Single- and multi-shot laser-induced damages of Ta_2O_5/SiO_2 dielectric mirrors at 1064 nm

Ta2O5/SiO2 dielectric mirrors deposited by ion beam sputtering (IBS) are studied. The multi-shot laserinduced damage threshold (LIDT) and its dependence on the number of shots are investigated, after which we find that the multi-shot LIDT is lower than that of single-shot. The accumulation effects of defects play an important role in the multi-shot laser damage. A simple model, which includes the conduction band electron production vsa multiphoton and impact ionizations, is presented to explain the experimental phenomena.     

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.     

Damage on HfO2/SiO2 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.     

节瘤缺陷激光损伤的研究进展

在近红外反射类激光薄膜中,节瘤缺陷是引起薄膜激光损伤的主要因素。为了提高激光薄膜的损伤阈值,对节瘤缺陷及其损伤特性进行研究具有重要意义。从真实节瘤缺陷和人工节瘤缺陷两个方面介绍节瘤缺陷的研究进展。基于真实节瘤缺陷的研究,建立了节瘤缺陷的结构特征,形成了节瘤缺陷损伤特性和损伤机制的初步认识,利用时域有限差分法(FDTD)模拟了电场增强,初步解释了节瘤缺陷的损伤机制,发明了抑制节瘤缺陷种子源的方法和激光预处理技术,减少了节瘤缺陷,提高了薄膜损伤阈值。但是真实节瘤缺陷的性质,如种子源尺寸、吸收性以及位置深度等,都难以控制和预测,难以开展节瘤缺陷损伤特性的系统和量化研究,致使关于节瘤缺陷损伤的科学认识尚有不足。基于人工节瘤缺陷的研究,可以实现节瘤缺陷损伤特性的系统、量化甚至单一因素研究,极大地提高了实验研究的效率和可靠性,获得了一系列定量损伤规律。人工节瘤缺陷的高度受控性使实验研究与理论模拟的可靠对比成为可能,人工节瘤缺陷的损伤形貌和FDTD电场模拟的直接比较实验不仅验证了时域有限差分法(FDTD)模拟电场的正确性,也进一步明确了电场增强是诱导节瘤缺陷损伤的主要机制。对节瘤缺陷的损伤机制有了更为深刻的认识后,人们开始调控节瘤缺陷的电场增强效应提高节瘤缺陷的损伤阈值,发展了宽角度反射薄膜技术和节瘤缺陷平坦化技术,抑制电场增强,提高损伤阈值。这扩展了控制节瘤缺陷的思路和方法,从原来单一的去除节瘤缺陷到调控节瘤缺陷,为进一步提高薄膜的损伤阈值开辟了新的方向和途径。     

Impact of organic contamination in vacuum on laser-induced damage threshold of TiO2/SiO2 dielectric mirrors

The influence of organic contamination in vacuum on the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of coatings is studied. TiO2/SiO2 dielectric mirrors with high reflection at 1064 nm are deposited by the electronbeam evaporation method and their LIDTs are measured in vacuum and atmosphere, respectively.It is found that the contamination in vacuum is easily attracted to optical surfaces because of the low pressure and becomes the source of damage, O2 molecules in vacuum with contamination can accelerate the laser-induced damage by observing LIDT and damage morphologies. LIDTs of mirrors have a little change in vacuum compared with in atmosphere when the organic contamination is wiped off. The results indicate that organic contamination is a significant reason to decrease the LIDT in vacuum.     

Impact of organic contamination on laser-induced damage threshold of high reflectance coatings in vacuum

The influence of organic contamination in vacuum on the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of coatings is studied. TiO₂/SiO₂ dielectric mirrors with high reflection at 1064 nm are deposited by the electron beam evaporation method. The LIDTs of mirrors are measured in vacuum and atmosphere, respectively. It is found that the contamination in vacuum is easily attracted to optical surfaces because of the low pressure and becomes the source of damage. LIDTs of mirrors have a little change in vacuum compared with in atmosphere when the organic contamination is wiped off. The results indicate that organic contamination is a significant reason to decrease the LIDT. N₂ molecules in vacuum can reduce the influence of the organic contaminations and prtectect high reflectance coatings.     

