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Holographic lens fabrication using laser ablation

Authors:
Haider Butt at Khalifa University
Haider Butt
Ali K. Yetisen
Ali K. Yetisen
Ali K. Yetisen
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Nanotechnology
Holographic lens fabrication using laser ablation
Haider Butt and Ali K. Yetisen
A one-step rapid holographic recording technique based on a nanosecond
laser pulse enables optical structures to be printed on transparent
substrates coated with light-absorbing materials.
23 December 2015, SPIE Newsroom. DOI: 10.1117/2.1201511.006194
Manufacturing with pulsed-laser systems has been
the focus of a great deal of attention in recent years.
The approach offers the key advantages of being
fast, flexible, and inexpensive. Additionally, the
prospect of using laser-based manufacturing in
space for the production of crucial engine- and
aircraft-related parts (via 3D laser printing) has been
discussed. However, although laser machining is
mostly employed for the production of micron-scale objects, it may also be
useful for the fabrication of large-area optically active nanopatterned
surfaces using laser-interference-assisted ablation (holographic laser
ablation).
In laser ablation, material is removed
from a solid surface by irradiation with
a laser beam. Instead of using a
focused laser beam (which produces
micron-scale features), our technique
implements laser-interference
patterns to ablate surfaces and
produce interesting nanoscale
features. Figure 1(a) shows a schematic diagram of our single-step rapid
holographic-recording technique. A pulsed laser beam irradiates the thin
semi-absorbing material used as a glass-substrate coating. This beam
passes through the sample and is reflected back from the mirror below.
Interference then occurs between the two laser beams traveling in opposite
directions, resulting in an interference pattern that ablates a well-ordered
grating onto the surface.
SEARCH
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Figure 1. Fabrication of holograms through nanosecond-laser interference.
(a) Schematic of the surface-hologram recording setup. A
neodymium-doped yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) pulsed laser beam
with a wavelength (λ) of 532nm and a peak power of 350mJ travels through
the beam expander and is reflected back by a plane mirror. θ: Tilt angle. (b)
Microscope image of a gold surface grating fabricated using this technique.
Scale bar =2µm.
The period of the grating is determined by the incident wavelength (λ) and
tilt angle (θ) of the sample with respect to normal incidence. The
constructive interference is produced at intervals of λ/2, showing the effect
of a stationary wave. Figure 1(b) shows a microscope image of the surface
grating sample ablated at θ=20°. We measured the periodicity to be 820nm.
This method is both flexible and fast compared with traditional laser-ablation
techniques. By simply changing θ, the periodicity of gratings can be tailored
and a variety of materials can be patterned. The fabricated gratings have a
feature size comparable to the wavelength of visible light and therefore
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show strong diffraction effects, causing them to appear colorful. This
feature makes them suitable for use as security holograms.
Our technique is much faster and more economically efficient than
conventional nanofabrication methods (e.g., electron beam lithography and
photolithography). The process is also simpler compared with direct laser
interference patterning, in which a single pulsed beam is divided using beam
splitters and then recombined to produce holograms and nanopatterns.
This approach requires precise alignment of various laser beams and
suffers from low light intensity after beam splitting. Our method, on the other
hand, uses a single-pulsed laser beam for the rapid printing of
nanopattern/holograms on flat or curved surfaces.
We have also demonstrated that this method can be used for printing 2D
complex patterns, such as concentric arrays of rings. This capability makes
the technique useful for the fabrication of optical devices such as Fresnel
zone plates (FZPs), which consist of a concentric array of opaque and
transparent rings. Because FZP lenses are flat and lightweight, they are
widely used for astronomical applications and in compact optical systems.
However, fabrication of FZPs via conventional methods necessitates the use
of many process steps, chemicals, and expensive equipment.
Our holographic-laser-ablation method enables the production of ultra-thin
FZPs within seconds. We used a single-pulsed laser beam, reflected from a
concave mirror, to produce an interference pattern consisting of circular
fringes: see Figure 2(a). As a result of this, hundreds of concentric
nanoscale rings are imprinted onto the 4nm-thick gold coating. These rings
act as Fresnel zones and contribute toward the focusing of light: see Figure
2(b) and (c). This new method could enable the mass production of flat
lenses and the development of optical elements using a wide variety of
materials (e.g., semiconductors or materials not compatible with
conventional fabrication techniques) with geometries that are flat, curved, or
of other arbitrary form. Although the method suffers from limitations in terms
of precision and repeatability, these issues could be improved by using
precise and controlled laser manufacturing setups.
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Figure 2. (a) Schematic diagram of the nanofabrication process of
holographic Freznel zone plate (FZP) lenses. (b) An optical microscopy
image of the holographic FZP lens (made of a 4nm-thick gold layer)
fabricated via laser ablation. Scale bar =200µm. (c) Magnified microscope
image of the FZP region in (b). Scale bar =20µm.
