Research Electro-optics, Inc.

Ramin Lalezari

Dale E Long

Jon C Sandberg

A high-precision etalon and novel method of construction thereof is presented. The etalon comprises a pair of plane-parallel flat mirrors spaced a first distance apart, a pair of plane-parallel spacers transversely attached to the pair of mirrors which operate to fix the first distance between the pair of mirrors, and a thin film mirror layer deposited on at least one of the pair of plane-parallel flat mirrors to form a laser cavity therein of a precise second distance apart. The method of constructing an etalon in accordance with the invention includes the steps of fabricating one or more spacers, measuring the length of the spacer(s), and deriving a dimensional deviation of the spacer length from a nominal cavity dimension specified for the etalon. A thin-film pedestal is then deposited on one, the other, or both of a first and second substrate and then coated with a reflective coating. The etalon is then assembled using the spacer(s) and first and second substrates.

High-precision etalon device and method of construction

Method and structure are disclosed for forming a protective and/or reflectivity enhanced over coating layer, or layers, on a noble metal. A metallic binder layer, capable of forming a metallic bond with the noble metal and exhibiting good adhesion to the over coating layer, is deposited on the noble metal, utilizing physical vapor deposition, and the over coating layer is thereafter deposited on the metallic binder layer, again utilizing physical vapor deposition. The noble metal is preferably gold, but may be silver or an alloy of gold or silver, and may be deposited on a substrate. Each metallic binder layer is a thin layer, such as a layer of chromium, titanium, tantalum, nickel, cobalt, or an alloy thereof, and over coating is formed as a single dielectric layer of material or as a stack of alternating low and high indices of refraction dielectric layers.

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Boulder, CO, United States of America

Ramin Lalezari