Diffraction grating with suppressed zero order fabricated using dielectric forces.

ABSTRACT

An electric-field-assisted method to produce diffractive optical devices is demonstrated. A uniform film of liquid UV curable resin was produced as a drying ring from an organic solvent. Dielectrophoresis forces maintained the stability of the thin film and also imprinted a periodic corrugation deformation of pitch 20 µm on the film surface. Continuous in situ voltage-controlled adjustment of the optical diffraction pattern was carried out simultaneously with UV curing. A fully cured solid phase grating was produced with the particular voltage-selected tailored optical property that the zero transmitted order was suppressed for laser light at 633 nm.