Increasing the Laser-Induced Damage Threshold of Optical Components by Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Surface Finishing

In this contribution, a plasma-based approach for finishing optics surfaces is introduced. Experiments were performed on classically manufactured zinc crown glass and sapphire. It is shown that the use of direct dielectric barrier discharge plasma at atmospheric pressure allows the removal of surface-adherent carbonaceous contaminations that were induced by classical manufacturing. Moreover, the use of such plasma leads to a certain decrease in surface roughness. Both effects, surface cleaning and smoothing finally increase the laser-induced damage threshold of optical components