Thin Film Laser Damage Competition at SPIE Laser Damage

Coordinated by Raluca A. Negres, Christopher J. Stolz, Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (USA)

CW 1064 nm Mirror Thin Film Damage Competition

A double-blind laser damage competition will be held to determine the current laser damage resistance of 1064-nm, normal incidence multilayer mirrors designed for CW (continuous wave) operation. The results will be shared at SPIE Laser Damage 2022.

Thin Film Laser Damage Competition

The mirrors must meet the following requirements:

  • Reflectance > 99.5%
  • Wavelength 1064 nm
  • 0 degrees incidence angle
  • Environment: Ambient air
  • Wavefront quality: < λ/4
  • No stress requirement
  • Surface quality requirement - Scratch/Dig - 20/10 or better

The coatings shall be deposited on fused silica substrates provided by the coating supplier. The dimensions of the substrate shall be 50 mm (+/- 1 mm) in diameter and at least 10 mm thick. In addition, substrates with polished back side are preferred to enable thermal absorption measurements in transmission mode.

Sample submissions

Samples must be received by June 1, 2022 (earlier preferred) to the following address:

Raluca Negres, L-470 Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory
7000 East Avenue Livermore, CA 94550

Each sample will be assigned a unique label to maintain anonymity. The origin of the samples will not be released to the damage testing service or disclosed at the Laser Damage Symposium. A summary of the results only will be published in the conference proceedings. Coating suppliers will be informed of the measured results for their samples and relative ranking within the overall population of samples. To minimize the number of damage tests, no more than two different samples can be submitted from each coating supplier.

In addition to the sample, the coating supplier MUST also supply the following information:

  • Coating materials and number of layers
  • Reflectance or transmission spectral scan (prefer in an electronic format) in 1000 - 1100 nm range. Spectral scans may be emailed to negres2@llnl.gov
  • A brief description of the deposition method (e-beam, IAD, IBS, plasma assist, etc.)
  • Substrate material and cleaning method.

Failure to provide the required information will result in disqualification of the sample. If two samples are submitted, the vendor must describe the manufacturing differences between the two samples. Optical or scanning electron microscopy may be used to image damage sites. Reflectance measurements may also occur. No other characterization tools will be used on the samples to protect any proprietary features of the samples.

Testing will be performed by:

Penn Stte will perform the testing for the laser damage competition

Anonymity and requirements

Each sample will be assigned a unique label to maintain anonymity. The origin of the samples will not be released to the damage testing service and also will not be published at the Laser Damage Symposium or within the proceedings. A summary of the results will be published in the conference proceedings. Coating suppliers will be informed of the measured results and relative ranking within the submitted population. In order to minimize the number of damage tests, no more than two different samples can be submitted from each coating supplier.

  • In addition to the sample, the coating supplier MUST also supply the following information:
  • Coating materials and number of layers
  • Reflectance or transmission spectral scan (prefer in an electronic format) in 400 - 600 nm range. Spectral scans may be emailed to negres2@llnl.gov
  • A brief description of the deposition method (e-beam, IAD, IBS, plasma assist, etc.)
  • Substrate material and cleaning method


Failure to provide the required information will result in disqualification of the sample. If two samples are submitted, the vendor must describe the manufacturing differences between the two samples. Optical or scanning electron microscopy may be used to image damage sites. Reflectance measurements may also occur. No other characterization tools will be used on the samples to protect any proprietary features of the samples.