3D micro-optics in self-assembled nanostructured transparent materials by femtosecond direct writing

超快激光使飞秒直接写入微纳光学元件的三维图案化新技术能够提供全新的功能，三维光子结构将使未来光学信息处理的集成规模急剧增加。它们还在微光学、微纳流体光学捕获、光学互连和光场合成等领域开辟了诱人的可能性。我们的目标是提供一种新的工具和开发相关的技术来直接图案化3D微光学自由空间结构，例如纳米结构透明玻璃介质中的衍射光学元件、发光结构和光波导。这一提议将探索飞秒光敏的超快物理，并优化3D光子结构的直接写入，特别是利用我们最近发现的超短脉冲与物质相互作用的新机制，涉及到自组装纳米结构的形成。这项技术的副产品是纳米流体和3D高密度可重写光学存储器。全球在这一领域的努力正在迅速加快，这确保了我们的研究有一个产生重大影响的窗口。我们团队被证明有能力控制强超短脉冲，控制玻璃成分，并诊断多光子转换，这给了我们实现这一科学和技术的关键优势。国际合作，特别是与京都大学的合作将继续下去。

Ultrafast lasers enable the new technique of femtosecond direct optical writing for patterning micro- and nano-optical elements such as photonic crystals, waveguides and gratings in three dimensions, to provide entirely new functionalities.Three-dimensional photonic structures will allow dramatic increases in the scale of integration for of future optical information processing. They also open tantalising possibilities in the fields of micro-optics, micro- and nano-fluidics optical trapping, optical interconnetions and light field synthesis. We aim to provide a new tool and develop the associated technology for directly patterning 3D micro-optical free-space structures such as diffractive optical elements, berifrigent structures and optical waveguides deep within nano-structured transparent glass media. This proposal will explore the ultrafast physics of femtosecond photosensitivity and optimise the direct write of 3D photonic structures in particular exploiting our recent discovery of new regime of ultrashort pulse interaction with matter involving formation of self-assembled nanostructures. The spin-offs of this technology are nano-fluidics and 3D high-dense rewritable optical memory. The effort in this area worldwide is accelerating rapidly, ensuring a window for our research to have high impact. The proven ability of our group to control the intense ultrashort pulses, control the glass composition, and diagnose the multiphoton transformations give us a key edge in realizing this science and technology. International collaborations, in particular with Kyoto University, will continue.