Propagation effects in the assessment of laser damage thresholds to the eye and skin

摘要

Computational physics methods are described for the evaluation of the role of propagation with regard to laser damage to tissues. Regions of the optical spectrum, where linear and non-linear propagation affects irradiance distributions within tissues, are examined. Effects described include group-velocity dispersion, aberrations, thermal lensing, and self-focusing. Implications to exposure limits within safety standards, incorporating these irradiance-altering effects, are addressed such that inherent trends agree over wide temporal and spectral ranges, with damage thresholds measured experimentally. We present current regions of interest to the standard-setting community and recent works showing how propagation effects may be playing a key role in assessing damage thresholds.