Strengthened solid-state laser materials
- 1 October 1985
- journal article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 47 (7), 694-696
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.96061
Abstract
The tensile fracture strength of crystalline materials for high average power lasers has been increased by a factor of 15 using deep chemical polishing. Samples of gadolinium scandium gallium garnet, gadolinium gallium garnet, and yttrium aluminum garnet, which were prepared by conventional mechanical techniques to a high quality polish, were found to contain subsurface damage up to 50 μm in depth. When this damage was removed by deep chemical etching, the mean strength of small, four-point flexure specimens increased from 155 to 2280 MPa; however, these samples were no longer optically flat after etching. Specimens in which the optical figure was restored by polishing after the etch had an intermediate strength of 630 MPa.Keywords
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