First fringes with an integrated-optics beam combiner at 10 <i>μ</i>m

Labadie, Lucas; Martín, G.; Anheier, Norman C.; Arezki, B.; Qiao, Hong; Bernacki, Bruce E.; Kern, P.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201116727

Cited by 24 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…An essential step in order to unleash all of this potential science is to develop integrated optical platforms capable of addressing the technological requirements that each field demands. In this sense, the development of on-chip instruments such as optical sensors, high resolution spectrometers, or sophisticated beam combiners, is currently of high interest for the previous mentioned applications [1,2,5,6,7].Although several MIR two-dimensional (2D) planar schemes have been recently developed [8,9], these are all based on multiple-step surface deposition and processing techniques, which place inherent limits to the device design and capabilities. In this Letter, we report the single-step fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) MIR photonic circuits inside chalcogenide glass, by means of ultrashort-pulse direct laser writing (DLW) [10][11][12][13][14].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Although several MIR two-dimensional (2D) planar schemes have been recently developed [8,9], these are all based on multiple-step surface deposition and processing techniques, which place inherent limits to the device design and capabilities. In this Letter, we report the single-step fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) MIR photonic circuits inside chalcogenide glass, by means of ultrashort-pulse direct laser writing (DLW) [10][11][12][13][14].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Near-field mode imaging of all device outputs was performed using forward looking infrared (FLIR) cameras. Two beam interferometric tests were performed in both monochromatic (10.6 µm) and broadband (3-11 µm) configurations using a Michelson interferometer setup coupled to the CO2 laser and a black body source, as described elsewhere [9].…”

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Three-dimensional mid-infrared photonic circuits in chalcogenide glass

et al. 2012

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We report the fabrication of single mode buried channel waveguides for the whole mid-infrared transparency range of chalcogenide sulphide glasses (λ ≤ 11 µm), by means of direct laser writing. We have explored the potential of this technology by fabricating a prototype three-dimensional three-beam combiner for future application in stellar interferometry, which delivers a monochromatic interference visibility of 99.89% at 10.6 µm, and an ultrahigh bandwidth (3-11 µm) interference visibility of 21.3%. These results demonstrate that it is possible to harness the whole transparency range offered by chalcogenide glasses on a single on-chip instrument by means of direct laser writing, a finding that may be of key significance in future technologies such as astrophotonics and biochemical sensing. . An essential step in order to unleash all of this potential science is to develop integrated optical platforms capable of addressing the technological requirements that each field demands. In this sense, the development of on-chip instruments such as optical sensors, high resolution spectrometers, or sophisticated beam combiners, is currently of high interest for the previous mentioned applications [1,2,5,6,7].Although several MIR two-dimensional (2D) planar schemes have been recently developed [8,9], these are all based on multiple-step surface deposition and processing techniques, which place inherent limits to the device design and capabilities. In this Letter, we report the single-step fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) MIR photonic circuits inside chalcogenide glass, by means of ultrashort-pulse direct laser writing (DLW) [10][11][12][13][14]. We show that the MIR waveguide cores can be tailored in both size and refractive index, and can also be spatially positioned at will inside the material, making the chip extremely robust against mechanical stress, vibrations, humidity, and temperature changes [11]. Moreover, we also evidence that the useful range of these DLW waveguides is, as suspected [12], ultimately limited by the transparency range of the material used, and not by the fabrication technique.In this work, high quality research and commercial chalcogenide sulphide glasses were used, both of which are free of highly toxic arsenic compounds. These glasses were commercial GaLaS (here after GLS) [14] and the research composition 75GeS2-15Ga2S3-4CsI-2Sb2S3-4SnS (here after GCIS) [15]. The MIR transmission upper limit of commercial GLS is known to be ~10 µm [14], while for GCIS we measured a slightly higher transmission upper limit of ~11 µm, as it is shown in Figure 1(a).

