Damage-resistant antireflection surfaces for high-power lasers
Abstract
Antireflection surfaces are critical components of high-power lasers due to their relatively low damage threshold. A conventional antireflection surface is a coating of thin films of two or more transparent dielectrics that cause the destructive interference of wavelets reflected from interfaces between film layers while an unconventional one with superior characteristics can be made by etching a glass surface with micropores to form a graded-index surface. Such a surface can be produced on phase-separated glass, on homogeneous glasses formed by neutral-solution processing, and by etching sol-gel layers. All three types have high laser-damage threshold; however, the first and third types have reflectance insensitive to incident wavelength and angle and the second and third have small bulk scattering loss. As drawbacks, the first and third types are mechanically fragile while the first and second transmit ultraviolet poorly. Further research is needed though in order to obtain practical results.
- Publication:
-
Energy Technology Review
- Pub Date:
- March 1982
- Bibcode:
- 1982EnTR.........9.
- Keywords:
-
- Antireflection Coatings;
- High Power Lasers;
- Laser Damage;
- Solid State Lasers;
- Dielectrics;
- Etching;
- Glass Coatings;
- Glass Lasers;
- Neodymium Lasers;
- Reflectance;
- Sol-Gel Processes;
- Thin Films;
- Lasers and Masers