Background The service life of optical glass is a critical factor determining the stable operation of high-power laser systems. Currently, fused silica glass exhibits relatively short service life under laser irradiation, which severely limited the stable operation and development of high-power laser systems. The primary reason for the short service life of fused silica glass is laser-induced damage after triple-frequency laser irradiation and the fused silica components unusable due to degradation.

Purpose To address the issue of short service life of current optical glass in high-energy laser systems, An insensitive optical glass has been developed. Insensitive optical glass exhibits optical properties comparable to fused silica glass but demonstrates longer service life under intense laser irradiation. Its chemical composition is similar to traditional glass, yet it possesses a unique mesoscopic structure. The advantages of insensitive optical glass over traditional glass include higher laser damage growth threshold and slower laser damage progression. When initial damage occurs in the glass, subsequent laser irradiation results in slower laser damage progression in insensitive optical glass, thereby extending its service life.

Methods The insensitive optical glass was prepared in the laboratory and synthesized using a liquid-phase method to produce nanoscale glass powder, and then vitrified. Research on the damage growth of insensitive optical glass was conducted based on 355 nm laser irradiation. The laser damage threshold and damage growth threshold of the glass were measured using the R:1 method, which involves gradually increasing the laser energy from values significantly below the initial damage threshold for the same test point until laser damage occurs, recording the laser energy density at which damage is induced for each test point.

Results The damage growth of the insensitive optical glass was studied based on 355 nm lasers. The results show that the laser damage growth threshold of insensitive optical glass is 7-12 J/cm², and the threshold of zero probability laser damage growth is 7 J/cm², which is twice than that of fused silica glasses under the same conditions. Under high laser fluence (>12 J/cm²), the insensitive optical glass exhibits exponential growth, with a slower growth rate than fused silica glasses and a growth coefficient only 0.53 times that of fused silica glasses. The research on insensitive optical glasses provides a new approach to solve the problem of short service life of third harmonic optical glasses in high-energy laser systems.

Conclusions This article conducts research on the growth of laser damage in insensitive optical glass. The characteristics of high threshold and slow growth of laser damage in insensitive optical glass were verified. It provides a new approach to solve the problem of short service life of third harmonic optical glass in high-energy laser devices.