Fabrication of submicrometric vertically etched diffraction gratings

该项目旨在实现具有最小零阶贡献的最佳可见光/近红外信号色散的垂直蚀刻熔融石英传输光栅。这种光信号的处理和分析解决了O/E Land公司感兴趣的问题，该公司生产用于快速和高灵敏度光谱仪、光学仪器和传感器的先进组件，以及用于电信的光纤。提出的研究是基于等离子体和离子蚀刻技术的实施，以设计蚀刻深度在0.2和1.0 μ m之间变化的光栅，以获得最佳的一阶信号色散和可见光/近红外光谱范围内的最大光传输。这些活动将在INRS与O/E Land的工程师密切合作，在由公司提供的薄Cr微米掩膜覆盖的熔融二氧化硅基板上进行。样品处理后，刻蚀光栅的深度和均匀性将通过扫描电子显微镜（SEM），原子力显微镜（AFM）和/或表面轮廓术进行研究。通过改变蚀刻参数，可以得到具有垂直边缘的均匀平行凹槽。在该项目期间生产的衍射光学元件将集成到O/E Land仪器中，用于光学光谱和信号处理的特定用途进行测试，从而确保立即进行技术转让。该项目的预期收益将允许支持公司提供新产品，并加强其在光学仪器领域的地位。这将使INRS有机会巩固其在新型先进光学元件制造和表征方面的专业知识，用于未来与私营部门的合作项目，特别是与加拿大光学行业的合作项目。

This project aims at achieving vertically etched fused silica transmission gratings for optimalvisible/near-infrared signal dispersion with minimum zeroth order contribution. The treatment and analysis ofsuch optical signals address a problem of interest for O/E Land Inc., a company that manufactures advancedcomponents for fast and highly sensitive spectrometers, optical instruments and sensors, as well as opticalfibers for telecommunication. The proposed research is based on the implementation of plasma and ion-etchingtechniques to design gratings of etched depths varying between 0.2 and 1.0 µm for optimal first order signaldispersion and maximal optical transmission in the visible/NIR spectral range. These activities will beconducted at INRS in close collaboration with O/E Land's engineers, on fused silica substrates covered by athin Cr micrometric mask, which will be supplied by the company. After sample processing, both the depth andthe uniformity of the etched gratings will be investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic forcemicroscopy (AFM) and/or surface profilometry. The etching parameters will be varied to obtain uniform andparallel grooves with vertical edges. The diffractive optical elements produced during this project will be thenintegrated into O/E Land instruments, to be tested for specific uses in optical spectrometry and signalprocessing, thus ensuring an immediate technology transfer. The expected benefits of this project will allow thesupporting company to offer new products and reinforce its position in the area of optical instrumentation. Itwill give INRS the opportunity of consolidating its expertise in the fabrication and characterization of newadvanced optical components, for future collaborative projects with the private sector, and more particularlywith the Canadian optical industry.