Metaoptics Foundry Service
Fabrication of metasurfaces and metalenses
with accelerated turnaround times
Rapid service for manufacturing metaoptics prototypes
The Metaoptics Foundry Service is an extension of our NanoSOI Fabrication Service that specializes in the fabrication of metasurfaces and metalenses. Using state-of-the-art, high-throughput electron beam lithography, our foundry can manufacture various meta-optical elements comprised of high resolution subwavelength features with superior line-edge roughness and negligible stitching errors. Our anisotropic plasma etch process provides structures with high aspect ratios and smooth sidewalls, which translates to flexible metaoptics with exceptional performance efficiency.
The Metaoptics Foundry Service is accessible through custom dedicated runs, which offer a variety of personalized nanofabrication options. Timelines for these runs are flexible, and quotations for each run are customized by our staff. Production turnaround times as short as five weeks are possible using our most accessible metaoptics platform, consisting of amorphous silicon (a-Si) on fused silica. Multi-project wafer (MPW) runs, which batch smaller area design submissions from multiple users onto a single wafer and are fabricated under a standard set of design rules, are currently under development.
Are you looking for metaoptics fabrication services?
Please contact our support line to inquire about our Metaoptics Foundry Service. We are happy to discuss pricing, design conception and verification, online design submission, nanofabrication options, and many other topics with you regarding metaoptics.
High-quality foundry for prototyping metasurfaces and metalenses with high-resolution nanostructures
Metaoptics operating in the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) wavelength regimes can be fabricated using different available materials.
|
Material |
Wavelength |
Thickness* |
|---|---|---|
| Amorphous Silicon | NIR | 760 nm |
| Niobium Oxide^ | VIS | 700 nm |
*Custom thicknesses available on dedicated runs.
^Currently only available on dedicated runs.
Fused silica substrates are the primary option for our metadevices, enabling excellent transparency of VIS and NIR light and a high grade substrate that is compatible with various metaoptic materials. Standard runs use fused silica substrates with 500 μm thickness and chip dimensions of 1 cm x 1 cm. The substrate material and geometric specifications can be customized on dedicated runs.
High-quality fused silica substrates
Fused silica substrates are the primary option for our metaoptics, enabling visible and near-infrared light transparency and a high-quality substrate for various metalens materials
High-performance focusing metalenses
Metalenses are a subset of metaoptics, commonly used as compact, lightweight focusing elements that replace conventional bulk lenses. Our foundry produces metalenses for a variety of applications from imaging to sensing and beyond.
Custom nanofabrication options for metasurfaces
With many nanofabrication resources at our disposal, we have custom options available to develop various metaoptics material stacks that advance your research.
Available Process Options
Several of these processes are available in standard runs and dedicated runs; some are only available in dedicated runs.
Silicon Device Layer
Feature sizes as small as 120 nm (aspect ratios ~ 6.3:1) with high performance electron beam lithography. Available in standard and dedicated runs.
Our silicon patterning process involves the definition of metaoptic structures with nanoscale features in amorphous silicon (a-Si) using state-of-the-art, high-throughput electron beam lithography (EBL) and reactive ion etching (RIE) processes.
The patterning process begins by cleaning and spin-coating a material that is sensitive to electron beam exposure. A device pattern is defined into this material using 100 keV EBL. Once the material has been chemically developed, an anisotropic ICP-RIE etching process is performed on the substrate to transfer the pattern into the underlying a-Si layer. The etch is performed until there is no remaining silicon and the underlying silica layer is exposed.
The process produces compact, lightweight, high-quality metaoptics with small form factor in various quantities for a variety of applications in communications, computing, imaging, and sensing.
For standard runs, the substrate consists of a 760 nm a-Si device layer on a 500 µm fused silica handle wafer. The a-Si device layer thickness and wafer specifications can be customized on dedicated runs.
Other Dedicated Run Options
These options are available in dedicated runs only.
In addition to the other process options listed here, we have many other custom options available for dedicated runs. Some examples include:
- Variable amorphous silicon device layer thickness
- Other metalens material options, such as niobium oxide for visible light metaoptics
- Custom substrate material options and geometric specifications (e.g., thickness, chip dimensions, etc.)
For the full list of our available processes, please see our dedicated run information at the NanoSOI Design Center.