High-performance axicon lenses based on high-contrast, multilayer gratings
Open accessAbstract
Axicon lenses are versatile optical elements that can convert Gaussian beams to Bessel-like beams. In this letter, we demonstrate that axicons operating with high efficiencies and at large angles can be produced using high-contrast, multilayer gratings made from silicon. Efficient beam deflection of incident monochromatic light is enabled by higher-order optical modes in the silicon structure. Compared to diffractive devices made from low-contrast materials such as silicon dioxide, our multilayer devices have a relatively low spatial profile, reducing shadowing effects and enabling high efficiencies at large deflection angles. In addition, the feature sizes of these structures are relatively large, making the fabrication of near-infrared devices accessible with conventional optical lithography. Experimental lenses with deflection angles as large as 40° display field profiles that agree well with theory. Our concept can be used to design optical elements that produce higher-order Bessel-like beams, and the combination of high-contrast materials with multilayer architectures will more generally enable new classes of diffractive photonic structures.
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Patterning, thin-film etching, lift-off, and additive manufacturing all introduce inevitable geometric deviations between experimental devices and ideal, theoretical designs.
“Patterning [25–27], thin-film etching, lift-off, and additive manufacturing [28] all introduce inevitable geometric deviations between experimental devices and ideal, theoretical designs.”
From Robust design of topology-optimized metasurfaces (2019) · cites this paper as [27]
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- Authors
- Doshay, S., Sell, D., Yang, J., Yang, R., & Fan, J. A.
- Affiliations
- Stanford University (US)
- Venue
- APL Photonics
- Publisher
- AIP Publishing
- Published
- 2018-01-01
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 2378-0967 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2783158515
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 0.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- APL Photonics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- DOD | United States Navy | Office of Naval Research (N00014-16-1-2630)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials › Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Applications
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Advanced optical system design
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Photonic and Optical Devices
- Keywords
- multilayer gratings, high-contrast gratings, silicon photonics, Bessel beams, Gaussian beam conversion, beam deflection, diffractive optical elements, shadowing
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