Songlin Chen

Characterization of 1064nm nanosecond laser-induced damage on antireflection coatings grown by atomic layer deposition

Damage tests are carried out at 1064nm to measure the laser resistance of TiO(2)/Al(2)O(3) and HfO(2)/Al(2)O(3) antireflection coatings grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The damage results are determined by S-on-1 and R-on-1 tests. Interestingly, the damage performance of ALD coatings is similar to those grown by conventional e-beam evaporation process. A decline law of damage resistance under multiple irradiations is revealed. The influence of growth temperature on damage performance has been investigated. Result shows that the crystallization of TiO(2) layer at higher temperature could lead to numerous absorption defects that reduce the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT). In addition, it has been found that using inorganic compound instead of organic compound as precursors for ALD process maybe effectively prevent carbon impurities in films and will increase the LIDT obviously.

Studies on transmitted beam modulation effect from laser induced damage on fused silica optics.

UV laser induced damage (LID) on exit surface of fused silica could cause modulation effect to transmitted beam and further influence downstream propagation properties. This paper presents our experimental and analytical studies on this topic. In experiment, a series of measurement instruments are applied, including beam profiler, interferometer, microscope, and optical coherent tomography (OCT). Creating and characterizing of LID on fused silica sample have been implemented. Morphological features are studied based on their particular modulation effects on transmitted beam. In theoretical investigation, analytical modeling and numerical simulation are performed. Modulation effects from amplitude, phase, and size factors are analyzed respectively. Furthermore, we have novelly designed a simplified polygon model to simulate actual damage site with multiform modulation features, and the simulation results demonstrate that the modeling is usable and representative.

Laser damage properties of TiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 thin films grown by atomic layer deposition

Research on thin film deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) for laser damage resistance is rare. In this paper, it has been used to deposit TiO(2)/Al(2)O(3) films at 110 °C and 280 °C on fused silica and BK7 substrates. Microstructure of the thin films was investigated by x-ray diffraction. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of samples was measured by a damage test system. Damage morphology was studied under a Nomarski differential interference contrast microscope and further checked under an atomic force microscope. Multilayers deposited at different temperatures were compared. The results show that the films deposited by ALD had better uniformity and transmission; in this paper, the uniformity is better than 99% over 100 mm Φ samples, and the transmission is more than 99.8% at 1064 nm. Deposition temperature affects the deposition rate and the thin film microstructure and further influences the LIDT of the thin films. As to the TiO(2)/Al(2)O(3) films, the LIDTs were 6.73±0.47 J/cm(2) and 6.5±0.46 J/cm(2) at 110 °C on fused silica and BK7 substrates, respectively. The LIDTs at 11 °C are notably better than 280 °C.

Characterization of 1064nm laser-induced damage on antireflection coatings grown by atomic layer deposition

Damage tests were carried out to measure the laser resistance of Al2O3/TiO2 and Al2O3/HfO2 antireflection coatings at 1064nm grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The S-on-1 and R-on-1 damage results are given. Its interesting to find that ALD coatings damage performance seems closed to those grown by conventional e-beam evaporation process. For Al2O3/TiO2 coatings, the grown temperature will impact the damage resistance of thin films. Crystallization of TiO2 layer at higher temperature could play an importance role as absorption defects that reduced the LIDT of coatings. In addition, it is found that using inorganic compound instead of organic compound as precursors for ALD process can effective prevent residual carbon in films and will increase the LIDT of coatings.

Solid-state laser ablation effect on laser-proof composite coating applied in aerospace material

This paper concentrates on the measurement and analysis of laser ablation effect of particularly prepared aerospace material, polycarbosilane (PCS). Laser ablation experiment setup is designed and built, based on a continuous-wave high-power solid-state laser (CWHPSSL). Steel samples with composite PCS coating are prepared. After that, a group of laser ablation experiment is performed. The samples are shot by laser beam with thousands W/cm2 fluence. The results, including the ablation morphology and temperature data, is shown and discussed. Temperature data gives a good demonstration of thermal protection effect of composite coating, and in the meanwhile the morphological features in the ablated region reveal the principle of PCS laser-proof effect. Theoretical investigation has also been carried out. The temperature field is simulated based on Fourier equation of heat conduction, and the simulation result provides a good demonstration on thermal-proof effect of PCS coating layer during laser ablation process.

Investigation of damage morphology change condition on reflectors

The damage morphology change condition of 1064nm reflector under multi-shot was investigated. Two typical kind of damage, scald and delaminate, were careful characterized in the damage growth process by SEM. The scald damage tends to become delaminate damage under some certain condition. Huge experiments supports that this morphology change condition has a close connection with scald initial fluence, subsequent fluence and shot number. The relationship among these factors is for the first time achieved to offer the “safety lines” for components.

Optimization of deposition uniformity in a planet rotation system with precise mask design

Generally, substrates in a planetary rotation system result in coatings with nonuniformity of 2% or greater over apertures of 500mm. However, more accurate, uniform deposition of large-aperture optical coatings is required now. So it is very important to study how to improve the deposition uniformity of large-aperture optical coatings. In this paper, we show that a theoretical model that can forecast the thickness distributions of films, get precise figure of masks, and should optimize the deposition uniformity accurately and fast through fixing the designed masks in the chamber.