Concerning the impact of polishing induced contamination of fused silica optics on the laser-induced damage density at 351 nm

We analyze the effect of polishing induced contaminants on the laser-induced damage density at the wavelength of 351 nm. Fused silica polished parts were manufactured using various polishing processes. If previous works have shown that high polishing induced cerium content leads to high laser-induced damage density, we show that for low cerium content, there is no correlation between the amount of polishing induced cerium contamination in the part interface and the damage density. This can be also extended to other polishing induced contaminants. These results provide new information for the understanding of laser damage initiation. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.