The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of nematic liquid crystals is investigated in the femtosecond regime at 1030 nm. The thickness and breakdown of freely-suspended thin films (approximately 100 nm) of different mixtures (MLC2073, MLC2132 and E7) is monitored in real time by spectral-domain interferometry. The duration of laser pulses was varied from 180 fs to 1.8 ps for repetition rates ranging from single-shot to 1 MHz. The dependence of the LIDT with pulse duration suggests a damage mechanism dominated by ionization mechanisms at low repetition rate and by linear absorption at high repetition rate. In the single-shot regime, LIDTs exceeding 1 J/cm² are found for the three investigated mixtures.
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