Thermal blooming explained

Thermal blooming or thermal lensing occurs when high-energy laser beams propagate through a medium.^{[1] [2] [3]} It is the result of nonlinear interactions that occur when the medium (e.g. air or glass) is heated by absorbing a fraction of the radiation, causing a "thermal lens" to form, with a dioptric power related to the intensity of the laser, among other factors. The amount of energy absorbed is a function of the laser wavelength. The term "thermal blooming" is typically used when the medium is air, and can describe any type of self-induced "thermal distortion" of laser radiation. The term "thermal lensing" is typically used when describing thermal effects in the laser's gain medium itself.

See also

• Optical Kerr effect

References

• Book: Tyson, R. . Principles Of Adaptive Optics . Elsevier Science . 2012 . 978-0-323-15659-2 . September 5, 2017 . 40–42.
• Book: Zohuri, B. . Directed Energy Weapons: Physics of High Energy Lasers (HEL) . Springer International Publishing . 2016 . 978-3-319-31289-7 . September 5, 2017 . 381.
• Book: Dawes, C. . Laser Welding: A Practical Guide . Abington . Series in Welding and Other Jo . 1992 . 978-1-85573-034-2 . September 5, 2017 . 210.

Notes and References

1. Book: Lukin . V.P. . Fortes . B.V. . Adaptive Beaming and Imaging in the Turbulent Atmosphere . SPIE Press . SPIE Press monograph . 2002 . 978-0-8194-4337-3 . September 5, 2017 . 107.
2. Web site: Paschotta . Dr Rüdiger . Thermal Lensing . 2022-11-12 . www.rp-photonics.com . en.
3. Mahalingam . Babu . Sudhakara Reddy . Bongu . Pritam P. . Shetty . Eswaraiah . Varrla . G Ramachandra . Reddy . Jayachandra . Bingi . Demonstration of spatial self phase modulation based photonic diode functionality in MoS2/h-BN medium . Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing . December 23, 2023 . 168 . 107831 . 10.1016/j.mssp.2023.107831 . 2309.09209 .