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Three-dimensional mid-infrared photonic circuits in chalcogenide glass

et al. 2012

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“…These integrated optical‐fibre devices enable the miniaturization and simplification of the instrument without losing robustness and significantly reducing the instrument cost. These are advantages common to many other recent developments in the field of astrophotonics such as the miniature integrated photonic spectrograph (Cvetojevic et al 2012), photonic beam combiners (Labadie et al 2011) and on‐chip pupil re‐mapping for optical stellar interferometry (Jovanovic et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fibre Bragg gratings for high spectral and temporal resolution astronomical observations

Mariën

Jovanović

Cvetojevic

et al. 2012

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Dynamic spectral analysis of astronomical events has the potential to deliver the information needed to clarify or complete important theoretical descriptions of astronomical phenomena. There is currently a lack of detailed sub‐minute observations due to limitations in instruments and detectors. Here, we present an investigation into the feasibility of using fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs) as single‐line spectral filters specifically for temporal spectral astronomy, attaining both a high spectral and fast temporal resolution simultaneously. We present the device concept and discuss it in the context of two readily available FBG profiles. We demonstrate that this instrument concept could resolve spectral shifts down to 0.02 nm (3.9 km s−1) with sub‐second temporal resolution on a 4‐m class telescope, which is far superior to existing techniques that attain resolutions of 0.05 nm over several minutes.

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“…Using fluorozirconate ZBLAN glass transparent from 0.2 µm to 5 µm, single-mode channel waveguides with 0.3 dB/cm losses and evanescent couplers over the spectral range of 3.75−4.2 µm were laser-inscribed by . The laser inscription technique has also been used to manufacture proof-of-concept IO combiners in chalcogenide glass, with reported losses on the order of 1 dB/cm (Labadie et al 2011;Ródenas et al 2012;Arriola et al 2014). In all the cases mentioned above, neither high interferometric contrasts nor a detailed investigation of the differential birefringence and dispersion were reported.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated optics prototype beam combiner for long baseline interferometry in the L and M bands

Tepper

Labadie

Diener

et al. 2017

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Context. Optical long baseline interferometry is a unique way to study astronomical objects at milli-arcsecond resolutions not attainable with current single-dish telescopes. Yet, the significance of its scientfic return strongly depends on a dense coverage of the uv-plane and a highly stable transfer function of the interferometric instrument. In the last few years, integrated optics (IO) beam combiners have facilitated the emergence of 4-telescope interferometers such as PIONIER or GRAVITY, boosting the imaging capabilities of the VLTI. However, the spectral range beyond 2.2 µm is not ideally covered by the conventional silica based IO. Here, we consider new laser-written IO prototypes made of gallium lanthanum sulfide (GLS) glass, a material that permits access to the mid-infrared spectral regime. Aims. Our goal is to conduct a full characterization of our mid-IR IO two-telescope coupler in order to measure the performance levels directly relevant for long-baseline interferometry. We focus in particular on the exploitation of the L and M astronomical bands. Methods. We use a dedicated Michelson-interferometer setup to perform Fourier transform spectroscopy on the coupler and measure its broadband interferometric performance. We also analyze the polarization properties of the coupler, the differential dispersion and phase degradation, as well as the modal behavior and the total throughput. Results. We measure broadband interferometric contrasts of 94.9% and 92.1% for unpolarized light in the L and M bands. Spectrally integrated splitting ratios are close to 50%, but show chromatic dependence over the considered bandwidths. Additionally, the phase variation due to the combiner is measured and does not exceed 0.04 rad and 0.07 rad across the L and M band, respectively. The total throughput of the coupler including Fresnel and injection losses from free-space is 25.4%. Furthermore, differential birefringence is low (<0.2 rad), in line with the high contrasts reported for unpolarized light. Conclusions. The laser-written IO GLS prototype combiners prove to be a reliable technological solution with promising performance for mid-infrared long-baseline interferometry. In the next steps, we will consider more advanced optical functions, as well as a fiberfed input, and we will revise the optical design parameters in order to further enhance the total throughput and achromatic behavior.

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First fringes with an integrated-optics beam combiner at 10 μm

Cited by 24 publications

References 31 publications

Three-dimensional mid-infrared photonic circuits in chalcogenide glass

Three-dimensional mid-infrared photonic circuits in chalcogenide glass

Fibre Bragg gratings for high spectral and temporal resolution astronomical observations

Integrated optics prototype beam combiner for long baseline interferometry in the L and M bands

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