Plasma Optik News
White Papers and News You Can Use
Plasma Optik offers optical thin film Ion Beam Sputtering (IBS) services. We provide additional IBS capacity for your optical thin film production needs and can assist with your overflow and backlog when you need it most.
Optica OIC – Optical Interference Coatings Conference 2025
Hope to see you in Tucson this May!
Please stop by our booth (413) at the upcoming Optica – OIC conference. We are looking forward to learning from all of the presenters! We also have been working on some new and exciting things and are eager to share them with our fellow thin film engineers and scientists!
Or Nashville!
Our sister company, Plasma Process Group, will be attending the Society of Vacuum Coaters Technical Conference (booth 1110) at the same time! We are dedicated to helping you find your IBS solutions!
What’s New — Cleanest Coatings in the Industry
We beat our .5 ppm absorption goal!
We have been very excited as you may know, with our proprietary IBS process. We continue to see the positive effects from the changes made to our optical monitoring system. These changes are making a remarkable difference in our coating capability and quality. Now, all the hard work and months of tweaking is officially paying off.
We have just received our current results from our Laser Induced Damage Threshold, (LIDT), measurements that we have actually exceeded our expectations. We were shooting for a .5 ppm absorption goal and beat it. By a lot! Here is where we’re at so far.
Test Conditions:
- Damage fluence: X8.5 ± X0.35 J/cm2
- Test beam: Gaussian beam with radius w = 80 microns; beam area calculated as Piw2 / 2; wavelength 1064 nm.
- Measurement completed with continuous wave laser.
- Applied to 9 spots per specimen; minimum distance between the test sites: 2 mm.
- Damage threshold definition: linear fit to 0% damage probability.
- Cleaning: none (mirrors directly taken from the package as provided by the supplier).
- Test environment: ISO 14644-1 standard clean room classification level class 4, 22 degrees Celsius, 18% relative humidity.
- LIDT measurements completed in accordance with ISO 21254-1:2011.
Results:
- Laser damage threshold of less than .23 ppm absorption.
- Consistent temperature of <80 degrees Fahrenheit detection for 600 seconds exposure time with CW laser.
- Damage detection: No damage or negative effects and no rise in sample surface temperature measured by IR temperature detection.
An exciting future ahead!
The Plasma Optik team have put all the pieces together to get a laser damage threshold of less than .23 ppm and the lowest level of temperature rise during our CW testing at 1064 nm. We can truthfully say we can provide the cleanest, high-quality IBS coatings right here at Plasma Optik.
Do you need optics? We’d be happy to discuss your specifications in detail so make sure you call us today. Please let our sales team know if you have a demand for optical coatings for a small R&D project or one-off concept design that is of interest. Talk to us about your requirements and we’ll do all we can to help meet or exceed your expectations.
Call us today for your coating needs at 970-786-6218
Or feel free to email Brett Buchholtz to set up a time to discuss your thin film process needs. Make sure you follow us on LinkedIn.
Plasma Optik White Paper – Techne System for UV Coatings
Executive Summary | Ultraviolet lasers operating around 200nm are becoming more common. This is due to both the utility of these lasers and the increased manufacturing capability allowing their production. The spectrum of UV light includes wavelengths shorter than violet light at 380nm. The frequency for wavelengths below 380nm results in radiation with a very high ionization potential. Optics to support these applications must survive high laser fluence for extended periods under the ionizing radiation of these UV lasers. Plasma Optik has manufactured ion beam sputtered (IBS) UV coatings for applications in these wavelength ranges and the status of this effort is discussed.
READ MORE / DOWNLOAD the PDF: Plasma Optik White Paper – Techne System for UV Coatings >>
What’s New August 2022 and the SPIE Optics and Photonics Show
Light At The End Of The Tunnel
We have become very excited in recent weeks with our Techne system. We continue to see the positive effects from the small adjustments being made that are making a difference in our coating capability and quality. From general maintenance to finite tweaks on items such as the custom optical monitoring system. We are working hard to provide the best coating available. Anywhere. We are getting closer by the hour. Stay tuned.
SPIE Optics and Photonics Show
Make sure you mark your calendars for the SPIE Optics and Photonics show happening in San Diego later this month from August 21st thru the 25th. Plasma Optik will be at table 549 and is looking forward to seeing all of you there to discuss the latest project you might have.
Plasma Optik Techne System — Qualification for High Fluence Optical Applications
Our goal at Plasma Optik is to manufacture highest quality coatings to address some of the most significant optical coating challenges. We know the importance of high fluence thin film coatings for LDT applications. These optics are just one of many that are difficult to produce and even more difficult to manufacture defect free and prove durable. We have been able to repeatably produce these LDT films in the Plasma Optik Techne ion beam system with consistency, and with the high quality we are looking for.
