Design and performance of two-channel EUV multilayer mirrors with enhanced spectral selectivity

In this paper, we present a study on two-channel multilayer mirrors which can operate at two wavelengths in Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) spectral range. We propose a new method to design two-channel EUV multilayer mirrors with enhanced spectral selectivity. The mirror structure is a stack of two periodic multilayers separated by a buffer layer. We have defined the main parameters which allow adjustment of the distance between different order Bragg’s peak and of wavelength positions of reflectivity minima. Two mirrors have been designed and deposited for solar EUV telescope applications by using this method. The first mirror reflects Fe IX–X line (17.1 nm) and Fe XVI (33.5 nm) lines with attenuation of the He II line (30.4 nm). The second mirror reflects Fe IX–X and He II lines with attenuation of Fe XV (28.4 nm) and Fe XVI lines. Measurements with synchrotron radiation source confirm that, in both cases, for these mirrors, we are able to adjust reflectivity maxima (Bragg peak position) and minima. Such multilayers offer new possibilities for compact design of multi-wavelength EUV telescopes and/or for high spectral selectivity.     

Spin-cast planarization of liquid-crystal-on-silicon microdisplays

A simplified method for planarizing liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) backplanes is presented. The method relies on the planarizing capability of spin-cast benzocyclobutene (BCB) polymeric resin. BCB planarization shows a sixfold reduction in step height on the surface of a typical LCOS backplane. Contact with the underlying pixel circuitry is made by dry etching through openings in the BCB layer. Reflective metal (87% reflectivity) is deposited over the planarized surface and patterned to form high-aperture-ratio pixel mirrors (84%). An average resistance of 0.75 Omega per via was achieved with 3.6-microm-diameter vias in 2-microm-thick BCB. The method and the results of this LCOS backplane planarization and postprocessing are described.     

Abnormal reflecting mirror structures for intra-cavity Čerenkov second-harmonic generation

Abnormal reflecting mirror (ARM) structures, consisting of a corrugated optical waveguiding structure, can serve as a wavelength-selective end mirror in a laser cavity. The ARM structure shows, for each wavelength in a certain region, 100% reflection at a certain angle of incidence. In the vicinity of this angle the waveguide is resonantly excited, leading to strong enhancement of the optical field in the layer structure, which is interesting for efficient second-harmonic generation (SHG). In this paper, experimental results of a first prototype, exhibiting Čerenkov SHG, are reported. Received: 16 May 2001 / Revised version: 28 August 2001 / Published online: 30 October 2001     

Experiments on the reflection of cold atoms from magnetic thin films

We report the results from a series of experiments in which ferromagnetic thin films were used as atom mirrors for laser-cooled rubidium atoms released from a magneto-optical trap. The thin films were made of cobalt and lanthanum calcium manganite (LCMO) with thicknesses between 20 and 300 nm. The magnetic domains in these thin films have a periodic structure where the spatial period is of the order of the thickness of the film, and the field decays exponentially above the film over a length scale comparable to the domain size. Thus, the neutral atoms reflect off these films from distances comparable to the thickness of the film, resulting in modification of the reflectivity due to the competition between the repulsive magnetic force and the attractive short-range forces such as van der Waals and Casimir forces. The smoothness of the atom mirror is also modified due to the proximity of the magnetic domains. The reflectivity is sensitive to the domain structure and size, which can be modified in LCMO by applying a modest external magnetic field. In this paper, we discuss the evaluation of the thin films as magnetic mirrors for atom optics, and the measurement of the van der Waals force with an accuracy of about 15%, using cobalt thin films. We also discuss some preliminary results on the temperature-dependent reflectivity for atoms near the ferromagnetic transition at 250 K in the LCMO film, and on the domain dynamics and relaxation.     

