Laixi Sun

Formation of broadband antireflective and superhydrophilic subwavelength structures on fused silica using one-step self-masking reactive ion etching.

Fused silica subwavelength structures (SWSs) with an average period of ~100 nm were fabricated using an efficient approach based on one-step self-masking reactive ion etching. The subwavelength structures exhibited excellent broadband antireflection properties from the ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelength range. These properties are attributable to the graded refractive index for the transition from air to the fused silica substrate that is produced by the ideal nanocone subwavelength structures. The transmittance in the 400–700 nm range increased from approximately 93% for the polished fused silica to greater than 99% for the subwavelength structure layer on fused silica. Achieving broadband antireflection in the visible and near-infrared wavelength range by appropriate matching of the SWS heights on the front and back sides of the fused silica is a novel strategy. The measured antireflection properties are consistent with the results of theoretical analysis using a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. This method is also applicable to diffraction grating fabrication. Moreover, the surface of the subwavelength structures exhibits significant superhydrophilic properties.

Advanced Mitigation Process (AMP) for Improving Laser Damage Threshold of Fused Silica Optics.

The laser damage precursors in subsurface of fused silica (e.g. photosensitive impurities, scratches and redeposited silica compounds) were mitigated by mineral acid leaching and HF etching with multi-frequency ultrasonic agitation, respectively. The comparison of scratches morphology after static etching and high-frequency ultrasonic agitation etching was devoted in our case. And comparison of laser induce damage resistance of scratched and non-scratched fused silica surfaces after HF etching with high-frequency ultrasonic agitation were also investigated in this study. The global laser induce damage resistance was increased significantly after the laser damage precursors were mitigated in this case. The redeposition of reaction produce was avoided by involving multi-frequency ultrasonic and chemical leaching process. These methods made the increase of laser damage threshold more stable. In addition, there is no scratch related damage initiations found on the samples which were treated by Advanced Mitigation Process.

High power laser antireflection subwavelength grating on fused silica by colloidal lithography

In this study we report on an efficient and simple method to fabricate an antireflection subwavelength grating on a fused silica substrate using two-step reactive ion etching with monolayer polystyrene colloidal crystals as masks. We show that the period and spacing of the obtained subwavelength grating were determined by the initial diameter of polystyrene microspheres and the oxygen ion etching duration. The height of pillar arrays can be adjusted by tuning the second-step fluorine ion etching duration. These parameters are proved to be useful in tailoring the antireflection properties of subwavelength grating using a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and effective medium theory. The subwavelength grating exhibits excellent antireflection properties. The near-field distribution of the SWG which is directly patterned into the substrate material is performed by a 3D-FDTD method. It is found that the near-field distribution is strongly dependent on the periodicity of surface structure, which has the potential to promote the ability of anti-laser-induced damage. For 10 ns pulse duration and 1064 nm wavelength, we experimentally determined their laser induced damage threshold to 32 J cm−2, which is nearly as high as bulk fused silica with 31.5 J cm−2.

The effect of RIE-modified surface contamination on opticalperformance of fused silica

A series of fused silica surface have been created by reaction ion etching to determine the effect of the contamination level on surface state and optical performance of the optics. The results show that both impurity elements contamination and scratches of fused silica surface can be removed dramatically during RIE process. The laser induced damage threshold is raised by 37.6% when the polishing layer is removed for a thickness of 6μm, and the laser weak absorption doesn’t increase obviously. The results can provide technique support for improving laser induced damage performance of fused silica.

Growth mechanism of one-step self-masking reactive-ion-etching (RIE) broadband antireflective and superhydrophilic structures induced by metal nanodots on fused silica

This work presents a low-cost, simple, convenient, advanced technology to prepare large-area defect-free subwavelength structures (SWSs). SWSs were obtained by a metal-induced one-step self-masking RIE process on a fused-silica surface, in which metal-fluoride (mainly ferrous-fluoride) nanodots were used to induce and gather stable fluorocarbon polymer etching inhibitors in the RIE polymers as masks. The SWS growth processes are visible with an increase in etching time and some exhibit prominent broadband antireflective properties from the visible to the near-infrared wavelength range. Transmission in the 600-900-nm range increased from approximately 93% for the polished fused silica to above 99% for the double-side SWSs on fused silica. A theoretical simulation by a finite-difference time-domain method agreed well with the experiments. Moreover, the surface of the SWSs exhibits excellent superhydrophilic properties.

