In addition to tradeoffs between mirror reflectivity, wavefront, laser-damage threshold, and cost, new low stress coatings offer weight, geometry, and thermomechanical performance...
Design, specification, and procurement of optical coatings all benefit when the designer has a good understanding of measurement techniques and uncertainties.
There are many decisions to make when designing, specifying, manufacturing, and testing optical components for high-energy laser systems-each is a potential failure mechanism ...
