Figure 6
From: Physical Origin of Early Failure for Contaminated Optics
(a) Temperature profile of a tantala λ/2 coating at 1.2 MWcm−2 the moment the carbon contaminant fully evaporates. (b) Simulated surface temperatures of tantala, hafnia, and alumina coatings at their damage thresholds. Note the exponential increase in temperature near the end of each simulation as free carrier absorption begins to dominate. At this point the material will continue to absorb laser energy and thermally runaway even if the particle finishes evaporating.
