Laser-induced contamination (LIC) is still a major risk for space based laser systems. In this paper the mitigation of LIC by oxygen is investigated. Tests were performed with a pulsed laser at 355 nm. The partial pressure of the contamination material was in the range of 10-5-10-4 mbar. The mitigation effect showed a threshold behavior concerning the ratio between contamination and oxygen pressure. Also a cleaning effect was successfully demonstrated: previously created depositions were completely removed by irradiation at several tens Pa oxygen pressure without any remaining degradation of the optical surface.
In this work tests for determination of ablation thresholds of various ceramic materials for pulsed laser irradiations at wavelengths of 355 nm and 1064 nm in vacuum are presented. For comparison tests with copper and aluminium are also reported. The ablation process was monitored insitu by long-distance microscopy. The morphology of ablation spots was exsitu inspected by scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, the redeposition of potentially released particles on optics in the vicinity to the target was examined.
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