The optical absorption of contaminants on high reflectivity mirrors was measured using photo thermal
common-path interferometry before and after exposure to high power continuous-wave laser light. The
contaminants were micron-sized graphite flakes on hafnia-silica distributed Bragg reflectors illuminated by a
ytterbium-doped fiber laser. After one-second periods of exposure, the mirrors demonstrated reduced
absorption for irradiances as low as 11 kW cm−2 and had an obvious threshold near 20 kW cm−2. Final
absorption values were reduced by up to 90% of their initial value for irradiances of 92 kW cm−2. For shorter
pulses at 34 kW cm−2, a minimum exposure time required to begin absorption reduction was found between
100 μs and 200 μs, with particles reaching their final minimum absorption value within 300 ms. Microscope
images of the surface showed agglomerated particles fragmenting with some being removed completely,
probably by evaporation for exposures between 200 μs to 10 ms. Exposures of 100 ms and longer left behind a
thin semi-transparent residue, covering much of the conditioned area. An order of magnitude estimate of the
time necessary to begin altering the surface contaminants (also known as ”conditioning”) indicates about 200 μs
seconds at 34 kW cm−2, based on heating an average carbon particle to its sublimation temperature including
energy loss to thermal contact and radiation. This estimation is close to the observed exposure time required to
begin absorption reduction.