Reducing light scattering from surface contaminations by thin film design

Abstract

AbstractIn most applications, contamination of optical thin film coatings is inevitable over time. State-of-the art approaches to tackle this problem are usually based on two strategies – avoiding contamination or removing already existing contamination. We demonstrate that the coating design can be tailored to reduce light scattering and stray light arising from particle contamination. This allows reducing the optical symptoms (light scattering) rather than trying to address the inevitable cause of the problem (contamination) itself. This new approach can consequently be easily combined with state-of-the-art approaches.