title: Hybrid sol-gel planar optics for astronomy.
abstract: Hybrid sol-gel planar optics devices for astronomy are produced for the first time. This material system can operate from the visible (0.5 microm) up to the edge of astronomical J-band (1.4 microm). The design, fabrication and characterization results of a coaxial three beam combiner are given as an example. Fringe contrasts above 94% are obtained with a source with spectral bandwidth of 50 nm. These results demonstrate that hybrid sol-gel technology can produce devices with high quality, opening the possibility of rapid prototyping of new designs and concepts for astronomical applications.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghasempour
authors.forename: A M P
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Reynaud
authors.forename: P V S
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: P J V
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alexandre
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Moreira