Influence of substrate cleaning on LIDT of 355 nm HR coatings

An advanced high-purity reactive e-beam evaporation process was used to deposit Al2O3/SiO2 HR coatings for 355 nm (Nd: YAG third harmonic) high-power laser applications. Both 1:1 an R:1, 6 ns pulse width, laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) tests for normal (0 deg) and non-normal (45 deg) incident designs were performed to study the influence of quartz substrate cleaning. Damage test results indicate very high LIDT values on clean substrates. Some tested points have R:1 LIDT above 20 J/cm2. Post-cleaning of coated substrates degrades LIDT.