Laser fabrication of micro sized diffractive and refractive optical devices in fused silica and glass

In this work we will present recent results on micromachining of fused silica and different glasses. An excimer laser running at λ=248 nm (KrF) or λ=351 nm (XeF) (τ_p=20 ns) was used for the experiments. Various solutions of acetone, toluene and tetrachloroethylene containing pyrene in different concentrations (0.1 - 0.5 M [mol/l]) have been applied for studying the etching process. In this case the precise control of the depth as well as the high surface quality allows optical applications such as rapid prototyping of diffractive optical devices.