Laser-induced damage of the optical films prepared by electron beam evaporation and ion beam sputtering in vacuum

Abstract

The laser-induced damage characteristics and adsorption effects of organic contamination molecules of two high reflectors (HR) prepared by electron beam evaporation (EB) and ion beam sputtering (IBS) method at 1064nm is investigated in vacuum. It is found that EB films show the performance degradation of laser induced damages in vacuum while for IBS film, seems to have no this effect, in comparison with air environment. In addition, EB coatings also have the strong affinity with organic contamination molecules, in contrast of IBS films. The results reveal that ion beam sputtering (IBS) method seem to be one of the favorite film deposition techniques of the optical films used in vacuum and space environments.