LASER-INDUCED DAMAGE STUDIES IN SILICON AND SILICON-BASED PHOTODETECTORS

Laser-induced damage studies have been carried out on single-crystal s ilicon and silicon-based photodetectors, FND 100 P-I-N photodiodes, an d C30954E avalanche photodiodes as a function of repetition frequency for a 1064-nm wavelength. It has been observed that the damage thresho ld decreases significantly when the samples are irradiated with a larg e number of pulses. However, this effect is evident only when the repe tition frequency is greater than 1 Hz. The results are discussed in li ght of various existing theories. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America.