重复率激光作用下光学薄膜损伤的累积效应

使用脉宽12 ns,频率10 Hz的1064 nm调Q NdYAG激光器,研究了高反射膜在重复率激光作用下的损伤的累积效应.实验发现,高反射膜的损伤阈值随辐照脉冲数增加而降低,表现出明显的累积效应.通过对损伤阈值和损伤概率以及辐照次数的统计性研究,并结合单脉冲辐照的结果,说明了存在于薄膜中微小的缺陷参与了多脉冲激光对薄膜的损伤过程.可用预损伤机制解释实验结果.得到了关于IBS制备的高反射膜的损伤阈值和照射次数的关系式,并用实验结果进行验证,发现具有很好的一致性.实验过程中样品的损伤形貌通过Nomarski偏光显微镜进行了观察,发现是典型的缺陷损伤.     

渐变折射率Ta_2O_5/SiO_2薄膜多脉冲激光损伤特性

采用离子束溅射(IBS)的方式,制备了1064nm高反射Ta2O5/SiO2渐变折射率光学薄膜。对其光学性能和在基频多脉冲下抗损伤性能进行了分析。通过渐变折射率的设计方式,很好地抑制了边带波纹,增加了1064nm反射率。通过对损伤阈值的分析发现,随着脉冲个数的增加,损伤阈值下降明显;但是在20个脉冲数后,损伤阈值(维持在22J/cm2左右)几乎保持不变直到100个脉冲数。通过Leica显微镜对损伤形貌的观察,发现损伤诱因是薄膜表面的节瘤缺陷。通过扫描电镜(SEM)以及聚集离子束(FIB)对薄膜表面以及断面的观察,证实了薄膜的损伤起源于薄膜表面的节瘤缺陷。进一步研究得出,渐变折射率薄膜在基频光单脉冲下损伤主要是由初始节瘤缺陷引起的,在后续多脉冲激光辐照下初始节瘤缺陷引起烧蚀坑的面积扩大扫过薄膜上的其他节瘤缺陷,引起了其他节瘤缺陷的喷射使损伤加剧,造成损伤的"累积效应"。     

Influence of overcoat on laser-induced damage threshold of 532 and 800 nm TiO2/SiO2 high reflectors

TiO₂/SiO₂ high reflectors with and without a SiO₂ overcoat are deposited by electron-beam evaporation. The film properties are characterized by visible spectrometry measures, structure analysis, roughness and laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) tests, surface defects and damage morphology observation. The effects of overcoats on LIDT at 532 nm, 8 ns and 800 nm, 220 ps laser pulses are investigated. The relations between film structure, roughness, surface defects, electric field and LIDT are discussed. It is found that overcoats can increase the LIDT at these two laser wavelengths. The reduction of peak temperature, the low defects density and roughness, the low intrinsic absorption of SiO₂ and its amorphous structure are the main reasons for LIDT improvement by overcoats.     

高功率激光诱导光学元件损伤阈值测量的不确定度分析

 激光诱导损伤阈值作为一实验参量,对其结果作不确定度分析有利于激光工作者在某个精度范围内获知该参量的信息。从激光损伤和损伤阈值定义出发,分析了基于ISO11254的损伤几率测试法测试激光诱导损伤阈值的不确定度来源,包括激光能量测量、激光光斑有效面积测量、各能量密度处损伤几率的计算以及对损伤几率点进行直线拟合这4个方面。并利用统计学原理和线性拟合等理论对这4个方面引起的不确定度分量及最终测试结果的相对合成不确定度进行了计算。以1 064 nm高反薄膜样品为例,分析表明：损伤几率点的计算和几率图中损伤几率的直线拟合是损伤阈值测试结果不确定度的主要来源,当样品的损伤阈值为7.79 J/cm²时,这两种因素引起的相对不确定度可分别在4%和18%左右,损伤阈值的相对合成不确定度达18.72%。     

Influence of substoichiometer on the laser-induced damage characters of HfO2 thin films

