The technology of sculptural thin films and glancing angle deposition (GLAD) have been studied for decades. During the last three years, the application of GLAD method to multilayer coatings of SiO2 material alone has been demonstrated. This has opened up new opportunities for optical components that are used in high power laser systems. In solid-state lasers, crystalline materials are used to form phase plates, to generate higher order harmonics, and so on. All these elements are coated with thin layers that limit the optical resistance of the standard element. The use of the glancing angle deposition method and research on crystalline materials would significantly increase the optical resistance and potential of components used in optical systems. Sculptural thin films are also used to form unique optical coatings: zero-angle polarizers, phase plates, and so on. The coating of such nano-structures on crystals would additionally increase their functionality and the components would be used in laser micro systems.
Work will be carried out at the Optical Coatings Laboratory, FTMC. It is equipped with five thin film forming devices (two sputtering units, two evaporation and one atomic layer deposition), two of which are equipped with glancing angle deposition methodology. The laboratory also has advanced measuring and analysis equipment: spectrometer, atomic force microscope, laser set-up for measuring optical resistivity and so on. Each of these devices has applied in research for several years. GLAD technology has been developed in the laboratory for about eight years.
For more information, please contact the theme supervisor
T. Tolenis.