Towards predicting the laser damage threshold of large-area optics

As the size of optics increases, such as in the optical coatings being developed for the National Ignition Facility in US and the Laser MegaJoules in France, the difficulty also increases in measuring and defining their laser damage threshold. Measuring the threshold on small witness samples ({le}cm) rather than full aperture optic (=m) is advantageous, and in this article, the threshold of large-area components is addressed in two ways. First, a model based on the R-on-l threshold distribution is shown to predict the threshold of a large optic with a high degree of confidence. The average R-on-l threshold provides a reliable, accurate value to evaluate coatings. An automated damage test bench has been developed at CEA. Secondly, the damage threshold has to be defined according to final use of the component. LLNL has defined a functional damage threshold to set limits on maximum damage size. An empirical power law dependence of average damage size on peak fluence was found; this can be used to predict the damage behavior of large-aperture optics exhibiting the same damage morphology

The composition of the protosolar disk and the formation conditions for comets

Conditions in the protosolar nebula have left their mark in the composition of cometary volatiles, thought to be some of the most pristine material in the solar system. Cometary compositions represent the end point of processing that began in the parent molecular cloud core and continued through the collapse of that core to form the protosun and the solar nebula, and finally during the evolution of the solar nebula itself as the cometary bodies were accreting. Disentangling the effects of the various epochs on the final composition of a comet is complicated. But comets are not the only source of information about the solar nebula. Protostellar disks around young stars similar to the protosun provide a way of investigating the evolution of disks similar to the solar nebula while they are in the process of evolving to form their own solar systems. In this way we can learn about the physical and chemical conditions under which comets formed, and about the types of dynamical processing that shaped the solar system we see today. This paper summarizes some recent contributions to our understanding of both cometary volatiles and the composition, structure and evolution of protostellar disks.Comment: To appear in Space Science Reviews. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11214-015-0167-

Crescimento de eucalipto sob efeito de desfolhamento artificial

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos do desfolhamento total, realizado após o plantio e ao longo do primeiro ano de cultivo, sobre o crescimento de Eucalyptus grandis, desde a implantação até ao corte do povoamento. Foram avaliados cinco tratamentos: sem desfolhamento; um desfolhamento aos 56 dias após o plantio (DAP); dois desfolhamentos, aos 56 e 143 DAP; dois desfolhamentos, aos 56 e 267 DAP; e três desfolhamentos, aos 56, 143 e 278 DAP. Foram mensurados os diâmetros do tronco a 1,3 m e a altura total de 60 árvores por tratamento, em oito avaliações, do 21º ao 92º mês de cultivo. O crescimento médio em cada tratamento foi descrito por modelos de regressão não lineares e comparados por testes de identidade para comparar as tendências entre a testemunha e os demais tratamentos. O desfolhamento causou reduções significativas nas taxas de crescimento em diâmetro e altura das plantas, e diminuição expressiva no faturamento ao final da rotação, mesmo quando realizado uma única vez, no início do plantio. Maiores danos, no entanto, foram verificados após consecutivos desfolhamentos ao longo do primeiro ano de cultivo. A manutenção de áreas que tenham sofrido desfolhamento total na fase inicial de plantio pode tornar-se uma medida economicamente inviável.The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of total defoliation at planting initial stages, and along the first year of cultivation, on Eucalyptus grandis growth, from planting to plantation cut. Five treatments were tested: without defoliation; one defoliation, at 56th day after planting (DAP); two defoliations, at 56th and 143th DAP; two defoliations, at 56th and 267th DAP; and three defoliations, at 56th, 143th and 278th DAP. Trunk diameter at 1.30-m height and the total height of 60 trees were measured from the 21st to the 92th cultivation months. The average growth of each treatment was described by nonlinear models and compared by identity tests in order to estimate the tendencies between control and the other treatments in each variable. Defoliation significantly reduces diameter of the trunk and height growth rates, and expressively decreases the income at the plantation cut. However, greater losses were verified after consecutive defoliation, along the first cultivation year. Maintaining areas that suffered severe defoliations at initial planting stages can become economically unfeasible

Impact of clinical phenotypes on management and outcomes in European atrial fibrillation patients: a report from the ESC-EHRA EURObservational Research Programme in AF (EORP-AF) General Long-Term Registry

Background: Epidemiological studies in atrial fibrillation (AF) illustrate that clinical complexity increase the risk of major adverse outcomes. We aimed to describe European AF patients\u2019 clinical phenotypes and analyse the differential clinical course. Methods: We performed a hierarchical cluster analysis based on Ward\u2019s Method and Squared Euclidean Distance using 22 clinical binary variables, identifying the optimal number of clusters. We investigated differences in clinical management, use of healthcare resources and outcomes in a cohort of European AF patients from a Europe-wide observational registry. Results: A total of 9363 were available for this analysis. We identified three clusters: Cluster 1 (n = 3634; 38.8%) characterized by older patients and prevalent non-cardiac comorbidities; Cluster 2 (n = 2774; 29.6%) characterized by younger patients with low prevalence of comorbidities; Cluster 3 (n = 2955;31.6%) characterized by patients\u2019 prevalent cardiovascular risk factors/comorbidities. Over a mean follow-up of 22.5 months, Cluster 3 had the highest rate of cardiovascular events, all-cause death, and the composite outcome (combining the previous two) compared to Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 (all P <.001). An adjusted Cox regression showed that compared to Cluster 2, Cluster 3 (hazard ratio (HR) 2.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.27\u20133.62; HR 3.42, 95%CI 2.72\u20134.31; HR 2.79, 95%CI 2.32\u20133.35), and Cluster 1 (HR 1.88, 95%CI 1.48\u20132.38; HR 2.50, 95%CI 1.98\u20133.15; HR 2.09, 95%CI 1.74\u20132.51) reported a higher risk for the three outcomes respectively. Conclusions: In European AF patients, three main clusters were identified, differentiated by differential presence of comorbidities. Both non-cardiac and cardiac comorbidities clusters were found to be associated with an increased risk of major adverse outcomes

