Abstract

It is now well known that generally dielectric thin films behave very differently from bulk materials. They can exhibit unstable optical properties due to water adsorption-desorption phenomena. When lightened with a high power flux they can have damage threshold much lower than the bulk; but, before damage occurs, their optical properties can be unstable in a reversible way. Both thermal and non linear effects can give such reversible instabilities.

© 1992 Optical Society of America