Samples with nodular defects grown from gold nanoparticles are prepared, and laser-induced damage tests are conducted on them. Nodular defects, which are in critical state of damage, are cross-sectioned by focusing on the ion beam and by imaging using a field emission scanning electron microscope. The crosssectional profile shows that cracks are generated and propagated along the nodular boundaries and the HfO2/SiO2 interface, or are even melted. The thermomechanical process induced by the heated seed region is analyzed based on the calculations of temperature increase and thermal stress. The numerical results give the critical temperature of the seed region and the thermal stress for crack generation, irradiated with threshold fluence. The numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental ones.