Preliminary results on mitigation of KDP surface damage using the ball dimpling method

As laser conditioning ever increases the performance of KDP optics with respect to laser induced bulk damage so that it can meet high-power laser specifications, it is expected that surface damage may become the next threat that must be dealt with. This paper presents new data on surface damage initiation and growth at 3w. A surface damage mitigation process based on the ball-dimpling method is presented along with the first results on the behavior of this process with respect to laser irradiation.