High Surface Laser-Induced Damage Threshold Of Srb4o7 Single Crystals Under 266-Nm (Duv) Laser Irradiation

Under 266-nm (deep ultraviolet, DUV) laser irradiation, an SrB4O7 (SBO) single crystal has been found to exhibit a surface laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of similar to 16.4 J/cm(2), which is higher than those of a synthetic silica glass (4.8 J/cm(2)) and a calcium fluoride (CaF2) crystal (11.4 J/cm(2)). By catalyst-referred etching (CARE), the LIDT of an SBO crystal can also be improved to around 24.1 J/cm(2), which is 1.4 and 6.0 times higher compared to an unetched crystal and a silica glass, respectively. With high surface LIDTs, SBO single crystals can then be used as optical window materials for high-power DUV laser systems. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement