title: Talbot array illuminator for single-shot measurements of laser-induced-damage thresholds of thin-film coatings.
abstract: A highly efficient Talbot array illuminator for single-shot, laser-induced-damage test measurements of optical thin-film coatings is proposed. With a periodic binary phase grating, a laser beam is transformed into an ensemble of Gaussian-like spots, which are known as the Fresnel image of the grating. For this purpose hexagonal phase gratings were fabricated and analyzed. With a peak fluence distribution of approximately 1 order of magnitude, the damage threshold of thin films can be deduced by use of the data from only a single shot.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, Sidlerstrasse 5, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Siegel
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Loewenthal
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Balmer
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Weber