Effects of structure, composition, and stress on the laser damage threshold of homogeneous and inhomogeneous single films and multilayers.

The dependence of a single-shot laser-induced damage on certain film properties is investigated. Variable stress films are produced by mixing pure components with imilar damage thresholds; a definite stress dependence is shown. Films formed from mixtures of high and low threshold components are investigated and found to have damage thresholds between the high and low component values. The damage thresholds of multilayer and periodic inhomogeneous film systems are compared. The results confirm that the damage threshold is almost entirely material-dependent and equal to the threshold of the lowest threshold component for highly reflecting multilayers. Multilayers deposited at different vapor incidence angles are compared. A definite dependence is shown.