Resonant cavity-enhanced quantum dot field-effect transistor as a single-photon detector

A resonant cavity-enhanced （RCE） quantum dot （QD） field-effect transistor （RCEQDFET） is designed for single- photon detection in this paper. Adding distributed Bragg reflection （DBR） mirrors to the single-photon detector （SPD）, we improve the light absorption efficiency of the SPD. The effects of the reflectivity of the mirrors, the thickness and light absorption coefficient of the absorbing layer on the detector＇s light absorption efficiency are investigated, and the resonant cavity is determined by using the air/semiconductor interface as the mirror on the top. Through analyzing the relationship between the refractive index of AlxGal_xAs and A1 component, we choose A1As/Alo.15Gao.85As as the material of the mirror on the bottom. The pairs of A1As/Alo.15Gao.85As film are further determined to be 21 by calculating the reflectivity of the mirror. The detector is fabricated from semiconductor heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The reflection spectrum, photoluminescence （PL） spectrum, photocurrent response, and channel current of the detector are tested and the results show that the RCEQDFET-SPD designed in this paper has better performances in photonic response and wavelength selection.     

Flexible all-plastic mirrors for the THz range

We present a simple and cheap approach to fabricate large-area stop-band filters and mirrors for the THz range. This approach extends the well-known concept of dielectric mirrors to the far infrared. We use alternating layers of different polymer materials with a typical thickness of several tens of micrometers to build a flexible all-plastic mirror. The structures are characterized by THz time-domain spectroscopy. The experimental results are in good agreement with transfer-matrix simulations. Received: 28 September 2001 / Accepted: 4 October 2001 / Published online: 20 December 2001     

用光腔衰荡技术测量镜片的反射率

 根据光腔衰荡光谱技术原理,建立了测量镜片反射率的实验装置。利用该装置测定了一对反射率相等的高反射腔镜,反射率测试结果为（99.925±0.001）%;以22.5°将直腔变为折叠腔,测得的反射率为（99.992±0.003）％。重复测定反射镜样品的反射率,精度达到10^－5。该测量装置可用于超低损耗薄膜高反射镜反射率的精确测量。轻微移动探测器位置,对腔镜的测试结果影响不大。     

Experimental Investigation of High Power Erbium-Ytterbium Co-doped Double Clad Fibre Laser

All-fibre high power erbium-ytterbium co-doped double clad fibre lasers are proposed and demonstrated. By using different back-cavity mirrors, the different double clad fibre lasers are constructed. It is experimentally found that the output behaviour of laser can be controlled by a back-cavity mirror. The lower the reflectivity of the back-cavity mirror, the higher the output power and the high the slop efficiency. The maximum output power is about 1.6 W and the slop efficiency is 27.6%.     

Design and Fabrication of Chirped Mirror

Chirped mirrors （CMs） are designed and manufactured. The optimized CM provides a group delay dispersion （ODD） of around -60fs^2 and average reflectivity of 99.4% with bandwidth 200 nm at a central wavelength of 800nm. The CM structure consists of 52 layers of alternating high refractive index Ta2O5 and low refractive index SiO2. Measurement results show that the control of CM manufacturing accuracy can meet our requirement through time control with ion beam sputtering. Because the ODD of CMs is highly sensitive to small discrepancies between the layer thickness of calculated design and those of the manufactured mirror, we analyze the error sources which result in thickness errors and refractive index inhomogeneities in film manufacture.     

两种常用碳化硅反射镜基底表面改性的研究

利用霍尔离子源辅助电子束蒸发方法,分别在反应烧结碳化硅(RB-SiC)和常压烧结碳化硅(Sintered SiC,S-SiC)基底材料上制备了Si改性膜层,并进行了相关性能测试和分析。经过表面改性,两种基底的表面粗糙度(rms)大幅地降低,镀银后的反射率有较大地提高,基底表面光学质量已满足工程应用要求。在相同工艺条件下,S-SiC基底改性后效果好于RB-SiC基底的情况,主要是因为Si膜在两种基底表面生长情况不同所致。     

