Photothermal microscopic studies of surface and subsurface defects on fused silica at 355nm

Abstract

It is believed that surface and subsurface defects formed during standard grinding and polishing processes are mainly responsible for laser induced damage in fused silica. The correlation between the laser damage susceptibility and absorption property of these defects has not been totally understood. In this paper, we present the characterization of surface and subsurface defects of fused silica by measuring their absorption properties based on a photothermal technique at 355 nm. The photothermal microscopic imaging reveals that the surface/subsurface absorption defects in fused silica can be identified. In addition, a 3D photothermal imaging of a laser damage site on the silica is also obtained. Our results demonstrate that photothermal microscopy is a powerful tool for defect characterization of optical materials for high power laser applications.