ION BEAM SPUTTERING (IBS)

Advanced Thin Films uses state-of-the-art technology. Our coatings are applied using ion beam sputtering (IBS coating), a process which uses a high energy particle beam in vacuum to remove material from a solid target and deposit it on the substrate. This process uses no evaporation and the ion beam (argon) does all of the work. Unlike evaporated coatings, the molecules are deposited at very high energy. This makes the films dense (not porous) and makes them adhere very well, as they form covalent bonds during deposition. What this means is that the coatings are very stable and durable. They will not shift spectrally with moisture or other environmental factors, and they are usually harder than the glass substrate they are applied to. They are easy to clean, have an indefinite lifetime, and will not delaminate.

In addition to the excellent physical properties that ion beam sputtering yields, there is another major benefit; control. Advanced Thin Films' processes allow us to deposit complex thin film structures with very high precision. Ion beam sputtering deposits material directly on the substrate, as opposed to filling a vacuum chamber with vapor. This removes a control variable, as there is no lag time between material heating (evaporation) and deposition. Since the beam is electric, it is very controllable. The process is automated and we can deposit films in excess of 100 layers. These factors allow us to deposit the films that we design with high precision. The advantages of our coatings include sharper features, higher contrast, and tighter tolerances.

ADVANTAGES OF ADVANCED THIN FILMS IBS COATINGS

SPECTRAL PERFORMANCE

• Tight spectral control (down to ±1nm)
• Extreme dichroics (99.9% R at one wavelength, 99.9% T at another)
• Environmental stability – no spectral shift with humidity and temperature variations
• Low absorption (<0.5 ppm @1064nm)

LOW LOSSES

• Ultra-high reflectance mirrors (R > 99.999%)
• Extremely low reflectance coatings (R < 0.01%)

HIGH DAMAGE THRESHOLDS

• Proven LDT performance as high as 70J/cm2 at 3ns pulse widths (1064nm)

MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE

• Low stress and stress compensated coatings
• Coatings produced at low temperature
• Durable, hard coatings
• Spectral stability in harsh environments
• Easy to clean
• Will not delaminate
• Indefinite lifetime

ION ASSISTED DEPOSITION

Second to IBS is ion-assisted deposition (IAD). This technology uses an ion beam to accelerate a vaporized material onto the substrate. While not as precise as IBS, this process has one advantage: it can be used for a wider breadth of materials. For this reason, Advanced Thin Films has added this capability as a compliment to our IBS systems.

SUPERPOLISHED OPTICS

Advanced Thin Films manufactures a full line of superpolished optical substrates with less than one angstrom RMS micro-roughness for the most challenging spectral and environmental applications. These substrates are made in Boulder, CO and are subjected to rigorous inspection methods to analyze both surface quality and surface roughness. Our focus on the quality of the substrate prior to coating enhances the performance of the finished product. After all, the optic is only as good as the coating AND the substrate.

SURFACE QUALITY MEASUREMENTS

• Military specifications for surface quality are measured in microns (1 micron = 1,000 nm) and are used to define surface defects including scratches and digs. Advanced Thin Films' superpolished optics have very low defect counts for true 10-5 laser grade components.

SURFACE ROUGHNESS MEASUREMENTS

• Surface roughness is measured in angstroms (1 angstrom = 0.1 nm) by using a Root Mean Squared (RMS) method. This method allows us to analyze the microscopic roughness of the substrate. Advanced Thin Films' superpolished substrates have less than one angstrom RMS micro-roughness and are ideal when low losses, low scatter, high laser damage thresholds, high energy, or high finesse are important to your application.

LOW SCATTER SUBSTRATES (SUPERPOLISHED)

• < 1Å RMS
• Low defect count
• True laser grade 10-5 surface quality
• Small to large quantities available (1 part to 1,000 parts)