Determination of laser damage initiation probability and growth on fused silica scratches

Current methods for the manufacture of optical components inevitably leaves a variety of sub-surface imperfections including scratches of varying lengths and widths on even the finest finishes. It has recently been determined that these finishing imperfections are responsible for the majority of laser-induced damage for fluences typically used in ICF class lasers. We have developed methods of engineering subscale parts with a distribution of scratches mimicking those found on full scale fused silica parts. This much higher density of scratches provides a platform to measure low damage initiation probabilities sufficient to describe damage on large scale optics. In this work, damage probability per unit scratch length was characterized as a function of initial scratch width and post fabrication processing including acid-based etch mitigation processes. The susceptibility of damage initiation density along scratches was found to be strongly affected by the post etching material removal and initial scratch width. We have developed an automated processing procedure to document the damage initiations per width and per length of theses scratches. We show here how these tools can be employed to provide predictions of the performance of full size optics in laser systems operating at 351 nm. In addition we use these tools to measure the growth rate of a damage site initiated along a scratch and compare this to the growth measured on an isolated damage site