A KDP equation of state for laser-induced damage applications

High power lasers such as NIF in the USA or LMJ in France are being developed for inertial confinement fusion applications. However, the performance of the optics is limited by laser-induced damage (LID), which occurs, for instance, in the potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4 or KDP) crystals utilized for frequency conversion. An accurate equation of state (EOS) is required to explain the LID process and to predict damage size. For the design of such EOS, a pulsed electron beam was used to generate a quasi-plane stress wave of 0.7 GPa in KDP. The sample response was deduced from photonic Doppler velocimetry. Equations of state and deviatoric stress components are designed and compared to experimental data. They are used in laser-induced bulk damage simulations, showing that strength may play a significant role. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3600210]