Broadband optical spectral shift analysis of dielectric coatings.

High-energy laser facilities require high reflection multilayer coatings on meter-scale substrates. Due to stringent use specifications, a precise control of deposition parameters is necessary to tailor the optical and mechanical properties of components. The resulting coatings are sensitive to relative humidity variations, leading to a shift of their optical spectra called spectral shift.

Impact of the multilayer dielectric design on the laser-induced damage threshold of pulse compression gratings for petawatt-class lasers.

The peak-power of petawatt-class lasers is limited by laser-induced damage to final optical components, especially on the pulse compression gratings. Multilayer dielectric (MLD) gratings are widely used in compressor systems because they exhibit a high diffraction efficiency and high damage threshold. It is now well established that the etching profile plays a key role in the electric field distribution, which influences the laser damage resistance of MLD gratings.

Polarization dependence of laser damage growth features on multilayer dielectric mirrors for petawatt-class lasers.

PETAL (Petawatt Aquitaine Laser) is an ultrahigh-power laser dedicated to academic research that delivers sub-picosecond pulses. One of the major issues of these facilities is the laser damage on optical components located at the final stage. Transport mirrors of the PETAL facility are illuminated under different polarization directions.

Influence of the multilayer dielectric mirror design on the laser damage growth in the sub-picosecond regime.

The peak power of high-power laser facilities is limited by the laser-induced damage to the final optical components. Also, when a damage site is generated, the damage growth phenomenon limits the lifetime of the component. Many studies have been performed to improve the laser-induced damage threshold of these components.

Investigation of the influence of a spatial beam profile on laser damage growth dynamics in multilayer dielectric mirrors in the near infrared sub-picosecond regime.

Laser-induced damage growth has often been studied with Gaussian beams in the sub-picosecond regime. However, beams generated by high-power laser facilities do not feature Gaussian profiles, a property that raises questions concerning the reliability of off-line laser-induced damage measurements. Here, we compare laser-induced damage growth dynamics as a function of beam profiles.