2017 conference paper
Actuated polymer based dielectric mirror for visual spectral range applications
Nanoengineering: Fabrication, Properties, Optics, and Devices XIV.
author keywords: photonic crystals; dielectric mirrors; fabrication; polymers; free standing; reflectance
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
(OpenAlex)
Source: ORCID
Added: March 3, 2020
Miniature dielectric mirrors are useful components for lasers, thin film beam splitters and high quality mirrors in optics. These mirrors usually made from rigid inorganic materials can achieve a reflectance of almost one hundred percent. Being structural components, as soon as fabricated their reflectance and/or bandwidth remains constant. Here it is presented a novel fabrication process of a dielectric mirror based on free standing polymer layers. By applying an electrostatic force between the top and the bottom layers the reflectance can be changed. The large difference between the polymers refractive index and the air allows to achieve a reflectance of more than 85% using only six pairs of nanolayers. Preliminary simulations indicate an actuation speed of less than 1ms. Experimental optical characterization of fabricated structures agrees well with simulation results. Furthermore, structures can be designed to reflect a particular set of colors and/or isolated by using color filters, so a color pixel is fabricated, where the reflectance for each isolated color can be voltage controlled. Potential applications include an active component in a reflective screen display.