System and method for ion-assisted deposition of optical coatings

An apparatus comprising:

• a low energy ion beam source configured to generate one or more low energy ion beams and direct the one or more low energy beams to a surface of one or more samples mounted on a sample stage, the low energy ion beam source configured to couple to one or more working gas supplies;
• a radiative heater positioned proximate to the one or more samples disposed on the sample stage, the radiative heater configured to heat the one or more samples;
• a gas inlet coupled to a fluorine gas supply source;
• a sputtering assembly, the sputtering assembly comprising:
• a sputtering ion source;
• and
• a sputtering target, the sputtering ion source configured to sputter target material from the sputtering target onto a surface of the one or more samples,
• the apparatus configured to use the one or more low energy ion beams from the low energy ion beam source during sputtering from the sputtering assembly for generation of one or more optical coatings on a surface of the one or more samples.

An apparatus comprising:

• a low energy ion beam source configured to generate one or more low energy ion beams and direct the one or more low energy beams to a surface of one or more samples mounted on a sample stage, the low energy ion beam source configured to couple to one or more working gas supplies;
• a radiative heater positioned proximate to the one or more samples disposed on the sample stage, the radiative heater configured to heat the one or more samples;
• and
• a gas inlet coupled to a fluorine gas supply source,
• the apparatus configured to use the one or more low energy ion beams from the low energy ion beam source during at least one of evaporation or sputtering for generation of one or more optical coatings on a surface of the one or more samples.

A method comprising:

• performing one or more pre-deposition processes;
• performing evaporation using an evaporation assembly of an ion-assisted deposition system during ion-assisted deposition using a low energy ion beam source of the ion-assisted deposition system, the evaporation assembly including an evaporating target and an evaporator configured to directly evaporate target material from the evaporating target onto a surface of the one or more samples, the low energy ion beam source configured to generate one or more low energy ion beams during evaporation to generate one or more optical coatings on a surface of the one or more samples;
• and
• performing one or more post-deposition treatment processes.

A method comprising:

• performing one or more pre-deposition processes;
• performing sputtering using a sputtering assembly of an ion-assisted deposition system during ion-assisted deposition using a low energy ion beam source of the ion-assisted deposition system, the sputtering assembly including a sputtering target and a sputtering high energy ion source configured to sputter target material from the sputtering target onto a surface of the one or more samples, the low energy ion beam source configured to generate one or more low energy ion beams during sputtering to generate one or more optical coatings on a surface of the one or more samples;
• and
• performing one or more post-deposition treatment processes.

A method comprising:

• performing one or more pre-deposition processes;
• performing sputtering using a sputtering assembly of an ion-assisted deposition system, the sputtering assembly including a sputtering target and a sputtering high energy ion source configured to sputter a first layer of target material from the sputtering target onto a surface of the one or more samples;
• performing evaporation using an evaporation assembly of the ion-assisted deposition system, the evaporation assembly including an evaporating target and an evaporator configured to directly evaporate a second layer of target material from the evaporating target onto a surface of the one or more samples;
• and
• performing one or more post-deposition treatment processes.