Alumina-Doped Silica Gradient-Index (GRIN) Lenses by Slurry-Based Three-Dimensional Printing (S-3DP(TM))

The traditional Slurry-based Three-dimensional Printing (S-3DP(TM)) process has been used to fabricate complex structure materials by printing organic binders in selected positions on each printing layer. This process is modified to fabricate functional graded materials, such as gradient index (GRIN) lenses, by depositing different concentrations of dopant at different positions. The modified S-3DP(TM) process offers advantages over conventional GRIN lens processes, including reduced processing time, improved compositional flexibility, and increased index profile dimensionality. Two different approximately parabolic dopant concentration profiles, which have maximum alumina concentrations of 1.63 mol% and 2.50 mol%, are printed into silica powder beds using S-3DP(TM). The samples with maximum alumina concentration of 1.63 mol% have been sintered into optical transparency at 1650 deg. C for 30 minutes in a vacuum furnace (5x10(exp -6) torr) while an additional dehydration process before sintering was required for the samples with maximum alumina concentration of 2.50 mol%. The magnifying effects of GRIN lenses with profiles of 1.63 mol% and 2.50 mol% alumina were observed, yielding effective focal lengths of 10 cm and 6.1 cm, respectively. Light diffraction, which results from the locally inhomogeneous dopant distribution and reduces the optical quality of GRIN lenses, was also observed.
This article is from the Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 758 p35-40, 2003. This article is from ADA417756 Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Volume 758 Held in Boston, Massachusetts on December 3-5, 2002. Rapid Prototyping Technologies