We have developed a technique based on holographic laser ablation for the
fabrication of optical devices. We are now working to produce more
sophisticated nanopatterns such as grids, triangular arrays, and 3D
geometries using the same technique. We are also exploring further
applications in areas such as data storage and biosensing.
The author would like to thank the Leverhulme Trust for the research
funding.
Haider Butt
University of Birmingham
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Haider Butt is currently a lecturer (assistant professor). He was previously a
Henslow Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, where he
received his PhD in April 2012. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed
journal papers and has secured several prestigious research awards.
Ali K. Yetisen
Harvard Medical School
and
Wellman Center for Photomedicine
Boston, MA
Ali K. Yetisen earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge and is now a
postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School. He holds over 30 journal
publications. His research focuses on nanotechnology, photonics,
commercialization, government policy, arts, and fashion.
References:
1. Q. Zhao, A. K. Yetisen, A. Sabouri, S. H. Yun, H. Butt, Printable nanophotonic devices via
holographic laser ablation, ACS Nano 9, p. 9062-9069, 2015.
2. Q. Zhao, A. K. Yetisen, C. J. Anthony, W. R. Fowler, S. H. Yun, H. Butt, Printable ink holograms,
Appl. Phys. Lett. 107, p. 041115, 2015.
3. H. Butt, P. R. Kidambi, B. Dlubak, Y. Montelongo, A. Palani, G. A. J. Amaratunga, S. Hofmann, T. D.
Wilkinson, Visible diffraction from graphene and its application in holograms, Adv. Opt. Mater. 1, p.
869-874, 2013.
4. H. Butt, T. Butler, Y. Montelongo, R. Rajesekharan, T. D. Wilkinson, G. A. J. Amaratunga, Continuous
diffraction patterns from circular arrays of carbon nanotubes, Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, p. 251102, 2012.
5. H. Butt, K. M. Knowles, Y. Montelongo, G. A. J. Amaratunga, T. D. W ilkinson, Devitrite-based optical
diffusers, ACS Nano 8, p. 2929-2935, 2014.
6. F. da Cruz Vasconcellos, A. K. Yetisen, Y. Montelongo, H. Butt, A. Grigore, C. A. B. Davidson, J.
Blyth, et al., Printable surface holograms via laser ablation, ACS Photon. 1, p. 489-495, 2014.
7. H. Butt, Y. Montelongo, T. Butler, R. Rajesekharan, Q. Dai, S. G. Shiva-Reddy, T. D. Wilkinson, G. A.
J. Amaratunga, Carbon nanotube based high-resolution holograms, Adv. Mater. 24, p. OP331-OP336,
2012.
8. Z. Guo, L. Ran, Y. Han, S. Qu, S. Liu, Holographic fabrication of periodic microstructures by
interfered femtosecond laser pulses, Laser Pulses—Theory, Technology, and Applications , p.
295-316, InTech, 2012.
9. R. Rajasekharan, H. Butt, Q. Dai, T. D. Wilkinson, G. A. Amaratunga, Can nanotubes make a lens
array?, Adv. Mater. 24, p. OP170-OP173, 2012.
10. H. Butt, R. Rajesekharan, Q. Dai, S. Sarfraz, R. V. Kumar, G. A. Amaratunga, T. D. Wilkinson,
Cylindrical Fresnel lenses based on carbon nanotube forests, Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, p. 243116, 2012.
11. X.-T. Kong, A. A. Khan, P. R. Kidambi, S. Deng, A. K. Yetisen, B. Dlubak, P. Hiralal, et al.,
Graphene-based ultrathin flat lenses, ACS Photon. 2, p. 200-207, 2015.
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12. A. K. Yetisen, Y. Montelongo, M. M. Qasim, H. Butt, T. D. W ilkinson, M. J. Monteiro, S. H. Yun,
Photonic nanosensor for colorimetric detection of metal ions, Anal. Chem. 87, p. 5101-5108, 2015.
13. A. K. Yetisen, Y. Montelongo, F. da Cruz Vasc oncellos, J. L. Martinez-Hurtado, S. Neupane, H. Butt,
M. M. Qasim, et al., Reusable, robust, and accurate laser-generated photonic nanosensor, Nano Lett.
14, p. 3587-3593, 2014.
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... The holographic lens is a diffraction optical element, which utilizes the grating diffraction to achieve the lens function [6][7][8]. The formation of the holographic lens is a two-beam interference [9][10][11][12]. One recording beam is a collimated wave, and the other recording beam is a convergent spherical wave, or the two beams are convergent and divergent spherical waves. ...
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