Durability Tester for Coated Optical Elements

Abstract

The present widespread military use of thin films of various types coated on optical elements has made it necessary to raise the abrasion resistance of these coatings to the maximum possible value. Research on improving abrasion resistance and the measurement of the abrasion resistance of finished films have been handicapped by the lack of a suitable reproducible testing method. It is the purpose of this paper to describe a reproducible and semi-quantitative testing method for measuring the abrasion resistance of thin films coated on optical elements.