Nanostructuring lithium niobate substrates by focused ion beam milling

• Published in: Optical materials Vol. 27; no. 8; pp. 1421 - 1425
• Main Authors: Lacour, F., Courjal, N., Bernal, M.-P., Sabac, A., Bainier, C., Spajer, M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-05-2005; Elsevier Science; Elsevier
• Subjects: Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Engineering Sciences; Exact sciences and technology; Focused ion beam; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Lithium niobate; Materials science; Methods of nanofabrication; Nano-structuring; Nanolithography; Optical materials; Optics; Other nonlinear optical materials; photorefractive and semiconductor materials; Photonic; Photonic bandgap materials; Physics; Reactive ion etching; Reactive ion etching; Nano-structuring; Lithium niobate; 42.70.Qs; Focused ion beam; 85.40.Ux; 77.84.Dy; Non linear material; Ternary compounds; Photonic crystals; Nanostructures; Experimental study; Focused ion beam technology; Nanofabrication; 77.84.Dy Nano-structuring; Lithium niobates; Optical materials; Reactive Ion Etching; Focused Ion Beam; Lithium Niobate
• ISSN: 0925-3467; 1873-1252
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optmat.2004.07.016

We report on two novel ways for patterning lithium niobate (LN) at submicronic scale by means of focused ion beam (FIB) bombardment. The first method consists of direct FIB milling on LiNbO3 and the second one is a combination of FIB milling on a deposited metallic layer and subsequent RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) etching. FIB images show in both cases homogeneous structures with well reproduced periodicity. These methods open the way to the fabrication of photonic crystals on LiNbO3 substrates.