Development of Improved Virtually-Imaged Phased Arrays

VIPA etalons are simple, compact devices that offer many times more dispersion than gratings and are finding increasing application where higher spectral resolution is needed. Current VIPA fabrication methods limit efficiency, spectral resolution, filter response, and spectral bandwidth. Precision Photonics proposes to use its enhanced optical fabrication capabilities to build advanced VIPA prototypes that improve upon each of these areas. A photolithographic mask will lower the incident angle, improving VIPA efficiency. Thin-film coatings will be developed that are ultra-broadband and result in higher finesse values for the VIPA, thus improving spectral bandwidth and resolution. Improvements to the VIPA optical surface geometries will result in more narrow linewidths and better filter response. The proposed advances in VIPA design depend critically on core technologies unique to PPC: advanced ion beam sputtered (IBS) thin-film coatings, nanometer-level surface metrology, and state-of-the-art adhesive-free contacting.