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Isotropic contractive scaling of laser written microstructures in vitrified aerogels

Isotropic contractive scaling of laser written microstructures in vitrified aerogels
Isotropic contractive scaling of laser written microstructures in vitrified aerogels
A novel route is presented enabling minimization of feature sizes via laser ablative micro-patterning in highly porous silica aerogel monoliths and subsequent viscous sintering. Vitrification yields isotropically contracted silica solids preserving their original stereometric forms. The contraction depends on aerogel structure and porosity and we demonstrate here the first realization of a 3:1 ratio. Surface relief and void micropatterns inscribed in the monolith also undergo isotropic contraction and feature minimization beyond the spatial resolution of their original recording. Experimental results provide clear evidence that embedded void structures undergo contraction larger than the nominal stereometric scaling. This is a demonstration of a generic principle that enables fundamental physical resolution limits to be surpassed, leading to new avenues in micro- and nano-fabrication technologies.
3814-3825
Vainos, Nikolaos A.
3288f903-d80b-4b39-9042-26106eb3f064
Karoutsos, Vagelis
64e29fc1-d119-4454-a4de-0f0572cde8bf
Mills, Ben
05f1886e-96ef-420f-b856-4115f4ab36d0
Eason, Robert W.
e38684c3-d18c-41b9-a4aa-def67283b020
Prassas, Michel
5811d39e-a848-44c3-945d-4541e80b4666
Vainos, Nikolaos A.
3288f903-d80b-4b39-9042-26106eb3f064
Karoutsos, Vagelis
64e29fc1-d119-4454-a4de-0f0572cde8bf
Mills, Ben
05f1886e-96ef-420f-b856-4115f4ab36d0
Eason, Robert W.
e38684c3-d18c-41b9-a4aa-def67283b020
Prassas, Michel
5811d39e-a848-44c3-945d-4541e80b4666

Vainos, Nikolaos A., Karoutsos, Vagelis, Mills, Ben, Eason, Robert W. and Prassas, Michel (2016) Isotropic contractive scaling of laser written microstructures in vitrified aerogels. Optical Materials Express, 6 (12), 3814-3825. (doi:10.1364/OME.6.003814).

Record type: Article

Abstract

A novel route is presented enabling minimization of feature sizes via laser ablative micro-patterning in highly porous silica aerogel monoliths and subsequent viscous sintering. Vitrification yields isotropically contracted silica solids preserving their original stereometric forms. The contraction depends on aerogel structure and porosity and we demonstrate here the first realization of a 3:1 ratio. Surface relief and void micropatterns inscribed in the monolith also undergo isotropic contraction and feature minimization beyond the spatial resolution of their original recording. Experimental results provide clear evidence that embedded void structures undergo contraction larger than the nominal stereometric scaling. This is a demonstration of a generic principle that enables fundamental physical resolution limits to be surpassed, leading to new avenues in micro- and nano-fabrication technologies.

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Accepted/In Press date: 24 September 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 November 2016
Published date: December 2016
Organisations: Optoelectronics Research Centre

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 402791
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/402791
PURE UUID: e7223d77-0031-4437-b751-a17eada2e3a6
ORCID for Ben Mills: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1784-1012
ORCID for Robert W. Eason: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9704-2204

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 Nov 2016 16:05
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:38

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Contributors

Author: Nikolaos A. Vainos
Author: Vagelis Karoutsos
Author: Ben Mills ORCID iD
Author: Robert W. Eason ORCID iD
Author: Michel Prassas

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