Long-term laser irradiation tests of optical elements for ESA mission ADM-Aeolus

Uwe Leinhos; Klaus Mann; Armin Bayer; Martin Endemann; Denny Wernham; Federico Pettazzi; Dominique Thibault

doi:10.1117/12.861163

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7 September 2010 Long-term laser irradiation tests of optical elements for ESA mission ADM-Aeolus

Uwe Leinhos, Klaus Mann, Armin Bayer, Martin Endemann, Denny Wernham, Federico Pettazzi, Dominique Thibault

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Proceedings Volume 7794, Optical System Contamination: Effects, Measurements, and Control 2010; 779405 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.861163
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The European Space Agency ESA is running a series of earth observation missions. In order to perform global windprofile observation based on Doppler-LIDAR, the satellite ADM-Aelolus will be launched in April 2011 and injected into an orbit 400 km above Earth's surface. ADM-Aeolus will be the first satellite ever that is equipped with a UV-laser (emitting at 355 nm) and a reflector telescope. At LLG, a setup was developed that allows monitoring transmission, reflection and fluorescence of laser-irradiated optical components, in order to assess their possible optical degradation due to radiation-induced contaminant deposition in orbit. For both a high-reflecting mirror and an anti-reflective coated window long-term irradiation tests (up to 500 million laser pulses) were performed at a base pressure < 10^-9 mbar, using a XeF excimer laser (wavelength 351 nm, repetition rate 1kHz). At this, samples of polymers used inside the satellite (insulators for cabling, adhesives, etc.) were installed into the chamber, and the interaction of their degassing with the sample surfaces under laser irradiation was investigated. Various paramters were varied including pulse repetition rate, view factor and coatings. Optical degradation associated with contaminant adsorption was detected on the irradiated sample sites.

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Uwe Leinhos, Klaus Mann, Armin Bayer, Martin Endemann, Denny Wernham, Federico Pettazzi, and Dominique Thibault "Long-term laser irradiation tests of optical elements for ESA mission ADM-Aeolus", Proc. SPIE 7794, Optical System Contamination: Effects, Measurements, and Control 2010, 779405 (7 September 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.861163

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