Princeton Docket # 11-2657
Charcogenide glass materials exhibit a variety of optical properties that make them desirable for near- and mid-infrared communications and sensing applications. However, processing limitations for these photorefractive materials have made the direct integration of waveguides with sources or detectors challenging. Present methods of waveguide fabrication, including fiber drawing, direct write, and chemical etch or dry etch, can only reliably produce waveguide on flat substrates.
Researchers at Princeton University have developed multiple solution-based soft lithography methods for patterning and integrating chalcogenide glass structures onto both flat and curved substrates. These methods form a suite of processes that can be applied to chalcogenide materials to create a diverse array of 2D or 3D mid-IR optical and photonic structures ranging from <5 to 10¿s of mm in dimension.
Applications
· For waveguide fabrication
- On curved or flat substrates
- To create 2D or 3D structures
· To simplify integration of components in various configurations
Advantages
· Greater design freedom
· Higher manufacture flexibility
· 3D accessibility
· Low cost
· Large area coverage
Publications
C. Tsay, Y. Zha, and C. B. Arnold. Solution-processed chalcogenide glass for integrated single-mode mid-infrared waveguides. Opt. Exp. 18, 26744-26753 (2010)
C. Tsay, E. Mujagic, C. K. Madsen, C. Gmachl, and C. B. Arnold. Mid-Infrared characterization of solution processed As2S3 chalcogenide glass waveguides. Opt. Exp. 18, 15523-15530 (2010)
Inventor
Craig Arnold is Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Associate Director of Academic Affairs in the Princeton Institute for Science and Technology of Materials. His research primarily focuses on laser processing and transport in materials with particular emphasis on shaping laser-material interactions. Among many awards and honors Professor Arnold has won are the ONR Young Investigators Award (2005) and NSF Career Award (2006).
Intellectual Property status
Patent protection is pending.