphologies should be induced by the opens pores on the ceramic surface, which are left by surface manufacturing.