LASER-DAMAGE-RESISTANT TRANSPARENT CONDUCTIVE INDIUM TIN OXIDE COATINGS

Transparent conductive coatings of In1.9Sn0.1O 3 have been made on fused silica which exhibit damage thresholds of 2.2 and 3.1 J/cm2 for 0.15- and 1-nsec Nd: glass laser pulses, respectively. The coatings were made by reactive sputtering in an rf diode system. Coating absorption detected spectrophotometrically was less than 1% (∼300 cm-1) near 1064 nm for coatings with in-plane resistivities of 0.017 and 0.55 Ω cm. An important potential application for such coatings is as the electrode for electro-optic shutters based on the longitudinal Pockels effect which are used in high-energy laser systems.