Comparison of multipulse nanosecond LIDT of HR coated YAG and glass substrates at 1030 nm

Optical glasses, in particular fused silica and BK7, are the most common and used substrates for components manufacturing in laser technology and optics in general. Dielectric coating technologies for those materials are well known and established; both high-reflective and anti-reflective coatings prepared on such substrates demonstrated laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) exceeding tens J·cm-2 in nanosecond regime. However, LIDT became a major issue in further exploitation of crystalline materials as yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) crystals, which often serves as a host in laser media and would be used in other components as well. One of the current challenge is the ability to transfer thin film coating technology used on glass to YAG in order to reach the same performance as in the case of fused silica or BK7 counterparts. HR dielectric coatings prepared on fused silica, BK7 and YAG substrates by reactive or ion-assisted e-beam deposition technique were tested on LIDT by s-on-1 method according to the ISO standard recommendations. Results from tests are presented and discussed in following paper.