Mi Li Ng

Transition from thermal diffusion to heat accumulation in high repetition rate femtosecond laser writing of buried optical waveguides

A variable (0.2 to 5 MHz) repetition rate femtosecond laser was applied to delineate the role of thermal diffusion and heat accumulation effects in forming low-loss optical waveguides in borosilicate glass across a broad range of laser exposure conditions. For the first time, a smooth transition from diffusion-only transport at 200 kHz repetition rate to strong heat accumulation effects at 0.5 to 2 MHz was observed and shown to drive significant variations in waveguide morphology, with rapidly increasing waveguide diameter that accurately followed a simple thermal diffusion model over all exposure variables tested. Amongst these strong thermal trends, a common exposure window of 200 mW average power and approximately 15-mm/s scan speed was discovered across the range of 200 kHz to 2 MHz repetition rates for minimizing insertion loss despite a 10-fold drop in laser pulse energy. Waveguide morphology and thermal modeling indicate that strong thermal diffusion effects at 200 kHz give way to a weak heat accumulation effect at approximately 1 microJ pulse energy for generating low loss waveguides, while stronger heat accumulation effects above 1-MHz repetition rate offered overall superior guiding. A comprehensive characterization of waveguide properties is presented for laser writing in the thermal diffusion and heat accumulation regimes. The waveguides are shown to be thermally stable up to 800 degrees C and can be written in a convenient 520 microm depth range with low spherical aberration.

Low-loss waveguides fabricated in BK7 glass by high repetition rate femtosecond fiber laser

For the first time femtosecond-laser writing has inscribed low-loss optical waveguides in Schott BK7 glass, a commercially important type of borosilicate widely used in optical applications. The use of a variable repetition rate laser enabled the identification of a narrow processing window at 1 MHz repetition rate with optimal waveguides exhibiting propagation losses of 0.3 dB/cm and efficient mode matching to standard optical fibers at a 1550 nm wavelength. The waveguides were characterized by complementary phase contrast and optical transmission microscopy, identifying a micrometer-sized guiding region within a larger complex structure of both positive and negative refractive index variations.

Spectral Loss Characterization of Femtosecond Laser Written Waveguides in Glass With Application to Demultiplexing of 1300 and 1550 nm Wavelengths

Femtosecond laser written waveguides in glass were characterized across the full telecom spectrum to gain insight into waveguide loss mechanisms, and to aid in the design of a low-loss 1300/1550 nm wavelength demultiplexer. A lambda-4 wavelength scaling of propagation loss confirms Rayleigh scattering as a principal loss mechanism. Laser exposure was optimized for generating low-loss directional couplers with high isolation between the 1300 and 1550 nm bands. Dispersive coupling in the straight and curved wavelength regions was balanced with a 1.5-fold difference in 1300 and 1550 nm beat lengths, leading to the first demonstration of 1300/1550 nm demultiplexer written with a laser. A minimum interaction length of 3.2 mm, ~2 dB insertion loss and channel isolations of 16.7 and 18.8 dB are reported.

Multi-level diffractive optics for single laser exposure fabrication of telecom-band diamond-like 3-dimensional photonic crystals

We present a novel multi-level diffractive optical element for diffractive optic near-field lithography based fabrication of large-area diamond-like photonic crystal structure in a single laser exposure step. A multi-level single-surface phase element was laser fabricated on a thin polymer film by two-photon polymerization. A quarter-period phase shift was designed into the phase elements to generate a 3D periodic intensity distribution of double basis diamond-like structure. Finite difference time domain calculation of near-field diffraction patterns and associated isointensity surfaces are corroborated by definitive demonstration of a diamond-like woodpile structure formed inside thick photoresist. A large number of layers provided a strong stopband in the telecom band that matched predictions of numerical band calculation. SEM and spectral observations indicate good structural uniformity over large exposure area that promises 3D photonic crystal devices with high optical quality for a wide range of motif shapes and symmetries. Optical sensing is demonstrated by spectral shifts of the Gamma-Zeta stopband under liquid emersion.

