Antireflection coatings for deep ultraviolet optics deposited by magnetron sputtering from Al targets

We introduce an innovative technique for the deposition of fluorine doped oxide (F:Al(2)O(3)) films by DC pulse magnetron sputtering from aluminum targets at room temperature. There was almost no change in transmittance even after the film was exposed to air for two weeks. Its refractive index was around 1.69 and the extinction coefficient was smaller than 1.9 × 10(-4) at 193 nm. An AlF(3)/F:Al(2)O(3) antireflection coating was deposited on both sides of a quartz substrate. A high transmittance of 99.32% was attained at the 193 nm wavelength. The cross-sectional morphology showed that the surface of the multilayer films was smooth and there were no columnar or porous structures.