Using tunable lasers in the design, manufacture, and implementation of integrated optical elements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016258741-A1
Application number	US-201314408354-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 19, 2013
Priority date	Dec 19, 2013
Publication date	Sep 8, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods that use a tunable laser during optical thin-film fabrication. One disclosed system includes a tunable laser capable of generating electromagnetic radiation, one or more thin-film devices arranged to receive the electromagnetic radiation, each thin-film device including one or more optical layers deposited on a corresponding substrate and configured to generate optically interacted radiation upon receiving the electromagnetic radiation, and an optical transducer arranged to receive the optically interacted radiation from each of the one or more thin-film devices and configured to generate output signals corresponding to the optically interacted radiation received from each of the one or more thin-film devices.

First claim

1 . A system, comprising:
a tunable laser capable of generating electromagnetic radiation; one or more thin-film devices arranged to receive the electromagnetic radiation, each thin-film device including one or more optical layers deposited on a corresponding substrate and configured to generate optically interacted radiation upon receiving the electromagnetic radiation; and an optical transducer arranged to receive the optically interacted radiation from each of the one or more thin-film devices and configured to generate output signals corresponding to the optically interacted radiation received from each of the one or more thin-film devices.

2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a polarizer configured to receive and polarize the electromagnetic radiation.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more thin-film devices are optical thin-films.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the optical thin-films are integrated computational elements.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the tunable laser further comprises an optical parametric oscillator.

6 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an intensity filter arranged in an optical path between the tunable laser and the optical transducer.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more thin-film devices are arranged on an assembly.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the assembly is capable of moving relative to the source and detector in at least one direction in order to expose the one or more thin-films devices to the electromagnetic radiation.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more thin-film devices are arranged within a fabrication housing.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the fabrication housing further includes one or more sample windows configured to allow the electromagnetic radiation and optically interacted radiation to pass therethrough.

11 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a signal processor configured to receive the output signals and determine one or more parameters corresponding to the one or more thin-film devices.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the signal processor includes a machine-readable storage medium that includes at least one model or data set capable of correlating amplitude and phase data of optically interacted radiation to refractive indices, and wherein the signal processor is configured to determine the one or more parameters by comparing the output signals with the at least one model or data set.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the signal processor is further configured to output a resulting output signal indicative of the one or more parameters of the one or more thin-film devices.

14 . A method, comprising:
generating electromagnetic radiation from a tunable laser; receiving the electromagnetic radiation with one or more thin-film devices, each of the one or more thin-film devices including one or more optical layers deposited on a corresponding substrate; generating optically interacted radiation from each of the one or more thin-film devices upon receiving the electromagnetic radiation; receiving the optically interacted radiation with an optical transducer; and generating output signals with the optical transducer corresponding to the optically interacted radiation received from each of the one or more thin-film devices.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising receiving and polarizing the electromagnetic radiation with a polarizer.

16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising tuning the electromagnetic radiation with an optical parametric oscillator associated with the tunable laser.

17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising reducing an intensity of the electromagnetic radiation or the optically interacted radiation with an intensity filter arranged in an optical path between the tunable laser and the optical transducer.

18 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
receiving the output signals with a signal processor communicably coupled to the optical transducer, the signal processor comprising a machine-readable storage medium including at least one model or data set correlating amplitude and phase data of optically interacted radiation to refractive indices; determining one or more parameters of each thin-film device with the signal processor based on the output signals and the at least one model or data set correlating amplitude and phase data of optically interacted radiation to refractive indices; and generating resulting output signals from the signal processor corresponding to the one or more parameters.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein determining the one or more parameters of each thin-film device comprises determining an amplitude and a phase of the optically interacted radiation.

20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein determining the one or more parameters of each thin-film device comprises determining a refractive index of the one or more optical layers by comparing the output signals to the at least one model or data set of the machine-readable storage medium.

21 . The method of claim 18 , wherein determining the one or more parameters of each thin-film device comprises determining a thickness of the one or more optical layers of the one or more thin-film devices.

22 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
scanning a spectrum of wavelengths with the tunable laser and thereby altering the output signals; receiving the altered output signals correlating to the scanned spectrum with the signal processor; and storing at least a portion of the altered output signals as one of the one or more models or data sets.

23 . A system, comprising:
a tunable laser capable of generating electromagnetic radiation; a fluid within a flow path and configured to optically interact with the electromagnetic radiation, thereby generating optically interacted radiation; one or more thin-film devices arranged to receive the optically interacted radiation, each thin-film device including one or more optical layers deposited on a corresponding substrate and configured to generate modified electromagnetic radiation upon optically interacting with the optically interacted radiation; and an optical transducer arranged to receive the modified electromagnetic radiation from each of the one or more thin-film devices and configured to generate corresponding output signals therefrom.

24 . A system, comprising:
a tunable laser capable of generating electromagnetic radiation; a fluid within a flow path and configured to optically interact with the electromagnetic radiation, thereby generating optically interacted radiation; an optical element configured to interact with the electromagnetic radiation and thereby generate reduced intensity electromagnetic radiation; an optical transducer arranged to receive at the optically interacted radiation and generate a corresponding first output signal, and further configured to receive the reduced intensity electromagnetic radiation and generate a corresponding second output signal; and a signal processor configured to receive the first and second output signals from the optical transducer and determine a characteristic of the fluid based on the first and second output signals.

25 . The system of claim 24 , wherein the optical element is an interference filter.

Assignees

• Halliburton Energy Services Inc

Inventors

• Perkins David L

Classifications

• G01J4/04

  Polarimeters using electric detection means (G01J4/02 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01S3/1083

  using parametric generation · CPC title

• H01S3/13

  Stabilisation of laser output parameters, e.g. frequency or amplitude · CPC title

• G01B11/0675 Primary

  using interferometry · CPC title

• G01N21/211

  Ellipsometry (optical thickness measurement G01B11/06) · CPC title