Design and fabrication of ultra broadband infrared antireflection hard coatings on ZnSe in the range from 2 to 16 μm

In conventional infrared multilayer antireflection coatings (MLAR) materials of fluoride and chalcogenide types are used, which are disadvantaged due to their low mechanical strength and poor stability against humidity and environmental impacts. In this paper, we show that high performance ultra broadband and hard infrared multilayer antireflection coatings on ZnSe substrates in the wavelength range from 2 to 16 pm can be designed and fabricated. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) hard coating as a mechanical and environmental protection layer was proposed and deposited onto MLAR surfaces (MLAR + DLC) using a pulsed vacuum arc ion deposition technique. The thickness of the high optical quality DLC can be optimized in the design simulation to achieve a practically best antireflection and surface protection performance. We show that a germanium thin film (15 nm) between the MLAR and DLC surfaces can be used as a transition layer for optical and material match. The average transmission of the fabricated MLAR+DLC surfaces was 93.1% in the wavelength range between 2 and 16 mu m. The peak transmission was about 97.6%, close to the simulated values. The durability and stability against mechanical impacts and environmental tests was improved significantly compared with the conventional infrared windows. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.