Postprocessing treatments to improve the laser damage resistance of fused silica optical surfaces and SiO2 coatings

The combination of deep wet etching and a magneto-rheological finishing(MRF) process is investigated to simultaneously improve laser damage resistance of a fused-silica surface at 355 nm. The subsequently deposited SiO2 coatings are researched to clarify the impact of substrate finishing technology on the coatings. It is revealed that a deep removal proceeding from the single side or double side had a significant impact on the laser-induced damage threshold(LIDT) of the fused silica, especially for the rear surface. After the deep etching, the MRF process that followed does not actually increase the LIDT, but it does ameliorate the surface qualities without additional LIDT degradation. The combination guarantee both the integrity of the surface’s finish and the laser damage resistance of the fused silica and subsequent SiO2 coatings.     

Study on high-reflective coatings of different designs at 532 nm

Conventional HfO2/SiO2 and Al2O3/HfO2/SiO2 double stack high reflective （HR） coatings at 532 nm are deposited by electron beam evaporation onto BK7 substrates. The laser-induced damage threshold （LIDT） of two kinds of HR coatings is tested, showing that the laser damage resistance of the double stack HR coatings （16 J/cm2） is better than that of the conventional HR coatings （12.8 J/cm2）. Besides, the optical properties, surface conditions, and damage morphologies of each group samples are characterized. The results show that laser damage resistance of conventional HR coatings is determined by absorptive defect, while nodular defect is responsible for the LIDT of double stack HR coatings.     

Accumulation effect of SiO_2 protective layer on multi-shot laser-induced damage in high-reflectivity HfO_2/SiO_2 coatings

The accumulation effects in high-reflectivity(HR) HfO2/SiO2 coatings under laser irradiation are investigated.The HR HfO2/SiO2 coatings are prepared by electron beam evaporation at 1 064 nm.The laser-induced damage threshold(LIDT) are measured at 1 064 nm and at a pulse duration of 12 ns,in 1-on-1 and S-on-1 modes.Multi-shot LIDT is lower than single-shot LIDT.The laser-induced and native defects play an important role in the multi-shot mode.A correlative theory model based on critical conduction band electron density is constructed to elucidate the experimental phenomena.     

Contamination process and laser-induced damage of HfO2/SiO2 coatings in vacuum

The performances of HfO2/SiO2 single- and multi-layer coatings in vacuum influenced by contamination are studied. The surface morphology, the transmittance spectrum, and the laser-induced damage threshold are investigated. The results show that the contamination in vacuum mainly comes from the vacuum system and the contamination process is different for the HfO2 and SiO2 films. The laser-induced damage experiments at 1064 nm in vacuum show that the damage resistance of the coatings will decrease largely due to the organic contamination.     

Damage on HfO_2/SiO_2 high-reflecting coatings under single and multiple Nd:YAG laser pulse irradiation

The single- and multi-shot damage behaviors of HfO2/SiO2 high-reflecting (HR) coatings under Nd:YAG laser exposure were investigated. Fundamental aspects of multi-shot laser damage, such as the instability due to pulse-to-pulse accumulation of absorption defect and structural defect effect, and the mechanism of laser induced defect generation, are considered. It was found in multi-shot damage, the main factors influencing laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) are accumulation of irreversible changes of structural defects and thermal stress that induced by thermal density fluctuations.     

Influence of APS bias voltage on properties of HfO_2 and SiO_2 single layer deposited by plasma ion-assisted deposition

HfO2 and SiO2 single layer is deposited on glass substrate with plasma ion assistance provided by Leybold advanced plasma source (APS). The deposition is performed with a bias voltage in the range of 70-130 V for HfO2, and 70-170 V for SiO2. Optical, structural, mechanical properties, as well as absorption and laser induced damage threshold at 1064 nm of HfO2 and SiO2 single layer deposited with the plasma ion assistance are systematically investigated. With the increase of APS bias voltage, coatings with higher refractive index, reduced surface roughness, and higher laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) are obtained, and no significant change of the absorption at 1064 nm is observed. For HfO2, a bias voltage can be identified to achieve coatings without any stress. However, too-high bias voltage can cause the increase of surface roughness and stress, and decrease the LIDT. The bias voltage can be properly identified to achieve coatings with desired properties.     

Effect of standing-wave field distribution on femosecond laser-induced damage of HfO_2/SiO_2 mirror coating

Single-pulse and multi-pulse damage behaviors of "standard"(with λ/4 stack structure) and "modified"(with reduced standing-wave field) HfO2/SiO2 mirror coatings are investigated using a commercial 50-fs,800-nm Ti:sapphire laser system.Precise morphologies of damaged sites display strikingly different features when the samples are subjected to various number of incident pulses,which are explained reasonably by the standing-wave field distribution within the coatings.Meanwhile,the single-pulse laser-induced damage threshold of the "standard" mirror is improved by about 14% while suppressing the normalized electric field intensity at the outmost interface of the HfO2 and SiO2 layers by 37%.To discuss the damage mechanism,a theoretical model based on photoionization,avalanche ionization,and decays of electrons is adopted to simulate the evolution curves of the conduction-band electron density during pulse duration.     

