Accurate ray-tracing optical model for coded aperture spectral snapshot imagers.

The image formation in coded aperture spectral imagers is key information for processing the acquired compress data, and the optical system design and calibration of these instruments require great care. We propose an analytical model for CASSI systems that builds upon ray-tracing equations of each optical component. The model takes into account optical distortions, sampling effects, and optical misalignments, and allows accurate modeling and fast calibration. Numerical comparisons with a simpler model usually exploited in the literature are provided, and an experimental validation is presented.

Broadband high-contrast visible optical switches based on a spin-crossover material.

Visible optical switches embedding a spin-crossover thin film and exploiting the frustrated total internal reflection operation principle are studied and optimized numerically with a view to obtain broadband high-contrast devices. A practical implementation using uncoated SF11 prisms embedding a 1-µm-thick layer of iron-triazolyl-borate complex as the thermo-active phase-change material is shown to support p-polarized modulation with contrast in excess of 90% over a spectral bandwidth greater than 270 nm and over an angular acceptance bandwidth of 0.45°, surpassing the performance achievable with optically resonant devices.

Design of angularly tolerant zero-contrast grating filters for pixelated filtering in the mid-IR range.

Zero-contrast gratings (ZCG) can be used to implement narrow bandpass transmission filters. However, they suffer from poor angular tolerance, which hinders their use in pixelated applications. Combining ZCG with double-corrugation grating, we increase the resonance width and angular tolerance of the filter by more than 1 order of magnitude. Filters tunable around 4.6 µm with more than 90% transmission and compatibility with 140 µm pixel size are demonstrated.

SU-8 as a structural material for labs-on-chips and microelectromechanical systems.

Since its introduction in the nineties, the negative resist SU-8 has been increasingly used in micro- and nanotechnologies. SU-8 has made the fabrication of high-aspect ratio structures accessible to labs with no high-end facilities such as X-ray lithography systems or deep reactive ion etching systems. These low-cost techniques have been applied not only in the fabrication of metallic parts or molds, but also in numerous other micromachining processes. Its ease of use has made SU-8 to be used in many applications, even when high-aspect ratios are not required. Beyond these pattern transfer applications, SU-8 has been used directly as a structural material for microelectromechanical systems and microfluidics due to its properties such as its excellent chemical resistance or the low Young modulus. In contrast to conventional resists, which are used temporally, SU-8 has been used as a permanent building material to fabricate microcomponents such as cantilevers, membranes, and microchannels. SU-8-based techniques have led to new low-temperature processes suitable for the fabrication of a wide range of objects, from the single component to the complete lab-on-chip. First, this article aims to review the different techniques and provides guidelines to the use of SU-8 as a structural material. Second, practical examples from our respective labs are presented.