Void channel microstructures in resin solids as an efficient way to infrared photonic crystals

Microvoid channels were generated by local melting in a solidified polymer resin sample moving perpendicular to the focus of a high numerical-aperture objective under visible femtosecond-pulsed illumination. Channel size, surface quality, and high density channel vicinity depended on laser intensity and scanning speed. Electron microscope images revealed elliptical channel cross sections of 0.7–1.3 μm in lateral diameter and an elongation in the focusing direction of approximately 50%. A 20 layer woodpile-type photonic crystal structure with a 1.7 μm layer spacing and a 1.8 μm in-plane channel spacing provided a sharp peak in reflection and a suppression of infrared transmission in the stacking direction by 85% at wavelength 4.8 μm with a gap/midgap ratio of 0.11.

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