Work

Thermally assisted ultrafast damage in femtosecond laser mirrors

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Femtosecond laser-induced damage in metals is an important aspect for ultrafast optical systems in which broadband optical response and damage resistance must be satisfied simultaneously. Here, we use an advanced three-temperature model (3TM) to describe the coupled dynamics of the thermalized electron subsystem, the lattice, and the non-thermal electron population, enabling a comprehensive description of thermally assisted femtosecond laser-induced damage in metals. To validate this model, we measured the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of silver and gold mirrors across an ultrabroad spectral range from 268 to 1030 nm. The measured thresholds generally increase with wavelength for all investigated mirrors, and this wavelength-dependent behavior is reproduced well by our 3TM. The agreement between experiment and calculation indicates that the observed LIDT trends can be best described within a 3TM framework that accounts for nonequilibrium carrier dynamics, pointing out the thermally assisted nature of ultrafast damage in metals.

Source: Optics Express

DOI: 10.1364/oe.605006

Authors: Ádám Inger, Zsuzsanna Pápa, Antónia Gera, Péter Rácz, Péter Dombi

Institutions: Obuda University, HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics

Language: English

Topic: Laser Material Processing Techniques

Subfield: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,270

Funders: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, European Regional Development Fund, National Research, Development and Innovation Office