The effects of annealing on structure and laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of Ta2O5/SiO2 dielectric mirrors were investigated. Ta2O5/SiO2 multilayer was prepared by ion beam sputtering (IBS), then annealed in air under the temperature from 100 to 400 degreesC. Microstructure of the samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Absorption of the multilayer was measured by surface thermal lensing (STL) technique. The laser-induced damage threshold was assessed using 1064 nm free pulsed laser at a pulse length of 220 mus. It was found that the center wavelength shifted to long wavelength gradually as the annealing temperature increased, and, kept its non-crystalline structure even after annealing. The absorbance of the reflectors decreased after annealing. A remarkable increase of the laser-induced damage threshold was found when the annealing temperature was above 250 degreesC. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.