Margheri, G.; Del Rosso, T. Long-Focusing Device for Broadband THz Applications Based on a Tunable Reflective Biprism. Micromachines2023, 14, 1939.
Margheri, G.; Del Rosso, T. Long-Focusing Device for Broadband THz Applications Based on a Tunable Reflective Biprism. Micromachines 2023, 14, 1939.
Margheri, G.; Del Rosso, T. Long-Focusing Device for Broadband THz Applications Based on a Tunable Reflective Biprism. Micromachines2023, 14, 1939.
Margheri, G.; Del Rosso, T. Long-Focusing Device for Broadband THz Applications Based on a Tunable Reflective Biprism. Micromachines 2023, 14, 1939.
Abstract
THz radiation has assumed a great importance thanks to the efforts in the development of technological tools used in this versatile band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Here we propose a reflecting bi-mirror axicon-like device with wavelength-independent long focusing performances in the THz band, by exploiting the high thermo-mechanical deformation of the elastomer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). This deformation permits to achieve significant optical path modulations in the THz band and effective focusing. The surface of a PDMS layer is covered with a gold thin film, acting as heater thanks to its absorption for wavelengths below ~500 nm . An invariance property of the Fresnel integral has been exploited to verify experimentally the THz performances of the device with an ordinary visible laser source, finding excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions at 1 and 3 THz. The same property allowed also to verify experimentally that the axicon focus has a longitudinal extension much greater than that one exhibited by a benchmark cylindrical mirror with the same optical power. The axicon is thermo-mechanically stable up to a heating power of 270 mW, although it might be potentially exploited at higher powers with a minor degradation of the optical performances.
Keywords
axicons; thermo-optical devices; long focusing devices; THz radiation
Subject
Physical Sciences, Optics and Photonics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
