Influence of the Characteristics of Multilayer Interference Antireflection Coatings Based on Nb, Si, and Al Oxides on the Laser-Induced Damage Threshold of ZnGeP₂ Single Crystal

Abstract

In this work, the effect of the defect structure and the parameters of antireflection interference coatings based on alternating layers of Nb2O5/Al2O3 and Nb2O5/SiO2 layers on the laser-induced damage threshold of ZGP crystals under the action of Ho:YAG laser radiation at a wavelength of 2.097 μm was determined. Coating deposition was carried out using the ion-beam sputtering method. The laser-induced damage threshold of the sample with a coating based on alternating layers Nb2O5 and SiO2 was W0d = 1.8 J/cm2. The laser-induced damage threshold of the coated sample based on alternating layers of Nb2O5 and Al2O3 was W0d = 2.35 J/cm2. It has been found that the presence of silicon conglomerates in an interference antireflection coating leads to a decrease in the laser-induced damage threshold of a nonlinear crystal due to local mechanical stresses and the scattering of incident laser radiation.

Keywords

• laser-induced damage threshold
• ZnGeP₂
• interference coating