LightPath Technologies scales up chalcogenide glass for optics production. Understanding fabrication effects on refractive index and ensuring repeatability are crucial. They employ TRIOPTICS OptiSurf LTM system to investigate refractive variability. This system uses low-coherence interferometry to measure lens thickness and air gaps. Direct measurement requires group index knowledge for geometric thickness determination. TRIOPTICS GmbH addresses this with LensGage, an OptiSurf addon. LensGage consists of calibrated parallel plates, accurately determining geometric thickness and group index (+/-0.75nm and 0.0001 precision) in a single measurement at 1.31µm or 2.2µm. LensGage enables LightPath to improve quality and consistency of fabricated optics by enhancing their understanding of group index variability.
The market for thermal imaging sensors and cameras has been increasingly focused on higher volumes and lower costs. Precision glass molding (PGM) is a high volume, low cost method which has been utilized for decades to produce lenses from oxide glasses. Due to the recent development of high quality precision-molded chalcogenide glasses, which are transparent at critical thermal imaging wavelengths, PGM has emerged as the enabling technology for low cost infrared optics. Since the price of germanium is high and volatile, it plays a large role in the high price of chalcogenide glasses that contain it. As40Se60 has previously been investigated as a lower-cost alternative to germanium-containing chalcogenide glasses and was found suitable for the PGM process. This paper investigates the composition-dependence of PGM-relevant properties for As38Se62 and standard As40Se60 and presents a comparison of molding behavior and lens performance.
The growing demand for thermal imaging sensors and cameras has focused attention on the need for larger volumes of lower cost optics in this infrared region. A major component of the cost of thermal imaging lenses is the germanium content. As40Se60 was developed as a moldable, germanium-free chalcogenide glass that can serve as a low cost alternative to germanium and other infrared materials. This material also has promising characteristics for improved optical performance, especially with regard to reduced thermal sensitivity. As40Se60 has found acceptance as a material to be diamond turned or polished, but it is only now emerging as a legitimate candidate for precision glass molding. This paper will review chalcogenide molding and characterize As40Se60 for widespread use in highvolume thermal imaging optics. The relative advantages and disadvantages of As40Se60 as compared to other chalcogenide glasses will also be discussed.
The growing demand for short wave infrared (SWIR) sensors and cameras has focused attention on the need for lower cost optics in this infrared region. Traditional low Tg moldable glasses typically stop transmitting in the SWIR region. New low dispersion, moldable glasses have been found that transmit through 3 microns and in combination with Precision Glass Molding (PGM) can bring this enabling technology to SWIR optics.
This investigation reviews the material performance for a potential moldable solution in the SWIR range. Specific attention is given toward glasses that achieve high yields during precision glass molding and are candidates for commercial success.
Precision glass molding has a well-documented effect of a decrease in the index of refraction of the glass during the molding process. This index drop has such significant value that optical designs for molded lenses must take into account the index drop to accurately determine the optical performance of the final lens. Widespread adoption of chalcogenide glasses for molded infrared optics has raised a series of questions as to the behavior of these glasses under molding conditions. This paper will investigate the index of refraction changes in two different chalcogenide glasses and determine if these changes are significant enough for optical designers to consider in their designs.
The growing demand for lower cost infrared sensors and cameras has focused attention on the need for low cost optics
for the long wave and mid-wave infrared region. The combination of chalcogenide glasses and Precision Glass Molding
(PGM) is the enabling technology for low cost infrared optics. The lack of detailed material properties data has limited
its acceptance in the commercial market, but increased demand and recent cost reductions in infrared sensors has
focused additional attention onto these materials as a cost driver for infrared systems. This investigation reviews the material performance and repeatability for a number of different chalcogenide glasses. Material properties including composition, glass transition temperature (Tg), coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), index of refraction, transmission and change in index over temperature (dn/dT) are explored. Specific attention is given toward glasses that achieve high yields during precision glass molding and are candidates for commercial success.
We describe studies of optical limiting by thermally induced nonlinear light scattering in highly porous solgel glasses. We impregnate the porous glass with a solution of reverse saturable absorber in a solvent that is index-matched to the solgel matrix at room temperature. We observe a strong enhancement of the limiting properties at high energies in the porous glass, compared to the performance of the reverse saturable absorber alone. We attribute this effect to nonlinear scattering. However, the properties of this scattering are substantially different to what was originally expected. We provide evidence that the observed effect is due to formation of gas bubbles in the focal region of the laser beam. These bubbles are trapped in the host matrix, allowing the effect to accumulate over several laser shots.
