Study on characteristic parameters influencing laser-induced damage threshold of KH2PO4 crystal surface machined by single point diamond turning

It has fundamental meaning to find the elements influencing the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of KH2PO4 (KDP) crystal and to provide suitable characterization parameters for these factors in order to improve the LIDT of KDP. Using single-point diamond turning (SPDT) to process the KDP crystal, the machined surface quality has important effects on its LIDT. However, there are still not suitable characteristic parameters of surface quality of KDP to correspond with the LIDT nowadays. In this paper, guided by the Fourier model theory, we study deeply the relationship between the relevant characteristic parameters of surface topography of KDP crystal and the experimental LIDT. Research results indicate that the waviness rather than the roughness is the leading topography element on the KDP surface machined by the SPDT method when the LIDT is considered and the amplitude of micro-waviness has greater influence on the light intensity inside the KDP crystal within the scope of dangerous frequencies between (180 mu m)(-1) and (90 mu m)(-1); with suitable testing equipment, the characteristic parameters of waviness amplitude, such as the arithmetical mean deviation of three-dimensional profile S-a or root mean square deviation of three-dimensional contour S-q, are able to be considered as suitable parameters to reflect the optical quality of the machined surface in order to judge approximately the LIDT of the KDP surface and guide the machining course. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3664692]