Laser Resistance of Ta2O5/SiO2 and ZrO2/SiO2 Optical Coatings under 2 9m Femtosecond Pulsed Irradiation

Ta2O5/SiO2 and ZrO2/SiO2 high reflecting （HR） coatings are prepared by ion beam sputtering and electron beam evaporation, respectively. The laser-induced damage thresholds （LIDTs） of these samples are investigated with 2μm femtosecond pulse lasers （80fs, 1kHz）. It is found that the Ta2O5/SiO2 HR coating has a higher capability of laser damage resistance than the ZrO2/SiO2 HR coating in the 2μm femtosecond regime. The scanning electron microscope results show that the damage sites of the ZrO2//SiO2 FIR coating have a relatively porous structure, the loose structure of coatings will provide more sites for water molecules, and the LIDTs of HR coatings will be reduced as a result of the strong water absorption at the wavelength of 2 μm.     

A moisture-resistant antireflective coating by sol-gel process for neodymium-doped phosphate laser glass

Using methyl triethoxysilicane as precursor, a moisture-resistant coating for neodymium-doped laser glass was developed by the sol-gel process. Colloidal silica was added in coating solution as modifier. The refractive index of this coating varied from 1.31 to 1.42. A porous antireflective (AR) silica coating with the index of 1.27 was coated on the moisture-resistant coating surface. The two-layer coating possessed transmission up to 99.1% at wavelength of 966 nm, surface root-mean-square (RMS) roughness of 1.245 nm, and roughness of average (RA) of 0.961 nm. In the case of laser of 1053-nm laser wavelength and 1-ns pulse duration, the damage threshold of the two-layer coatings was more than 15 J/cm2.     

A moisture-resistant antireflective coating by sol-gel process for neodymium-doped phosphate laser glass

Using methyl triethoxysilicane as precursor, a moisture-resistant coating for neodymium-doped laser glass was developed by the sol-gel process. Colloidal silica was added in coating solution as modifier. The refractive index of this coating varied from 1.31 to 1.42. A porous antireflective (AR) silica coating with the index of 1.27 was coated on the moisture-resistant coating surface. The two-layer coating possessed transmission up to 99.1% at wavelength of 966 nm, surface root-mean-square (RMS) roughness of 1.245nm, and roughness of average (RA) of 0.961 nm. In the case of laser of 1053-nm laser wavelength and 1-ns pulse duration, the damage threshold of the two-layer coatings was more than 15 J/cm2.     

Sol-gel preparation of a silica enhanced hydrophobicity and antireflective coating with optical stability in vacuum

A new silica antireflective coating with improved hydrophobicity and optical stability in a vacuum is obtained by a two-step route. Firstly, silica sols are prepared with a sol-gel process, in which tetraethyl orthosilicate is utilized as a precursor. And by introduction of fluorine containing glycol into the sols, the porosity of silica particles and surface polarity of the coatings are decreased. Afterward, coatings are constructed with low surface roughness by modification of PMBA-PMMA. The coatings retain transmission of up to 99.6%, and laser damage threshold of about 50 J/cm^2 at a wavelenth of 532 nm （1-on-1. 10 ns）     

Laser induced damage threshold testing of DUV optical substrates

Laser induced damage threshold （LIDT） testing is the effective methods to research the lifetime of optical elements. According to ISO 11254 standards, a LIDT testing system of ArF excimer laser is established. The laser beam size on the sample surface can be varied from 0.3 to 0.6 mm in diameter. The maximum laser energy density is larger than 4.5 J/cm2. Besides the Nomarski microscope, He-Ne scattering is used and demonstrated as an effective and reliable method for the on-line monitoring of laser damage. The uncertainty of LIDT results and the main effecting factors are analyzed. The laser induced damage of fused silica substrates with different absorptions and CaF2 substrates with different absorptions are investigated in 1-on-1 mode, respectively. The roles of absorption on the LIDT results of the two kind substrates are discussed.     

Mechanisms of near-ultraviolet, nanosecond-pulse-laser damage in HfO2/SiO2- based multilayer coatings

The possible role of metal clusters and electronic defects in the near-ultraviolet, nanosecond-pulse-laser damage in HfO2/SiO2-pair - based coatings is analyzed using experimental results on absorption and damage in HfO2 monolayers with and without artificially introduced Hf nanoscale absorbers. These studies reveal a damage mechanism specific to HfO2/SiO2 pair combination comprised of a high-melting-point material （HfO2）, where absorption starts, and a lower-melting-point material （SiO2）, where absorption can be initiated upon reaching the critical temperature. Based on this analysis we discuss possible modifications to coating designs and desirable properties of high- and low-index materials that might lead to improve nanosecond, near-ultraviolet laser-damage performance.     

