Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have adapted their novel metasurface process, which creates a thin layer on the surface of an optic, to create an all-glass metasurface with birefringence, or dual refraction, properties. This achievement could transform waveplate technology for high-power laser systems such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF).
The result is reported in a new paper, “Birefringent Glass-Engraved Tilted Pillar Metasurfaces for High Power Laser Applications,” which was a featured story in the August 2023 issue of Advanced Science.
“This is the first demonstration, to the best of our knowledge, of an etching technique to obtain the resulting tilted pillar-like nanofeatures which will generate birefringence,” said LLNL staff scientist Nathan Ray, first author of the paper.