Abstract
So far, nanostructuring of hard optical crystals has been exclusively limited to their surface, as stress-induced crack formation and propagation render high-precision volume processes ineffective1,2. Here, we show that the rate of nanopore chemical etching in the popular laser crystals yttrium aluminium garnet and sapphire can be enhanced by more than five orders of magnitude (from <0.6 nm h−1 to ~100 µm h−1) by the use of direct laser writing, before etching. The process makes it possible to produce arbitrary three-dimensional nanostructures with 100 nm feature sizes inside centimetre-scale laser crystals without brittle fracture. To showcase the potential of the technique we fabricate subwavelength diffraction gratings and nanostructured optical waveguides in yttrium aluminium garnet and millimetre-long nanopores in sapphire. The approach offers a pathway for transferring concepts from nanophotonics to the fields of solid-state lasers and crystal optics.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 105–109 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Nature Photonics |
Volume | 13 |
Early online date | 31 Dec 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Feb 2019 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
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Profiles
-
Ajoy Kumar Kar
- School of Engineering & Physical Sciences, Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences - Professor
- School of Engineering & Physical Sciences - Professor
Person: Academic (Research & Teaching)