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.     

Employing oxygen-plasma posttreatment to improve the laser-induced damage threshold of ZrO2 films prepared by the electron-beam evaporation method

ZrO2 films are deposited by the electron-beam evaporation method. Parts of the prepared samples are post-treated with oxygen plasma at the environment temperature. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the films increases from 15.9 to 23.1 J/cm2 after treatment with oxygen plasma. Compared with that of the as-grown samples, significant reduction of the average microdefect density and absorption are found after oxygen-plasma posttreatment. These results indicate that the oxygen-plasma posttreatment technique is an effective and simple method for reducing the microdefect density and absorption to improve the LIDT.     

Temperature dependences of optical properties,chemical composition,structure,and laser damage in Ta2O5 films

Ta2O5 films are prepared by e-beam evaporation with varied deposition temperatures,annealing temperatures,and annealing times.The effects of temperature on the optical properties,chemical composition,structure,and laserinduced damage threshold(LIDT) are systematically investigated.The results show that the increase of deposition temperature decreases the film transmittance slightly,yet annealing below 923 K is beneficial for the transmittance.The XRD analysis reveals that the film is in the amorphous phase when annealed below 873 K and in thehexagonal phase when annealed at 1073 K.While an interesting near-crystalline phase is found when annealed at 923 K.The LIDT increases with the deposition temperature increasing,whereas it increases firstly and then decreases as the annealing temperature increases.In addition,the increase of the annealing time from 4 h to 12 h is favourable to improving the LIDT,which is mainly due to the improvement of the O/Ta ratio.The highest LIDT film is obtained when annealed at 923 K,owing to the lowest density of defect.     

SiO2/HfO2高反射膜的研制

主要讨论了电子束蒸发SiO2/HfO2薄膜的面形控制和损伤性能。研究了电子束蒸发工艺参数对薄膜应力以及面形的影响;分析了制备工艺对薄膜吸收、节瘤缺陷密度的影响,测量了制备薄膜的损伤阈值。研究结果表明:调整SiO2蒸发时的氧分压可以有效地将薄膜的应力控制在-250~-50 MPa。同时采用金属Hf蒸发可以显著地将节瘤缺陷密度从12.6 mm-2降低至2.7 mm-2,同时将损伤阈值从30 J/cm2提高至55 J/cm2。     

Laser-induced damage threshold in n-on-1 regime of Ta2O5 films at 532, 800, and 1064 nm

Ta2O5 films were prepared with conventional electron beam evaporation and annealed in O2 at 673 K for 12 h. Laser-induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) of the films were performed at 532 and 1064 nm in 1-on-1 regime firstly, and then were performed at 532, 800, and 1064 nm in n-on-1 regime, respectively.The results showed that the LIDTs in n-on-1 regime were higher than that in 1-on-1 regime at 532 and 1064 nm. In addition, in n-on-1 regime, the LIDT increased with the increase of wavelength. Furthermore, both the optical property and LIDT of Ta2O5 films were influenced by annealing in O2.     

Influence of oxygen-plasma posttreatment on the properties of SiO2 films prepared by the electron-beam evaporation method

SiO₂ films were deposited on K9 substrate by the electron-beam evaporation method. The influence of oxygen-plasma posttreatment on the properties of SiO₂ films was investigated. After oxygen-plasma treatment, it was found that the microdefect density of films reduced. We deduced that the absorption of films also reduced. The treated sample exhibited higher LIDT value compared with the as-deposited sample. However, this study is the preliminary work and optimization by this method will be discussed in our future work.     

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.     

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.     

两种后处理方法对HfO2薄膜性能的影响

利用电子束蒸发和光电极值监控技术制备了氧化铪薄膜,并分别用两种后处理方法(空气中退火和氧等离子体轰击)对样品进行了处理.然后,对样品的透过率、吸收和抗激光损伤阈值进行了测试分析.实验结果表明,两种后处理方法都能不同程度地降低了氧化铪薄膜的吸收损耗、提高了抗激光损伤阈值.实验结果还表明,氧等离子体轰击的后处理效果明显优于热退火,样品的吸收平均值在氧等离子体后处理前后分别为34.8 ppm和9.0 ppm,而基频(1 064 nm)激光损伤阈值分别为10.0 J/cm2和21.4 J/cm2.     

Working Pressure Dependence of Properties of Al2O3 Thin Films Prepared by Electron Beam Evaporation

The effects of working pressure on properties of Al2O3 thin films are investigated. Transmittance of the Al2O3 thin film is measured by a Lambda 900 spectrometer. Laser-induced damage threshold （LIDT） is measured by a Nd：YAG laser at 355 nm with a pulse width of 7ns. Microdefects were observed under a Nomarski microscope. The samples are characterized by optical properties and defect, as well as LIDT under the 355 nm Nd：YAG laser radiation. It is found that the working pressure has fundamental effect on the LIDT. It is the absorption rather than the microdefect that plays an important role on the LIDT of Al2O3 thin film.     

