Abstract
High-energy laser (HEL) systems involve an optical train consisting of mirrors and windows, which may compromise the system’s operation because of unavoidable wavefront distortions resulting from the absorption of some fraction of the incident laser-beam energy. The first part of the paper concerns actively cooled HEL reflectors; a generalized mirror/heat-exchanger model is used for evaluating both irradiance-mapping and coolant-pressure induced distortions. The theory of thermal lensing of HEL windows is reviewed in part 2; the purpose is to clarify the role of stress-induced birefringence effects and to apply the figure-of-merit concept to key laser-window material candidates.
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© 1984 Plenum Press, New York
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Klein, C.A. (1984). Mirrors and Windows for High-Energy Lasers: The Wavefront Distortion Problem. In: Onorato, M. (eds) Gas Flow and Chemical Lasers. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7067-7_59
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7067-7_59
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-7069-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-7067-7
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