T he National Bureau of Standards' was established by an act of Congress on March 3, 1901. The Bureau's overall goal is to strengthen and advance the nation's science and technology and facilitate their effective application for public benefit. To this end, the Bureau conducts research to assure international competitiveness and leadership of U.S. industry, science and technology. NBS work involves development and transfer of measurements, standards and related science and technology, in support of continually improving U.S. productivity, product quality and reliability, innovation and underlying science and engineering. The Bureau's technical work is performed by the National Measurement Laboratory, the National Engineering Laboratory, the Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology, and the Institute for Materials Science and Engineering. The National Measurement Laboratory Provides the national system of physical and chemical measurement; coordinates the system with measurement systems of other nations and furnishes essential services leading to accurate and uniform physical and chemical measurement throughout the Nation's scientific community, industry, and commerce; provides advisory and research services to other Government agencies; conducts physical and chemical research; develops, produces, and distributes Standard Reference Materials; provides calibration services; and manages the National Standard Reference Data System. The Laboratory consists of the following centers: The National Engineering Laboratory Provides technology and technical services to the public and private sectors The Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology The Institute for Materials Science and Engineering Conducts research and provides measurements, data, standards, reference materials, quantitative understanding and other technical information fundamental to the processing, structure, properties and performance of materials; addresses the scientific basis for new advanced materials technologies; plans research around cross-cutting scientific themes such as nondestructive evaluation and phase diagram development; oversees Bureau-wide technical programs in nuclear reactor radiation research and nondestructive evaluation; and broadly disseminates generic technical information resulting from its programs. The Institute consists of the following Divisions: Basic Standards2 • Radiation Research • Chemical Physics • Analytical Chemistry • Applied Mathematics • Manufacturing Engineering • Fire Research • Chemical Engineering3 • Information Systems Engineering • Advanced Systems • Ceramics • Fracture and Deformation3 • Polymers • Metallurgy Reactor Radiation 'Headquarters and Laboratories at Gaithersburg, MD, unless otherwise noted; mailing address Gaithersburg, MD 20899. 2Some divisions within the center are located at Boulder, CO 80303. 'Located at Boulder, CO, with some elements at Gaithersburg, MD U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, C. William Verity, Secretary Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 88-600557 National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 746 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 Foreword The Proceedings contain the papers presented at the Seventeenth Symposium on Optical Materials for High-Power Lasers held at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado, on October 28-30, 1985. The Symposium was jointly sponsored by the National Bureau of Standards, the American Society for Testing and Materials, the Office of Naval Research, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, the Department of Energy, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The Symposium was attended by over 215 scientists from the United States, Israel, India, the United Kingdom, Japan, Federal Republic of Germany, and the Soviet Union. It was divided into sessions devoted to the following topics: Materials and Measurements, Mirrors and Surfaces, Thin Films, and finally, Fundamental Mechanisms. The Symposium Co-Chairmen were Dr. Harold E. Bennett of the Naval Weapons Center, Dr. Arthur H. Guenther of the Air Force Weapons Laboratory, Dr. David Milam of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Dr. Brian E. Newnam of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. They also served as editors of this report. The editors assume full responsibility for the summary article which contains an overview of the Symposium. The manuscripts of the papers presented at the Symposium have been prepared by the designated authors, and questions pertaining to their content should be addressed to those authors. The interested reader is referred to the bibliography at the end of the summary article for general references to the literature of laser damage studies. The Eighteenth Annual Symposium on this topic will be held in Boulder, Colorado, November 3-5, 1986. A concerted effort will be made to ensure closer liaison between the practitioners of high-peak power and the high-average power community. The principal topics to be considered as contributed papers in 1986 do not differ drastically from those enumerated above. We expect to hear more about improved scaling relations as a function of pulse duration, area, and wavelength, and to see a continuing transfer of information from research activities to industrial practice. New sources at shorter wavelengths continue to be developed, and a corresponding shift in emphasis to short wavelength and repetitively-pulsed damage problems is anticipated. Fabrication and test procedures will continue to be developed, particularly in the diamond-turned optics and thin film areas. The purpose of these symposia is to exchange information about optical materials for high-power lasers. The editors will welcome comment and criticism from all interested readers relevant to this purpose, and particularly relative to our plans for the Eighteenth Annual Symposium. H. E. Bennett, A. H. Guenther, |