Tuning ion energies in plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) processes enables fine control over the material properties of functional coatings. The growth, structural, mechanical, and ...optical properties of HfO2 thin films are presented in detail toward photonic applications. The influence of the film thickness and bias value on the properties of HfO2 thin films deposited at 100 °C using tetrakis(dimethylamino)hafnium (TDMAH) and oxygen plasma using substrate biasing is systematically analyzed. The HfO2 films deposited without a substrate bias show an amorphous microstructure with a low density, low refractive index, high incorporation of residual hydroxyl (OH) content, and high residual tensile stress. The material properties of HfO2 films significantly improved at a low bias voltage due to the interaction with oxygen ions accelerated to the film. Such HfO2 films have a higher density, higher refractive index, and lower residual OH incorporation than films without bias. The mechanical stress becomes compressive depending on the bias values. Further increasing the ion energies by applying a larger substrate bias results in a decrease of the film density, refractive index, and a higher residual OH incorporation as well as crystalline inclusions. The comparable material properties of the HfO2 films have been reported using tris(dimethylamino)cyclopentadienyl hafnium (TDMACpH) in a different apparatus, indicating that this approach can be transferred to various systems and is highly versatile. Finally, the substrate biasing technique has been introduced to deposit stress-compensated, crack- and delamination-free high-reflective (HR) mirrors at 355 and 532 nm wavelengths using HfO2 and SiO2 as high and low refractive index materials, respectively. Such mirrors could not be obtained without the substrate biasing during the deposition because of the high tensile stress of HfO2, leading to cracks in thick multilayer systems. An HR mirror for 532 nm wavelength shows a high reflectance of 99.93%, a residual transmittance of ∼530 ppm, and a low absorption of ∼11 ppm, as well as low scattering losses of ∼4 ppm, high laser-induced damage threshold, low mechanical stress, and high environmental stability.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
A study of vacuum-deposited organic-inorganic hybrid coatings for UV protection of polycarbonate is presented. UV-absorbing compounds, which are commonly used for polycarbonate, were embedded in a ...silica matrix by thermal co-evaporation under high vacuum. In addition to the optical properties of the coatings, the influence of the silica network on the organic UV absorber and the stability of the intramolecular hydrogen bond (IMHB) are discussed. A model is presented to show the interaction between the organic compound and the silica matrix. It could be shown with UV irradiation experiments that the hydroxyphenyltriazine compound exhibits higher UV stability in the hybrid coating than the hydroxybenzotriazoles.
The field of ultraviolet (UV)-laser applications is currently experiencing rapid growth in the semiconductor processing, laser micromachining and biomedical markets. Key enablers for these ...technologies are optical coatings used to manipulate and guide laser beams in a targeted manner. As laser power, laser fluence and pulse frequencies increase, the demands on the physical properties of the coating materials become more stringent. Ion beam sputtering is a technique that allows producing optical coatings with the low losses required in these applications. In this study, we investigate the influence of ion beam sputtering (IBS) parameters on the optical properties of HfO
and SiO
single layers as well as the impact of annealing duration at 475 °C for anti-reflective (AR) and highly reflective (HR) optical coatings at 355 nm. For HfO
sputtered from a metal target the O
flow during the coating process is a key parameter to reduce absorption. SiO
single layers exhibit improved transmission in the UV-range as the ion beam energy for the sputtering process is reduced. Furthermore, a complex behavior for film stress, absorption, surface roughness and coating structure was unraveled as a function of annealing duration for AR- and HR-coatings at 355 nm. The reflectance of the HR-mirror after optimized annealing exceeded 99.94% at 355 nm and a high laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of 6.9 J/cm
was measured after 2 hours of annealing. For the AR-coating a LIDT-value of 15.7 J/cm
was observed after 12 hours of annealing.
Absolute measurement of residual absorption in optical coatings is steadily becoming more important in thin film characterization, in particular with respect to high power laser applications. A ...summary is given on the current ability of the laser induced deflection (LID) technique to serve sensitive photo-thermal absorption measurements combined with reliable absolute calibration based on an electrical heater approach. To account for different measurement requirements, several concepts have been derived to accordingly adapt the original LID concept. Experimental results are presented for prominent UV and deep UV laser wavelengths, covering a variety of factors that critically can influence the absorption properties in optical coatings e.g., deposition process, defects and impurities, intense laser irradiation and surface/interface engineering. The experimental findings demonstrate that by combining high sensitivity with absolute calibration, photo-thermal absorption measurements are able to be a valuable supplement for the characterization of optical thin films and coatings.
Single layer antireflection coatings (SLAR) consisting of nanoporous silica (NP SiO2) films are developed by selective chemical etching of atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al2O3:SiO2 composite films. The ...reflective index of the final NP SiO2 film is finely adjusted from 1.132 to 1.400 at 600 nm wavelength by applying an appropriate ratio in the composite. To meet the requirements of the SLAR coatings from the deep UV (DUV) to the near IR (NIR) spectral range, the film thickness is controlled with nanometer precision by the ALD process. The SLAR are simultaneously applied on both sides of flat or highly curved substrates. Transmittance values above 99.4% are achieved even at a wavelength of 193 nm on fused silica substrates. Various characterization methods demonstrate the advantages of these SLAR with regard to impurities, optical losses, laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) properties, and surface super‐hydrophilicity. The absorption losses at 193 nm wavelength as determined by laser induced deflection measurements amount to approximately 200 ppm, and to approximately 2 ppm at a wavelength of 1064 nm, while the scattering losses are around 30 ppm at 532 nm wavelength for quarter‐wave layers. The LIDT values at 1064 nm are in the range of 93 J cm−2 being close to the values measured on the uncoated substrate.