Contamination effects on optical damage

The development and construction of high fluence lasers for inertial confinement fusion such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) or the Laser Megajoule in France continues to generate strong interest in the behavior of optical components under intense laser irradiation. the design of such lasers has created significant technological challenges in the area of laser glass, KDP crystal growth, surface finishing, and fused silica damage in the ultraviolet (UV). The damage of fused silica lenses at 355 nm is of particular concern since the optical design requires peak fluences that are very close to the damage threshold of the most resistant fused silica lenses available today

Laser-induced damage of fused silica at 355 and 1065 nm initiated at aluminum contamination particles on the surface

1-{mu}m thick circular dots, 10-250 {mu}m dia, were deposited onto 1.14 cm thick fused silica windows by sputtering Al through a mask. Al shavings were also deposited on the windows to investigate effects of particle-substrate adhesion. The silica windows were then illuminated repetitively using a 3-ns, 355 nm and an 8.6-ns, 1064 nm laser. The tests were conducted at near normal incidence with particles on input and output surfaces of the windows. During the first shot, a plasma ignited at the metal particle and damage initiated on the fused silica surface. The morphology of the damage at the metal dots were reproducible but different for input and output surface contamination. For input surface contamination, minor damage occurred where the particle was located; such damage ceased to grow with the removal of contaminant material. More serious damage (pits and cracks) was initiated on the output surface (especially at 355 nm) and grew to catastrophic proportions after few shots. Output surface contaminants were usually ejected on the initial shot, leaving a wave pattern on the surface. No further damage occurred with subsequent shots unless a shot (usually the first shot) cracked the surface; such behavior was mostly observed at 355 nm and occasionally for large shavings at 1064 nm. The size of the damaged area scaled with the size of the particle (except when catastrophic damage occurred). Onset of catastrophic damage on output surface occurred only when particles exceeded a critical size. Damage behavior of the sputtered dots was found to be qualitatively similar to that of the shavings. The artificial contamination technique accelerated the study by allowing better control of the test conditions

Depth profiling of polishing-induced contamination on fused silica surfaces

Laser-induced damage on optical surfaces is often associated with absorbing contaminants introduced by the polishing process. This is particularly the case for UV optics. Here secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) was used to measure depth profiles of finished process contamination on fused silica surfaces. Contaminants detected include the major polishing compound components (Ce or Zr from CeO2 or ZrO2), Al presently largely because of the use of Al2O3 in the final cleaning process (Fe, Cu,Cr) incorporated during the polishing step or earlier grinding steps. Depth profile data typically showed an exponential decay of contaminant concentration to a depth of 100-200 nm. This depth is consistent with a polishing redeposition layers formed during the chemo-mechanical polishing of fused silica. Peak contaminant levels are typically in the 10-100 ppm range, except for Al with exceeds 1000 ppm. A strong correlation has been shown between the presence of a gray haze damage morphology and the use of CeO2 polishing compound. No strong correlation was found however between high levels of Ce, or any other contaminant and the low damage threshold was observed. In fact one of the strongest indications of a correlation is between increased damage thresholds and increased Zr contamination. This suggests that the correlation between redeposition layer and laser damage threshold is not simple an absorbing contaminant issue

Study of the effects of polishing, etching, cleaving, and water leaching on the UV laser damage of fused silica

A damage morphology study was performed with a 355 nm Nd:YAG laser on synthetic UV-grade fused silica to determine the effects of post- polish chemical etching on laser-induced damage, compare damage morphologies of cleaved and polished surfaces, and understand the effects of the hydrolyzed surface layer and waste-crack interactions. The samples were polished , then chemically etched in buffered HF solution to remove 45,90,135, and 180 nm of surface material. Another set of samples was cleaved and soaked in boiling distilled water for 1 second and 1 hour. All the samples were irradiated at damaging fluencies and characterized by Normarski optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Damage was initiated as micro-pits on both input and output surfaces of the polished fused silica sample. At higher fluencies, the micro-pits generated cracks on the surface. Laser damage of the polished surface showed significant trace contamination levels within a 50 nm surface layer. Micro-pit formation also appeared after irradiating cleaved fused silica surfaces at damaging fluences. Linear damage tracks corresponding cleaving tracks were often observed on cleaved surfaces. Soaking cleaved samples in water produced wide laser damage tracks

Large-aperture, high-damage-threshold optics for beamlet

Beamlet serves as a test bed for the proposed NIF laser design and components. Therefore, its optics are similar in size and quality to those proposed for the NIF. In general, the optics in the main laser cavity and transport section of Beamlet are larger and have higher damage thresholds than the optics manufactured for any of our previous laser systems. In addition, the quality of the Beamlet optical materials is higher, leading to better wavefront quality, higher optical transmission, and lower-intensity modulation of the output laser beam than, for example, that typically achieved on Nova. In this article, we discuss the properties and characteristics of the large-aperture optics used on Beamlet