TY - GEN

T1 - Integrated optical fluid sensor in glass

AU - Reitz, B.

AU - Leineweber, S.

AU - Overmeyer, L.

N1 - Funding Information: I want to thank LPKF for producing and providing the glass substrates. I would also like to thank my student Ulf Lennart Wüllner for his support in the lab. This research was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy within the Cluster of Excellence PhoenixD (EXC 2122, Project ID 390833453).

PY - 2023/11/29

Y1 - 2023/11/29

N2 - New solutions are required for short-range optical transmission without lithography due to the complex and inflexible manufacturing processes. Glass is an excellent material for optical applications. Still, few microprocessing technologies are available, which are limited in precision and design freedom. A new glass micromachining process called Laser Induced Deep Etching (LIDE) can accurately machine many types of glass without generating micro-cracks, introducing stress, or causing other damage. This study uses LIDE to produce carrier substrates out of glass for integrated optical systems. Due to its transmission characteristics and refractive index, it also functions as optical cladding for integrated polymer optical waveguides. U-shaped cavities are etched into the glass and filled using the doctor-blade technologie with conventional liquid optical polymers, which are then globally cured. This novel manufacturing method is called LDB (LIDE-Doctor-blade). Optical waveguiding in the visible to near-infrared wavelength range is possible by the higher refractive index of the cured polymer. The waveguide is embedded in a near-surface cavity, with no additional upper cladding other than air to the environment, created by a combination of subtractive and additive manufacturing processes. The exposed area can affect transmission quality, and this study purposely exploits this by applying fluids with different properties, such as refractive index and viscosity. Changes in intensity are analyzed and evaluated to demonstrate a sensory function.

AB - New solutions are required for short-range optical transmission without lithography due to the complex and inflexible manufacturing processes. Glass is an excellent material for optical applications. Still, few microprocessing technologies are available, which are limited in precision and design freedom. A new glass micromachining process called Laser Induced Deep Etching (LIDE) can accurately machine many types of glass without generating micro-cracks, introducing stress, or causing other damage. This study uses LIDE to produce carrier substrates out of glass for integrated optical systems. Due to its transmission characteristics and refractive index, it also functions as optical cladding for integrated polymer optical waveguides. U-shaped cavities are etched into the glass and filled using the doctor-blade technologie with conventional liquid optical polymers, which are then globally cured. This novel manufacturing method is called LDB (LIDE-Doctor-blade). Optical waveguiding in the visible to near-infrared wavelength range is possible by the higher refractive index of the cured polymer. The waveguide is embedded in a near-surface cavity, with no additional upper cladding other than air to the environment, created by a combination of subtractive and additive manufacturing processes. The exposed area can affect transmission quality, and this study purposely exploits this by applying fluids with different properties, such as refractive index and viscosity. Changes in intensity are analyzed and evaluated to demonstrate a sensory function.

KW - fluid sensor

KW - Integrated optical system

KW - thin glass

KW - waveguide manufacturing

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85180151292&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1117/12.2683935

DO - 10.1117/12.2683935

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:85180151292

T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

BT - Optifab 2023

A2 - Nelson, Jessica DeGroote

A2 - Unger, Blair

PB - SPIE

T2 - Optifab 2023

Y2 - 16 October 2023 through 19 October 2023

ER -