UV laser conditioning for reduction of 351-nm damage initiation in fused silica

This paper describes the effect of 355-nm laser conditioning on the concentration of UV-laser-induced surface damage sites on large-aperture fused silica optics. We will show the effect of various 355-nm laser conditioning methodologies on the reduction of surface-damage initiation in fused silica samples that have varying qualities of polishing. With the best, generally available fused silica optic, we have demonstrated that 355-nrn laser conditioning can achieve up to 10x reduction in surface damage initiation concentration in the fluence range of 10-14 J/cm(2) (355-nm @ 3 ns).