Bulk and surface calorimetric measurements at CO wavelengths

Laser calorimetry was used to measure the optical absorption of several candidate window materials for application at CO laser wavelengths. These materials include KCl, CaF(2), SrF(2), and ZnSe. The long, thin bar technique was used to separate bulk and surface absorption contributions by means of their time dependencies. One sample of KCl, known to be low absorbing at 10.6 microm, exhibited no measurable absorption within the sensitivity of the calorimeter (beta(t) < 2 x 10(-6) cm(-1)). The absorption coefficients measured for two samples of CaF(2) at 5.41 microm were higher than those measured by other investigators at 5.25 microm, but, when fitted to an exponential dependence on wavelength, compared favorably with currently measured values. To compare results from different laboratories, precise definition of the spectral power distribution is essential. The surface absorption was, in all cases, small relative to similar measurements at 10.6 microm; in several cases it was not separable from bulk absorption by the technique used.