Laser-induced damage of SiO 2 and CaF 2 under 263 nm

Laser damage performance of large aperture optical components has been study under fourth harmonic of 1053nm Nd:glass laser irradiation (263nm).The threshold of optical components is very low under 263nm laser irradiation ,due to conversion of beam to higher energy photons of the quadrupled frequency (4ω), and is relative to material characteristic. A preliminary test of laser induced damage in fused silica (SiO 2 ) and CaF 2 under 263nm laser is reported in this article. Thresholds of these two materials are obtained. Laser damage threshold of SiO 2 is found about 2 J/cm 2 by 1-on-1 method using pulsed 263nm laser, lower than CaF 2 whose threshold.