Microscopic evidence of the role of the near field enhancement in the short pulse damage mechanism of diffraction gratings

Steve Hocquet (1) , Jérôme Neauport (1) , Nicolas Bonod (2)

1 CESTA - Centre d'études scientifiques et techniques d'Aquitaine
2 CLARTE - CLARTE

We investigate the short pulse laser induced damage initiation mechanism on multilayer dielectric (MLD) pulse compression gratings. We report by means of scanning electron microscopy that damages initiate on the edge of the grating pillars opposite to the incoming wave. It demonstrates, at the scale of a grating line, the role of the electric field in the damage process but we also that grating pillars damage is also spatially modulated in the form of a periodic ripple pattern developing along the polarization direction.

Keywords: 3502250; OCIS codes: 1407090; 0500050; 3501820

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

Steve Hocquet, Jérôme Neauport, Nicolas Bonod. Microscopic evidence of the role of the near field enhancement in the short pulse damage mechanism of diffraction gratings. Applied Physics Letters, 2011. ⟨cea-01217073⟩