LASER-INDUCED DAMAGE THRESHOLDS AND LASER SAFETY LEVELS - DO THE UNITS OF MEASUREMENT MATTER

The commonly used units of measurement for laser induced damage are th ose of peak energy or power density. However, the laser induced damage thresholds, LIDT, of all materials are well known to be absorption, w avelength, spot size and pulse length dependent. As workers using thes e values become divorced from the theory it becomes increasingly impor tant to use the correct units and to understand the correct scaling fa ctors. This paper summarizes the theory and highlights the danger of u sing the wrong LIDT units in the context of potentially hazardous mate rials, laser safety eyewear and laser safety screens. (C) 1998 Elsevie r Science Ltd. All rights reserved.