Abstract
The influence of nodular coating defects on the sub-picosecond laser damage resistance of multilayer coatings is investigated. The study is conducted on engineered nodules from monodisperse silica microspheres in high-reflective mirrors, at . We demonstrate through an experimental study coupled with 3D finite-difference time-domain simulations that nodules in dielectric multilayer coatings are a main concern for the damage resistance of femtosecond optics. The nodules, and hence possibly other defects that produce E-field enhancement in coating materials, induce damage initiation at very low fluences ( in the case under study) compared to the intrinsic damage threshold of the component ( for the present mirror). After initiation, the damage sites grow catastrophically at a determined threshold, reducing significantly the damage resistance () but allowing a “safe” operating fluence to be defined.
© 2014 Optical Society of America
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