초록 ▼

An optical filter includes a dielectric layer formed within a resonant optical cavity, with the dielectric layer having formed therein a sub-wavelength periodic structure to define, at least in part, a wavelength for transmission of light through the resonant optical cavity. The sub-wavelength perio

An optical filter includes a dielectric layer formed within a resonant optical cavity, with the dielectric layer having formed therein a sub-wavelength periodic structure to define, at least in part, a wavelength for transmission of light through the resonant optical cavity. The sub-wavelength periodic structure can be formed either by removing material from the dielectric layer (e.g. by etching through an electron-beam defined mask), or by altering the composition of the layer (e.g. by ion implantation). Different portions of the dielectric layer can be patterned to form one or more optical interference filter elements having different light transmission wavelengths so that the optical filter can filter incident light according to wavelength and/or polarization. For some embodiments, the optical filter can include a detector element in optical alignment with each optical interference filter element to quantify or measure the filtered light for analysis thereof. The optical filter has applications to spectrometry, colorimetry, and chemical sensing.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] An optical filter for filtering incident light, comprising:at least one filter element, with each filter element further havinga dielectric layer with a sub-wavelength periodic structure formed therein to provide an effective index of refraction for the dielectric layer t

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] An optical filter for filtering incident light, comprising:at least one filter element, with each filter element further havinga dielectric layer with a sub-wavelength periodic structure formed therein to provide an effective index of refraction for the dielectric layer that is different from the index of refraction of a material forming the dielectric layer for defining, at least in part, a predetermined center wavelength for transmission of the incident light; andmirrors above and below the dielectric layer to form an optical cavity thereabout.