Nanoporous SiO2 thin films with precise thickness and refractive index control are demonstrated by atomic layer deposition and subsequent wet chemical etching. These films have low absorption and scattering losses, very high laser induced damage threshold values and superhydrophilic wetting properties. They are applied from UV to near IR spectral range on flat substrates and on highly curved optics.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Tuning ion energies in plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) processes enables fine control over the material properties of functional coatings. The growth, structural, mechanical, and ...optical properties of HfO
thin films are presented in detail toward photonic applications. The influence of the film thickness and bias value on the properties of HfO
thin films deposited at 100 °C using tetrakis(dimethylamino)hafnium (TDMAH) and oxygen plasma using substrate biasing is systematically analyzed. The HfO
films deposited without a substrate bias show an amorphous microstructure with a low density, low refractive index, high incorporation of residual hydroxyl (OH) content, and high residual tensile stress. The material properties of HfO
films significantly improved at a low bias voltage due to the interaction with oxygen ions accelerated to the film. Such HfO
films have a higher density, higher refractive index, and lower residual OH incorporation than films without bias. The mechanical stress becomes compressive depending on the bias values. Further increasing the ion energies by applying a larger substrate bias results in a decrease of the film density, refractive index, and a higher residual OH incorporation as well as crystalline inclusions. The comparable material properties of the HfO
films have been reported using tris(dimethylamino)cyclopentadienyl hafnium (TDMACpH) in a different apparatus, indicating that this approach can be transferred to various systems and is highly versatile. Finally, the substrate biasing technique has been introduced to deposit stress-compensated, crack- and delamination-free high-reflective (HR) mirrors at 355 and 532 nm wavelengths using HfO
and SiO
as high and low refractive index materials, respectively. Such mirrors could not be obtained without the substrate biasing during the deposition because of the high tensile stress of HfO
, leading to cracks in thick multilayer systems. An HR mirror for 532 nm wavelength shows a high reflectance of 99.93%, a residual transmittance of ∼530 ppm, and a low absorption of ∼11 ppm, as well as low scattering losses of ∼4 ppm, high laser-induced damage threshold, low mechanical stress, and high environmental stability.
Full text
Available for:
IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Titanium dioxide films were prepared by plasma ion-assisted electron beam evaporation. Linear optical properties were investigated in terms of spectrophotometry using the beta-distributed oscillator ...(ß_do) model as a parametrized dispersion law. The nonlinear two-photon absorption coefficient of titanium dioxide was determined by means of the laser-induced deflection technique at a wavelength of 800 nm. The obtained values of (2–5) × 10−11 cm/W were consistent with published experimental values for rutile as well as for simulations performed in the frames of the ß_do and Sheik–Bahae models.
Single layer antireflection coatings (SLAR) consisting of nanoporous silica (NP SiO
2
) films are developed by selective chemical etching of atomic layer deposited (ALD) Al
2
O
3
:SiO
2
composite ...films. The reflective index of the final NP SiO
2
film is finely adjusted from 1.132 to 1.400 at 600 nm wavelength by applying an appropriate ratio in the composite. To meet the requirements of the SLAR coatings from the deep UV (DUV) to the near IR (NIR) spectral range, the film thickness is controlled with nanometer precision by the ALD process. The SLAR are simultaneously applied on both sides of flat or highly curved substrates. Transmittance values above 99.4% are achieved even at a wavelength of 193 nm on fused silica substrates. Various characterization methods demonstrate the advantages of these SLAR with regard to impurities, optical losses, laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) properties, and surface super‐hydrophilicity. The absorption losses at 193 nm wavelength as determined by laser induced deflection measurements amount to approximately 200 ppm, and to approximately 2 ppm at a wavelength of 1064 nm, while the scattering losses are around 30 ppm at 532 nm wavelength for quarter‐wave layers. The LIDT values at 1064 nm are in the range of 93 J cm
−2
being close to the values measured on the uncoated substrate.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Absorption losses and laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) are considered to be the major constraints for development of optical coatings for high-power laser optics. Such coatings require paramount ...properties, such as low losses due to optical absorption, high mechanical stability, and enhanced damage resistance, to withstand high-intensity laser pulses. In this work, heterostructures were developed by sub-nanometer thin films of SiO2 and HfO2 using the plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) technique. Thin-film characterization techniques, such as spectroscopic ellipsometry, spectrophotometry, substrate curvature measurements, X-ray reflectivity, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, were employed for extracting optical constants, residual stress, layer formation, and functional groups present in the heterostructures, respectively. These heterostructures demonstrate tunable refractive index, bandgap, and improved optical losses and LIDT properties. The films were incorporated into antireflection coatings (multilayer stacks and graded-index coatings) and the LIDT was determined at 355 nm wavelength by the R-on-1 method. Optical absorptions at the reported wavelengths were characterized using photothermal common-path interferometry and laser-induced deflection techniques.
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