温度变化对金属Ag膜反射镜偏振特性的影响研究

空间遥感应用中的光学有效载荷对系统偏振控制提出了越来越高的要求,作为常用的宽光谱反射镜,金属银(Ag)膜反射镜的偏振特性随着环境温度的改变而变化。本文设计并制备了低偏振灵敏度的Ag膜反射镜,研究了反射镜在45°和60°入射角下,从室温25℃升温到150℃时的偏振特性变化和反射光谱变化情况。随着温度的升高,Ag膜的折射率在350~1 200 nm波长范围内有所增加;Ag膜反射镜的反射光中s和p光的相位差Δ在350~600 nm波长范围内减小,在600~650 nm波长范围内基本稳定,在650~1 200 nm波长范围内增大。温度上升到125℃时,Ag膜和反射镜表面形貌发生改变,增加了表面散射和吸收,导致350~900 nm波段反射率降低,在波长350 nm附近的降低约25%。     

Fabrication of nested elliptical KB mirrors using profile coating for synchrotron radiation X-ray focusing

This paper describes fabrication methods used to demonstrate the advantages of nested or Montel optics for micro/nanofocusing of synchrotron X-ray beams. A standard Kirkpatrick-Baez (KB) mirror system uses two separated elliptical mirrors at glancing angles to the X-ray beam and sequentially arranged at 90° to each other to focus X-rays successively in the vertical and horizontal directions. A nested KB mirror system has the two mirrors positioned perpendicular and side-by-side to each other. Compared to a standard KB mirror system, Montel optics can focus a larger divergence and the mirrors can have a shorter focal length. As a result, nested mirrors can be fabricated with improved demagnification factor and ultimately smaller focal spot, than with a standard KB arrangement. The nested system is also more compact with an increased working distance, and is more stable, with reduced complexity of mirror stages. However, although Montel optics is commercially available for laboratory X-ray sources, due to technical difficulties they have not been used to microfocus synchrotron radiation X-rays, where ultra-precise mirror surfaces are essential. The main challenge in adapting nested optics for synchrotron microfocusing is to fabricate mirrors with a precise elliptical surface profile at the very edge where the two mirrors meet and where X-rays scatter. For example, in our application to achieve a sub-micron focus with high efficiency, a surface figure root-mean-square (rms) error on the order of 1 nm is required in the useable area along the X-ray footprint with a ∼0.1 mm-diameter cross section. In this paper we describe promising ways to fabricate precise nested KB mirrors using our profile coating technique and inexpensive flat Si substrates.     

Simultaneous Double-Color Continuous Wave Raman Fiber Laser at 1239 nm and 1484 nm Using Phosphosilicate Fiber

Simultaneous double-color high-power continuous wave (CW) Raman fiber laser at 1239 nm and 1484 nm is demonstrated which uses CW 8.4 W Yb-doped double-clad fiber laser at 1064 nm as a pump, 1 km phosphosilicate fiber, and cascaded cavities consisting of two pairs of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) mirrors. Maximum output powers are 0.65 W at 1239 nm and 0.97 W at 1484 nm with a 50%/50% output mirror reflectivity pair, and 0.37 W at 1239 nm and 1.06 W at 1484 nm with a 75.5%/50% pair. The output characteristics of this laser for different FBG mirror reflectivities are reported.     

Double Gires-Tournois interferometer negative-dispersion mirrors for use in tunable mode-locked lasers

We report the implementation and operation of novel superhigh-reflectivity negative-dispersion dielectric mirrors for use in tunable ultrafast laser systems. The mirror structure is divided into two distinct regions: an underlying superhigh-reflectivity dielectric quarter-wavelength stack and an overlying negative-dispersion section consisting of only a few layers and forming simple multiple Gires-Tournois interferometers. The example that we present was designed for operation from 800 to 900 nm and has a near-constant group-delay dispersion of -40 fs(2) and a peak reflectivity greater than 99.99%. We show a comparison of the predicted and the measured mirror performance and application of these mirrors in a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser tunable from 805 to 915 nm.     

