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Complementary analysis techniques are applied in this work to study the interface structure of Mo/Si multilayers. The samples are characterized by grazing incident x-ray reflectivity, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and extreme ultraviolet reflectivity. The results indicate that the layer thickness is controlled well with small diffusion on the interface by forming MoSi2. Considering MoSi2 as the interface composition, simulating the result of our four-layer model fits well with the measured reflectivity curve at 13.5 nm.

Ultrathin Ge films with thickness of about 15 nm at different deposition temperatures were prepared by electron beam evaporation. Spectral measurement results showed that as the deposition temperature increased from 100°C to 300°C, the transmittance of the films in the wavelength range from 350 nm to 2100 nm decreased. After annealing in air at 500°C, the transmittance significantly increased and approached that of uncoated fused quartz. Based on the Tauc plot method and Mott–Davis–Paracrystalline model, the optical band gap of Ge films was calculated and interpreted. The difference in optical band gap reveals that the deposition temperature has an effect on the optical band gap before annealing, while having little effect on the optical band gap after annealing. Furthermore, due to oxidation of Ge films, the optical band gap was significantly increased to ∼5.7 eV after annealing.

The combination of deep wet etching and a magneto-rheological finishing (MRF) process is investigated to simultaneously improve laser damage resistance of a fused-silica surface at 355 nm. The subsequently deposited SiO2 coatings are researched to clarify the impact of substrate finishing technology on the coatings. It is revealed that a deep removal proceeding from the single side or double side had a significant impact on the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the fused silica, especially for the rear surface. After the deep etching, the MRF process that followed does not actually increase the LIDT, but it does ameliorate the surface qualities without additional LIDT degradation. The combination guarantee both the integrity of the surface’s finish and the laser damage resistance of the fused silica and subsequent SiO2 coatings.

Nanosecond single- and multiple-pulse laser damage studies on HfO2/SiO2 high-reflection (HR) coatings are performed at 532 nm. For single-pulse irradiation, the damage is attributed to the defects and the electric intensity distribution in the multilayer thin films. When the defect density in the irradiated area is high, delamination is observed. Other than the 1064 nm laser damage, the plasma scalding of the 532 nm laser damage is not pits-centered for normal incidence, and the size of the plasma scalding has no relation to the defect density and position, but increases with the laser fluence. For multiple-pulse irradiations, some damage sites show deeper precursors than those from the single-shot irradiation due to the accumulation effects. The cumulative laser-induced damages behave as pits without the presence of plasma scalding, which is unaffected by the laser fluence and shot numbers. The damage morphologies and depth information both confirm the fatigue effect of a HfO2/SiO2 HR coating under 532 nm laser irradiation.

We prepare SiO2 coatings on different substrates by either electron-beam evaporation or dual ion-beam sputtering. The relative transmittances of the SiO2 coatings are measured during the heating process. The SiO2 coating microstructures are studied. Results indicate that the intensity and peak position of moisture absorption are closely related to the microstructures of the coatings. The formation of microstructures depends not only on the preparation process of the coatings but also on the substrate characteristics.

A model is developed to improve thickness uniformity of coatings on spherical substrates rapidly and automatically using fixed shadow masks in a planetary rotation system. The coating thickness is accurately represented by a function composed of basic thickness, self-shadow effect, and shadow mask function. A type of mask with parabolic contours is proposed, and the thickness uniformity of coatings on spherical substrates can be improved in a large range of ratios of clear aperture (CA) to radius of curvature (RoC) by optimizing shadow masks using a numerical optimization algorithm. Theoretically, the thickness uniformity improves to more than 97.5% of CA/RoC from -1.9 to 1.9. Experimentally, the thickness uniformities of coatings on a convex spherical substrate (CA/RoC = 1.53) and on a concave spherical substrate (CA/RoC=-1.65) improve to be better than 98.5% after corrected by the shadow masks.

In contrast to uncoated substrate, a nonlinear relationship of phase shift with the thicknesses of the thin film makes the calculation of wavefront aberration complicated. A program is compiled to calculate the wavefront aberration of multilayer thin film produced by thickness nonuniformity. The physical thickness and the optical phase change on reflection are considered. As an example, the wavefront aberration of the all-dielectric mirror is presented in ArF excimer lithography system with a typical thickness distribution. In addition, the wavefront errors of the thin film at wavelengths of 193 and 633 nm are compared in the one-piece and two-piece arrangements. Results show that the phase shift upon reflection of the thin film produced by thickness nonuniformity is very sensitive to the incident angle, wavelength, and polarization.

Conventional HfO2/SiO2 and Al2O3/HfO2/SiO2 double stack high reflective (HR) coatings at 532 nm are deposited by electron beam evaporation onto BK7 substrates. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of two kinds of HR coatings is tested, showing that the laser damage resistance of the double stack HR coatings (16 J/cm2) is better than that of the conventional HR coatings (12.8 J/cm2). Besides, the optical properties, surface conditions, and damage morphologies of each group samples are characterized. The results show that laser damage resistance of conventional HR coatings is determined by absorptive defect, while nodular defect is responsible for the LIDT of double stack HR coatings.

