PNNL

Abstract

These proceedings will contain the papers delivered as oral and poster presentations at the 44th Annual Laser Damage Symposium sponsored by SPIE. The conference was held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology facility in Boulder, Colorado on 23-26 September 2012. The symposium was divided into traditional sessions focused on the following topics: fundamental mechanisms, thin films, materials and measurements, and surfaces, mirrors, and contamination, and finally, a mini-symposium on Laser-Induced Plasma Interactions. The meeting also included a discussion of results from a round-robin competition dealing with p-polarized laser damage to Brewster Angle Polarizing Beamsplitters. A roundtable discussion was continued this year on the topic of Surface versus Bulk Laser Damage Mechanisms. The symposium welcome was given by Joseph A. Menapace from LLNL. Dr. Gregory J. Exarhos of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (USA), Dr. Vitaly Gruzdev of the University of Missouri, Columbia (USA), Dr. Detlev Ristau of the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (Germany), Dr. M.J. Soileau of the University of Central Florida (USA), and Mr. Christopher J. Stolz of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA), co-chaired the symposium. The founding organizers are Dr. Arthur H. Guenther and Dr. Alexander J. Glass.