High temperature optical molecular anti-contamination getter system

A method for removing contaminants from an optical system comprising;

• a) applying sufficient energy density to contaminants in an internal ambient atmosphere in a sealed housing containing one or more optical components to drive a reaction involving the contaminants, wherein the reaction inactivates the contaminants, wherein the optical components are otherwise susceptible to damage from the contaminants.

An optical system comprising;

• a) a source of laser radiation of an input vacuum wavelength;
• b) one or more non-linear optical elements within a sealed housing having an internal ambient atmosphere, wherein the one or more non-linear optical elements are configured to receive the laser radiation and convert a portion of the laser radiation of the input vacuum wavelength to output radiation of a desired output vacuum wavelength;
• d) a heatable element inside sealed housing configured to apply sufficient energy density to the contaminants to drive a reaction involving contaminants in an internal ambient atmosphere in the sealed housing, wherein the reaction inactivates the contaminants.