Highly resistant all-silica polarizing coatings for normal incidence applications.

Several fundamental restrictions limit the implementation of microlasers in high power systems, low resistivity of coatings and compactness of elements, especially if control of polarization is necessary. Thin-film-based coatings with extremely high optical resistivity and polarizing properties for normal incidence could become a preferable solution. In this Letter, a novel multilayer approach to form all-silica polarizing coatings for normal incidence angle applications is proposed. Laser induced damage thresholds (test one-on-one) at the wavelength of 355 nm were 39J/cm2 and 48.5J/cm2 for the reflected and transmitted polarizations, respectively. Such elements can essentially improve tolerated radiation power and allow for production of more compact laser systems.