Fabrication of two- and three-dimensional periodic submicron structures by holographic lithography with a 635~nm laserand matched photopolymer

2D and 3D submicron periodic structures are first fabricated by red-induced photopolymerization using a common 635 nm semiconductor laser and specially developed red-sensitive polymer material. The principle of this new photo-polymer material fabrication is explained and the absorption spectra of the material are measured. This fabrication technique allows a deeper penetration into volume and larger interference irradiation area which is more than 1 cm². The optical design, theoretical calculations and experimental results including diffraction patterns verifying the formation of periodic structures are presented. Compared with other fabrication technologies using high-power lasers, this approach has greatly reduced the demand for laser apparatus. Therefore, it is much more accessible to most laboratories and potentially usable in holographic fabrication of photonic crystals and devices in micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).     

Arbitrary-lattice photonic crystals created by multiphoton microfabrication

We used voxels of an intensely modified refractive index generated by multiphoton absorption at the focus of femtosecond laser pulses in Ge-doped silica as photonic atoms to build photonic lattices. The voxels were spatially organized in the same way as atoms arrayed in actual crystals, and a Bragg-like diffraction from the photonic atoms was evidenced by a photonic bandgap (PBG) effect. Postfabrication annealing was found to be essential for reducing random scattering and therefore enhancing PBG. This technique has an intrinsic capability of individually addressing single atoms. Therefore the introduction of defect structures was much facilitated, making the technique quite appealing for photonic research and applications.     

Femtosecond laser-induced two-photon polymerization of inorganic-organic hybrid materials for applications in photonics

Investigations of two-photon polymerization of inorganic-organic hybrid materials initiated by femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser pulses are performed. First applications of this technique for the fabrication of three-dimensional microstructures and photonic crystals in inorganic-organic hybrid polymers with a structure size down to 200 nm and a periodicity of 450 nm are discussed.     

Fabrication of three-dimensional photonic crystal structures containing an active nonlinear optical chromophore

Direct laser writing by two-photon polymerization of photosensitive materials has emerged as a very promising technique for rapid and flexible fabrication of photonic crystals. In this work, a photosensitive silica sol-gel containing the nonlinear optical chromophore Disperse Red 1 is synthesized, and the two-photon polymerization technique is employed to fabricate three-dimensional photonic crystals with stop-gaps in the near-infrared. The composite material exhibits minimal shrinkage during photopolymerization, eliminating the need for shrinkage compensation or the fabrication of support structures.     

Direct fabrication of freely movable microplate inside photosensitive glass by femtosecond laser for lab-on-chip application

We demonstrate the fabrication of complicated three-dimensional (3D) microstructures embedded in a photosensitive glass by a high-order multiphoton process using a femtosecond (fs) laser. Direct writing of the fs laser followed by a post baking process and preferential etching in a dilute hydrofluoric (HF) acid solution results in a microplate that can freely move in hollow structures embedded in the glass. The fabricated structure functions as a microvalve that can control the flow direction of fluids in the microreactor. PACS 42.62.-b; 81.05.Kf; 82.50.Pt     

Parallel direct laser writing of micro-optical and photonic structures using spatial light modulator

Two-photon polymerization (2PP) is a powerful tool for direct laser writing of micro-optical and photonic structures due to its flexibility in 3D structuring and sub-micrometer resolution. However, it can be time consuming to fabricate arrays of micro-optical devices and complex photonic structures. In this study, we propose to use predefined patterns (PPs) for parallel 2PP processing. A PP contains a multiple focal spot pattern optimized for the fabrication of certain microstructures. PP can be created by holographic laser beam modulation with a spatial light modulator (SLM). The quantity and position of the multiple foci can be flexibly and precisely controlled by predesigned computer generated holograms (CGHs). With these specially designed PPs, parallel fabrication of arbitrary distributed microlens arrays and 3D photonic structures is demonstrated. This method significantly improves throughput and flexibility of the 2PP technique and can be used for mass production of functional devices in micro-optics and photonics.     

飞秒脉冲在透明材料中的三维光存储及其机理

使用经钛宝石啁啾脉冲放大的脉冲宽度为200fs、波长为800nm、重复频率为1kHz的超短脉冲激光束,紧聚焦到熔融石英中实现了三维逐位式光数据存储,记录下20层三维数据位点,利用CCD和数码相机对数据位进行了观察讨论了飞秒超短脉冲与透明介质的相互作用,以及产生等离子体的雪崩电离和多光子吸收电离的机理实验结果表明:在飞秒超短脉冲与透明光学介质的相互作用中起主要作用的是多光子吸收.     

