Morphological and optical characterization of hybrid-glass based axicons

This paper introduces the usage of directly UV-photopatternable sol-gel based materials and the processing methods for the fabrication of binary diffractive optical elements. We designed and modeled a binary axicon - an optical element, which produces almost diffraction free beam in a specified distance from the element. We fabricated sol-gel based hybrid-glass materials and tailored their processing parameters to fit the demands of the axicon design. Resolution of 2 microns, film thickness of 850 run, and certain morphological properties were required. The materials were derived from zirconium(IV)isopropoxide, methacrylic acid, and methacryloxypropyltritethoxysilane. We determined the morphological and line quality of the fabricated axicons as a function of the UV-irradiation dose. In addition, we measured the optical characteristics of the axicons in terms of the axial and radial intensity profiles. The reasons for the differences between calculated and measured values are discussed.