COL 9(10), 103103(2011) CHINESE OPTICS LETTERS Octob er 10, 2011
Accumulation effect of SiO
2
protective layer on multi-shot
laser-induced damage in high-reflectivity
HfO
2
/SiO
2
coatings
Ying Wang (王王王 营营营)
1,2∗
, Hongbo He (贺贺贺洪洪洪波波波)
1
, Yuan’an Zhao (赵赵赵元元元安安安)
1
,
Yongguang Shan (单单单永永永光光光)
1,2
, Chaoyang Wei (魏魏魏朝朝朝阳阳阳)
1
1
Key Laboratory of Materials for High Power Lasers, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China
2
Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
∗
Corresp onding author: wangying@siem.ae.cn
Received February 14, 2011; accepted May 9, 2011; posted online August 5, 2011
The accumulation effects in high-reflectivity (HR) HfO
2
/SiO
2
coatings under laser irradiation are inves-
tigated. The HR HfO
2
/SiO
2
coatings are prepared by electron beam evaporation at 1 064 nm. The
laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) are measured at 1 064 nm and at a pulse duration of 12 ns, in
1-on-1 and S-on-1 modes. Multi-shot LIDT is lower than single-shot LIDT. The laser-induced and native
defects play an important role in the multi-shot mode. A correlative theory model based on critical con-
duction band electron density is constructed to elucidate the experimental phenomena.
OCIS codes: 310.0310, 140.3330.
doi: 10.3788/COL201109.103103.
In recent years, many laboratories have investigated
multi-shot laser-induced damage in optical materials,
such as fused silica
[1]
and KTP crystals
[2]
. The multi-
shot laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) is often
lower than single-shot LIDT because of the accumulation
effects in most optical materials
[1,3−5]
. As a result, inves-
tigations on multi-shot laser-induced damage in optical
coatings are of high practical importance for high-power
laser applications
[5,6]
. The mechanism for single-shot
laser damage includes avalanche ionization (AI)
[7]
, mul-
tiphoton ionization (MPI)
[8]
, impurity breakdown
[9]
, etc.
However, the damage mechanism of multi-shot radiation
is considerably more complicated than that of single-
shot radiation. Mero et al. established a model for
studying multi-shot damage behavior in the femtosec-
ond regime
[6]
. In another previous study, a model was
developed to explain the correlations between observed
multi-shot laser damage threshold and its dependence on
the number of shots in the nanosecond regime
[10]
. The
aim of this letter is to identify the correlations between
observed LIDT and the characteristics of the native and
laser-induced defects in multilayers under single- and
multi-shot radiation. We present the results of 1-on-1
and S-on-1 tests at 1 064 nm for high-reflectivity (HR)
HfO
2
/SiO
2
coatings. Then, we provide the experimental
details of the sample deposition process and laser dam-
age test procedure. Finally, the experimental results and
discussions are presented.
The samples were prepared by electron beam evap-
oration. The coating design of the sample was G|
(HL)
13
H4L|A, where H denotes the high-index HfO
2
with one quarter wavelength optical thickness (QWOT),
L is the low-index SiO
2
with one QWOT, G represents
the BK7 substrate, and A is the incident medium (air).
The transmittance spectra of the sample are shown in
Fig. 1.
The experimental setup for laser damage is schemati-
cally shown in Fig. 2
[5]
. The Nd:YAG laser system was
operated in TEM
00
mode and the pulse width was 12
ns at 1 064 nm. The beams were focused onto a 1/e
2
height of 320 µm and width of 250 µm. In the S-on-1
test, the sample was tested at a frequency of 5 Hz. The
laser energy used to damage the sample was obtained by
adjusting the attenuator, and the pulse energy was mea-
sured by using an energy meter from a split-off p ortion
of the beam. The sample was set on a two-dimensional
precision stage driven by a stepper motor. The He-Ne
laser was used to monitor the test. Damage onset was
detected on-line using a video microscopy system.
The S-on-1 test was carried out in accordance with
the ISO 11254-2 standard
[11]
. In this letter, 1, 5, 10, 20,
100, and 1 000-on-1 LIDT were tested to understand the
influence of the number of laser shots N on the accumu-
lation effects. Twenty sites were tested at each selected
fluence for 1-on-1, and 10 sites were chosen for S-on-1.
Laser damage threshold was determined by linear
Fig. 1. Transmittance spectra of the sample.
1671-7694/2011/103103(4) 103103-1
c
° 2011 Chinese Optics Letters