Nanosecond laser-induced damage of high-reflection coatings: NUV through NIR

Abstract

Laser-induced damage of high reflection (HR) coatings, working at near ultraviolet (NUV) and near infrared (NIR) regions was investigated. For NIR HR coatings, the nodules still remain the most limiting defects. The E-field intensity (EFI) enhancement in nodules plays a central role for triggering laser-induced damage. We established a simple model for EFI enhancement in nodules using the focusing and light penetrating concept. With the help of finite-difference time domain (FDTD) simulations, we found that refractive indices and nodular geometries affected the focal length as well as the size of focal spots. Furthermore, the angular reflection bandwidth (ARB) of nodules determined the fraction of light that can penetrate to the focal region. For NUV HR coatings, we explored the increase of the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) by increasing the incident angle from 0 degrees to 65 degrees for S-polarization. The EFI in a 65 degree HR coating is more than 4 times lower compared to 0 degree HR coatings, which suggests that the LIDT of 65 degree HR coating is much higher compared to 0 degree HR coating. However, we found some contradictory results. For small testing laser beam size with a diameter of 20 μm, the LIDT of 65 degree HR coating is 3.5 times higher compared to a 0 degree HR coating. However, for a large sized testing laser beam with a diameter of 1000 μm, the LIDT of 65 degree HR coating is 2 times lower compared to a 0 degree HR coating. Possible reasons for the observed damage phenomena are discussed.