Quick Shot
Coatings Developed for Use in a Short-Pulse Laser System
June 24, 2019
Shown in the inset and inside a circular containment housing of the Optical Manufacturing’s 54-in. coating vacuum chamber are two 5-in. × 6-in. optics coated with a broadband-enhanced metal reflector (BEMR) film. This BEMR coating contains a metal layer of copper and gold, which gives the coater and optic the gold to rose color. Dielectric layers are deposited over the metal (alumina, hafnia, and silica) to improve the overall laser-damage threshold of the component. The resulting BEMR coating has a large spectral bandwidth, low group-delay dispersion, and little stress-induced wavefront distortion. The BEMR coating was developed for use in a short-pulse transport laser system.