Fabrication of a Polymeric Planar Nano-diffraction Grating with Nonuniform Pitch for an Integrated Spectrometer Module

Abstract

This paper presents the design and fabrication of a planar nano-diffraction grating for an integrated miniature spectrometer module. The proposed planar nano-diffraction grating consists of nonuniform periods, to focus the reflected beams from the grating's surface, and an asymmetrical V-shaped groove profile, to provide uniform diffraction efficiency in the wavelength range from 400 to 650 nm. Also, to fabricate the nano-diffraction grating using low-cost UV-NIL technology, we analyzed the FT-IR spectrum of a uvcurable resin and optimized the conditions for the UV curing process. Then, we precisely fabricated the polymeric nano-diffraction grating within 5 nm in dimensional accuracy. The integrated spectrometer module using the fabricated polymeric planar nanodiffraction grating provides spectral resolution of 5 nm and spectral bandwidth of 250 nm. Our integrated spectrometer module using a polymeric planar nano-diffraction grating serves as a quick and easy solution for many spectrometric applications.