Direct Write of Novel Optical Components

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The recent increase in demand for information bandwidth has created the need for improving current technologies for data, voice and video transmission. The telecommunications industry has increasingly emphasized the development of fiberoptic networks to meet this demand. One key to creating this infrastructure is the production of economical fiberoptic components, such as wave guides and Bragg gratings. Current manufacturing techniques for optical components and fiber preforms are limited to vapor deposition techniques and photolithographic processes. This research is to advance the field of optical component manufacturing through innovative direct-write processing. Our goal is to develop a novel manufacturing process based on laser sintering of materials produced from sol-gel processing techniques. Research tasks include: (1) characterizating the chemistry and processing of sol-gels; (2) design, construction, and testing of a workstation for combined sol-gel preparation and laser densification of multi-layer optical components; (3) developing a real time controller for the workstation; and (4) fabricating three-dimensional optical components to demonstrate the process. We expect fundamental science-based results in the areas of unique sol-gel materials and chemistry, repeatability of sol-gel processing, materials characterization, models for optical property control, machine design of sol-gel deposition and densification, and laser processing methods for micron and sub-micron materials. We also expect overall deliverables of a repeatable direct-write process and example 3D optical components. Collaboration with an industrial partner, 3M Corporation, will provide fundamental understanding of the industry needs and capabilities, leading to a higher potential for future commercialization. These unique research experiences will provide direct educational benefits to both graduate and undergraduate students in systems design engineering and optical product realization.We believe our approach will lead to innovative optical component designs, not producible by current vapor deposition techniques. These components will provide higher performance and enable the telecommunications industry to better meet the needs of society.