Exclusive examples of high-performance thin-film optical filters for fluorescence spectroscopy made by plasma-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering

M. Lappschies; U. Schallenberg; S. Jakobs

doi:10.1117/12.896846

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3 October 2011 Exclusive examples of high-performance thin-film optical filters for fluorescence spectroscopy made by plasma-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering

M. Lappschies, U. Schallenberg, S. Jakobs

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Proceedings Volume 8168, Advances in Optical Thin Films IV; 81680Y (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.896846
Event: SPIE Optical Systems Design, 2011, Marseille, France

Abstract

For more than four decades band-pass filters are important components of microscopes used for the fluorescence spectroscopy. During all the time this special field of application has been one of the main drivers for research and development in thin-film optics, particularly for the thin-film design software and the coating technology. With a shortwave pass filter, a multi-notch filter, and a classical band-pass filter as examples of such filters provided for the latest generation of fluorescence microscopes we present the state-of-the-art in coating design and technology. Manufacturing these filters is a great challenge because the required spectral characteristics need necessarily multilayers with up to 300 layers and overall thicknesses up to 30 μm. In addition, the designs require also 3 to 5 nm as thinnest layers and all the layers are completely of non-quarterwave type. The filters were manufactured in a rapid-prototyping regime by a Leybold Helios plant using plasma-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering of thin films of different metal oxides. Designed and real spectra are compared and differences are discussed. Measurement results of other optical and non-optical characteristics as film stress, total integrated scattering, and micro roughness are presented.

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M. Lappschies, U. Schallenberg, and S. Jakobs "Exclusive examples of high-performance thin-film optical filters for fluorescence spectroscopy made by plasma-assisted reactive magnetron sputtering", Proc. SPIE 8168, Advances in Optical Thin Films IV, 81680Y (3 October 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.896846

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