Foam-based optical absorber for high-power laser radiometry

Date
2007-12-01Author
Ramadurai, Krishna
Cromer, Christopher L.
Li, Xiaoyu
Mahajan, Roop L.
Lehman, John H.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
We report damage threshold measurements of novel absorbers comprised of either liquid-cooled silicon carbide or vitreous carbon foams. The measurements demonstrate damage thresholds up to 1.6 x 104 W/cm(2) at an incident circular spot size of 2 mm with an absorbance of 96% at 1.064 mu m. We present a summary of the damage threshold as a function of the water flow velocity and the absorbance measurements. We also present a qualitative description of a damage mechanism based on a two-phase heat transfer between the foam and the flowing water. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.