Elastomeric optics

Chemistry of Materials

Volumn 8, Issue 7, 1996, Pages 1380-1385

  Wilbur, James L ^a   Jackman, Rebecca J ^a   Whitesides, George M ^a   Cheung, Eunice L ^b   Lee, Larry K ^b   Prentiss, Mara G ^b  

^a HARVARD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b HARVARD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CONSTITUENT MATERIALS; OPTICAL COMPONENTS; OPTICAL SURFACES; POLYDIMETHYLSILOXANE ELASTOMERS; RIGID MATERIAL; RIGID POLYMERS;

LIQUID METALS;

OPTICS;

EID: 0000207495     PISSN: 08974756     EISSN: 15205002     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1021/cm950579d     Document Type: Article

References (22)

1. Hubin, N.; Noethe, L. Science 1993, 262, 1390-1394.
2. Gold films were deposited onto elastomeric gratings with an adhesion promoting layer (titanium) on top and bottom. This structure was encapsulated in a second layer of PDMS in an attempt to reduce cracking of the film. Even in this configuration, we observed cracking of the gold film and degradation of the diffracted beams.
3. Borra, E. F.; Content, R.; Girard, L.; Szapiel, S.; Tremblay, L. M.; Boily, E. Astrophys. J. 1992, 393, 829-847.
4. Borra, E. F. Sci. Am. 1994, 270, 2, 76-81.
5. Clarson, S. J.; Semlyen, A. J. Siloxane Polymers; Prentiss-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1993.
6. In these experiments, we used commercial diffraction gratings (Edmund Scientific) for masters. We have also used masters prepared by standard fabrication techniques (micromachining or photolithography, for example).
7. We chose specific elastomers (within the PDMS family) based on the desired properties (durometer, elasticity, and optical opacity) of the final product for each application: these elastomers are identified in later sections of the paper.
8. Biebuyck, H. A.; Whitesides, G. M. Langmuir 1994, 10, 2790-2793.
9. Kim, E.; Whitesides, G. M. Chem. Mater. 1995, 7, 1257-1264.
10. Nuzzo, R. G.; Fusco, F. A.; Allara, D. L. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1987, 114, 1990-1995.
11. Bain, C. D.; Evall, J.; Whitesides, G. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1989, 111, 7155-7164.
12. Ulman, A. An Introduction to Ultrathin Organic Films; Academic Press: San Diego, CA, 1991.
13. Whitesides, G. M.; Gorman, C. B., Self-Assembled Monolayers: Models for Organic Surface Chemistry. In Handbook of Surface Imaging and Visualization; Hubbard, A. T.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 1995; pp 713-733.
14. Kumar, A.; Whitesides, G. M. Appl. Phys. Lett. 1993, 63, 2002-2004.
15. Kumar, A.; Biebuyck, H. A.; Whitesides, G. M. Langmuir 1994, 10, 1498-1511.
16. Wilbur, J. L.; Kumar, A.; Kim, E.; Whitesides, G. M. Adv. Mater. 1994, 7-8, 600-604.
17. Gold films were formed by electron-beam evaporation of ∼0.5-1.5 nm of titanium (adhesion promoter) and ∼20-50 nm of gold (99.999%, Materials Research Corp., Orangeburg, NJ) onto a 4 in. silicon wafer (having a 2-nm-thick native oxide surface).
18. We define the ellipticity = [(width of the spot at center)/(height of the spot at center)].
19. During the 500 repetitions, the first-order diffracted spot reproducibly returned to its initial position when released: there was no evidence of incomplete mechanical recovery. We cannot, however, rule out the possibility that under more extreme circumstances (at larger strain or over longer time scales, for example) imperfections in the elastomer could lead to incomplete mechanical recovery due to creep.
20. The grating was fabricated from Sylgard 184 silicone elastomer (Dow Corning Corp., Detroit, MI) cast on a commercial-grade, ruled, blazed (17°27′) diffraction grating with 1200 grooves/mm (0.83 μm spacing). Other elastomers may respond at different rates.
21. The jig used for experiments with the elastomeric mirrors had both sliders attached to kinematic mounts so that the mirror was stretched by pulling from both sides. The mirror was glued to the sliders (not clamped) with RTV silicone adhesive.
22. Wieman, C. E.; Hollberg, L. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 1991, 62, 1-20.