Abstract:
An environmentally stable Silver containing mirror or thin-film optical filter having very high reflection values over a large spectral and angular range, and a method for constructing the mirror, or thin-film optical filter, comprising using a substrate that has been exposed to an Argon rich ion stream to prepare the surface. A medium index material is then deposed on the surface with Argon ion bombardment. The Silver is then deposited until it is opaque. A second deposition of the medium index material is next done with the Argon ion bombardment. The coating is then followed with a standard ion assisted deposed optical film to maximize reflection at the desired wavelength and angle of incidence.