Abstract

Materials deposited by reactive ion-plating have excellent adhesion and abrasion resistance along with high refractive indices due to their dense microstructure and, therefore, are ideal for optical multilayer coatings. Numerous coatings deposited by ion-plating have been produced and their optical properties measured.^1,2 In general, the coatings have good laser damage thresholds, although for some materials they are still lower than those of e-beam deposited coatings.³ Other advantages of ion-plated coatings include low surface roughness and low or zero porosity and, hence, good stability.

© 1992 Optical Society of America