An automated damage inspection microscopy system for National Ignition Facility optics

Abstract

Identifying laser induced damage on the surface of optical components for the purpose of tracking its growth over time and repairing it is an important part of the economical operation of the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Optics installed on NIF are monitored in situ for damage growth and can be removed as needed for repair and re-use. An ex-situ automated microscopy system is used to inspect full sized NIF optics allowing for the detection of damage sites <10 μm in diameter. Due to the various morphology of laser damage, several algorithms are used to analyze the microscopy data and identify damage regardless of size, while ignoring features not related to laser damage. This system has significantly increased the lifetime of NIF final optics (≈2.3x) thereby extending beyond the capabilities of the in-situ inspection by itself.