Surface optical strength of optical and laser glasses subjected to picosecond pulses

A study was made of the surface damage to optical and laser glasses by a single laser pulse of 5 ps duration at the wavelength of 1.054 μm and by a train of 20 such pulses. The single-pulse damage threshold was 1–2.5 J cm^-2 in terms of the energy density or 200–500 GW cm^-2 in terms of intensity. The damage threshold for a train of pulses was considerably less than the single-pulse threshold.