HfO₂ is one of the most important high refractive index materials for depositing high power optical mirrors. In this research, HfO₂ thin films were prepared by dual-ion beam reactive sputtering method, and the laser-induced damage thresholds (LIDT) of the sample were measured in 1-on-1 mode for laser with 1064 nm wavelength. The results indicate that the LIDT of the as-grown sample is only 3.96 J/cm², but it is increased to 8.98 J/cm² after annealing under temperature of 200 °C in atmosphere. By measuring the laser weak absorption and SIMS of the samples, we deduced that substoichiometer is the main reason for the low LIDT of the as-grown sample, and the experiment results were well explained with the theory of electronic-avalanche ionization.     

缺陷对HfO2薄膜的激光弱吸收与损伤阈值的影响

激光弱吸收是导致光学薄膜损伤的重要原因。在(5~43)mPa的氧分压下制备并测试了一组HfO2薄膜。实验发现,当氧分压小于20mPa时,薄膜弱吸收越大,损伤阈值越低;当氧分压大于20mPa时,薄膜的损伤阈值与弱吸收并不一一对应,具有较高弱吸收的薄膜可能同时具有较高的损伤阈值。建立了缺陷模型,采用有限元法模拟了缺陷对弱吸收测量和损伤阈值测量的影响,分析了缺陷尺寸、密度、吸收系数对弱吸收和损伤阈值的影响。研究结果显示,吸收系数高于薄膜1 000倍的缺陷可以降低薄膜的损伤阈值1 000倍,却并不影响薄膜的弱吸收。缺陷对HfO2薄膜的激光弱吸收与损伤阈值测试有完全不同的影响,是导致某些薄膜弱吸收与损伤阈值背离的原因。     

Effects of annealing on laser-induced damage threshold of TiO2/SiO2 high reflectors

The mechanism of improving 1064 nm, 12 ns laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of TiO₂/SiO₂ high reflectors (HR) prepared by electronic beam evaporation from 5.1 to 13.1 J/cm² by thermal annealing is discussed. Through optical properties, structure and chemical composition analysis, it is found that the reduced atomic non-stoichiometric defects are the main reason of absorption decrease and LIDT rise after annealing. A remarkable increase of LIDT is found at 300 °C annealing. The refractive index and film inhomogeneity rise, physical thickness decrease, and film stress changes from compress stress to tensile stress due to the structure change during annealing.     

Effect of Process Parameters on Laser Damage Threshold of TiO2 Coatings

We investigate the laser damage behaviour of an electron-beam-deposited TiO2 monolayer at different process parameters. The optical properties, chemical composition, surface defects, absorption and laser-induced damage threshold （LIDT） of films are measured. It is found that TiO2 films with the minimum absorption and the highest LIDT can be fabricated using a TiO2 starting material after annealing. LIDT is mainly related to absorption and is influenced by the non-stoichiometric defects for TiO2 films. Surface defects show no evident effects on LIDT in this experiment.     

Annealing effects on structure and laser-induced damage threshold of Ta2O5/SiO2 dielectric mirrors

The effects of annealing on structure and laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of Ta₂O₅/SiO₂ dielectric mirrors were investigated. Ta₂O₅/SiO₂ multilayer was prepared by ion beam sputtering (IBS), then annealed in air under the temperature from 100 to 400 °C. Microstructure of the samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Absorption of the multilayer was measured by surface thermal lensing (STL) technique. The laser-induced damage threshold was assessed using 1064 nm free pulsed laser at a pulse length of 220 μs.

It was found that the center wavelength shifted to long wavelength gradually as the annealing temperature increased, and kept its non-crystalline structure even after annealing. The absorbance of the reflectors decreased after annealing. A remarkable increase of the laser-induced damage threshold was found when the annealing temperature was above 250 °C.     

