The Influence of Ion Beam Bombardment on the Properties of High Laser-Induced Damage Threshold HfO2 Thin Films

Abstract

HfO2 thin films were deposited on BK-7 glass substrates using an electron beam evaporation deposition (EBD) technique and then post-treated with argon and oxygen ions at an ion energy ranging from 800 to 1200 eV. The optical properties, laser damage resistance, and surface morphology of the thin films exposed to Ar ions and O2 ions at various energies were studied. It was found that the two ion post-treatment methods after deposition were effective for improving the LIDT of HfO2 thin films, but the mechanism for the improvement differs. The dense thin films highly resistant to laser damage can be obtained through Ar ion post-treatment at a certain ion energy. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of thin films after O2 ion post-treatment was higher in comparison to those irradiated with Ar ion at the same ion energy.