Sol-gel optical thin films for an advanced megajoule-class Nd:glass laser ICF-driver

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:234203

Floch, H G; Belleville, P F ^[1]; Pegon, P M; Dijonneau, C S; Guerain, J ^[2]

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1. CEA-Centre d`Etudes de Limeil-Valenton, Villeneuve Saint Georges (France)
2. REOSC-Groupe SFIM, Saint Pierre du Perray (France)

It is well established by manufacturers and users that optical coatings are generally prepared by the well known Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) technology. In the authors` opinion sol-gel technology is an effective and competitive alternative. The aim of this paper is to emphasize on the sol-gel thin film work carried out at Centre d`Etudes de Limeil-Valenton (CEL-V) and concerning the technology for high power lasers. The authors will briefly discuss the chemistry of the sol-gel process, the production of optical coatings and the related deposition techniques. Finally, the paper describes the preparation and performance of sol-gel optical coatings they have developed to fulfill the requirements of a future 2 MJ/500 TW (351 nm) pulsed Nd:glass laser so-called LMJ (Laser MegaJoules). This powerful laser is to be used for their national Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program, to demonstrate at the laboratory scale, ignition of deuterium-tritium fusion fuel. Moreover, the aim of this article is, hopefully, to provide a convincing argument that coatings and particularly optical coatings, are some of the useful products available from sol-gel technology, and that exciting developments in other areas are almost certain to emerge within the coming decade.

• OSTI ID: 234203
• Report Number(s): CONF-9505264--; ISBN 0-8194-1997-4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ANTIREFLECTION COATINGS
BEAM OPTICS
COATINGS
DAMAGE
INERTIAL FUSION DRIVERS
NEODYMIUM LASERS
OPTICAL SYSTEMS
PROTECTIVE COATINGS
SOL-GEL PROCESS
THERMONUCLEAR IGNITION
THIN FILMS