Ion-milled waveguide lenses and lens arrays in GaAs

The authors discuss ion-milled planar waveguide lenses in GaAs which exhibit a considerably higher efficiency than that previously reported for those lenses and near diffraction-limited spot size. The authors also report the performance characteristics of these latest lenses, including single lenses and lens array of analog Fresnel, chirp grating, and hybrid types as well as a collimation-Fourier transformation lens-pair, together with the detailed design and fabrication procedures. A simple theoretical model for the lens efficiency is also formulated to assist in the lens design. Ion milling has been shown to be a simple and versatile technique for fabrication of waveguide lenses in GaAs and applicable to any other substrate material. Such ion-milled waveguide lenses should facilitate realization of a variety of monolithically integrated optic device modules and circuits in GaAs and other related substrates with applications to communications, signal processing, and computing