Thermal stress-induced birefringence in borate glass irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses

Thermal stress-induced birefringence in borate glass which has been irradiated by 800-nm femtosecond laser pulses is observed under cross-polarized light. Due to the high temperature and pressure formed in the focal volume, the material at the edge of the micro-modified region is compressed between the expanding region and the unheated one, then stress emerges. Raman spectroscopy is used to investigate the stress distribution in the micro-modified region and indicates the redistributions of density and refractive index by Raman peak shift. We suggest that this technique can develop waveguide polarizers and Fresnel zone plates in integrated optics.

ZrO2／SiO2多层膜中膜厚组合周期数及基底材料对残余应力的影响

ZrO2／SiO2多层膜由相同沉积条件下的电子束蒸发方法制备而成，通过改变多层膜中高(ZrO2)、低(SiO2)折射率材料膜厚组合周期数的方法，研究了沉积在熔石英和BK7玻璃基底上多层膜中残余应力的变化．用ZYGO光学干涉仪测量了基底镀膜前后曲率半径的变化，并确定了薄膜中的残余应力．结果发现，该多层膜中的残余应力为压应力，随着薄膜中膜厚组合周期数的增加，压应力值逐渐减小．而且在相同条件下，石英基底上所沉积多层膜中的压应力值要小于BK7玻璃基底上所沉积多层膜中的压应力值．用X射线衍射技术测量分析了膜厚组合周

沉积参量及时效时间对SiO2薄膜残余应力的影响

SiO2薄膜由电子束蒸发方法沉积而成。用GPI数字波面光学干涉仪测量了不同沉积条件下玻璃基底镀膜前后曲率半径的变化，并确定了SiO2薄膜中的残余应力。在其他条件相同的情况下，当沉积温度由190℃升高到350℃时，SiO2薄膜中的压应力由一156MPa增大为-289MPa。氧分压由3．0×10^-3Pa升高到13．0×10^-3Pa时，SiO2薄膜中的应力由-223．5MPa变为20．4MPa。通过对薄膜折射率的测量，发现薄膜的堆积密度随沉积条件的改变也发生了规律性的变化。应力的变化主要是由于沉积时蒸发粒子

Stress, absorptance and laser-induced damage threshold properties of 355-nm HR coatings

A number of 355-nm Al2O3/MgF2 high-reflectance (HR) coatings were prepared by electron-beam evaporation. The influences of the number of coating layers and deposition temperature on the 355-nm Al2O3/MgF2 HR coatings were investigated. The stress was measured by viewing the substrate deformation before and after coating deposition using an optical interferometer. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the samples was measured by a 355-nm Nd:YAG laser with a pulse width of 8 ns. Transmittance and reflectance of the samples were measured by a Lambda 900 spectrometer. It was found that absorptance was the main reason to result in a low LIDT of 355-nm Al2O3/MgF2 HR coatings. The stress in Al2O3/MgF2 HR coatings played an unimportant role in the LIDT, although MgF2 is known to have high tensile stress.

Influences of annealing on residual stress and structure of HfO2 films

HfO2 Elms are deposited on BK7 glass substrates by electron beam evaporation. The influences of annealing between 100 degrees C and 400 degrees C on residual stresses and structures of HfO2 films are studied. It is found that little differences of spectra, residual stresses and structures are obtained after annealing at lower temperatures. After annealing at higher temperatures, the spectra shift to short wavelength, the residual stress increases with the increasing annealing temperature. At the same time, the crystallite size increases and interplanar distance decreases. The variations of optical spectra and residual stress correspond to the evolutions of structures induced by annealing.

Thickness dependence of structure and optical properties of silver films deposited by magnetron sputtering

A series of silver films with different thickness were prepared under identical conditions by direct current magnetron sputtering. The optical properties of the silver films were measured using spectrophotometric techniques and the optical constants were calculated from reflection and transmission measurements made at near normal incidence. The results show that the optical properties and constants are affected by films' thickness. Below the critical thickness of 17 nm at which Ag film forms a continuous film, the optical properties and constants vary significantly as the thickness of films increases and then tends to a stable value which is reached at 41 nm. X-ray diffraction measurements were carried out to examine the structure and stress evolution of the Ag films as a function of films' thickness. It was found that the interplanar distance of (111) orientation decreases when the film thickness increases and tends to be close to that of bulk material. The compressive strains also decrease with increasing thickness. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.

退火对HfO2/SiO2多层膜残余应力的影响

用电子束蒸发方法在BK7基底上沉积了HfO2/SiO2多层膜。研究了200℃到400℃的退火对残余应力的影响。结果表明退火前的薄膜残余应力为压应力，在200℃退火后发展为张应力，然后张应力值随着退火温度的升高而增大。在400℃退火后，由于张应力太大，薄膜表面出现了裂纹。同时，随着退火温度的升高，晶粒尺寸长大，晶面间距降低。残余应力的变化与结构的演变相对应。

Influences of CO2 laser annealing on mechanical and laser-induced damage properties of ZrO2 thin films

Zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) thin films were deposited on BK7 glass substrates by the electron beam evaporation method. A continuous wave CO2 laser was used to anneal the ZrO2 thin films to investigate whether beneficial changes could be produced. After annealing at different laser scanning speeds by CO2 laser, weak absorption of the coatings was measured by the surface thermal lensing (STL) technique, and then laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) was also determined. It was found that the weak absorption decreased first, while the laser scanning speed is below some value, then increased. The LIDT of the ZrO2 coatings decreased greatly when the laser scanning speeds were below some value. A Nomarski microscope was employed to map the damage morphology, and it was found that the damage behavior was defect-initiated both for annealed and as-deposited samples. The influences of post-deposition CO2 laser annealing on the structural and mechanical properties of the films have also been investigated by X-ray diffraction and ZYGO interferometer. It was found that the microstructure of the ZrO2 films did not change. The residual stress in ZrO2 films showed a tendency from tensile to compressive after CO, laser annealing, and the variation quantity of the residual stress increased with decreasing laser scanning speed. The residual stress may be mitigated to some extent at proper treatment parameters. (c) 2007 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.