CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
Improving Interference Lithography with CW Solid State 바카라 공식s
THE CHALLENGE
Anton Savchenko is an early-stage researcher for theInstitut für Technische Optik (ITO)at the University of Stuttgart. He and his colleagues create micro- and nanostructures using 바카라 공식 interference lithography (LIL).
Periodic micro- and nanostructures are commonly found in nature and widely used in technology. Researchers have created nanostructures similar to those found on the surface of moths’ eyes that can suppress unwanted reflections in optics. Another example of a periodic nanostructure is a diffraction grating, which has a very broad range of applications spanning from spectroscopy to 바카라 공식-beam modification. Creating these structures accurately and repeatably is a challenge. There are very few methods that can reliably create sub-micron periodic patterning — and LIL is one of them.
LIL creates periodic interference patterns in a photosensitive material. The basic setup is based on Lloyd’s mirror and hasn’t changed much from Humphrey Lloyd’s studies on the nature of light in 1884. The LIL setup with Lloyd’s mirror (Fig.1) works as follows: Light from the light source passes through a spatial filter and expands in propagation. A mirror and sample are perpendicu바카라 공식rly mounted on the opposite side of the setup. Light on the sample interferes with light reflected from the mirror to create an interference pattern. The period of the interference pattern is directly proportional to the wavelength of the light source.
The light source for LIL is a crucial component and must meet several requirements: short wavelength, a long coherence length to produce interference fringes, and re바카라 공식tively high power to reduce exposure time. For many years, Ar+and Kr+gas 바카라 공식s were the answer.
Unfortunately, these gas 바카라 공식s aren’t efficient, produce extreme amounts of heat, require water cooling and frequent maintenance, and are bulky. Anton Savchenko and his colleagues needed a better solution for LIL in the lab.
THE SOLUTION
M. Sc. Savchenko and his colleagues at the ITO have several ways to create diffraction patterns but they needed a 바카라 공식rger area LIL setup.
When they decided to equip their 바카라 공식b with a new LIL system, they looked for a light source that would meet their criteria for coherence length, beam quality, short emission wavelength without the size, complexity, and heat of Ar+and Kr+gas 바카라 공식s. CW solid-state 바카라 공식s looked like a promising solution, and the team tested aCoherent OBIS 360 XT 바카라 공식.The compact, plug-and-play device operates maintenance-free and requires only a heat sink, with no additional cooling devices needed. The 바카라 공식’s high-quality beam with an M2close to 1, combined with narrow spectral bandwidth and long-term power stability, ensures accuracy and reproducibility for LIL. The 바카라 공식 can achieve periods down to 250 nm with an emission wavelength of 360 nm.
THE RESULT
The in-house 바카라 공식 interference lithography setup, equipped with OBIS 360 XT 바카라 공식, has strengthened the ITO’s capabilities to fabricate different periodic nanostructures. They can now produce sub-micron diffraction gratings on area as large as 180 mm in diameter. Figure 2 illustrates examples of fabricated diffraction gratings. Another application they are targeting with this system is the control of 바카라 공식 beam polarization states leveraging grating-waveguide structures using sub-wavelength diffraction gratings.
“A combination of short emission wavelength, high beam quality and long-term stability combined with easy-to-use design make the Coherent OBIS 360 XT 바카라 공식 an attractive solution for 바카라 공식 interference lithography."
— Anton Savchenko, Early-stage Researcher, Institut für Technische Optik (ITO), University of Stuttgart
Figure 1.Schematics of the 바카라 공식 interference lithography setup.
Figure 2.Diffraction gratings produced with our setup.
