Method and apparatus for micromachining bulk transparent materials using localized heating by nonlinearly absorbed laser radiation, and devices fabricated thereby
US7568365B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 1, 2002 |
| Grant date | Aug 4, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 11, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B2006/1215
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Thermal 3-D microstructuring of photonic structures is provided by depositing laser energy by non-linear absorption into a focal volume about each point of a substrate to be micromachined at a rate greater than the rate that it diffuses thereout to produce a point source of heat in a region of the bulk larger than the focal volume about each point that structurally alters the region of the bulk larger than the focal volume about each point, and by dragging the point source of heat thereby provided point-to-point along any linear and non-linear path to fabricate photonic structures in the bulk of the substrate. Exemplary optical waveguides and optical beamsplitters are thermally micromachined in 3-D in the bulk of a glass substrate. The total number of pulses incident to each point is controlled, either by varying the rate that the point source of heat is scanned point-to-point and/or by varying the repetition rate of the laser, to select the mode supported by the waveguide or beamsplitter to be micromachined. A wide range of passive and active optical and other devices may be thermally micromachined.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.