Mf. Koldunov et al., THEORY OF THE LASER BREAKDOWN OF OPTICAL DIELECTRIC COATINGS, CAUSED BY ABSORBING INCLUSIONS, Journal of optical technology, 63(2), 1996, pp. 128-135
This paper analyzes the mechanisms of the laser breakdown of thin insu
lating films. The problem of the breakdown of a single-layer coating i
nitiated by an absorbing inclusion is treated. It is established that
the dependence of the laser breakdown threshold of coatings on the ban
dgap of the coating material plays a fundamental role. The other manif
estations of the coating breakdown-the dependence of the breakdown thr
eshold on the coating thickness and on the position of the inclusion i
n the region of the coating-are a consequence of the dependence of the
breakdown threshold on the bandgap of the coating material. The resul
ting dependences of the breakdown threshold on the coating parameters
explain the experimentally observed regularities. (C) 1996 The Optical
Society of America.