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Kurzfassung

The task of the invention is to achieve high optical reflectivities and strong photonic confinement by polymer-air layer systems with high refractive index contrast.

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Hintergrund

The invention presented herein comprises polymerbased Bragg mirrors which have one or more internal substructures being different from the main structure of the Bragg mirror. These substructures ("microcavities") may have a different geometrical orientation or variation of the polymer layers/structures within them or may be filled with a different optical medium between the polymer layers. - Or they may exert even both ways of variation of the substructure in combination.

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Bilder & Videos

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Problemstellung

By substructuring Bragg mirrors in such ways, it becomes possible to modulate an oncoming electromagnetic wave front regionally or spectrally in different ways at once, for example splitting it up into different sub-rays and leading them out of the Bragg mirror into different directions or reflecting and transmitting desired spectral components according to specific sequence modulation designs. Because the polymer layers are to some degree flexible, the optical properties can also be modulated by pressure, providing modulable mirrors/cavities.

 

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Lösung

Manufacturing of these substructred modulable Bragg mirrors is done via 3D nanoprinting, applying the method of two-photon absorption. By doing so, a precise control of the geometry of the polymer micrometer layers is achieved. By performing the sequential printing steps within a gas-tight housing, different gas atmosphere configurations within cavities of such structure can be variably targeted during manufacturing, promising different media enclosable within such photonic Bragg mirrors.

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Vorteile

Sensors being based on the modulable Bragg mirrors are being able to be read out optically, whereat the passive sensor needs no locally-integrated power supply.

The optical Bragg mirrors may be used as disposable filters/sensors/detectors/endoscope tips in medical diagnosis.

Modulating of an electromagnetic wave front can be achieved on a very small geometrical scale by propagation through structured internal regions, thus promising more compact optical data processing capabilities.

 

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Anwendungsbereiche

The Bragg mirrors can be applied in many different areas, for example as:

Sensing device for measurement of the surrounding environment. These Bragg mirror-sensors need no electric supply, for the influence of the surrounding environment is exerted without need of electricity and the read-out is also achieved from a feasible distance via laser radiation directed towards the Bragg mirror sensor and analysis of the reflected photons.

Disposable end facettes of endoscopes in medical diagnostics with light.

Optic device for fine-structured modulation of optic beam packages over the cross section of the electromagnetic wave front through internal substructures.

Broadband, narrowband or multispectral photonic mirror/filter from modulated layer and/or cavity sequences.