Machinable ceramic for high performance and compact THz optical components

Klein, Andreas K.; Hammler, Jonathan; Balocco, Claudio; Gallant, Andrew J.

Abstract

The properties of Shapal Hi-M Soft, an aluminum nitride based ceramic, as a material for THz optical components are investigated and compared with other ceramic materials. Shapal is a low-cost and machinable ceramic with a high-refractive index and low losses at THz frequencies: n = 2.65, α = 0.4 cm−1. To demonstrate the shaping capabilities, a Fresnel lens is fabricated with a micro-milling system. Additionally, a prism as an example of a bulk component is demonstrated. Both a THz time domain spectrometer and a vector network analyzer (0.75–1.1 THz) are used for the optical characterization and the absorption coefficient is precisely obtained in the VNA frequency range.

Citation

Klein, A. K., Hammler, J., Balocco, C., & Gallant, A. J. (2018). Machinable ceramic for high performance and compact THz optical components. Optical Materials Express, 8(7), 1968-1975. https://doi.org/10.1364/ome.8.001968

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 18, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jun 26, 2018
• Publication Date: Jun 26, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jun 21, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 29, 2018
• Journal: Optical Materials Express
• Electronic ISSN: 2159-3930
• Publisher: Optica
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 1968-1975
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/ome.8.001968
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1328369