Abstract

The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of nematic liquid crystals is investigated in the femtosecond regime at $\simeq 1030\;{\rm nm}$. The thickness and breakdown of freely suspended thin films ($\simeq 100\;{\rm nm}$) of different mixtures (MLC2073, MLC2132, and E7) is monitored in real time by spectral-domain interferometry. The duration of laser pulses was varied from 180 fs to 1.8 ps for repetition rates ranging from single shot to 1 MHz. The dependence of the LIDT with pulse duration suggests a damage mechanism dominated by ionization mechanisms at low repetition rate and by linear absorption at high repetition rate. In the single-shot regime, LIDTs exceeding $1\;{\rm J}/{{\rm cm}^2}$ are found for the three investigated mixtures. The LIDT of polyvinyl alcohol is also investigated by the same method.

© 2021 Optical Society of America

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