Experimental research of laser-induced damage of the monolayer ZrO2 PVD and sol–gel films

Monolayer zirconia physical vapor deposition (PVD) and sol–gel films on K9 glass substrates were prepared by electron beam evaporation and spin coating methods, respectively. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of each film was measured. Properties of the films were analyzed using Stanford photo-thermal solutions (SPTS), ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical microscopy to study the damage mechanism of films under laser irradiation. The experimental results showed that, compared with the monolayer zirconia sol–gel film, the monolayer zirconia PVD film had larger absorption and smaller porous ratio, and that it had smaller LIDT. The different damage morphologies of films were influenced by their different absorption and microstructure characteristics. The zirconia sol–gel film is more suitable for applications involving high-power lasers.