Automated real-time evaluation system for Laser-induced damage of optical components based on microscopic scattering dark-field imaging method

Abstract

Laser-induced damage to optical components is a crucial factor restricting laser output power in Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) systems. To evaluate the anti-laser damage performance of optical components, bright-field microscopes are prevalently employed for online damage monitoring. The state and quantity of damage points are manually judged by the human eye, which inevitably curtails the efficiency and precision. An imaging system predicated on dark-field microscopic scattering is proposed to enhance the efficiency without interfering with the pulsed laser irradiation process. The included synchronous operation module is harnessed to orchestrate the operational sequence of each hardware constituent. Concurrently, damage detection is executed based on local threshold segmentation and clustering algorithms in accordance with diverse detection demands. The distribution images and statistical information of weak damages can be obtained. It is also expected to achieve online monitoring of the damage state of the terminal optical components of the ICF equipment.