Large-area optical coatings with uniform thickness grown by surface chemical reactions for high-power laser applications

We prepared optical thin films using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) procedure in order to apply this coating method to optical components for high-power and large-scale lasers. Film thickness shows a proportional relationship to the number of operation cycles even in the case of room-temperature growth, and the distribution is uniform with a thickness error of less than 1% over an area of 240 mm diameter. We examined the laser damage thresholds of the films with 1 ns laser pulses at 1.064 μm. The highest thresholds (TiO₂: 5 J/cm², Al₂O₃:5.2 J/cm²) are obtained in the amorphous films grown at low growth temperatures (25-50°C). Results from the analysis of film structure and composition, and measurement of optical absorption reveal that the decrease in laser damage threshold as the growth temperature rises is caused by the crystallization of films.