Laser-induced damage in absorbing eye protection materials

The standards concerning laser filters and screens at laser working places require minimum dimensions of the irradiated areas in rests for stability t o laser radiation. In this paper, size-dependent damage thresholds are dete rmined for absorbing eye protection materials. A sharp increase in the dama ge thresholds is found for smaller irradiated ai ens. As a consequence, the minimum areas required by the laser filter standards must be enlarged acco rdingly.