Real-time measurement of temperature variation during nanosecond pulsed-laser-induced contamination deposition.

In this paper, a study of heat generation during UV laser-induced contamination (LIC) and potentially resulting subsequent thermal damage are presented. This becomes increasingly interesting when optics with delicate coatings are involved. During LIC, radiation can interact with outgassing molecules, both in the gas phase and at the surface, thus triggering chemical and photo-fixation reactions. This is a major hazard, in particular for laser units operating under vacuum conditions such as in space applications. The intense photon flux not only affects the contaminant deposition rate but also alters their chemical structure, which can increase their absorption coefficient. Over cumulative irradiation shots, these molecules formed deposits that increasingly absorb photons and produce heat as a by-product of de-excitation, eventually leading to thermal damage. One could better assess the risk of the latter with the knowledge of temperature during the contamination process. For this purpose, a thermoreflectance technique is used here to estimate the temperature variation from pulse to pulse during contamination deposition through the analysis of a temperature-dependent surface reflectance signal.