Precision Photonics Announces Ultra-Low Absorption Coatings and Measurement Services
Press Release
December 13, 2011
Boulder, CO, December 13, 2011 – Precision Photonics Corp (PPC) is pleased to announce the availability of
its ultra-low absorption line of thin film coatings. Enabled by advanced in-house metrology and expertise in ion beam sputtered (IBS)
deposition, PPC is able to routinely deliver anti-reflection (AR) coatings with losses less than 0.5ppm, and high-reflection (HR)
coatings with losses less than 2ppm.
This unique PPC capability is based on photothermal common path interferometry,
and when combined with proprietary calibration methods,
results in measurement sensitivity of less than 0.1ppm for optical materials like fused silica.
In addition to verification of in-house IBS coatings, PPC will also provide measurement services
to customers wishing to measure absorption in their own coatings or substrates. Two dimensional mapping
of surfaces is also available.
Actual coating absorption < 1 ppm!
(Measured at 1070 nm using PPC's new PCI system)
PPC primarily utilizes this measurement tool to advance continual process improvement of its own IBS thin film optical coatings.
The combination of extreme durability, high reliability, precision spectral control, and high laser damage threshold
makes ion beam sputtering the coating method of choice for high power laser applications and low loss optics.
Says Nick Traggis, Vice President of Precision Photonics: “I am proud of the team’s ability to bring such an advanced measurement tool
online so quickly and the impact it has already had on our low loss coating capabilities – we are already receiving positive feedback
from customers using these optics in ‘world leading’ 10kW class laser systems.”
PPC will be presenting its latest work on ultra-low absorption coatings on January 26th, 2012 at the Photonics West Exhibition
in San Francisco, CA.
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