Femtosecond laser writing of phase-tuned volume gratings for symmetry control in 3D photonic crystal holographic lithography

Volume diffractive optical elements promise widespread application in laser beam shaping, imaging and optical data storage by structuring refractive index modulation in the third axial dimension. Femtosecond laser direct writing has been exploited inside fused silica to assemble multiple 1D grating layers on Talbot planes and overcome the inherent weak diffraction efficiency otherwise found in low-contrast volume gratings. Here, we extend laser structuring from linear (1D) to orthogonally crossed (2D) gratings with the aim to write 3D photonic crystal templates in photoresist by 3D interference lithography. The formation of crossed grating structures present challenges in balancing the efficiency of diffraction orders owing to blazing and index overwriting effects requiring compensation by tuning the grating design and laser power exposure. In this way, six-layer grating designs have been fabricated and applied to exposure of thick photoresist, enabling the formation of 3D photonic crystal templates with bicontinuous structure. A systematic offsetting of orthogonal grating layers to establish phase offsets over 0 to π/2 range presents a precise means for controlling the photonic crystal structure symmetry between body centered tetragonal (BCT) and woodpile-like tetragonal (wTTR).

Flexible fabrication of three-dimensional optical-domain photonic crystals using a combination of single-laser-exposure diffractive-optics lithography and template inversion

We demonstrate inversion of three-dimensional photonic crystal templates fabricated in a large area with diffractive-optics lithography. A custom-designed two-dimensional diffractive optical element was used to generate highly uniform, bicontinuous, three-dimensional photonic crystal templates in a single-laser exposure. Chemical vapor deposition successfully infiltrated the thick periodic polymer structure to deposit amorphous silica and thereby define an all-silica inverted photonic crystal after polymer removal, as confirmed by focused ion-beam milling and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The diffractive-optics lithography permitted a large number of uniform layers to form that manifested in the recording of a strong -28 dB stopband in the telecom band.

Coherent stitching of light in multilayered diffractive optical elements

Diffractive optical elements serve an important function in many dynamic and static optical systems. Multilayered diffractive elements offer powerful opportunity to harness both phase and amplitude modulation for benefits in diffraction efficiency and beam shaping. However, multilayered combinations have been difficult to fabricate and provide only weak diffraction for phase gratings with low refractive index contrast. Femtosecond laser writing of finely-pitched multilayer volume gratings was optimized in bulk fused silica. We identify and quantify an optimum layer-to-layer separation according to Talbot self-imaging planes and present systematic experimental validation of this new approach to enhance otherwise weakly diffracting volume gratings.

F2-laser microfabrication of efficient diffractive optical phase elements

The 157nm F2-laser drives strong and precisely controllable interactions with fused silica, the most widely used material for bulk optics, optical fibers, and planar optical circuits. Precise excisions of 10 to 40 nm depth are available that meet the requirements for generating efficient visible and ultraviolet diffractive optical elements (DOE). F2-laser radiation was applied in combination with beam homogenization optics and high-precision computer controlled motion stages to shape 16-level DOE devices on bulk glasses and optical fiber facets. A 128×128 pixel DOE was fabricated and characterized. Each level had distinguishable spacing of ~140 nm and surface roughness of ~38 nm. The far-field pattern when illuminated with a HeNe laser agreed well with the simulation results by an Iterative Fourier Transform Algorithm (ITFA). Improvements to increase the 1st order diffraction efficiency of 22% are offered.

Fabrication of diffractive phase elements by F2-laser ablation of fused silica

F2-laser ablation at 157 nm was used for generating sub-micron surface relief structures on fused silica to define binary diffractive phase elements (DPE). A pattern array of 128 x 128 pixels was excised using the F2 laser in combination with a high resolution processing system comprising of CaF2 beam-homogenization optics and a high-resolution Schwarzschild reflective objective. A square projection mask provided precise excisions in less than 10 x 10 μm2 spots, having sub-μm depths that were controlled by the laser fluence and the number of laser pulses to provide for the required phase delay between ablated and non-ablated pixels. Thus a diffractive phase element (DPE) optimized for first order in the UV spectral range was made. A four-level DPE design computed by the Iterative Fourier Transform Algorithm (IFTA) will be described for generating an arbitrary irradiation pattern without the point symmetry of a two level design.

High refractive index contrast in fused silica waveguides by tightly focused, high-repetition rate femtosecond laser

A new domain of optical waveguide writing with record refractive index contrast (0.022) and small mode diameter is reported in fused silica by strong focusing of a 500-kHz repetition rate femtosecond laser with oil-immersion optics.