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This work is an experimental investigation to evaluate the potential of fluorescence microscopy as a tool to detect surface contamination as well as reveal surface damage precursors on DKDP and S102 optics. To achieve these technical objectives, microscopic imaging systems were built that also incorporated in-situ damage testing capabilities. Fluorescence imaging experiments were performed using 3 5 1 -nm laser excitation while damage testing was performed at relatively high laser fluences. The experimental results demonstrated the potential of this technique to address the aforementioned technical issues.

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We have fabricated demonstration diffractive optic plates (DOP's) at fill scale for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser. These include an off-axis focusing beam sampling grating, a color separation grating, and a kinoform phase plate for spatial beam smoothing. Fabrication methods and optical performance of these DOP's are discussed. It was discovered that the so!-gel antireflective coating normally applied to high-power transmissive optics partially planarizes the diffractive structures, particularly on the color separation grating used for color management at target, to the extent that optical performance and laser damage threshold are negatively impacted. The effect ofsol-gel coatings on grating performance, the feasability of placing all diffractive structures on a single surface, and future work in this area are discussed.