P. Prene et al., Preparation of a sol-gel broadband antireflective and scratch-resistant coating for amplifier blastshields of the french laser LIL, J SOL-GEL S, 19(1-3), 2000, pp. 533-537
A broadband antireflective and scratch resistant coating made from tantalum
and silicon oxide-based layers has been developed using the sol-gel route
for amplifier blastshields of the french laser LIL. Sol-gel synthesis have
been carried out starting from cheap precursors in order to produce metalli
c-based solutions, each one suitable for liquid-deposition technique use su
ch as dip-coating. Baking step temperature does not exceed 150 degreesC dur
ing 30 minutes allowing to coat various substrates and to offer scratch-res
istance properties in compliance with US-MIL-C-0675C severe test. The antir
eflective properties of the coating (layer thickness) were optimized to max
imize the amplification yield (in comparaison to uncoated blastshield), tak
ing into account the optical and geometrical parameters of the multipass am
plification laser cavity. Experimental antireflective coating deposition pr
ocess onto large-area glass plates sized to the LIL amplifier blastshields
(1811 x 635 x 6 mm) is described.