Effect of native defects and laser-induced defects on multi-shot laser-induced damage in multilayer mirrors

The roles of laser-induced defects and native defects in multilayer mirrors under multi-shot irradiation condition are investigated. The HfO 2 /SiO 2 dielectric mirrors are deposited by electron beam evaporation(EBE) . Laser damage testing is carried out on both the 1-on-1 and S-on-1 regimes using 355-nm pulsed laser at a duration of 8 ns. It is found that the single-shot laser-induced damage threshold(LIDT) is much higher than the multi-shot LIDT. In the multi-shot mode,the main factor influencing LIDT is the accumulation of irreversible laser-induced defects and native defects. The surface morphologies of the samples are observed by optical microscopy. Moreover,the number of laser-induced defects affects the damage probability of the samples. A correlative model based on critical conduction band(CB) electron density(ED) is presented to simulate the multi-shot damage behavior.     

0.532-μm laser conditioning of HfO_2/SiO_2 third harmonic separator fabricated by electron-beam evaporation

The 0.532-μm laser conditioning of HfO_2/SiO_2 third harmonic separator fabricated by electron-beam evaporation (EBE) was studied.The laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the separator determined by 1-on-1 test is 9.1 J/cm~2 and it is 15.2 J/cm~2 after laser conditioning determined by raster scanning. Two kinds of damage morphologies,taper pits and flat bottom pits,are found on the sample surface and they show different damage behaviors.The damage onset of taper pits does not change obviously and the laser conditioning effect is contributed to the flat bottom pits,which limits the application of laser conditioning.     

Effect of Vacuum on the Laser-Induced Damage of Anti-Reflection Coatings

In the comparison of damage modifications, absorption measurement and energy dispersive x-ray analysis, the effect of vacuum on the laser-induced damage of anti-reflection coatings is analyzed. It is found that vacuum decreases the laser-induced damage threshold of the films. The low laser-induced damage threshold in vacuum environments as opposed to air environments is attributed to water absorption and the formation of the O/Si, O/Zr sub-stoichiometry in the course of laser irradiation.     

Enhanced laser induced damage threshold of dielectric antireflection coatings by the introduction of one interfacial layer

A new method for increasing laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of dielectric antireflection (AR) coating is proposed. Compared with AR film stack of H2.5L (H:HfO2, L:SiO2) on BK7 substrate, SiO2 interfacial layer with four quarter wavelength optical thickness (QWOT) is deposited on the substrate before the preparation of H2.5L film. It is found that the introduction of SiO2 interfacial layer with a certain thickness is effective and flexible to increase the LIDT of dielectric AR coatings. The measured LIDT is enhanced by about 50%, while remaining the low reflectivity with less than 0.09% at the center wavelength of 1064 nm. Detailed mechanisms of the LIDT enhancement are discussed.     

Study on the laser treatment of electroless Ni-P-SiC composite coatings

Effect of the laser treatment on electroless Ni-P-SiC composite coatings was investigated. The microscopic structure, surface morphology, ingredient, and performance of the Ni-P-SiC composite coatings were synthetically analyzed by the use of X-ray diffraction apparatus, scanning electron microscope, energy distribution spectrometer, micro-hardness tester, wear tester and so on. It was found that the composite coatings did make crystalloblastic transformation after laser heating. Structural analysis confirmed that some new types of phase Ni2Si or Ni3Si compound would emerge in the Ni-P-SiC coatings after laser treatment. The micro-hardness measurement results showed that when the laser power was 450 W with scanning speed of 0.5 m/min, the hardness of the coating was superior to the coating obtained by the conventional furnace heating, and wear resistance of the composite coating after laser treating could also improve.     

First-principles study of the （001） surface of cubic PbHfO3 and BaHfO3

Using first-principles techniques,we investigate the(001) surfaces of cubic PbHfO3(PHO) and BaHfO3(BHO) terminated with both AO(A=Pb and Ba) and HfO2.Surface structure,partial density of states,band structure,and surface energy are obtained.The BaO surface is found to be similar to its counterpart in BHO.For the HfO2-terminated surface of cubic PHO,the largest relaxation appears on the second-layer atoms but not on the first-layer ones.The analysis of the structure relaxation parameters reveals that the rumpling of the(001) surface for PHO is stronger than that for BHO.The surface thermodynamic stability is explored,and it is found that both the PbO-and the BaO-terminated surfaces are more stable than the HfO2-terminated surfaces for PHO and BHO,respectively.The surface energy calculations show that the(001) surface of PHO is more easily constructed than that of BHO.     

Comparison of laser-induced damage in Ta2O5 and Nb2O5 single-layer films and high reflectors

Ta2O5 and Nb2O5 films are deposited on BK7 glass substrates using an electron beam evaporation method and are annealed at 673 K in the air.In this letter,comparative studies of the optical transmittance,microstructure,chemical composition,optical absorption,and laser-induced damage threshold(LIDT) of the two films are conducted.Findings indicate that the substoichiometric defect is very harmful to the laser damage resistance of Ta2O5 and Nb2O5 films.The decrease of absorption improves the LIDT in films deposited by the same material.However,although the absorption of the Ta2O5 single layer is less than that of the Nb2O5 single layer,the LIDT of the former is lower than that of the latter.High-reflective(HR) coatings have a higher LIDT than single layers due to the thermal dissipation of the SiO2 layers and the decreased electric field intensity(EFI).In addition,the Nb2O5 HR coating achieves the highest LIDT at 25.6 J/cm 2 in both single layers and HR coatings.