Laser nanolithography and pyrolysis of SZ2080 hybrid for slowing light in 3D photonic crystals

Abstract

In this work we explore a possibility to apply ultrafast 3D laser nanolithography in conjunction with pyrolysis to acquire glass-ceramic 3D structures in micro- and nano-scale. Laser fabrication allows for production of initial 3D structures with relatively small (hundreds nm - mu m) feature sizes out of SZ2080 hybrid material. Then, post-fabrication heating at 600 degrees C in Ar atmosphere decomposes organic part of the material leaving the glass-ceramic component of the hybrid. Resulting structures are uniformly shrunk by 40%. This brings us one step closer to fabricating highly efficient slow-light absorbers.