Abstract

At or above a threshold in peak pulse power that is easily accessible by laser sources available today, a short light pulse can undergo tremendous changes as it propagates from the cornea to the retina. The spot size, the pulse shape, the peak intensity, and the spectral content of the pulse can all undergo changes not predicted with either linear or stationery nonlinear propagation models. Such changes play an important role in understanding the mechanisms by which energy is deposited in ocular tissues in the short-pulse regime. Understanding breakdown, tissue damage or other absorption processes in the eye hinges on understanding the details of the delivery of the light energy.

© 1994 Optical Society of America