Single-frequency Ti:Er:LiNbO3 distributed Bragg reflector waveguide laser with thermally fixed photorefractive cavity

The first single-frequency Ti:Er:LiNbO₃ distributed Bragg reflector waveguide laser with two thermally fixed photorefractive gratings as resonator mirrors is reported. The optically pumped (λ_p=1480 nm,120-mW incident power) laser emits up to 1.1 mW at λ_s=1561.1 nm. The threshold pump power is 70 mW. Received: 7 June 2001 / Published online: 30 October 2001     

A planar waveguide concave grating employing dielectric mirrors

Dielectric mirrors, which yield high-reflectances on grating facets, are proposed for the design of a planar waveguide concave grating. The transfer-matrix method is used to derive an expression for the reflectance of a series of air slots and high-index stacks. The FullWAVE software, a finite difference time-domain EM solver from R-Soft, is used to evaluate the loss of the resulting 2D waveguide grating. The simulation results show that the polarization-dependent loss (PDL) is below 0.25 dB when the proposed dielectric mirror is used. The influence of the width variation of the dielectric stack is also taken into account.     

光腔衰荡法测量高反射率的实验研究

基于光腔衰荡光谱技术，建立了以共焦腔为衰荡腔的单波长反射率测量装置，该装置可用于精密测量全固体激光器高反射率腔镜的反射率，检测得到了高反腔镜在946nm的反射率。实验测得平凹镜和平面镜衰荡时间的平均值分别为1．624μs和821ns，平凹镜的反射率为99．794％，相对误差精确到10^-5；平面反射镜的反射率为99．800％，相对误差精确到10^-4。结果表明，光腔衰荡法可用于高反射率腔镜反射率的测量，与分光光度计测得的结果相比，具有非常高的测量精度。     

Spectral resolution enhancement without increasing the number of grooves in grating-based spectrometers

A simple scheme of an optical setup to enhance the spectral resolution of diffraction gratings without increasing the number of grooves is presented. A plane-parallel mirror pair, which consists of a 100% reflectivity mirror and a 50% reflectivity mirror, is placed upon a grating. For certain values of the mirror gap and the angle between the grating and the mirrors, the effective size of the grating doubles, as does the resolution. Using a grating of 830 grooves/mm and a narrow-band diode laser that is tunable around 773 nm, we experimentally demonstrated an enhancement of the resolution by a factor of 2.     

A comparative study of AlGaAsSb/AlAsSb distributed Bragg mirrors on InP

AlGaAsSb/AlAsSb Bragg mirrors lattice matched on InP with six pairs of layers were grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The effect of Te doping on the electrical and optical properties of the Bragg mirrors, and the presence of digital alloy gradient layers between the ternary and quaternary layers are analysed. The presence of digital alloy layers at the interfaces reduces the electrical resistance through the perpendicular direction of the Bragg mirror, without significantly affecting the reflectivity.     

Mechanism of phase conjugation via stimulated Brillouin scattering in narrow band gap semiconductors

We develop a theoretical model to study optical phase conjugation via stimulated Brillouin scattering (OPC-SBS) in narrow band gap transversely magnetized semiconductors. Threshold value of pump electric field and reflectivity of the image radiation for the onset of OPC-SBS are estimated. The analysis is applied to both cases viz. centrosymmetric (CS) and non-centrosymmetric (NCS) crystals. Numerical estimates made for n-type InSb crystal at liquid nitrogen temperature duly irradiated by nanosecond pulsed 10.6 μm CO₂ laser shows that high OPC-SBS reflectivity (90%) can be achieved in NCS crystals at moderate pump electric fields if the crystal is used as an optical waveguide with relatively large interaction length (L = 5 mm) which proves its potential in practical applications such as fabrication of phase conjugate mirrors.