Investigation of non-quarter wave design on multilayer optical thin film coatings from a heat transfer point of view

In this study multilayer thin film optical coatings, which are indispensable parts of optical systems are investigated from a heat transfer point of view. Laser irradiation induced temperature distribution on a multilayer coating stack is obtained by discretizing the heat diffusion equation using the finite volume method. In order to obtain mathematical representation of the energy flow and Electric Field Intensity (EFI) through the stack, Maxwell equations are solved by using the commercial software MacLeod®. Laser energy, which is absorbed by the multilayer stack in terms of heat, is calculated as a function of space and time by using the computed EFI, coating materials' optical properties and Gaussian laser beam parameters. Computed heat load is used in the finite volume solver ANSYS FLUENT® through a user defined function. Temperature distribution on a 19 layer HR multilayer coating stack irradiated by 1064 nm laser beam are obtained for both quarter wave and non-quarter wave designed configurations. Results of numerical simulations show that maximum temperature rise is seen in the first high index layer for quarter wave design (QWD). In addition to that, high temperatures are also seen in film/film interfaces, which is associated to both EFI distribution on the stack and wide differences in material properties between high and low index film layers. Non-quarter wave design (NQWD) is seen to be successful in decreasing temperatures at high index layers and at film/film interfaces. But it also changes the EFI distribution inside the multilayer stack, increasing absorbed laser energy and resulting in higher temperatures at modified low index layers.