Arresting ultraviolet-laser damage in fused silica.

The 351-nm laser-damage initiation threshold for surface damage in conventionally polished fused silica is demonstrated to be stress dependent. By circumferential application of modest loads to a sample, a controllable stress field can be established within the clear aperture of a fused-silica specimen, in response to which both the damage-initiation fluence and the crack-propagation fluence requirements are increased above those for unstressed conditions.