The 3D fabrication of glass micro-optics and photonic achitectures using organic materials are limited because of their poor thermal and chemical stability. We are working on high-resolution 3D printing of glass micro-optics and photonic components using commercial ORMOCOMP® hybrid polymers. This solvent-free, thermally stable resin allows to limit the shrinkage between 4 and 6%. With a Direct Laser Writing process at 515 nm we optimize the laser parameters of the printing process and we use 4D-printing by modulating the laser intensity on a transparent photopolymer ORMOCOMP®. Thus, we present photonics architectures such as a core-cladding micro-waveguide.

The controlled growth of WS2/MoS2 heterostructures via Pulsed Laser Deposition, demonstrating scalable fabrication with precise thickness control. Structural characterization reveals successful growth formation and strong interlayer coupling highlighting the potential for advanced electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Photopolymerizable media may undergo light-induced refractive index changes that lead to the production of self-trapped beams. Previous work has shown the ability to produce these self-trapped beams in photopolymerizable media using both coherent and incoherent light sources such as lasers and light emitting diodes (LED’s). Here we describe the use of a commercially available, LED digital projector as a light source for inscribing self-trapped beams. Using a projector coupled with varying focal lengths of collimating lens produces complex ordered and unordered arrays, as well as the ability to manipulate the size of self-trapped beams by an order of magnitude. This inexpensive method allows for generation dynamics studies of varying sizes and geometries of self-trapped beams that would otherwise require expensive and complex optical assemblies.

In this paper, we developed a multistep approach for depositing silicon dioxide (SiO2) cladding layers using TEOS-based PECVD. We deposited the SiO2 layer in multiple thin steps, separated by annealing time at 1000oC, to gradually increase the thickness and avoid cracking. Our results showed that the SiO2 films deposited under different processes had the same stress, and refractive index behavior, as long as the thickness of each step is below a critical thickness (500nm on Si substrate and 300nm on SiO2 substrate); hence, we were able to achieve high coverage and low mechanical stress (-200 MPa) in the deposited SiO2 films. RBS results demonstrated the high quality of our TEOS-based oxide without any contamination, contrary to the nitrogen contamination that exists through the whole thickness of the silane-based SiO2 films. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our TEOS-PECVD process, we integrated the SiO2 cladding layers with silicon nitride (Si3N4) waveguides and the stability of their optical responses at 1550 nm under various annealing steps was confirmed. Our results showed that the SiO2 cladding layers provided effective optical confinement, with optical losses around 0.67 dB/cm suitable for high-performance waveguides operating at 1550 nm.

The near-infrared light range known as the “valley of death” (800-1000 nm) is a desirable optical window for imaging biological tissues; however, falls outside the efficient detection range of commercial photodetectors. We show that using semiconductor-nanowire-metamaterials as a photodetector’s active area can enhance optical absorption and improve overall efficiency across the “valley of death”. Our InGaAs metamaterial photodetector shows near-unity absorptance (93%) across an unprecedented bandwidth (900-1500 nm), and external quantum efficiencies that surpass 100% over the “valley of death”.