Understanding the differences in high-power pulsed and CW damage

All of us who work with high power lasers have experienced laser damage, usually when we least wanted to. Sometimes just an unexpected flash of light means an optic needs to be replaced, but often the case is far worse where a single coating damage can lead to systemwide failure. Much of our work is certifying optics for pulsed laser systems in order to prevent this kind of catastrophic event.

This whitepaper dicusses in scientific detail the laser damage caused by pulsed and CW high-power systems.