OSE Seminar by Dr. Luke Emmert on Characterizing fluence-limiting defects in optical coatings for high power lasers
Departmental News
Posted: August 30, 2022
Date: Thursday, September 01, 2022
Time: 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM
Location: at CHTM, Rm. 103
Speaker:
Dr. Luke Emmert, Research Associate Professor
UNM Physics and Astronomy Department
Abstract:
In the last decade facilities with petawatt class lasers have come online setting new records for peak power and energy density. Optical coatings often determine the operational limits of these high power laser systems. Quantified by the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT), damage occurs when laser-material interactions lead to deposition of energy beyond some critical density, causing optical deterioration, melting, and/or ablation. In high power laser systems, large area optics fail at coating defects where the local LIDT lower than the average. I will present some recent development of non-destructive tools for identifying fluence-limiting defects in optical coatings through scatter, absorption, and nonlinear signals.
Bio:
Luke Emmert is a research associate professor in the department of physics and astronomy. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University where he specialized in the deposition and characterization of oxide thin films. Since coming to UNM in the last decade he has studied the response of these materials under intense laser illumination.
