Stimulated Brillouin Scattering Damage of Large-Aperture Fused Silica Grating

Laser induced damage experiment is carried out on a large aperture laser facility. Severe damage is observed on a large-aperture fused silica grating which presents dense craters on the front surface and six cracks alternatively located at the front and the rear surface. The bizarre fact about the damage on the grating is that, unlike other optics, the damage craters are almost on the front surface. According to observation, damage phenomenon is due to the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) effect occurring in the grating, which includes the transverse SBS, the back SBS and the zigzag SBS.