Effects of Ion Bombardment on the Environmental Durability of Metal Coatings

Abstract

Metal coatings are widely used as wide band reflectors for astronomical and laser applications. Optical components exposed to the environment such as telescope mirrors suffer from corrosion due to natural elements such as rain and wind. The deloyment of optical elements in space for scientific, military, and commercial applications makes it necessary to improve the lifetime, reliability, and tolerance to radiation of optical coatings. The benefits of improving the properties of optical coatings on the performance of optical telescopes are enormous.