Study of laser induced damage threshold and effect of inclusions in some nonlinear crystals

The paper reports the comparative studies on the laser-induced single-shot and multiple-shot surface damage thresholds of nonlinear crystals, viz. Urea, 3-methyl-4-nitropyridine-1 oxide POM., L-arginine phosphate LAP.and b-barium borate BBO.crystals. The measurements were made using radiation of 1064 nm and its second harmonic generation, i.e. 532 nm from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser of pulse width 10 ns. In addition, the effect of Naq impurity incorporated during growth in BBO crystal in different concentration wt.%.has also been studied, and attempted to be correlated with various factors. We also measured the absorption coefficients of these crystals at different wavelengths. The Scanning Electron Microscope coupled with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analyzer SEM-EDX.has been employed to study the inclusionsrimpurities present in the crystals. q2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved