View in EDS

Direct laser writing of in-volume diffractive optical elements with high speed and high resolution.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Direct laser writing of in-volume diffractive optical elements with high speed and high resolution.
Authors: Ingenhag, C.1 (AUTHOR), Stein, S.1 (AUTHOR), Schüller-Ruhl, A.1 (AUTHOR), Fleischhaker, R.1 (AUTHOR) fleischhaker@fh-aachen.de
Source: Applied Physics B: Lasers & Optics. Jan2026, Vol. 132 Issue 1, p1-9. 9p.
Subjects: Diffractive optical elements, Optical resolution, Optical measurements, Velocity, Laser engraving, Light absorption, Fused silica
Abstract: We demonstrate fast, high-resolution fabrication of in-volume diffractive optical elements (DOEs) by combining galvanometric scanning with a microscope objective () and a 1 ps laser source. Carefully chosen parameters exploit nonlinear absorption in fused silica to create highly localized refractive-index modifications. Estimating the scaling laws of energy deposition, single-pulse writing becomes feasible, yielding a and modification dimensions below the nominal focal spot. Using a layer-stacking scheme in z, we assemble multi-level phase masks: examples include a 4-level, 250 × 250 px DOE (2 µm pixels) and a 10-level, 416 × 416 px DOE (1.2 µm pixels). Phase-contrast microscopy confirms the written phase structure and comparison with theoretical phase data shows strong correspondence. Optical characterization at 532 nm reproduces target intensity distributions with high fidelity (overlap % against the computed discretized mask in a selected region; >66% vs. the original target). Yet, production times remain short (8–9 min for the high-resolution DOE, 60 s for the 4-level device), demonstrating that we improve trade-off between quality and speed to a level good enough for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Applied Physics B: Lasers & Optics is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
Description
Abstract:We demonstrate fast, high-resolution fabrication of in-volume diffractive optical elements (DOEs) by combining galvanometric scanning with a microscope objective () and a 1 ps laser source. Carefully chosen parameters exploit nonlinear absorption in fused silica to create highly localized refractive-index modifications. Estimating the scaling laws of energy deposition, single-pulse writing becomes feasible, yielding a and modification dimensions below the nominal focal spot. Using a layer-stacking scheme in z, we assemble multi-level phase masks: examples include a 4-level, 250 × 250 px DOE (2 µm pixels) and a 10-level, 416 × 416 px DOE (1.2 µm pixels). Phase-contrast microscopy confirms the written phase structure and comparison with theoretical phase data shows strong correspondence. Optical characterization at 532 nm reproduces target intensity distributions with high fidelity (overlap % against the computed discretized mask in a selected region; >66% vs. the original target). Yet, production times remain short (8–9 min for the high-resolution DOE, 60 s for the 4-level device), demonstrating that we improve trade-off between quality and speed to a level good enough for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:09462171
DOI:10.1007/s00340-025-08581-1