Aerosol-induced laser breakdown thresholds: wavelength dependence

Ronald G. Pinnick; Petr Chýlek; M. Jarzembski; E. Creegan; V. Srivastava; Gilbert Fernandez; J. D. Pendleton; A. Biswas

doi:10.1364/AO.27.000987

Applied Optics
Vol. 27,
Issue 5,
pp. 987-996
(1988)
•https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.27.000987

Aerosol-induced laser breakdown thresholds: wavelength dependence

Ronald G. Pinnick, Petr Chýlek, M. Jarzembski, E. Creegan, V. Srivastava, Gilbert Fernandez, J. D. Pendleton, and A. Biswas

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Ronald G. Pinnick, Petr Chýlek, M. Jarzembski, E. Creegan, V. Srivastava, Gilbert Fernandez, J. D. Pendleton, and A. Biswas, "Aerosol-induced laser breakdown thresholds: wavelength dependence," Appl. Opt. 27, 987-996 (1988)

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Abstract

Aerosol-induced laser breakdown thresholds have been measured for liquid droplets at wavelengths λ = 1.064, 0.532, 0.355, 0.266 μm using a Nd:YAG laser with 5–10-ns pulse duration. Breakdown thresholds are 2–3 orders of magnitude below those for clean air and range from 4 × 10⁷ to 3 × 10⁹ W cm⁻² for nominal 50-μm diam droplets, depending on laser wavelength and droplet composition. Thresholds decrease with decreasing wavelength; they also decrease for droplets having a higher real refractive index. For water droplets the breakdown threshold intensity varies approximately as λ^0.5. The wavelength dependence of breakdown thresholds can be qualitatively explained by considering (1) the effect of enhancement of internal fields and energy density within and near droplets and (2) the increasing importance of multiphoton absorption processes at shorter wavelengths. Laser transmission losses through the breakdown plasma and observations of the suppression of stimulated Raman scattering by the addition of small quantitites of absorbing material to water and carbon tetrachloride droplets are also reported.

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Wavelength (μm)	Droplet material	Drop diam (μm)	Lens focal length (cm)	Laser beam waist (μm)	Breakdown threshold
Wavelength (μm)	Droplet material	Drop diam (μm)	Lens focal length (cm)	Laser beam waist (μm)	Intensity threshold (GW cm⁻²)	Fluence threshold (J cm⁻²)
0.266	Water	54	10	32	0.67	3.0
		57	25	92	0.47	2.1
	Methanol	54	10	32	0.78	3.5
	Carbon tet	60	10	32	0.07	0.3
	Bromoform	51	10	32	0.04	0.2
0.355	Water	57	10	39	1.7	9.5
		54	30	155	1.3	7.3
	Methanol	48	30	155	1.2	6.7
	Carbon tet	51	30	155	0.13	0.7
	Bromoform	51	30	155	0.09	0.5
0.532	Water	55	10	38	3.0	20
		54	25	62	3.5	23
		54	30	100	2.1	13
		54	30	100	2.5	16
	Methanol	54	25	62	2.1	14
		56	30	100	1.7	11
		55	30	100	1.7	11
	Carbon tet	54	25	62	0.58	3.7
		50	30	120	0.37	2.4
		51	30	123	0.37	2.4
	Bromoform	51	30	163	0.14	0.9
		53	30	163	0.13	0.9
1.064	Water	48	10	30	3.9	33
		54	30	80	2.8	23
	Methanol	56	30	80	2.4	20
	Carbon tet	50	30	80	1.4	12
	Bromoform	53	30	80	0.42	3.6

Wavelength (μm)	Pulse width (ns)	Lens focal length (cm)	Beam waist (μm)	Breakdown threshold
Wavelength (μm)	Pulse width (ns)	Lens focal length (cm)	Beam waist (μm)	Threshold intensity (GW cm⁻²)	Threshold fluence (kJ cm⁻²)
0.266	4–5	10	32	240	1.1
		10	30	280	1.3
0.355	5–6	10	39	180	1.0
		10	35	240	1.3
0.532	6–7	10	38	150	0.9
		10	40	170	1.1
		25	62	220	1.4
		30	100	350	2.3
1.064	8–9	10	30	320	2.7
		30	80	550	4.8

Wavelength (μm)	Photon energy (eV)	Number of photons
Wavelength (μm)	Photon energy (eV)	Nitrogen	Oxygen	Water
0.266	4.68	4	3	2
0.355	3.51	5	4	2
0.532	2.34	7	6	3
1.064	1.17	14	11	6

	Wavelength (μm)
	0.266	0.355	0.532	1.064
Pulse duration (FWHM in ns)	4.5	5.5	6.5	8.5
Typical energy per pulse (J)	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.4
Estimated shot-to-shot variations in peak intensity	±60%	±50%	±40%	±30%
Rep rate (Hz)	10	10	10	10
Beam diameter (cm)	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.9
Linewidth at 1.06-μm wavelength: <1 cm⁻¹
Depolarization at 1.06-μm wavelength: 2%
Spacial mode-unstable resonator: uniphase
Average power stability: 5% over 10 h

Wavelength (μm)	Droplet material	Drop diam (μm)	Lens focal length (cm)	Laser beam waist (μm)	Breakdown threshold
Wavelength (μm)	Droplet material	Drop diam (μm)	Lens focal length (cm)	Laser beam waist (μm)	Intensity threshold (GW cm⁻²)	Fluence threshold (J cm⁻²)
0.266	Water	54	10	32	0.67	3.0
		57	25	92	0.47	2.1
	Methanol	54	10	32	0.78	3.5
	Carbon tet	60	10	32	0.07	0.3
	Bromoform	51	10	32	0.04	0.2
0.355	Water	57	10	39	1.7	9.5
		54	30	155	1.3	7.3
	Methanol	48	30	155	1.2	6.7
	Carbon tet	51	30	155	0.13	0.7
	Bromoform	51	30	155	0.09	0.5
0.532	Water	55	10	38	3.0	20
		54	25	62	3.5	23
		54	30	100	2.1	13
		54	30	100	2.5	16
	Methanol	54	25	62	2.1	14
		56	30	100	1.7	11
		55	30	100	1.7	11
	Carbon tet	54	25	62	0.58	3.7
		50	30	120	0.37	2.4
		51	30	123	0.37	2.4
	Bromoform	51	30	163	0.14	0.9
		53	30	163	0.13	0.9
1.064	Water	48	10	30	3.9	33
		54	30	80	2.8	23
	Methanol	56	30	80	2.4	20
	Carbon tet	50	30	80	1.4	12
	Bromoform	53	30	80	0.42	3.6

Abstract

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Figures (11)

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Equations (9)

Applied Optics