3D microoptical elements formed in a photostructurable germanium silicate by direct laser writing

We present our investigations into the fabrication of three-dimensional microoptical elements by the direct femtosecond laser writing of a germanium–silicon photosensitive hybrid material. Germanium glass composites are very interesting for optical applications as they are photosensitive, and maintain high optical transparency in the visible and near-infrared bands of the spectrum. Here, we have used a germanium containing hybrid material to make nanophotonic structures and microoptical elements such as photonic crystal templates, prisms and spatial polarization plates, both on flat surfaces and fiber tips. Our results show that this germanium silicate composite is an excellent material for microoptics fabrication.     

Three‐dimensional femtosecond laser micromachining of photosensitive glass for biomicrochips

Internal modification of transparent materials such as glass can be carried out using multiphoton absorption induced by a femtosecond (fs) laser. The fs‐laser modification followed by thermal treatment and successive chemical wet etching in a hydrofluoric (HF) acid solution forms three‐dimensional (3D) hollow microstructures embedded in photosensitive glass. This technique is a powerful method for directly fabricating 3D microfluidic structures inside a photosensitive glass microchip. We used fabricated microchips, referred to as a nanoaquarium, for dynamic observations of living microorganisms. In addition, the present technique can also be used to form microoptical components such as micromirrors and microlenses inside the photosensitive glass, since the fabricated structures have optically flat surfaces. The integration of microfluidics and microoptical components in a single glass chip yields biophotonic microchips, in other words, optofluidics, which provide high sensitivity in absorption and fluorescence measurements of small volumes of liquid samples.     

An analysis of As_2S_3 chirped fiber grating formed by two-photon absorption effect

When femtosecond laser pulses interfere with chirped femtosecond laser pulses in As2S3 fiber, a chirped fiber grating is formed. An analytical expression is given to describe the chirped grating, and its Bragg reflectivity is calculated. Because of the high photosensitive effect of As2S3 material, the chirped fiber grating has a wide Bragg reflective spectrum and high reflectivity by choosing proper parameters. This indicates that the chirped fiber grating can be used as a stretcher in the femtosecond chirped pulse amplification (CPA) system.     

Rapid laser prototyping of plasmonic components

Renewed and growing interest in the field of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) comes from a rapid advance of nanostructuring technologies. In this paper, we will report on the application of two-photon polymerization (2PP) technique for the fabrication of dielectric SPP-structures, which can be used for localization, guiding, and manipulation of SPPs on a subwavelength scale. This technology is based on nonlinear absorption of near-infrared femtosecond laser pulses. Resolutions down to 100 nm (and even better) are already achievable. Characterization of these structures is performed by leakage radiation microscopy. 2PP allows the fabrication of dielectric waveguides, splitters, and couplers directly on metal surfaces. The dielectric structures on metal films are demonstrated to be very efficient for the excitation of SPPs. Using these structures, one can achieve excitation and focusing of the resulting plasmon field. PACS 42.70.Gi; 42.70.Jk; 42.82.Cr; 71.36.+c; 78.20.-e     

Fabrication of 3D microoptical lenses in photosensitive glass using femtosecond laser micromachining

We describe the fabrication of microoptical cylindrical and hemispherical lenses vertically embedded in a photosensitive Foturan glass by femtosecond (fs) laser three-dimensional (3D) micromachining. The process is mainly composed of four steps: (1) fs laser scanning in the photosensitive glass to form curved surfaces (spherical and/or cylindrical); (2) postannealing of the sample for modification of the exposed areas; (3) chemical etching of the sample for selective removal of the modified areas; and (4) a second postannealing for smoothening the surfaces of the tiny lenses. We examine the focusing ability of the microoptical lenses using a He-Ne laser beam, showing the great potential of using these microoptical lenses in lab-on-a-chip applications. PACS 42.62.-b; 81.05.Kf; 82.50.Pt     

Fabrication of 3D microfluidic structures inside glass by femtosecond laser micromachining

Femtosecond lasers have opened up new avenues in materials processing due to their unique characteristics of ultrashort pulse widths and extremely high peak intensities. One of the most important features of femtosecond laser processing is that a femtosecond laser beam can induce strong absorption in even transparent materials due to nonlinear multiphoton absorption. This makes it possible to directly create three-dimensional (3D) microfluidic structures in glass that are of great use for fabrication of biochips. For fabrication of the 3D microfluidic structures, two technical approaches are being attempted. One of them employs femtosecond laser-induced internal modification of glass followed by wet chemical etching using an acid solution (Femtosecond laser-assisted wet chemical etching), while the other one performs femtosecond laser 3D ablation of the glass in distilled water (liquid-assisted femtosecond laser drilling). This paper provides a review on these two techniques for fabrication of 3D micro and nanofluidic structures in glass based on our development and experimental results.     

