Laser induced damage to optical materials, 1973: a conference report.

During the 1973 Symposium on Damage in Laser Materials several specific topics received considerable attention. The papers presented to the approximately 135 specialists in attendance can logically be separated into categories on self-focusing damage, surface damage, coating damage, infrared component damage, and theory and fundamental properties. Highlighting the meeting were papers on small scale self-focusing, the importance of surface or near-surface absorbing impurities as a major extrinsic influence in reducing the intrinsic damage level of coated and uncoated surfaces, development of new instrumental methods for evaluation of material properties important in the damage process, initial attempts at cataloging these important properties, and, finally, several reports on the frequency and temporal aspects of laser-induced damage in a variety of materials, from the visible to the infrared, and from subnanosecond pulsed to continuous wave exposures.