CCDs Monitor Laser Damage

At the University of California, Riverside, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., scientists have imaged in near-real time the damage to deuterated KDP caused by 68- to 80-J/cm² pulses from a Q-switched Nd:YAG. They published their findings in the Oct. 21 issue of Applied Physics Letters.

The team split the la-ser's output to generate pump and probe pulses. The frequency-doubled probe line passed through a methane cell to produce time-delayed red, green and blue pulses for illuminating the damage site. The setup exposed the propagation of melt fronts through the material and the resulting plastic deformation and cracking.