FABRICATION OF MICRO-OPTICAL COMPONENTS BY SOL-GEL TECHNOLOGY

THE SOL-GEL PROCESS ALLOWS FOR THE PREPARATION OF POROUS, SILICA OPTICAL COMPONENTS, TERMED TYPE VI SILICA. A NOVEL POTENTIAL APPLICATION FOR TYPE VI SILICA IS PROPOSED IN WHICH THE POROUS MATRIX IS USED AS A SUBSTRATE FOR THE FABRICATION OF MICRO-OPTICAL COMPONENTS. THE POROUS NATURE OF THE MATERIAL ALLOWS LASER-ENHANCED DENSIFICATION FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PLANAR OPTICAL WAVEGUIDES AND MICRO-OPTICAL ARRAYS. INVESTIGATIONS ARE PROPOSED FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE TYPE VI SILICA WITH REGARD TO ITS MECHANICAL AND THERMAL STABILITY, ULTRASTRUCTURE, AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES AS A FUNCTION OF TEMPERATURE OF DENSIFICATION. LASER-ENHANCED DENSIFICATION EXPERIMENTS ARE PROPOSED FOR THE FABRICATION OF SELECTED MIRCO-OPTICAL COMPONENTS. ALTERNATIVE MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES OF MIRCO-OPTICAL COMPONENTS WILL BE INVESTIGATED AND COMPARED WITH RESPECT TO COST, EASE OF MANUFACTURE AND PERFORMANCE ADVANTAGE. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - CONSIDERING THE EXPENSE, THE DIFFICULTY AND EVEN THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF MANUFACTURING MICRO-OPTICS, THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM REPRESENTS A REAL OPPORTUNITY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR THE FABRICATION OF MICRO-OPTICAL COMPONENTS - WHICH ARE THE FUTURE OF THE OPTIC AND OPTOELECTRONIC INDUSTRIES. KEY WORDS - MICRO-OPTICS, SOL-GEL, LASER, DENSIFICATION, WAVEGUIDE, LENS ARRAYS