Tensile strength and elastic moduli of composite solid state laser media

Adhesive-Free Bonded (AFB (R) ) composite components for solid state lasers essentially are only held together by Van der Waals attractive forces. Composites that have been evaluated include single crystal YAG, optical ceramic YAG, sapphire, crystal YAG/ sapphire, ceramic YAG/sapphire, single crystal spinel, ceramic spinel, single crystal spinel/ single crystal YAG. These composites are of interest for high average power AFB (R) slabs, waveguides and disks. Since AFB (R) composites of laser media do not fail in tensile fracture at the interface but at random surface flaws; an interferometric technique has been developed to measure the E-modulus which in turn is a measure of the cohesive strength of the bulk material. The E-modulus of composites has been determined to be on average only about 5-10% lower than that of the bulk material, confirming the excellent bond strength of Van der Waals composites.