General design basis for a final optics assembly to decrease filamentary damage

The high-power laser beam in the final optics assembly of high-power laser facilities is often modulated by contamination particles, which may cause local high light intensity, thereby increasing the filamentary damage probability for optical components. To study the general design basis for a final optics assembly to decrease the risk of filamentary damage, different-sized contamination particles deposited on a component surface are simulated to modulate a 351-nm laser beam based on the optical transmission theory, and the corresponding simulation results are analyzed statistically in terms of the propagation characteristic and the light field intensity distribution of the modulated laser beam. The statistical results show that component thickness and distance between components can to some extent be optimized to reduce the appearance of local high light intensity, and the general design basis of component thickness and arrangement are given for different control levels of particle sizes. Moreover, the statistical results can also predict the laser beam quality approximately under the existing optics design and environmental cleanliness. The optimized design for final optics assembly based on environmental cleanliness level is useful to prolong the lifetime of optics and enhance the output power of high-power laser facilities. (paper)