Improvement of laser damage thresholds of fused silica by ultrasonic-assisted hydrofluoric acid etching

Polished fused silica samples were etched for different durations by using hydrofluoric (HF) acid solution with HF concentrations in an ultrasonic field. Surface and subsurface polishing residues and molecular structure parameters before and after the etching process were characterized by using a fluorescence microscope and infrared (IR) spectrometer, respectively. The laser induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) of the samples were measured by using pulsed nanosecond laser with wavelength of 355 nm. The results showed that surface and subsurface polishing residues can be effectively reduced by the acid etching process, and the LIDTs of fused silica are significantly improved. The etching effects increased with the increase of the HF concentration from 5 wt.% to 40 wt.%. The amount of polishing residues decreased with the increase of the etching duration and then kept stable. Simultaneously, with the increase of the etching time, the mechanical strength and molecular structure were improved.