Thermally Robust Ion Beam Sputtered Coatings for Deep Concave Surfaces

Abstract : Precision Photonics Corporation has developed a method of applying Ion Beam Sputtered (IBS) MWIR anti-reflective coatings to the interior of a tangent ogive dome. Although IBS has traditionally not been used in this application, it is known that IBS provides the highest density coatings using very hard, durable materials. We achieved a variable coating thickness profile by means of shadow masking coupled with a sophisticated 3 dimensional mathematical model, which optimizes the antireflection performance over a wide range of look angles for an infrared seeker inside the dome. The coating design for this project survives temperatures up to 1000 degrees C.