Towards Two-Photon Polymerization-Compatible Diffractive Optics for Micro-Mechanical Applications

Diffractive optics are structured optical surfaces that manipulate light based on the principles of interference and diffraction. By carefully designing the diffractive optical elements, the amplitude, phase, direction, and polarization of the transmitted and reflected light can be controlled. It is well-known that the propagation of light through diffractive optics is sensitive to changes in their structural parameters. In this study, a numerical analysis is conducted to evaluate the capabilities of slanted-wire diffraction gratings to function opto-mechanically in the infrared spectral range. The slanted wire array is designed such that it is compatible with fabrication by two-photon polymerization, a direct laser-writing approach. The modeled optical and mechanical capabilities of the diffraction grating are presented. The numerical results demonstrate a high sensitivity of the diffracted light to changes in the slant angle of the wires. The compressive force by which desired slant angles may be achieved as a function of the number of wires in the grating is investigated. The ability to fabricate the presented design using two-photon polymerization is supported by the development of a prototype. The results of this study suggest that slanted-wire gratings fabricated using two-photon polymerization may be effective in applications such as tunable beam splitting and micro-mechanical sensing.