PPLN晶体差频测量飞秒激光脉冲的载波包络相移

在飞秒激光频率梳系统中，通常采用自参考技术测量飞秒激光脉冲的载波包络相移，但该技术需要采用光子晶体光纤进行光谱扩展从而增加了系统的不稳定性，这种技术已经制约了高稳定度的飞秒激光频率梳的发展.采用PPLN晶体差频法测量了宽谱钛宝石振荡器输出的7fs激光脉冲的载波包络频移，得到了大于30dB的拍频信号，为研制无光纤的新一代高稳定度光学频率梳奠定了基础.     

Femtosecond laser-assisted three-dimensional microfabrication in silica

We demonstrate direct three-dimensional (3-D) microfabrication inside a volume of silica glass. The whole fabrication process was carried out in two steps:(i) writing of the preprogrammed 3-D pattern inside silica glass by focused femtosecond (fs) laser pulses and (ii) etching of the written structure in a 5% aqueous solution of HF acid. This technique allows fabrication of 3-D channels as small as 10mum in diameter inside the volume with any angle of interconnection and a high aspect ratio (10mum -diameter channels in a 100mum -thick silica slab).     

Fabrication of quasi-periodic micro-voids in fused silica by single femtosecond laser pulse

We demonstrate that quasi-periodic void structure can be self-formed in transparent materials by single femtosecond laser pulse. Compared to the multiple-pulse induced structures, the single-pulse induced void structures are very short and may contain absent voids. The formation mechanisms have been discussed comparatively in detail. Based on this, a technique for high-speed and large-area fabrication of micro-void arrays in transparent materials has been presented. The experimental results show that 3D micro-void structures which contain over several hundred thousand voids in micrometer scales are produced in areas of square millimeters within a few minutes, and the periods of micro-void structures can be easily varied by processing parameters. This work has potential applications in 3D optical storage, photonic crystal and integrated optics, and provides novel insight into the interaction between the single femtosecond pulse and the transparent materials.     

Infrared photosensitivity in silica glasses exposed to femtosecond laser pulses

We investigate the use of infrared femtosecond laser pulses to induce highly localized refractive-index changes in fused-silica glasses. We characterize the magnitude of the change as a function of exposure and measure index changes as large as 3x10(-3) and 5x10(-3) in pure fused silica and boron-doped silica, respectively. The potential of this technique for writing three-dimensional photonic structures in bulk glasses is demonstrated by the fabrication of a Y coupler within a sample of pure fused silica.     

Giant Three‐Photon Absorption in Monolayer MoS2 and Its Application in Near‐Infrared Photodetection

For decades, there has been extensive research on exploring fundamental physical mechanisms for strong and fast optical nonlinearities. One of the important nonlinear‐optical mechanisms is multiphoton absorption which has a wide range of photonic applications. Herein, a theoretical model is proposed for three‐photon absorption (3PA) in monolayer MoS₂. The model shows that the 3PA coefficients are on the order of 0.1 cm³/GW². As compared to bulk semiconductors, these coefficients are enhanced by several orders of magnitude due to excitonic effects. Such exciton‐enhanced 3PA is validated by light‐intensity‐dependent photocurrent measurements on a monolayer MoS₂ photodetector with femtosecond laser pulses. These results lay both theoretical and experimental foundation for developing sensitive near‐infrared MoS₂‐based three‐photon detectors.     

Computer-generated volume holograms fabricated by femtosecond laser micromachining

We define computer-generated volume holograms (CGVHs) as arbitrary 3D refractive index modulations designed to perform optical functions based on diffraction, scattering, and interference phenomena. CGVHs can differ dramatically from classical volume holograms in terms of coding possibilities, and from thin computer-generated holograms in terms of efficiency and selectivity. We propose an encoding technique for designing such holograms and demonstrate the concept by scanning focused femtosecond laser pulses to produce localized refractive index modifications in glass. These CGVHs show a significant increase in efficiency with thickness. Consequently, they are attractive for photonic integration with free-space and guided-wave devices, as well as for encoding spatial and temporal information.