A research team co-led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has successfully developed a new vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) meta-lens that can generate and focus VUV light, a disruptive technology for the LED market. UV optics.
VUV is used in semiconductor manufacturing, photochemistry and materials science. The focused VUV light source is much needed for nanolithography, materials processing, advanced manufacturing and other industrial areas.
However, it has been costly to work on. VUV with wavelengths between 100 and 200 nanometers (nm), is strongly absorbed by oxygen from the air, and the application of VUV requires a vacuum chamber or other specialized environment. Conventionally, very bulky and expensive systems with special and rare nonlinear crystals are used to generate and focus VUV light.
Limitations and challenges of VUV light application
In addition, virtually all types of glass used for conventional lenses are not suitable for VUV due to their strong absorption in this region. The few VUV-transmissible materials currently used for lenses are comparatively fragile, putting practical limits on the manufacture and design of thin lenses.
To address the above limitations, Professor Tsai Din-ping, a tenured professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering (EE), and Dr. Chen Mu-Ku, an adjunct professor of EE research, have designed and manufactured many of the oxides of zinc in the shape of a triangle 150 nm long. nano-antenna to form a metalens VUV.
“We have developed a meta-lens with intricate nanostructures on a thin film of zinc oxide. It is capable of focusing VUV light. This metal provides a compact method for nonlinear VUV generation and focusing of the light generated, “said Professor Tsai, one of the corresponding authors of the article recently published in the academic journal Science Advances entitled” Nonlinear Metal Ultraviolet Vacuum. “
The new metal VUV with a diameter of 45 micrometers (µm) can convert UV light with a wavelength of 394 nm into VUV light with a wavelength of 197 nm and focuses the VUV light on a small point of less than 2 micrometers in diameter. Tests at Rice University showed a focused light point with an improved power density 21 times.
Technological advancement is revolutionizing the UV optics market
“Our VUV meta-lens is compact, lightweight, efficient and can be mass-produced through a semiconductor electronics manufacturing process. This new and disruptive metadevice could revolutionize conventional VUV optical technology and its market,” he said. Professor Tsai.
The meta-lens allows for a substantial streamlining of VUV system design and facilitates more advanced applications. This work provides a useful platform for developing low-loss VUV components and increasing the accessibility of the VUV regime.
This research is funded by the Area of Excellence (AoE) Project, University Fellowship Committee / Research Fellowship Council of the Hong Kong SAR Government. Professor Tsai is the project coordinator of the AoE project “Meta-optics, meta-acoustics and meta-devices”.
Co-authors of the article include Professor Naomi Halas, Professor Peter Nordlander, Dr. Michael Semmlinger, Dr. Zhang Ming, Catherine Arndt, Dr. Benjamin Cerjan, and Dr. Yang Jian of Rice University; Dr. Tseng Ming-Lun of Yang Ming Chiao Tung National University of Taiwan; Dr. Huang Tzu-Ting and Dr. Chu Cheng-Hung of Academic Sciences in Taiwan; Dr. Kuo Hsin-Yu of Taiwan National University; and Dr. Su Vin-Cent of National United University of Taiwan.
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Materials provided by City University of Hong Kong. Note: Content can be edited by style and length.