Comparison Of Laser-Induced Damage Of Optical Crystals From The U.S.A. And U.S.S.R

In this paper we report the results of comparative measurements of laser-induced damage (LID) in optical material from the USA and the USSR. Bulk LID thresholds were measured in very pure alkali halide crystals at 1064 nm and 532 nm and surface LID thresholds in selected nonlinear optical crystals were measured at 10.6 microns. The results show that the LID thresholds of the USSR and the USA samples are approximately the same except for KCl where the USA samples have a factor of 2 higher LID threshold electric field then the Soviet sample