Low-stray-light concave holographic gratings processed by combining the methods of photoresist hot-melting and oxygen-ion ashing.

The principal motivation for this paper is to reduce stray light and line roughness in concave holographic gratings (CHG). Compared with other previously reported line-smoothing grating techniques such as dynamic-exposure near-field holography, we successfully improve the line smoothing of CHG to approximately 10 nm from 2 nm. Our method uses optimization technologies and a combination of photoresist hot-melting (PHM) and oxygen-ion ashing (OIA), thereby improving the degree of stray light before and after optimization by one order of magnitude; the level processed by OIA, PHM, and OIA successively is ${7.85} \times {{10}^{ - 5}}$7.85×10-5. Combining the two technologies, we achieve lower stray light and straighter groove lines for the concave gratings, which is more effective, easy to implement, and incurs a low cost.

Two-dimensional stretchable blazed wavelength-tunable grating based on PDMS.

This paper reports a two-dimensional stretchable blazed wavelength-tunable grating based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). In the elastic range, stretch the grating along (Y-axis) and perpendicular to (X-axis) the grating line, fix the position of the +1st-order spot to maintain the grating period, and only change the groove angle to tune the blazed wavelength. By stretching the grating up to 20% of the Y-axis, and 5.2% of the X-axis, the groove angle is reduced by 1.33°, and the blazed wavelength of the first-order diffraction shifts toward the short-wave direction by 42.3 nm. The sensitivity of a spectrometer can be enhanced by tuning the blazed wavelength of the PDMS grating to the wavelength of the spectrum peak under observation in the bands from 460.8 nm to 503.1 nm.

Analytical design of a high-performing +1st order diffraction convex grating imaging spectrometer.

A novel concentric spectrometer having one convex grating and one concave mirror, working at ${+}{1}$+1st order diffraction, and with a small size, high resolution, and high diffraction efficiency, is proposed. It can simultaneously achieve high resolution and compactness by increasing the grating groove density. A compact spectrometer operating at a wavelength of 740-790 nm with an excellent imaging quality is designed. Its spectral resolution reaches 0.049 nm, and its diffraction efficiency improves by 27% compared to the conventional Offner spectrometer with convex grating working at ${-}{1}$-1st order diffraction. This is suitable for small, light, and low-cost atmospheric gas monitoring satellites.

Optimized multielement accommodative intraocular lens with a four-freeform-surface Alvarez lens and a separate aspheric lens.

This paper proposes an accommodative intraocular lens (IOL), which consists of a two-element Alvarez lens and an aspheric lens for changing focal power and refractive power, respectively. The four-freeform-surface Alvarez lens is optimized for a multiple field of view; further, the aspheric lens also corrects the aberrations induced by the corneal asphericity of the human eye over the whole range of accommodation. A simulation using optical design software demonstrates its excellent performance in that the values of the modulation transfer function at 100 cycles/mm all reach ∼0.4 with a ±5° field of view for 3 and 5 mm pupils.

Multifacet echelle grating for intensity broadening on spectral plane fabricated by rotating ion-beam etching.

This paper describes a new type of multifacet echelle grating (MFEG) for use in an echelle spectrometer. This new type of echelle grating broadens the spectral distribution on the spectral plane. We built a geometric model of MFEG to analyze the influence of the blaze angle and number of facet shapes on the spectral evolution. A dual-facet echelle grating and a four-facet echelle grating with different parameters were fabricated by rotating ion-beam etching with a self-shadowing rotating mask, based on the existing single-facet echelle grating (SFEG) with a line density of 52.7 g/mm and a blaze angle of 63.5°. The distributions of diffraction efficiency for different orders were measured with a He-Ne laser (632.8 nm); furthermore, these echelle gratings were applied in an echelle spectrometer (ICP-OES, Plasma2000), and testing spectra were obtained. The experimental results demonstrate that the MFEG can broaden the intensity distribution on the spectral plane, overcoming the weak spectral margin signal of SFEG spectrometers.

[The research of UV-responsive sensitivity enhancement of fluorescent coating films by MgF2 layer].

A low cost and less complicated expansion approach of wavelength responses with a Lumogen phosphor coating was adopted, as they increased the quantum efficiency of CCD and CMOS detectors in ultra-violet by absorbing UV light and then re emitting visible light. In this paper, the sensitivity enhancement of fluorescence coatings was studied by adding an anti-reflection film or barrier film to reduce the loss of the scattering and reflection on the incident interface. The Lumogen and MgF2/Lumogen film were deposited on quartz glasses by physical vacuum deposition. The surface morphology, transmittance spectrum, reflectance spectrum and fluorescence emission spectrum were obtained by atomic force microscope (AFM), spectrophotometer and fluorescence spectrometer, respectively. The results indicated that MgF2 film had obvious positive effect on reducing scattering and reflection loss in 500-700 nm, and enhancing the absorption of Lumogen coating in ultraviolet spectrum. Meanwhile, the fluorescent emission intensity had a substantial increase by smoothing the film surface and thus reducing the light scattering. At the same time, the MgF2 layer could protect Lumogen coating from damaging and contamination, which give a prolong lifetime of the UV-responsive CCD sensors with fluorescent coatings.