Three types of dispersion mirrors are designed and discussed. The first type is the complementary chirpedmirror pair used for providing smooth group delay dispersion (GDD) in the wavelength range of 550−1050 nm. Such mirrors are obtained by shifting the GDD oscillation period. The second type of mirror combines the characteristics of chirped mirrors and Gires-Tournois interferometer mirrors. It provides a high dispersion compensation of about −800-fs GDD in the range of 780−830 nm and about −1150-fs GDD in the range of 1020−1045 nm. The third type is a protected silver mirror with high reflectivity and low dispersion in the range of 650−1000 nm at 45◦. OCIS codes: 310.1620, 320.5520, 320.7160. doi: 10.3788/COL201008S1.0018.

In this letter, a guided-mode resonance (GMR) filter with the same material for both the grating layer and the waveguide layer is designed, and its optical properties are investigated. The GMR filter owns almost 100% reflection at the resonance wavelength of 800 nm with the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 20 nm, and its sideband reflection from 700 to 1000 nm is less than 5%. As the resonance wavelength is influenced by more than one parameter during the fabrication process, GMR filter with the same resonance wavelength can be obtained by adjusting other parameters or even one parameter to deviate from the design value.

An internal Brewster guided-mode resonance (GMR) filter is designed. For this kind of GMR filter, the Brewster reflection occurs at the interface of grating/waveguide layers rather than at the interface of air/grating layers. At Brewster angle of 60\circ the GMR filter owns almost 100% reflection at the resonance wavelength of 800 nm with the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 0.2 nm. Its angle response changing with the fabrication deviation is also discussed.

High-refractive-index materials LaF3, NdF3, and GdF3 and low-refractive-index materials MgF2, AlF3, and Na3AlF6 single thin films are deposited by a resistive-heating boat at different depositing rates and specific substrate temperatures on single crystal MgF2 substrates. Transmittances of all fluoride thin films are measured using commercial spectrometer in the ambient atmosphere and under vacuum using synchrotron radiation instrument in the wavelength region from 190 to 500 nm. The optical constants of these materials are determined by envelope method and iterative algorithm on the basis of transmittance measurements.

The reflection and transmittance of s- and p-polarized lights should be treated separately at nonzero angle incidence. By choosing two special film materials whose refractive indices meet the Brewster condition in a given incident angle, the reflection of p-polarized light can be eliminated. When the two materials are fabricated into multilayer stacks, the reflection of s-polarized light can be largely increased while the reflection of p-polarized light keeps low. According to this principle, a film polarizer with bandwidth of 198 nm or even more is designed.

The combination of lens and pinhole limits the enhancement of the laser output power in the high-power laser system. Low-pass spatial filter without focusing can surmount the drawbacks of the pinhole filters. The low-pass spatial filters based on multilayer dielectric film are analyzed and their filtering performances are validated. The non-focusing low-pass spatial filter is successfully explored to substitute for the focusing one. The design method is based on phase-shifted Rugate thin-film spatial filter, narrow bandpass filter and the combined device of long-wave-pass and short-wave-pass cutoff filters, and the angular spectrum bandwidth of bandpass filter are up to submillimeter radians. We mainly discuss three design methods and point out their advantages and disadvantages to find out the best one. The experimental results show that the effects of random and system error during depositing the filter is mainly responsible for the deviation of the designed and measured values.

A slanted columnar TiO2 sculptured anisotropic thin film is prepared using the glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique. We extend the inference regarding the optical properties of a uniaxial birefringent film based on theoretical analysis to include the more general case of a multilayer biaxial birefringent thin film, the optic axis of which is in the incident plane. We also investigate in detail the symmetrical angularselective transmittance performances of TiO2 biaxial anisotropic thin films for light incident at the same angle but coming from opposite sides of the surface normal. The tilted nanocolumn microstructures of the birefringent thin films induce optical anisotropy. The transmisson spectra for the p-polarized wave of TiO2 biaxial anisotropic thin film measured in the experiment almost overlap at the symmetrical oblique incidence at the ± 0 angles, which validates our theoretical derivation.

The optical performance of thin film polarizers is highly sensitive to the layer thicknesses of thin film. The thicknesses of the sensitive layers are optimized in order to gain broader polarizing zone in such case when the total layer thickness does not increase. An automatic layer thickness control system is established, and errors caused by different monitoring methods are analyzed. With this thickness control system, thin-film polarizers with Tp higher than 98% and Tp/Ts higher than 200:1 (Tp and Ts are transmissions for p- and s-polarizations, respectively) with the bandwidth of 11 nm are prepared. Using the system allows for optimum repeatability of three successive runs.

High performance optical coating requires excellent uniformity of thin-film. Keeping the surface of evaporation material flat is propitious for the stability of vapor plume, and can improve the uniformity of thin-film. Based on the principle of electron beam spot sweep, a pattern controller in domestic coater is designed. For the purpose of even evaporation during auto-sweep, the influence of the depth of material surface in the crucible on the evaporation characteristic is considered. Pre-melting and evaporation experiments are performed on melting material (Ti3O5), subliming material (SiO2), and semi-melting, semi-subliming material (HfO2). The sweeping experimental results show that using the designed sweep controller can make good performance on evaporation and pre-melting for the above materials.