Keynote: Modeling in Optics Processing in Support of High-Power Laser Systems

Laser-induced surface modifications of glass has emerged as a polishing technique due to its ability to decrease subaperture surface roughness. Implementing this technique requires an understanding of the physics involved.

In this keynote talk from COMSOL Day: Nuclear Fusion, Nathan J. Ray of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) discusses the use of light–matter interactions in the optics processing community for the minimization or mitigation of damage sites on glass optics. Ray opens the talk with a video on how the National Ignition Facility (located at LLNL) explores controlled nuclear fusion. This includes a description of LLNL's optical instrument and the challenges associated with maintaining its tens of thousands of optics. Ray then discusses the inevitability of laser damage and the use of laser processing in the fabrication and repair of large NIF optics. He concludes the talk with a discussion of the thermoelastic and viscoelastic models they developed to simulate relevant laser interaction with glass.

Nathan J. Ray received a BS degree in mathematics and a BS degree in physics from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2012. He received his PhD in materials engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2017.