[Preparation by spin-coating technology and characterization of UV-enhanced Lumogen film].

As an effective way to increase the UV response for CCD/CMOS, the advantage of the Lumogen film is the simple process and low cost. In the present paper the Lumogen film was deposited onto fused silica slides by the spin-coating way, which has less damage than PVD physical vacuum deposition) way. The main test and analysis of the thin-film include transmission spectrum, absorption spectrum, and excitation and emission spectrum. It was showed that these coatings were transmitted well in visible region (lambda > 400 nm), and emitted a yellowish green glow centered at -525 nm together with a wide excitation spectrum range from 200 to 400 nm. The synthesis shows that Lumogen coatings match accurately with the detected spectrum of conventional silicon-based image sensors, which makes this kind of thin films an ultraviolet responsive coating for sensors.

[Preparation and spectral characterization of Lumogen coatings for UV-responsive CCD image sensors].

Traditional charge-coupled devices (usually front-illuminated CCDs) and complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) have lower response in ultraviolet region particularly. The reason is that polysilicon gate material absorbs the ultraviolet radiation highly, which leads to a barricade of the radiation penetrating the gate to the channel of CCD. To enhance the detective responsibility of CCD in the ultraviolet region, a feasible method is to coat the surface of CCD polysilicon gate with a thin film. The thin film should have the ability of converting the ultraviolet to visible in order to enable the UV radiation to "penetrate" the polysilicon gate. An organic coating to convert the UV radiation to visible has been developed in the present paper. Lumogen thin films were deposited on fused silica substrates by vacuum evaporation of an organic dye called Lumogen Yellow S0790. Analysis of organic functional groups was used to study the luminescence mechanism of Lumogen. The optical constants of coatings were calculated by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The results indicate that Lumogen exhibits photoluminescence continuously owing to four kinds of double bonds in each Lumogen molecule. The refractive index of Lumogen film was approximately 1.3, which indicates that this film could be considered an antireflection coating. Finally, the spectral properties of Lumogen coatings were characterized by transmission, absorption, photoluminescence emission, and excitation spectra. It is showed that these coatings were transmitted well in visible region (lambda > 470 nm), and emitted a yellowish green glow centered at approximately 523 nm together with a wide excitation spectrum field from 240 nm to 490 nm. The synthesis shows that Lumogen coatings match accurately with the detected spectrum of conventional silicon-based image sensors, which makes this kind of thin films an ultraviolet responsive coating for sensors.

[Investigation of multi-wavelength effect during the measurement of UV-enhanced film's emission spectrum].

The UV-responsive detector is a dual-use device for civilian and military after the laser and IR-responsive sensors. Typical image sensor coated with a layer of down-convert frequency thin film on it's photosurface to enhance UV response is the key technology of enhancing UV-response. The UV-enhanced thin film was made in the experimental laboratory using the Zn2SiO4:Mn phosphor by spin coating method. Two peaks at 520 and 560 nm respectively in the emission spectrum of the UV-enhanced film were found by SP1702 spectrograph when the excitation wavelength was 260 and 280 nm. The peaks were found in the process of experiment of measuring and counting the quantum efficiency of UV-enhanced thin film. But the light peaks at 520 and 560 nm are not the emission light peaks by the exciting light of 260 and 280 nm. The reason why the light at 520 and 560 nm is not the emission light was analyzed based on the measurement principle of grating spectrograph. The reasons for the multi-wavelength of light overlaps during the measurement of emission spectrum were also discussed. And the equipment used to separate the overlapped different wavelengths was designed, which will be used to resolve the problem of the overlap of multi-wavelength.

Preparation of high laser induced damage threshold antireflection film using interrupted ion assisted deposition.

Single layers and antireflection films were deposited by electron beam evaporation, ion assisted deposition and interrupted ion assisted deposition, respectively. Antireflection film of quite high laser damage threshold (18J/cm2) deposited by interrupted ion assisted deposition were got. The electric field distribution, weak absorption, and residual stress of films and their relations to damage threshold were investigated. It was shown that the laser induced damage threshold of film was the result of competition of disadvantages and advantages, and interrupted ion assisted deposition was one of the valuable methods for preparing high laser induced damage threshold films.