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Andrew Howe

Publications and source records attributed to Andrew Howe.

Barium Fluoride as a Standard Reference Material for Infrared Refractometry

This work proposes a standard reference material (SRM) for measurements of refractive index in the infrared spectral region (1–12 μm). The purpose of this material is to enable cross-method comparison of refractive index data obtained through minimum deviation, ellipsometry, interferometry, and prism coupling techniques. This will allow vendors and metrology laboratories, regardless of which technique they employ, to certify that their measurements meet required levels of accuracy, precision, and repeatability. Drawing on foundational work by Tilton at the National Bureau of Standards, a figure of merit for candidate SRM materials is outlined, and three materials are selected for further evaluation. Ultimately, barium fluoride is proposed as the most suitable SRM for the infrared spectral region, based on its broad transmission range, chemical and mechanical stability, low temperature dependence of refractive index, and well-characterized dispersion behavior.

Andrew Howe↗

Influence of evaporation rate and chamber pressure on the FUV reflectance and physical characteristics of aluminum films

Space telescopes for studying astrophysical phenomena from the far ultraviolet (FUV) to the near infrared (NIR) require durable mirror coatings with high and uniform reflectance over a very broad spectral region. While coatings for the optical and NIR region are well developed with proven performance, the FUV band presents significant challenges, particularly below 115 nm. Recent developments in physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating processes of aluminum mirrors that are protected with a metal-fluoride overcoat to prevent oxidation (such as LiF, MgF2, or AlF3) have improved reflectance in the FUV. While the emphasis in these studies has been placed on improving the deposition conditions of the metal-fluoride overcoats, less attention has been devoted to how deposition parameters (such as vacuum conditions or deposition rates) may affect the quality of the aluminum mirrors. This paper presents characterization of Al+MgF2 coupons made by flash evaporation of aluminum followed by resistive evaporation of MgF2. Samples were manufactured under a variety of processing conditions and the relationship between processing variables and mirror FUV reflectivity is analyzed. Performance characterization was based on the measured near-normal reflectance in the FUV (90-180 nm), and normal-incidence transmittance in the visible was done to analyze the possible presence of pinholes in the mirror. We demonstrated pinhole-free Al/MgF2 mirrors deposited at room temperature with a reflectivity of 0.91 at 122 nm wavelength. This reflectivity enhancement was achieved solely through parameter optimization.

Manuel A. Quijada↗

Influence of Evaporation Rate and Chamber Pressure on the FUV Reflectance and Physical Characteristics of Aluminum Films

Space telescopes for studying astrophysical phenomena from the far ultraviolet (FUV) to the near infrared (NIR) require durable mirror coatings with high and uniform reflectance over a very broad spectral region. While coatings for the optical and NIR region are well developed with proven performance, the FUV band presents significant challenges, particularly below 115 nm. Recent developments in physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating processes of aluminum mirrors that are protected with a metal-fluoride overcoat to prevent oxidation (such as LiF, MgF2, or AlF3) have improved reflectance in the FUV. While the emphasis in these studies has been placed on improving the deposition conditions of the metal-fluoride overcoats, less attention has been devoted to how deposition parameters (such as vacuum conditions or deposition rates) may affect the quality of the aluminum mirrors. This paper presents characterization of Al+MgF2 coupons made by flash evaporation of aluminum followed by resistive evaporation of MgF2. Samples were manufactured under a variety of processing conditions and the relationship between processing variables and mirror FUV reflectivity is analyzed. Performance characterization was based on the measured near-normal reflectance in the FUV (90-180 nm), and normal-incidence transmittance in the visible was done to analyze the possible presence of pinholes in the mirror. We demonstrated pinhole-free Al/MgF2 mirrors deposited at room temperature with a reflectivity of 0.91 at 122 nm wavelength. This reflectivity enhancement was achieved solely through parameter optimization.

FUV reflectance, aluminum, PVD, deposition rate, A↗

Exposure of Highly Reflective Far-Ultraviolet Coatings to LEO Environment for TRL Advancement for the Habitable Worlds Observatory

Over the past several years, our team at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), in collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), have developed several new protected Al coating technologies with improved Far-Ultraviolet (FUV) reflectance performance and more robust environmental stability. These include Al protected with lithium-based fluoride (LiF) coatings such as hot deposited LiF (eLiF), XeF 2 -passivated LiF coatings (XeLiF), Li 3 AlF 6 overcoats, AlF 3 (plasma passivated), and XeF 2 passivated MgF 2 coatings (XeMgF 2 ). However, despite these developments, relatively little experimental information exists regarding the long-term stability of these coatings after simultaneous exposure to the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment. To evaluate their environmental durability and advance their Technology Readiness Level (TRL), representative samples of these coating technologies, Al+XeLiF, Al+eLiF, Al+Li 3 AlF 6 , Al+AlF 3 , Al+XeMgF 2 , and bare Al as reference samples, were flown onboard the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment 20 (MISSE-20). The MISSE platform is operated by Aegis Aerospace for relatively long-duration (e.g. 6 months) external exposure experiments in a space environment. The coatings were deposited on ULE and Zerodur substrates, and witness samples deposited on the same coatings runs, but on glass slides were left on Earth as control. A subset of the flight samples were fitted with MgF 2 windows to reduce direct exposure to atomic oxygen (AO) and charged particles, and still let through UV and other types of radiation on these samples. After approximately 6 months of exposure in the forward-facing (RAM) direction, the samples were returned to Earth and characterized by performing FUV/NUV/VIS/NIR reflectance measurements to quantify degradation, spectroscopic ellipsometry to evaluate coating thickness and optical constants, atomic force microscopy (AFM) to quantify surface roughness evolution during the flight in the ISS. The MgF 2 protective windows were also analyzed through FUV transmission measurements. Comparison with the witness samples left on the ground and with the flown bare Al samples (with just the naturally occurring Al 2 O 3 layer) provided a quantitative assessment of coating thickness variations, optical performance degradation, and morphological changes induced by prolonged exposure to the LEO environment.

Far Ultraviolet (FUV)↗