Process for improving the resistance of fused quartz optical elements to ultraviolet laser damage

Process for improving the resistance of fused quartz optical elements to ultraviolet laser damage
Fused quartz is the most widely used optical material in large high-power laser drive systems. Fused quartz is widely used in optical systems to prepare optical components such as lenses, windows and shielding plates. Surface and subsurface defects such as impurities and scratches will inevitably be introduced in the processing of fused quartz elements (polishing, grinding, etc.). When the element is under high intense laser radiation, these defects will strongly absorb the laser energy, resulting in a series of irreversible and catastrophic laser-induced damage on the element surface and inside the material, that is, when the total area of the damage points exceeds a certain proportion, the fused quartz optical element will be considered as completely damaged and cannot be used, This situation seriously limits the development and application of components in the field of high energy density science (such as icf and high energy light source).
Fused quartz is an optical element in high power solid-state laser device. Its ability to resist ultraviolet laser damage is an important factor limiting the system energy. Under the action of high power laser, the interaction between the surface/subsurface and intrinsic structural defects of fused quartz optical elements will strengthen the absorption of light, generate energy transmission channels, introduce hot spots, and lead to element damage. At present, the main methods of restraining the damage of fused quartz elements are the pretreatment methods such as mid-infrared continuous laser irradiation, ultraviolet pulse laser irradiation and chemical wet etching. The efficiency of mid-infrared continuous laser irradiation treatment is low, and the effect of ultraviolet pulse laser irradiation pretreatment on the high-quality fused quartz element is small, and chemical wet etching can only remove the surface/subsurface defects of the element. To sum up, how to quickly and effectively eliminate the defects of fused quartz optical elements is the key factor to improve the resistance of fused quartz to ultraviolet laser damage.
Technical realization elements:
It is an object of the present invention to solve at least the above problems and/or defects, and to provide at least the advantages to be explained later.
In order to achieve these objectives and other advantages according to the present invention, a method for improving the resistance of fused quartz optical elements to ultraviolet laser damage is provided, comprising the following steps:
Step 1: Ultrasonic cleaning of fused quartz elements with alkaline solution;
Step 2: Ultrasonic clean and dry the fused quartz element after cleaning with alkaline solution with high-purity water;
Step 3: Carry out sub-glass transition temperature heat treatment on the fused quartz element after cleaning with high-purity water;
Step 4. Conduct dynamic acid etching and drying on the fused quartz element after heat treatment.