Coating Guide extended
The menu section Coating guide on top
became an extension. Our Coating specials
give you a brief overview of the specialities
LASEROPTIK is able to serve:
optimized coating designs and techniques,
substrate handling and coating fixtures.
Optimized thin film coatingswith IBS
This article (in german) by Dr. Wolfgang Ebert and Tobias Groß (published in "Laser+Photonik", Iss. 1, March 2010, p. 30-34) discusses and compares the different coating methods found at LASEROPTIK with focus on IBS process and its special possibilities.
| Photonics West 2010 booth 4601-24 January 26.-28. San Francisco, USA |  |
LASEROPTIK started an "open door" day on September 3.,2009. A lot of visitors came in to congratulate, celebrate and inform themselves about the capabilities of our production. A photo gallery of LO OPEN can be seen here or at menu item "About us > 25th anniversary".A short article (in german) describes the day and the celebrations at the "Laserhof" in Garbsen.
download PDF file
| 1984 - 2009 LASEROPTIK GmbH celebrates the 25 anniversary! |
Electron Beam Deposition
Electron Beam Deposition (EBD) for multilayer / multimaterial optical coatings is applied in a heated (>250°C) high vacuum chamber by electron beam guns. Each gun emits a high-voltage (2-10kV) electron beam, that is vertically deflected and focussed into a water cooled rotating crucible, containing the coating material. The beam melts and evaporates metals, metaloxides or fluorides at temperatures of ca. 2000°C. Due to the high vacuum environment the material vapour moves as cloud to the substrates, mounted in a spherical calotte in the top of the chamber. 
The vapour condenses on the surfaces and films grow mainly in a columnar structure. Rotation of the calotte provides to match surface geometries and an optimal coating thickness distribution. Optical thickness control is ensured by monochromatic quarterwave measurement in transmission or reflection on a witness sample, whereas the physical thickness is detected with a crystal oscillator.
In addition to electron guns, the thermal evaporation process can be generated from an evaporation boat as well, also called resistance heated source. It consists of high melting metals as Molybdenum, Tantalum or Tungsten, containing the coating material. The boats are heated by a strong electrical current to max. 1600°C.
Oxide materials are reactively deposited in an oxygen atmosphere of some 10-4 mbar in order to compensate the decomposition during evaporation.
