Detection and characterization of absorption heterogeneities in KH2PO4 crystals

The SOCRATE facility is used for the detection of heterogeneous absorption in large and rapidly grown KH2PO4 (KDP) crystals. The different regions are subsequently characterized by spectrophotometry and laser-damage measurement. In accordance with previous results from the literature we found that, by using the SOCRATE damage measurement set-up with a large beam (300 ∗ 600 μm2), the absorption level does not play a major role in the damage mechanism at 355 nm. However, by testing the damage resistance of the same KDP component with a focused beam (9 μm diameter) at 355 nm, we highlight for the first time significantly different damage resistances between highly and weakly absorbing regions from a KDP crystal. Indeed, with a focused beam, we demonstrate that the laser-damage threshold may be lower in some sectors cut in the pyramidal part than in sectors from the prismatic part. This means that the absorbing defects at high concentration are not the predominant damage precursors at 355 nm.