The characteristics of lanthanum fluoride (LaF_(3)) thin films deposited with a resistive heating (RH) boat and by e-beam gun evaporation at different substrate temperatures have been studied. The characteristics of the deposited films, including optical properties, stress, and laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT), were related to the microstructure as well as the stoichiometry of the film. The films exhibit obvious different characteristics between these two processes at various substrate temperatures. It was found that optical properties, stress, and LIDT were affected by the microstructure and composition of the films. To obtain a high value of the LIDT and good optical properties, LaF_(3) thin films should be deposited by the RH process at a substrate temperature of 300 deg C.
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