辐照激光能量对SiO2薄膜特性及结构的影响

 为了认识SiO2薄膜在激光辐照下的变化,本文以K9玻璃为基底,采用电子束热蒸发方法制备了SiO2薄膜,并将此组在相同实验条件下制备的薄膜加以不同能量的激光辐照,研究在激光辐照前后样片的透射率、折射率、消光系数、膜厚、表面形貌及激光损伤阈值（LIDT）的变化。结果表明,样片膜厚随激光能量的增加而减小,辐照激光能改善薄膜表面形貌,并使样片LIDT值提高,最终能使样片的LIDT值从16.96 J/cm2提高至18.8 J/cm2。     

Influences of CO2 laser annealing on mechanical and laser-induced damage properties of ZrO2 thin films

Zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂) thin films were deposited on BK7 glass substrates by the electron beam evaporation method. A continuous wave CO₂ laser was used to anneal the ZrO₂ thin films to investigate whether beneficial changes could be produced. After annealing at different laser scanning speeds by CO₂ laser, weak absorption of the coatings was measured by the surface thermal lensing (STL) technique, and then laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) was also determined. It was found that the weak absorption decreased first, while the laser scanning speed is below some value, then increased. The LIDT of the ZrO₂ coatings decreased greatly when the laser scanning speeds were below some value. A Nomarski microscope was employed to map the damage morphology, and it was found that the damage behavior was defect-initiated both for annealed and as-deposited samples. The influences of post-deposition CO₂ laser annealing on the structural and mechanical properties of the films have also been investigated by X-ray diffraction and ZYGO interferometer. It was found that the microstructure of the ZrO₂ films did not change. The residual stress in ZrO₂ films showed a tendency from tensile to compressive after CO₂ laser annealing, and the variation quantity of the residual stress increased with decreasing laser scanning speed. The residual stress may be mitigated to some extent at proper treatment parameters.     

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.     

SiO2内保护层对LiB3O5晶体倍频增透膜损伤阈值的影响

 利用离子辅助电子束沉积方法在LiB₃O₅基底上镀制了不加SiO₂内保护层和加SiO₂内保护层的倍频增透膜，测量了两类薄膜在波长1 064 nm多脉冲辐照下的激光损伤阈值，获得了两种不同的损伤形貌，并对损伤原因作了初步探讨。实验结果表明：保护层的加入把由基底膜层界面缺陷吸收所决定的阈值改变到由HfO₂膜层内缺陷吸收所决定的阈值，显著提高了倍频增透膜的抗激光损伤能力。     

激光高反射膜的研究

研究混合膜（TiO2 Ta2O3;Ta2O5 ZrO2)的色散规律，用Ta2O5 ZrO2和SiO2成功地镀制出两个波段（632．8nm,1.06μm)的激光反射膜，使激光破坏阈值提高5％－15％（1．06μm)，膜层吸收小，机械强度增加。     

High temperature annealing effect on structure, optical property and laser-induced damage threshold of Ta2O5 films

Ta₂O₅ films were deposited by conventional electron beam evaporation method and then annealed in air at different temperature from 873 to 1273 K. It was found that the film structure changed from amorphous phase to hexagonal phase when annealed at 1073 K, then transformed to orthorhombic phase after annealed at 1273 K. The transmittance was improved after annealed at 873 K, and it decreased as the annealing temperature increased further. The total integrated scattering (TIS) tests and AFM results showed that both scattering and root mean square (RMS) roughness of films increased with the annealing temperature increasing. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed that the film obtained better stoichiometry and the O/Ta ratio increased to 2.50 after annealing. It was found that the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) increased to the maximum when annealed at 873 K, while it decreased when the annealing temperature increased further. Detailed damaged models dominated by different parameters during annealing were discussed.     

248 nm高反膜抗激光损伤性能

用电子束蒸发法在熔融石英基底上沉积了适用于248nm的HfO2/SiO2高反膜,为提高其抗激光损伤能力,设计并制备了两种保护层,一种是在常规高反膜系的基础上镀制二分之一波长厚度的SiO2保护层,另一种是用Al2O3/MgF2做保护层。测试了3种高反膜样品的激光损伤情况,通过损伤形貌的变化分析了两种保护层使抗激光损伤能力提高的原因以及存在的问题。     

Comparison of TiO2 and ZrO2 Films Deposited by Electron-Beam Evaporation and by Sol-Gel Process

TiO2 and ZrO2 films are deposited by electron-beam （EB） evaporation and by sol-gel process. The film properties are characterized by visible and Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry, x-ray diffraction analysis, surface roughness measure, absorption and laser-induced damage threshold （LIDT） test. It is found that the sol-gel films have lower refractive index, packing density and roughness than EB deposited films due to their amorphous structure and high OH group concentration in the film. The high LIDT of sol-gel films is mainly due to their amorphous and porous structure, and low absorption. LIDT of EB deposited film is considerably affected by defects in the film, and LIDT of sol-gel deposited film is mainly effected by residual organic impurities and solvent trapped in the film.     

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。