Laser-induced breakdown and damage in bulk transparent materials induced by tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses

TLDR

Laser-induced breakdown and damage to transparent materials has remained an active area of research for four decades. The paper reviews basic mechanisms of laser‑induced breakdown and damage in transparent materials and summarizes open questions. The authors present a method to measure the bulk threshold intensity for laser‑induced breakdown and damage. They measured how bulk damage thresholds depend on material band‑gap and laser wavelength, and used these thresholds to assess the relative contributions of nonlinear ionization mechanisms under various laser and material conditions.

Abstract

Laser-induced breakdown and damage to transparent materials has remained an active area of research for four decades. In this paper we review the basic mechanisms that lead to laser-induced breakdown and damage and present a summary of some open questions in the field. We present a method for measuring the threshold intensity required to produce breakdown and damage in the bulk, as opposed to on the surface, of the material. Using this technique, we measure the material band-gap and laser-wavelength dependence of the threshold intensity for bulk damage using femtosecond laser pulses. Based on these thresholds, we determine the relative role of different nonlinear ionization mechanisms for different laser and material parameters.