Optical characterization and laser damage of fused silica optics after ion beam sputtering

The sputtering process of fused silica bombarded by Ar ion beam is simulated with the SRIM software. The effects of ion beam energy and incident angle on sputtering yield and surface damage are computed. Since ion beam sputtering will result in defects in fused silica, such as E′ color centers and other lattice defects and probably Argon bubbles, the optimized sputtering energy is selected below 1 keV so that the projected range of Ar ions is less than 10 Å. The experimental results show that the scratches in subsurface of fused silica can be smoothed obviously and better surface can be obtained as the optimized parameters are used for ion beam sputtering. The laser induced damage threshold of fused silica increases by about 18% after ion beam sputtering.