Production of polymer diffractive optical elements by contact printing

Richard J. Winfield; Martin Meister; Shane O'Brien; Brendan McCarthy

doi:10.1117/12.463714

27 August 2003 Production of polymer diffractive optics by contact printing

Richard J. Winfield, Martin Meister, Shane O'Brien, Brendan McCarthy

Proceedings Volume 4876, Opto-Ireland 2002: Optics and Photonics Technologies and Applications; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.463714
Event: OPTO Ireland, 2002, Galway, Ireland

Abstract

We present the fabrication of phase only diffractive optical elements (DOEs) by contact prints using a novel technique. Phase only DOEs consist of a transparent slide with a surface profile that modulates the phase of an incident laser beam in the desired manner. This surface profile can be exploited to split or to shape the laser beam. In our process a Perspex sheet (PMMA) is exposed through a chrome-on-quartz mask that carries the DOE pattern. The UV light used in the exposure is generated by an ArF excimer laser (l=193nm). The high energy radiation causes photomodification and the phase pattern of the DOE is transferred to the PMMA. While the primary investigations concentrate on binary DOEs, which require one exposure only, we have also attempted to produce multilevel designs which need mask alignment and tighter control of the exposure. At the moment, we study the capability of the method to produce relatively large structures but it might also be possible to use it to manufacture finer structures.

Citation Download Citation

Richard J. Winfield, Martin Meister, Shane O'Brien, and Brendan McCarthy "Production of polymer diffractive optics by contact printing", Proc. SPIE 4876, Opto-Ireland 2002: Optics and Photonics Technologies and Applications, (27 August 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.463714

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