Subsurface damage measurement of ground fused silica parts by HF etching techniques

Jérôme Neauport (1) , C Ambard (1, 2) , P Cormont (1) , N Darbois (1) , J Destribats (1) , C Luitot (1) , O Rondeau (2)

1 CESTA - Centre d'études scientifiques et techniques d'Aquitaine
2 CEA Le Ripault - CEA Le Ripault

Detection and measurement of subsurface damage of ground optical surfaces are of major concern in the assessment of high damage thresholds fused silica optics for high power laser applications. We herein detail a new principle of SSD measurement based on the utilization of HF acid etching. We also review and compare different subsurface damage (SSD) characterization techniques applied to ground and fine ground fused silica samples. We demonstrate good concordance between the different measurements.

Keywords: Lasers and laser optics: laser damage; Optical design and fabrication: polishing

Domains: Physics [physics]; Physics [physics]; Optics [physics.optics]; Engineering Sciences [physics]; Optics / Photonic

Jérôme Neauport, C Ambard, P Cormont, N Darbois, J Destribats, et al.. Subsurface damage measurement of ground fused silica parts by HF etching techniques. Optics Express, 2009, 17, pp.20448-20456. ⟨10.1364/OE.17.020448⟩. ⟨cea-01217063⟩