Multiwavelength investigation of laser-damage performance in potassium dihydrogen phosphate after laser annealing.

The laser-induced damage performance of potassium dihydrogen phosphate and deuterated potassium dihydrogen phosphate nonlinear optical crystals after pre-exposure to lower-energy laser pulses (laser annealing, also known as laser conditioning) is investigated as a function of wavelength for both the damaging and conditioning pulses. We obtain a quantitative evaluation of the bulk damage performance of these materials by measuring the density of damage events as a function of laser parameters. This new method allows for a detailed assessment of the improvement of material performance from laser conditioning and reveals the key parameters for optimizing performance depending on the operational wavelength.