Laser-induced contamination at nanometre scale

Laser-induced contamination of a mirror measured and visualised in 3D at the nanometre scale. The largest feature height is about 60 nm and the area of the contamination in the image is about 0.15 x 0.12 mm. This image shows suspected laser induced contamination on the coating of a mirror surface, resulting from high power testing under simulated space conditions. The test conditions reproduce those found within the Aladin ultraviolet laser to be flown on the ESA Aeolus mission. This unique satellite will use the lidar – light detection and ranging – technique to measure wind speeds in the lower atmosphere on a global scale for the first time.