General design basis for a final optics assembly to decrease filamentary damage

The high-power laser beam in the final optics assembly of high-power laser facilities is often modulated by contamina- tion particles, which may cause local high light intensity, thereby increasing the filamentary damage probability for optical components. To study the general design basis for a final optics assembly to decrease the risk of filamentary damage, different-sized contamination particles deposited on a component surface are simulated to modulate a 351-nm laser beam based on the optical transmission theory, and the corresponding simulation results are analyzed statistically in terms of the propagation characteristic and the light field intensity distribution of the modulated laser beam. The statistical results show that component thickness and distance between components can to some extent be optimized to reduce the appearance of local high light intensity, and the general design basis of component thickness and arrangement are given for different control levels of particle sizes. Moreover, the statistical results can also predict the laser beam quality approximately under the existing optics design and environmental cleanliness. The optimized design for final optics assembly based on environmental cleanliness level is useful to prolong the lifetime of optics and enhance the output power of high-power laser facilities.

Monitoring and characterization of particle contamination in the pulse compression chamber of the OMEGA EP laser system

The laser-damage performance of optics is known to be negatively affected by microscale particle contamination induced by the operational environment.This work investigates the properties of particles accumulating in various locations near critical optics inside the OMEGA EP grating compressor chamber during quarterly operational periods over a 2-year duration.The particles found were characterized using optical microscopy,scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.The analysis indicates significant concentrations of micrometer-to nanometerscale particles inside the vacuum chamber,with higher values observed near the port leading to the OMEGA EP target chamber.The distribution of the chemical composition of these particles varies between collection periods.Although understanding of the mechanisms of particle generation and transport remains uncertain,the hypothesis is that this particle load represents a risk for contaminating the surfaces of high-value optics located inside the chamber,including the compression gratings and deformable mirrors,and therefore affecting their laser-damage resistance and overall operational lifetime.

Erosion degradation characteristics of a linear electro-hydrostatic actuator under a high-frequency turbulent flow field

The paper proposes a performance degradation analysis model based on dynamic erosion wear for a novel Linear Electro-Hydrostatic Actuator（LEHA）. Rather than the traditional statistical methods based on degradation data, the method proposed in this paper firstly analyzes the dominant progressive failure mode of the LEHA based on the working principle and working conditions of the LEHA. The Computational Fluid Dynamics（CFD） method, combining the turbulent theory and the micro erosion principle, is used to establish an erosion model of the rectification mechanism. The erosion rates for different port openings, under a time-varying flow field, are obtained. The piecewise linearization method is applied to update the concentration of contaminated particles within the LEHA, in order to gain insight into the erosion degradation process at various stages of degradation. The main contribution of the proposed model is the application of the dynamic concentration of contamination particles in erosion analysis of Electro-Hydraulic Servo Valves（EHSVs）, throttle valves, spool valves, and needle valves. The effects of system parameters and working conditions on component wear are analyzed by simulations. The results of the proposed model match the expected degradation process.