Closely guarded process secrets are enabling optical coatings to serve higher laser powers and new operational regimes, finds Andy Extance

The development of optical coatings for use beyond Earth is driving innovation, Andrew Williams finds

Some consider optical components to be mere carriers for the vanishingly-thin elements that do the actual work - the coatings. Russ Swan reviews the recent developments for improving the laser induced damage thresholds of optical coatings

In-situ metrology offers, for the first time, a closed-loop optical coating process, which is improving precision and automation in coating machines. Greg Blackman reports

In order to obtain the properties required from complex optical coatings, companies running ion beam sputtering machines have had to improve the control of the deposition process. Greg Blackman looks at the technology involved

Greg Blackman takes a look at how optical coatings are used to enhance the properties of the optics to which they are applied