Self-processing solgel material for one-step fabrication of micrometer-period sinusoidal phase gratings using the Lloyd's mirror scheme.
A novel self-processing silica-zirconia hybrid solgel material has been developed and employed in one-step fabrication of micrometer-period sinusoidal phase gratings. In the process, the gratings with a sinusoidal profile were corrugated on the surface of the solgel film by UV exposure using the Lloyd's mirror setup. No further development or etching step is needed to reveal the sinusoidal profile because the corrugation is formed due to the self-processing property of the solgel material, which is robust enough to be used as an end product. The period, amplitude, diffraction efficiency of the +/-1 order, and surface roughness of one of the fabricated gratings are 0.99 microm, 330 nm, 30.56%, and 1.27 nm, respectively. The new self-processing material is practical and promising for fabrication of micro-optical elements.
He
Miao
M
School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Bu
Jing
J
Yuan
Xiaocong
X
Niu
Hanben
H
Peng
Xiang
X