Hybrid sol-gel planar optics for astronomy

Opt Express. 2009 Feb 2;17(3):1970-5. doi: 10.1364/oe.17.001970.

Abstract

Hybrid sol-gel planar optics devices for astronomy are produced for the first time. This material system can operate from the visible (0.5 microm) up to the edge of astronomical J-band (1.4 microm). The design, fabrication and characterization results of a coaxial three beam combiner are given as an example. Fringe contrasts above 94% are obtained with a source with spectral bandwidth of 50 nm. These results demonstrate that hybrid sol-gel technology can produce devices with high quality, opening the possibility of rapid prototyping of new designs and concepts for astronomical applications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't