Advances in IBS Coatings for space applications on the topics of curved surfaces and laser damage

IBS Coatings are a good candidate for high performance applications. They are hard, dense, exhibit a small thermal shift, and have the best scattering and surface roughness performance of the various coating technologies. In addition, they feature a highly stable refractive index for the coated materials allowing the production of complex coatings. Because of their high density and resistance towards high energy radiation IBS coatings are also well suited for space applications. For high power laser applications, the vacuum stable damage threshold and low defect concentration qualify especially reactive ion beam sputtering as a suitable deposition method for space applications. In the paper, results on coating activities using the IBS process are discussed in respect to two aspects. One is the adaption of the IBS to strongly curved surfaces like lenses exemplified by the FM lenses for the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission. The other is a study to increase the laser-induced damage threshold for future LIDAR systems. This is accomplished by eliminating nano-scaled particles that act as damage precursors during laser radiation.