Design of a Production Process to Enhance Optical Performance of 3(omega) Optics

Using the Phoenix pre-production conditioning facility we have shown that raster scanning of 3ω optics using a XeF excimer laser and mitigation of the resultant damage sites with a CO2 laser can enhance their optical damage resistance. Several large-scale (43 cm x 43 cm) optics have been processed in this facility. A production facility capable of processing several large optics a week has been designed based on our experience in the pre-production facility. The facility will be equipped with UV conditioning lasers--351-nm XeF excimer lasers operating at 100 Hz and 23 ns. The facility will also include a CO2 laser for damage mitigation, an optics stage for raster scanning large-scale optics, a damage mapping system (DMS) that images large-scale optics and can detect damage sites or precursors as small as ∼ 15 (micro)m, and two microscopes to image damage sites with ∼ 5 (micro)m resolution. The optics will be handled in a class 100 clean room, within the facility that will be maintained at class 1000