Arresting ultraviolet-laser damage in fused silica

The 351-nm laser-damage initiation threshold for surface damage in conventi onally polished fused silica is demonstrated to be stress dependent. By cir cumferential application of modest loads to a sample, a controllable stress field can be established within the clear aperture of a fused-silica speci men, in response to which both the damage-initiation fluence and the crack- propagation fluence requirements are increased above those for unstressed c onditions. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America.