Methods of fabricating thermally tuned optical devices containing chalcogenide thin films
AssigneeThe Government of the United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsJesse Frantz, Jason Myers, Vinh Q. Nguyen, Jasbinder Sanghera, Robel Bekele, Anthony Romano Clabeau
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Abstract
Tunable devices and methods for fine tuning the optical responses of thin film devices post fabrication are described. This approach modifies the refractive indices of the chalcogenide glass thin films incorporated into the devices, and using this change in the refractive indices to fine tune the optical responses of the devices. Thermal annealing may be used to modify the refractive index. Thermal annealing provides good uniformity in large-area devices and may be applied to multi-layer structures.
Claims20
A method for fabricating an optical device, the method comprising:
- selecting a chalcogenide glass having a refractive index that is configured to be tuned post deposition;
- determining an as-deposited value of the refractive index of the chalcogenide glass;
- determining a maximum value of the refractive index of the chalcogenide glass that is achievable through annealing;
- determining an intermediate value that is based on the as-deposited value and the maximum value;
- selecting a desired wavelength for a position of a feature in a spectral response of the optical device;
- designing the optical device, incorporating the chalcogenide glass, with the intermediate value to produce the feature at the desired wavelength;
- fabricating the optical device;
- annealing the optical device;
- measuring the spectral response of the optical device;
- and
- upon determining that the desired wavelength has not been reached, repeating the annealing and measuring steps until the desired wavelength is reached.
A method of forming an optical reflector device comprising:
- forming a first reflector layer on the substrate, wherein the first reflector layer comprises a dielectric stack;
- forming a chalcogenide glass layer on the first reflector layer so that the first reflector layer is between the chalcogenide glass layer and the substrate;
- and
- forming a second reflector layer on the chalcogenide glass layer so that the chalcogenide glass layer is between the first reflector layer and the second reflector layer;
- after forming the first reflector layer, the chalcogenide glass layer, and the second reflector layer, thermally tuning the chalcogenide glass layer between the first and second reflector layers to adjust a wavelength response of the optical reflector device.
A method of forming an optical reflector device comprising:
- forming a first reflector layer on the substrate;
- forming a chalcogenide glass layer on the first reflector layer so that the first reflector layer is between the chalcogenide glass layer and the substrate;
- and
- forming a second reflector layer on the chalcogenide glass layer so that the chalcogenide glass layer is between the first reflector layer and the second reflector layer, wherein the second reflector comprises a dielectric stack;
- after forming the first reflector layer, the chalcogenide glass layer, and the second reflector layer, thermally tuning the chalcogenide glass layer between the first and second reflector layers to adjust a wavelength response of the optical reflector device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.