A system for mitigating damage to optical elements caused by vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light exposure is disclosed. The system includes a light source configured to generate VUV and a chamber containing one or more gaseous fluorine-based compounds of a selected partial pressure. The system includes one or more optical elements. The one or more optical elements are located within the chamber and are exposed to the one or more gaseous fluorine-based compounds. The VUV light generated by the light source is of sufficient energy to dissociate the fluorine-based compound within the chamber into a primary product.