Influence of bulk defects on bulk damage performance of fused silica optics at 355 nm nanosecond pulse laser

We demonstrate the effects of typical bulk defects in fused silica on the bulk damage threshold under nanosecond UV pulse in this study. A new test method is proposed to accurately evaluate laser induced bulk damage performance. The bulk bubble, hydroxyl, metal impurity, and weak absorption of the 355 nm laser are respectively characterized. The effects of bulk defects on bulk damage performance are analyzed statistically based on the correlation principle. For synthetic fused silica, metal impurities and hydroxyl have a weak correlation coefficient with the bulk damage threshold, while there is strong correlation between weak UV absorption and the bulk damage threshold. The influence of bulk damage threshold on surface damage performance is also discussed.

Traceless mitigation of laser damage precursors on a fused silica surface by combining reactive ion beam etching with dynamic chemical etching

HF-based etching has been successful in mitigating damage precursors on the surface of fused silica optics used in high power lasers. However, wet etching generally leaves an etching trace leading to surface roughness, which seriously degrades laser beam quality (e.g., transmission loss and wave-front degradation). A way of addressing this issue is to apply plasma etching as a preprocessing step before HF etching, but so far very few studies have provided a practical scheme for engineering applications. In this work, we proposed a novel two-step scheme by combining reactive ion beam etching with dynamic chemical etching techniques. We demonstrate the combined scheme is capable of tracelessly mitigating the laser damage precursors on a fused silica surface. The 0% probability damage threshold obtained by combined etching is 1.4 times higher than that obtained by HF-based etching. The study opens a new approach towards high damage-resistant optics manufacturing and provides the potential possibility of exploring extreme interactions between high-power lasers and matter.

Effect of PVA coating on the electric field intensity distribution and laser damage performance of fused silica optics surfaces

A facile method was proposed to enhance the laser damage performance of the fused silica optics by coating a PVA film on the rear surface of the optics. FDTD simulation result suggests that the PVA coating with suitable thickness can transfer the maximal electric field intensity from the rear surface to the interface between the coating and air, and reduce the electric field intensity of the rear surface remarkably. LIDT tests reveal that the LIDT of fused silica with PVA coating changed periodically with respect to the coating thickness, which agrees well with the tendency predicted by FDTD simulation. Finally, PVA coatings with a thickness of 60 nm and 300 nm can both improve the LIDT of AMP-treated fused silica by ~20%, which provide a potential to be applied in high power laser facility.

Ultraviolet Laser Damage Dependence on Contamination Concentration in Fused Silica Optics during Reactive Ion Etching Process

The reactive ion etching (RIE) process of fused silica is often accompanied by surface contamination, which seriously degrades the ultraviolet laser damage performance of the optics. In this study, we find that the contamination behavior on the fused silica surface is very sensitive to the RIE process which can be significantly optimized by changing the plasma generating conditions such as discharge mode, etchant gas and electrode material. Additionally, an optimized RIE process is proposed to thoroughly remove polishing-introduced contamination and efficiently prevent the introduction of other contamination during the etching process. The research demonstrates the feasibility of improving the damage performance of fused silica optics by using the RIE technique.

Effect of CHF 3 /Ar Gas Flow Ratio on Self-masking Subwavelength Structures Prepared on Fused Silica Surface

Based on an advanced technology, randomly-aligned subwavelength structures (SWSs) were obtained by a metal-nanodot-induced one-step self-masking reactive-ion-etching process on a fused silica surface. Metal-fluoride (mainly ferrous-fluoride) nanodots induce and gather stable fluorocarbon polymer etching inhibitors in the reactive-ion-etching polymers as masks. Metal fluoride (mainly ferrous fluoride) is produced by the sputtering of argon plasma and the ion-enhanced chemical reaction of metal atoms. With an increase in CHF3/Ar gas flow ratio, the average height of the SWSs increases, the number of SWSs per specific area increases and then decreases, and the optical transmittance of visible light increases and then decreases. The optimum CHF3/Ar gas flow ratio for preparing SWSs is 1:5.