New White Paper
We recently published a new paper called Plasma Optik Techne System — Qualification for High Fluence Optical Applications that shows some of the requirements for these films and how he has been able to achieve successful coatings in the Techne system that tend to exceed today’s requirements in the industry. You can review this document and see some of the data we put together. You can find our white papers and other updates on our website in the news section.
Call us for your coating needs at 970-786-6218
Please let our Sales team know if you have a demand for optical coatings for a small R&D project or one-off concept design that is of interest. Talk to us about your requirements and we’ll do all we can to help meet or exceed your expectations.
Please visit our website at Plasma Optik. Contact us today to set up a time to discuss your thin film process needs with us.
Plasma Optik: the Cleanest Coatings Available — A Closer Look
In this downloadable brochure, you will find:
- our current selection of materials
- the highlights of our environmentally stable thin film optics
- and graphs showing our filter capabilities.
What’s New June 2022
Exciting New Challenges
We’ve continued to develop our capabilities at Plasma Optik. Our primary goal is enhancing our ability to meet challenging CW, nanosecond and femtosecond laser damage specifications. We have a number of projects ongoing, exploring the limits of our technology to manufacture these challenging coatings. Additional bandwidth has been allocated to enhancing our ability to meet challenging optical specifications.
Make sure to mark your calendar for the SPIE laser damage Conference happening in Rochester, NY September 18-21st. Plasma Optik has entered and submitted coated optics for the 1064nm CW laser damage competition. Laser damage in the CW regime is primarily thermally driven. We expect our fully dense Ion Beam sputtered coatings to perform extremely well under these high fluence conditions. We’re very excited to see the results and we are looking forward to sharing our performance with you once published.
Enhancing the capability of our optical monitor system has been another challenge. Producing bandpass filters with full range blocking is a tall order requiring nanometer precision on layer termination on hundreds of consecutive layers. We have managed to successfully navigate the challenges associated with this effort and have produced an example filter with wide blocking range along with a passband with average transmission of 92.5%. More information available on request!
We Want To Help Foster Your Success
Our goal at Plasma Optik is to manufacture high quality coatings to address some of the most significant optical challenges. We know there is always a need for R&D projects, and we are here to help you get them done. Sadly, many innovative ideas come to a halt when R&D projects are delayed. That is where we come in.
Please let our Sales team know if you have a demand for optical coatings for a small R&D project or one-off concept design that is of interest. Talk to us about your requirements and we’ll do all we can to help meet or exceed your expectations. Email us to set up a time to discuss your thin film process needs, or call Plasma Optik at 970-786-6218.
Plasma Optik Techne System —Qualification for High Fluence Optical Applications
Executive Summary | Thin film optics lifetime under exposure to high laser fluence levels benefit from having both high laser damage threshold and low optical absorption. Plasma Process Group has developed the Techne Ion Beam Sputtering deposition tool for manufacturing these challenging coatings. Plasma Optik has optimized Techne process parameters to both maximize laser damage threshold and minimize absorption. This paper explains 1-on-1, S-on-1 and LLNL-TR-740296 (used for National Ignition Facility applications) laser damage testing methodologies. Also discussed are details of photothermal common path interferometry (PCI) used for optical absorption testing. Techne system laser damage performance data generated with the LLNLTR-740296 testing procedure on 1064nm and 532nm high reflector mirrors made with the Techne system is given along with PCI data from similar optics. Finally, comparison is made between laser damage values from Mil-Spec 10-5 and super-polished substrates with similar high-reflector coatings.
Come Say Hello at the SPIE Photonics West Exhibition in Jan 2022
Thank you Customers!
We appreciate all of our customers this past year. It has been a very busy year and we are looking forward to helping you in 2022. Have a safe and fun Holiday Season!
Come See Us in 2022
Please come join us at the SPIE Photonics West Exhibition in January. We are all vaccinated, getting our boosters, and are looking forward to seeing everyone!
Contact us for a quote or if you have any questions!
Optical Coating Materials
Executive Summary | A variety of materials are used in thin film optics applications. Customers of thin film optics may be interested in becoming familiar with these materials and the important differences which make one material set more appropriate for your application. We propose that the most important intrinsic material considerations are material index, material bandgap and absorption edge. These material properties are discussed as they affect thin film optics performance in different scenarios.
Optical Filters in Lidar Systems Applied to Autonomous Vehicle Applications
Executive Summary | Interest in commercializing Lidar technology for vision systems in autonomous vehicles is very high. Recent advancements in compact, low-cost and high-performance lasers have pushed Lidar technology to the brink of widespread adoption. Optical filters play an important role in the Lidar optical engine. Plasma Optik bandpass filter manufacturing efforts geared toward this application are discussed. Resolution limits of radar and Lidar technologies are compared. Practical vision system performance challenges are discussed as they relate to automotive Lidar applications.