Diffraction Gratings in Hybrid Sol‐Gel Films: On the Understanding of the Relief Generation Process

Abstract

Hybrid organic‐inorganic materials based on the sol‐gel synthesis of an organically modified silicon alkoxide have demonstrated their great potential for optical applications. They offer a high versatility in terms of chemical, physical properties and macroscopic shape molding of the final component. Recently, a photolithographic process allowed the generation of relief optical elements without requiring a wet treatment to reveal the latent image. It enabled a low cost, simple and quick method for the fabrication of integrated optical components. The aim of the present paper is to give new insights into the mechanisms of surface self‐corrugation leading to gratings generation in hybrid sol‐gel films. A study of the relief formation was led by giving particular attention to the kinetic aspects of the polymerization of the organic component. The control of the CC double bonds conversion of methacrylate functionalized alkoxides in case of photopolymerization is therefore an essential issue to tailor material properties. The study also focuses on the influence of physico‐chemical parameters that govern the relief generation and underlines the particular role of temperature. Kinetics of surface corrugation point out the importance of strain relaxation, mass‐transfer by flowing and organic network formation during the photolithographic process. Some illustrations of the generated diffraction gratings are given. Interferogram of the diffraction grating obtained after 120 s exposure through a chromium mask.magnified imageInterferogram of the diffraction grating obtained after 120 s exposure through a chromium mask.

Siloxane based Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Polymers and their Applications for Nanostructured Optical/Photonic Components

“…This fabrication condition is significantly different from that found in the fabrication method used in the previous reports [18,19].A light beam with such optical power may theoretically generate optical radiation force in the order of 10 -3 N/cm 2 [24,25]. Regarding to this fact, though it is still speculative at the moment, one may also suggest the mechanism formation due to radiation pressure effect.…”

“…The monomers are then attracted and accumulated at the bright region. This mechanism, which is called as photo-induced swelling, results in bump formation at the bright region but valley formation at the dark region [18,19].…”

“…Fabrication of micro and nanostructured optical/photonic components using these hybrid polymers have been demonstrated by using those techniques [13,14,18,19]. This paper presents the precursor gel preparation of this class of hybrid polymer from methacrylateester modified siloxane by sol-gel technique and its application for constructing diffractive optic based components, such as Distributed Feedback (DFB) grating for photopumped lasers and grating based Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) coupler.…”

“…This paper presents the precursor gel preparation of this class of hybrid polymer from methacrylateester modified siloxane by sol-gel technique and its application for constructing diffractive optic based components, such as Distributed Feedback (DFB) grating for photopumped lasers and grating based Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) coupler. In this work, laser interference technique using high power pulsed UV laser was applied for fabricating those gratings, which is distinctly different from the fabrication methods in previous reports mentioned above [18,19].…”

Photo-triggered Surface Relief of Polystyrene Films- Highly Photo-sensitive Formation by the Addition of a Benzophenone Derivative

“…[1] Recently, it has been reported that colorless large SR structures due to mass transfer can be fabricated using materials that do not contain azobenzene compounds. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] It is considered that SR formation is concerned with photoreactioninduced internal diffusion processes. Recently, we have reported that the SR structure is fabricated by spatially patterned ultra-violet (UV) light, even in a general-purpose polystyrene (PS) film.…”