Contamination resistant coatings for enhanced laser damage thresholds

Bruce H. Weiller; Jesse D. Fowler; Randy M. Villahermosa

doi:10.1117/12.2011179

4 December 2012 Contamination resistant coatings for enhanced laser damage thresholds

Bruce H. Weiller, Jesse D. Fowler, Randy M. Villahermosa

Proceedings Volume 8530, Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2012; 85302A (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2011179
Event: SPIE Laser Damage, 2012, Boulder, Colorado, United States

Abstract

This paper describes a novel approach for the suppression of contamination enhanced laser damage to optical components by the use of fluorinated coatings that repel organic contaminates. In prior work we studied laser damage thresholds induced by ppm levels of toluene under nanosecond 1.064 μm irradiation of fused silica optics. That work showed that moderate vapor-phase concentrations (< 15%) of water and alcohols dramatically increased the laser damage threshold. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that water and alcohols interact more favorably with the hydroxylated silica surface thereby displacing toluene from the surface. In this work, preliminary results show that fluorinated self assembled monolayer coatings can be used to accomplish the same effect. Optics coated with fluorinated films have much higher survival rates compared with uncoated optics under the same conditions. In addition to enhancing survival of laser optics, these coatings have implications for protecting spacecraft imaging optics from organic contamination.

Citation Download Citation

Bruce H. Weiller, Jesse D. Fowler, and Randy M. Villahermosa "Contamination resistant coatings for enhanced laser damage thresholds", Proc. SPIE 8530, Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2012, 85302A (4 December 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2011179

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