Large area precision optical coatings by reactive ion beam sputtering.

The demand for ion beam sputtering (IBS) coated substrates is growing. In order to introduce IBS technology into new fields of application, the uniform deposition area (UDA) must be further increased. In the present investigation, a simple approach toward enlarging a UDA and the corresponding scaling laws are presented.

Laser damage resistance of ion-beam sputtered Sc2O3/SiO2 mixture optical coatings.

We report on the correlation between the laser damage resistance, the optical and the physical properties of Sc(2)O(3)/SiO(2) mixture coatings. Several sets of samples with ten different mixture ratios have been prepared by ion-beam sputtering. The atomic compositions of the mixture thin films are quantified employing x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profiles.

Role of two-photon absorption in Ta2O5 thin films in nanosecond laser-induced damage.

Laser-induced damage in the nanosecond domain has been connected to the heating and breakdown of local defects within the thin film and the various interfaces. Within the femtosecond regime, the damaging events can be traced back to multiphoton-based excitation into the conduction band. When critical electron density is exceeded, an optical breakdown will occur.