Optimisation of ultrafast laser assisted etching in fused silica

Ross, Calum A.; MacLachlan, David Guillaume; Choudhury, Debaditya; Thomson, Robert R.

doi:10.1364/oe.26.024343

Cited by 87 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The technique can be applied to several transparent materials including fused silica, which is widely adopted in optics for its excellent optical and mechanical properties. Recently, etching rate enhancements of up to three orders of magnitude have been demonstrated in fused silica [16,42], paving the way for a new era in glass microfabrication.…”

Section: Ultrafast Laser-assisted Etchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Laser inscription was performed with a Menlo Systems Bluecut fibre laser (Menlo Systems GmbH, Martinsried, Germany), delivering 350 fs pulses at a repetition rate of 250 kHz and a central wavelength of 1030 nm. The laser pulse energy was set to approximately 200 nJ for the majority of the inscription and the polarisation was linear and orientated orthogonally to the intended etching direction in order to achieve the highest etching selectivity as discussed in [16]. The substrate was translated on a motorised three-axis crossed roller bearing stage (Alio Industries, Arvada, CO, USA) with up to 5 nm positioning resolution.…”

Section: Ultrafast Laser-assisted Etchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…ULAE is a two-step process in which components are first inscribed in a bulk fused silica chip using focused femtosecond laser pulses. When optimal irradiation parameters are used, the laser-induced modification enhances the local etchability of the silica by up to three orders of magnitude [15,16], allowing the laser-inscribed material to be subsequently removed in a second, chemical etching step. Within the last two decades, collaborative efforts towards better understanding the light-matter interactions [17][18][19] and chemical etching mechanisms [20] and advanced writing techniques [21,22] have established ULAE as a capable manufacturing method for complex glass microcomponents and systems [23,24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Miniature Fibre-Optic Raman Probe Fabricated by Ultrafast Laser-Assisted Etching

et al. 2020

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Optical biopsy describes a range of medical procedures in which light is used to investigate disease in the body, often in hard-to-reach regions via optical fibres. Optical biopsies can reveal a multitude of diagnostic information to aid therapeutic diagnosis and treatment with higher specificity and shorter delay than traditional surgical techniques. One specific type of optical biopsy relies on Raman spectroscopy to differentiate tissue types at the molecular level and has been used successfully to stage cancer. However, complex micro-optical systems are usually needed at the distal end to optimise the signal-to-noise properties of the Raman signal collected. Manufacturing these devices, particularly in a way suitable for large scale adoption, remains a critical challenge. In this paper, we describe a novel fibre-fed micro-optic system designed for efficient signal delivery and collection during a Raman spectroscopy-based optical biopsy. Crucially, we fabricate the device using a direct-laser-writing technique known as ultrafast laser-assisted etching which is scalable and allows components to be aligned passively. The Raman probe has a sub-millimetre diameter and offers confocal signal collection with 71.3% ± 1.5% collection efficiency over a 0.8 numerical aperture. Proof of concept spectral measurements were performed on mouse intestinal tissue and compared with results obtained using a commercial Raman microscope.

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Section: Ultrafast Laser-assisted Etchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ultrafast Laser-assisted Etchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Miniature Fibre-Optic Raman Probe Fabricated by Ultrafast Laser-Assisted Etching

et al. 2020

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“…The exposure conditions trigger a non-linear absorption process that causes a densification within the laser voxel. As consequence, the etching rate of the material for a KOH solution decrease down to 1000 times compared to the un-exposed material [25]. We generate the object within the substrate by moving the sample and the beam in the fashion of a 3D printer.…”

Section: Micromachining On Glassmentioning

confidence: 99%

Millimeter-sized particle sensor using a wide field of view monolithic lens assembly for light scattering analysis in Fourier domain

Jobert

Fournier

Boutami

et al. 2020

Photonic Instrumentation Engineering VII

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We present our latest advances in the field of miniature optical particulate matter sensors. By illuminating a single particle in an air channel, one can record the light scattering signature with a CMOS image sensor and then classify particles. This signature is optically pre-processed with an advanced, millimeter-sized, monolithic, refracto-reflective optical system. It performs notably a Fourier transform with very wide field of view of scattering angles, and includes as well integrated fluidics and alignment. Functional prototypes were fabricated using laser micro machining on glass, selective polishing, and were replicated with epoxy resin using a molding process.

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“…Therefore, it is necessary to increase the efficiency (ablated material/unit energy/unit of time) of the micromachining process as much as possible to fulfil the necessary requirements. Several techniques exist for processing materials with femtosecond pulses which include: direct ablation in air [14,15], back side wet etching [16][17][18], spatiotemporally enhanced focusing [19,20], laser-assisted etching (LAE) [21][22][23][24][25][26], and gas-assisted processing [27][28][29]. Although the techniques presented above all have their advantages and disadvantages, when talking about cutting/drilling deep (> 500 µm) structures inside the material, all of the stated techniques fall short (with the exception of LAE), and ultimately fall victim to slow processing and heat-affected zones around the cut.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Femtosecond Beam Transformation Effects in Water, Enabling Increased Throughput Micromachining in Transparent Materials

et al. 2019

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Femtosecond lasers are widely applied in scientific and industrial fields. Recent trends in the laser market show decreasing prices for femtosecond units, which will ultimately lead to the opening of new markets that were inaccessible in the past due to the high costs of such systems. To this end, new techniques that enable micromachining of materials with increased efficiency are interesting. In this article, we demonstrate a technique that may be used for cutting and drilling various materials. By placing a layer of water on top of the samples and loosely focusing laser light on the surface, it was found that the micromachining throughput is increased by up to 10-fold as compared with micromachining without the water layer (conventional focusing in air), however, the main reasons for the increase in fabrication efficiency have not been fully understood until now. By modelling the propagation of the femtosecond pulses by means of the nonlinear modified Schrodinger equation through the water layer, we show that the increased throughput is attributed to the changing of the Gaussian intensity profile. In addition, we confirm these findings by numerically modelling the ablated crater formation.

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Optimisation of ultrafast laser assisted etching in fused silica

Cited by 87 publications

References 34 publications

A Miniature Fibre-Optic Raman Probe Fabricated by Ultrafast Laser-Assisted Etching

A Miniature Fibre-Optic Raman Probe Fabricated by Ultrafast Laser-Assisted Etching

Millimeter-sized particle sensor using a wide field of view monolithic lens assembly for light scattering analysis in Fourier domain

Femtosecond Beam Transformation Effects in Water, Enabling Increased Throughput Micromachining in Transparent Materials

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