Investigation of annealing effects on the laser-induced damage threshold of amorphous Ta2O5 films

Ta₂O₅ films were deposited using the conventional electron beam evaporation method and then annealed at temperatures in the range 373-673 K. Chemical composition, scattering and absorption were examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), total integrated scattering (TIS) measurement and the surface thermal lensing (STL) technique, respectively. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) was assessed using the output from an Nd:YAG laser with a pulse length of 12 ns. The results showed that the improvement of the LIDT after annealing was due to the reduced substoichiometric and structural defects present in the film. The LIDT increased slightly below 573 K and then increased significantly with increase in annealing temperature, which could be attributed to different dominant defects. Moreover, the root mean square (RMS) roughness and scattering had little effect on the LIDT, while the absorption and the LIDT were in accord with a general relation.     

Study on the laser-induced damage threshold of sol-gel ZO_2-PVP coatings

<正>In order to improve the laser-induced damage threshold(LIDT) of the ZrO_2 film,the effect of polyvinyl pyrrolidone(PVP) with different average molecular weight on coatings is studied.The ZrO_2 sol is prepared by the hydrolysis of zirconium n-propoxide with acetylacetone as the chelating agent.The PVP(K16-18) is more suitable to obtain high LIDT coatings than other PVPs.The LIDT of the ZrO_2-PVP coatings is improved with the increase of the PVP(K16-18) content.When the PVP(K16-18) content is 2.4 wt.-%, the LIDT of the ZrO_2-PVP coatings is 43.5 J/cm~2(1064 nm,12 ns).The ZrO_2 sol and ZrO_2-PVP(K16- 18) sol have the good stability in 3 months.The refractive indices of the ZrO_2-PVP coatings decrease with the increase of the PVP(K16-18) content.     

Influences of SiO2 protective layers and annealing on the laser-induced damage threshold of Ta2O5 films

Ta2O5 films are prepared on BK7 substrates with conventional electron beam evaporation deposition.The effects of SiO2 protective layers and annealing on the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the films are investigated.The results show that SiO2 protective layers exert little influence on the electric field intensity(EFI)distribution,microstructure and microdefect density but increase the absorption slightly.Annealing iS effective on decreasing the microdefect density and the absorption of the films.Both SiO2 protective layers and annealing are beneficial to the damage resistance of the films and the latter is more effective to improve the LIDT.Moreover,the maximal LIDT of Ta2O5 films is achieved by the combination of SiO2 protective layers and annealing.     

Experimental investigation on laser-induced surface damage threshold of Nd-doped phosphate glass

Nd-doped phosphate glass is the dominant amplifier material used in solid state high average power laser systems.Surface imperfection and subsurface damage(SSD)of the glass,resulting from the optical fabrica-tion process,limit the increment of laser system energy output.Thus,it is important to enhance the surface damage threshold of Nd-doped phosphate glass surface.The influence of abrasive size,polishing powder,grinding mode,and chemical treatment on the laser-induced damage threshold(LIDT)of Nd-doped phos-phate glass surface is investigated.Results show that the LIDT is affected little by different polishing powders and grinding modes.The LIDT correlates with the abrasive size,which produced different depths of SSD.A suitable acid etching treatment can remove the imperfection and the SSD for improving the LIDT of Nd-doped phosphate glass surface.The combination of several effective techniques and methods,which are low-cost and practical,should be useful to enhance the LIDT of Nd-doped phosphate glass surface.     

环境气氛压强对熔石英紫外激光损伤阈值的影响

 利用1∶1, S∶1, R∶1方法,测试了不同真空度（10-3～105 Pa）和不同气氛（空气、氮气、氧气）环境下熔石英351 nm激光损伤阈值,测试结果表明,用1∶1, S∶1方法测试得到的阈值在不同气氛压强下几乎相等;R∶1损伤阈值受气压的影响较大,在小于等于10³ Pa气压下,较105 Pa气压的阈值降低28%～41%;但R∶1损伤阈值同气氛的关系不大,在同气压下差别小于10%,在测量值误差范围内。利用50%破坏几率对应的损伤阈值Fth（R∶1）一半的激光能量密度辐照样品,考察其抗多脉冲辐照的能力,分析表明,在同样的能量密度辐照下,10³ Pa空气及氮气环境和105 Pa氮气环境下同样具有高的寿命;而10^-3 Pa高真空环境下其寿命较短,在10^-1 Pa低真空环境下其寿命最短。