Different coating materials can be used, and there are different coating techniques that result in differences in the hardness of the dielectric coatings. In addition, there is a certain degree of freedom in the coating design used. These factors can be optimised to ultimately produce laser optics with the highest possible damage thresholds.
After production, the actual damage threshold values are measured and compared with the theoretical values to ensure the design is optimised.
Measurement of the damage threshold of different designs on the same substrates, and comparison with layer design theory, guarantees continuous improvements in coatings.