Open AccessLarge aperture and durable glass-engraved optical metasurfaces using nanoparticle etching masks: prospects and future directions
Author(s) -
Nathan J. Ray,
JaeHyuck Yoo,
Hoàng Tùng Nguyễn,
Eyal Feigenbaum
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
jphys photonics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2515-7647
DOI - 10.1088/2515-7647/ac0db4
Subject(s) - engraving , dewetting , etching (microfabrication) , holography , materials science , optics , fabrication , substrate (aquarium) , aperture (computer memory) , dry etching , nanotechnology , wavelength , optoelectronics , thin film , composite material , mechanical engineering , physics , geology , engineering , medicine , oceanography , alternative medicine , layer (electronics) , pathology
Metasurfaces (MSs), or surfaces consisting of engineered spatially oriented sub-wavelength elements—also known as meta-atoms—are quickly becoming a burgeoning field of interest due to their seemingly unparalleled control over the propagation of light. This article will discuss the emergence of a MS technology that is based on dewetting thin metal films to form dry etching masks for MS fabrication. The novelty this process presents is the ability to spatially vary mask features—which translates into spatially varying index of the finished surface—in a way that, rather than writing subwavelength elements one-by-one, writes entire areas at once to provide a route to easily scale the process up to meter-sized optics. Glass-engraved MSs have shown to be laser damage resistant, with damage thresholds close to the parent substrate damage thresholds. Furthermore, these surfaces have proven to be mechanically durable and capable of handling normal loads two orders of magnitude higher than that of an average fingerprint pressure. This indicates that accidental handling contact is not detrimental to the MS optical performance. Also discussed are the foreseeable technological challenges, potential solutions for those obstacles, and some currently unexplored directions for future efforts.