Open AccessQuantitative assessment of nonlinearly absorbed energy in fused silica via time-resolved digital holography
Author(s) -
Balys Momgaudis,
V. Kudriašov,
Mikas Vengris,
Andrius Melninkaitis
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.27.007699
Subject(s) - optics , holography , materials science , fluence , laser , dissipation , lens (geology) , laser safety , absorbed dose , absorbance , energy (signal processing) , physics , radiation , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
A fraction of incident optical energy nonlinearly absorbed by a solid medium is considered to be the main quantitative parameter of damage-inducing light-matter interaction. However, its reliable experimental evaluation is a non-trivial task. We have addressed this problem using time-resolved digital holography. This well-proven technique enables recording of time-dependent single-shot induced thermal lens in fused silica excited at fluence levels above the damage threshold and constructing a detailed picture of the dissipation of nonlinearly absorbed optical energy. In addition, we explored the dependence between the absorbed laser pulse energy and incident energy. We found that material modification started to occur when the sample absorbed more than 10% of incident energy, while the absorbance above 15% resulted in catastrophic damage. The proposed approach is expected to become a convenient tool for future studies of light-matter interaction in transparent solids.