We present our recent advances toward the development of high-performance solid-state optical limiting devices using reverse saturable absorption (RSA) dyes doped into optical host materials. Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy was employed to determine both the spectral regions of strong RSA, and the singlet-triplet excited-state dynamics. The optical limiting in the visible spectrum in both metallo-phthalocyanines and metallo-porphyrins is due to a combination of singlet and triplet RSA. Optical limiting performance was studied for RSA dyes in dual tandem limiters (both in solution and solid-state). Our best results in the solid-state yielded an attenuation of 400X, and a damage threshold of up to several mJ at f/5 focusing. The optical limiting at f/5 is further enhanced, particularly in the solid-state, by self-defocusing thermal nonlinearities.
We present recent results of broadband femtosecond (fs) transient absorption (TA) and broadband nanosecond (ns) optical limiting (OL) studies of C60 and derivatized C60. Improvements in measurement techniques for fs TA spectra provide sensitivity to 10-5 in differential transmission, allowing detailed comparison of excited-state spectra with established energy level diagrams, as well as comparison of the ratio of triplet to singlet excited-state absorption cross sections from TA spectra with those obtained by modeling time transients at different wavelengths. For derivatized fullerenes, which provide enhanced solubility and a ground-state absorption extended into the IR compared with C60 there is no spectral region where the triplet absorption cross section dominates the singlet as strongly as in C60. Wavelength-dependent studies show that the OL response improves monotonically at longer wavelengths, demonstrating broadband limiting in all 6,6 mono-adducts and neat C60. We report new approaches to processing sol-gel encapsulated fullerenes to improve the OL performance of solid-state materials to approach the response of solution limiters.
With the present trends toward miniaturization, the demand for complex optical elements with surface features is increasing. If these complex optical elements, such as diffractive optics, are fabricated in glass they should be superior to plastic, both in optical quality and environmental stability. Currently diffractive optics are manufactured by either photolithographic methods or single point diamond turning, and neither technique lends itself to high volume, low-cost manufacturing diffractive optics in glass. In recent years advances in the sol-gel process have made it possible to replicate fine-patterned surfaces in high purity silica glass by a molding technique. This paper reviews the results to date of the replication of the following different types of diffractive optics: (1) binary grating, (2) blazed grating, (3) hybrid diffractive/refractive optical element, and (4) plano kinoform.
Recent combinations of diffractive and refractive functions in the same optical component allow designers additional opportunities to make systems more compact and enhance performance. This paper describes a research program for fabricating hybrid refractive/diffractive components from diamond-turned molds using the bulk casting of sol-gel silica glass. We use the complementary dispersive nature of refractive and diffractive optics to render two-color correction in a single hybrid optical element. Since diamond turning has matured as a deterministic manufacturing technology, techniques previoulsy suitable only in the infrared are now being applied to components used at visible wavelengths. Thus, the marriage of diamond turning and sol-gel processes offers a cost-effective method for producing highly customized and specialized optical components in high quality silica glass. With the sol-gel casting method of replication, diamond-turned mold costs can be shared over many pieces. Diamond turning takes advantage of all of the available degrees of freedom in a single hybrid optical element: aspheric surface to elimiate spherical aberration, kinoform surface for control of primary chromatic aberration, and the flexibility to place the kinoform on nonplanar surfaces for maximum design flexibility. We will discuss the critical issues involved in designing the hybrid element, single point diamond-turning the mold, and fabrication in glass using the sol-gel process.
In pursuit of the ideal solid state dye laser, two possible host matrices were investigated. Porous silica with average pore diameters of 50 and 75 angstrom were doped with both rhodamine 6G and rhodamine 6G in an ORMOSIL composition, and their fluorescence and lasing properties were characterized. Measurements included absorption/scattering loss of undoped hosts, and fluorescence spectra, lasing efficiencies, and photostability of the dye- doped materials. Excitation was done with a doubled Nd:YAG at 532 nm. The center of the broadband laser emission (FWHM of 5 nm) was 560 nm. The optimum material in the form of a 12 mm diameter X 6.3 mm thick disk gave a lifetime to 50% power for a single 1 mm diameter irradiation site of 25,000 shots with an initial efficiency of 39%. The same material in the form of an 8 mm diameter X 15 mm long rod gave a lifetime of 95,000 shots and initial efficiency of 31% under the same conditions.
With the present trends toward miniaturization, the demand for complex optical elements with surface features is increasing. If these complex optical elements, such as Fresnel and diffractive optics, are fabricated in glass they should be superior to plastic, both in optical quality and environmental stability. To demonstrate the replication of diffractive and Fresnel optics, Fresnel lenses were prepared by a sol-gel molding technique. The optical quality and performance and dimensional characteristics of the lenses are reported. Optical and physical properties tested included glass homogeneity, UV/VIS/NIR transmission, light scattering and surface profilometry. Optical performance testing indicated that these glass Fresnel lenses are as good as their parent plastic Fresnel lenses from which they are molded.
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