Apparatus and method for dewetting-based spatial light modulation for high-power lasers
AssigneeRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
InventorsJonathan Phillip Singer, Tianxing Ma
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method for dynamic and reversible patterning of mask layers and manipulation and redistribution of energy sources such as laser beams. An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus including a mirror-like thin film comprising a front surface and a back surface configured to reflect a laser beam; a layer of a mask material on top of the front surface of the mirror-like thin film, wherein the mask material is transparent to the laser beam and is dewetted by a heat source to create a height profile in the mask material.
Claims20
An apparatus, comprising:
- a mirror-like thin film including a front surface and a back surface, wherein the mirror-like thin film is configured to reflect a laser beam;
- and
- a layer of a mask material on top of the front surface of the mirror-like thin film, wherein the mask material is transparent to the laser beam and is dewetted by a heat source to create a height profile in the mask material.
A method, comprising:
- guiding a heat source having a spatially-varying energy field having energy spikes to a back surface of a mirror-like thin film, wherein a layer of a mask material is on top of a front surface of the mirror-like thin film;
- inducing dewetting at the front surface of the mirror-like thin film by heating the mirror-like film via the heat source;
- and
- creating, via the dewetting, a height profile in the mask material by causing the mask material to accumulate adjacent to dewetted areas of the mirror-like thin film, wherein the height profile represents a distribution of the dewetted areas of the mirror-like thin film.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a mirror-like thin film including a front surface and a back surface, wherein the mirror-like thin film is configured to reflect a laser beam;
- and
- a layer of a mask material on top of the front surface of the mirror-like thin film, wherein the mask material is transparent to the laser beam and is dewetted by a heat source to create a height profile in the mask material,
- wherein the mask material is a molten-phase mask material selected from the group consisting of silicon oils, paraffin oils, and thermoplastic polymers.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a mirror-like thin film including a front surface and a back surface, wherein the mirror-like thin film is configured to reflect a laser beam;
- and
- a layer of a mask material on top of the front surface of the mirror-like thin film, wherein the mask material is transparent to the laser beam and is dewetted by a heat source to create a height profile in the mask material,
- wherein the mirror-like thin film is a thin film of a material selected from a group of materials consisting of gold, tungsten, aluminum, and silver.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a mirror-like thin film including a front surface and a back surface, wherein the mirror-like thin film is configured to reflect a laser beam;
- and
- a layer of a mask material on top of the front surface of the mirror-like thin film, wherein the mask material is transparent to the laser beam and is dewetted by a heat source to create a height profile in the mask material,
- wherein the heat source is a focused optical spike (“FOSk”) source and a supporting element supporting the mirror-like thin film through contact with the back surface of the mirror-like thin film, wherein the supporting element is transparent to the optical source,
- wherein the heat source produces a local heated area in the mirror-like thin film, and
- wherein the local heated area comprises a spatial distribution of temperature spikes that correspond to a spatial distribution of energy spikes impinging on the back surface of the mirror-like thin film and induce an FOSk dewetting of the mask material on top of the mirror-like thin film.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.