A year of automated LDT testing on ion beam sputtered thin film optics and laser conditioning of IBS films

The automated laser damage testing system at REO has been in operation for over a year, providing quantitative and detailed information on laser damage of ion beam sputtered (IBS) thin films in a production setting. Results have accumulated in a database, which can be queried in complex ways. We present statistical analysis on event curves (number vs. fluence) for various defect size groups. We examine the differences in event curves for high-threshold and lower-threshold IBS optics. We also present results of experiments on laser conditioning of IBS thin films.