Laser induced damage of ZnSe, CdTe, Ge, KRS-5, KCl, NaCl, and BaF2 single crystals was investigated with the pulsed CO, CO2, HF, DF, Nd3+YAG lasers, as well as repetitively pulsed CO and CO2 lasers. Physical and mathematical models of destruction of transparent dielectrics and semiconductors were developed. The laser-radiation tolerance of IR materials was found to correlate with the fundamental characteristics: refractive index, bandgap, spectral range, crystal lattice energy, anionic and cationic radii, and the element number in the Periodic Table.