White Paper: Ruling 480-mm Long, Ultra-Low Blaze Angle VLS Grating for XFEL Applications

Champaign, IL - Inprentus, a leading manufacturer of high-precision diffraction gratings, has released a new white paper showcasing the unique properties of their gratings that were delivered to the European X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) in Germany. The white paper, titled "Ruling 480-mm Long, Ultra-low Blaze Angle VLS Grating for XFEL Application," highlights the groundbreaking attributes of Inprentus' gratings in achieving a half-a-meter long ruling with 0.1 deg blaze angle at 20 micrometer pitch using mechanical ruling- a manufacturing feat considered impossible by the FEL community.

The European XFEL, located in Hamburg, Germany, is the world's largest X-ray laser and is used for cutting-edge research in various fields including physics, chemistry, and biology. Inprentus was selected to provide diffraction gratings for the facility due to their reputation for producing high-quality, precision-engineered gratings. The white paper details the rigorous testing and evaluation process that Inprentus' gratings underwent and are corroborated by metrology on the customer side.

One of the key findings highlighted in the white paper is the exceptional simulated efficiency and accuracy of Inprentus' gratings, which provides significant performance improvement for European XFEL beamline SASE3. The gratings' unique design of 0.1 deg blaze angle is the smallest blaze angle achieved in the world. It allows for better control of the high-energy, pulsed X-ray beam, resulting in more accurate and reliable data for researchers. This breakthrough technology has the potential to revolutionize the field of X-ray research and open up new possibilities for scientific discoveries.

"We are thrilled to share the results of our collaboration with the European XFEL in this white paper," said Dr. Peter Abbamonte, Founder and Chief Science Officer of Inprentus. "This is the largest mechanically ruled grating ever made for an FEL- the substrate is more than half a meter long. At the same time the groove characteristics are highly anisotropic; 20 micrometer pitch with a mere 30 nanometers depth. Our team works tirelessly to develop and deliver gratings that are considered impossible to make using mechanical ruling or really any other competing technology in the world. We are proud to be a part of advancing scientific research and look forward to seeing the impact of our gratings on future discoveries."

The white paper is now available for download on Inprentus' website and serves as a testament to the company's commitment to innovation and excellence in diffraction grating technology. With this release, Inprentus continues to solidify its position as a scientific leader in the field and a trusted partner for cutting-edge research facilities around the world.

Link to White Paper: Ruling 480-mm Long, Ultra-Low Blaze Angle VLS Grating for XFEL Applications

Inprentus Launches Diffraction Grating Metrology Services

Inprentus Precision Optics, the worldleader in custom mechanically-ruled blazed diffraction gratings, adds Metrology Services to its product offerings

CHAMPAIGN, IL, UNITED STATES, April 5, 2024 / https://www.einpresswire.com/article/701260558/inprentus-launches-diffraction-grating-metrology-services

Inprentus Precision Optics, the world leader in custom mechanically-ruled blazed diffraction gratings, has announced the addition of Metrology Services to its product offerings. Founded in 2012, Inprentus specializes in the manufacture of Blazed Gratings for Synchrotrons, Free Electron Lasers, Spectroscopy, EUV, Semi-Conductors, and Augmented Reality Waveguides. With the addition of Metrology Services, Inprentus now offers their unique expertise to serve customers through all phases of optical services – from design to manufacture to characterization. With over 10 years of experience in assessing key properties to benchmark grating performance, Inprentus has deep subject matter expertise stemming from first principles of optics. Inprentus' metrology offerings include:

• Fizeau Interferometry to measure resolving power

• Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to measure groove shape, dimensions, and surface roughness

• Focused Ion Bean (FIB) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to measure groove shapes

• Two-Circle Diffractometer to measure blaze and anti-blaze angles for the whole grating

• Two-Circle Diffractometer to measure stray light for both angle integrated and angle resolved modes

• 248nm Reflectometer to measure grating efficiency

• Custom metrology projects (contact Inprentus)

Subha Kumar, Inprentus' Chief Growth Officer, explained that “Following our founder Peter Abbamonte’s presentation at SPIEXR 2024 highlighting the large variety of grating-specific measurements we routinely use, it was clear that there was substantial industry interest in our unique metrology capabilities. We are excited to respond to the call to share our deep grating expertise and to continue to create the world’s most advanced diffractive optics.”

About Inprentus

Inprentus was founded in 2012 to commercialize an innovative, dual atomic force microscope scribing technology, used to carry out nano-scale lithography via mechanical deformation of metallic surfaces. Inprentus designs, manufactures, and characterizes diffraction gratings for use in research facilities, manufacturing, and augmented reality. Contact Inprentus at info@inprentus.com to start your next grating project!

Subha Kumar

Inprentus, Inc

+1 217-239-9862

This press release can be viewed online at: https://www.einpresswire.com/article/701260558

Picture Perfect Blazed Masters

Inprentus' revolutionary mechanical ruling technique and process developments produce picture perfect gratings. Consider us to be the Ferrari of #optics. Looking forward to putting #augmentedreality #waveguides into the next gear. Picture perfect #blazed #gratings

Inprentus gains traction among AR customers with their mechanically ruled, fully blazed waveguide solutions

In January of 2023, Inprentus debuted their unique blazed grating strategy for Augmented Reality waveguides at SPIE 2023 AR|VR|MR conference (link). Within the next 8 months, this small company from Champaign, Illinois has seen rapid engagement with more than 10 leading companies at the forefront of the Augmented Reality industry.  “These companies, among the largest AR original equipment manufacturers, have gaps in their manufacturing solutions”, says Subha Kumar, the Chief Growth Officer at Inprentus. “Additionally, we are very excited about our developing partnerships with several high volume replicators, allowing us to be a one-stop shop for waveguides - from manufacturing of masters to delivering replicated lenses for smart glass manufacturers.” 

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Blazed grating structures have high spectral tunability, large angular bandwidth, are highly efficient, and are easy to replicate. The advantages of mechanically-ruled blazed masters over traditional e-beam lithography masters are many, and include: one technology for ruling all waveguide gratings, crossed (2D) grating capabilities, no screen-door effect, line-by-line control of diffractive properties, highly efficient blazed facets, and ease of scalability.

A key bottleneck in the manufacture of blazed waveguides involves a series of complex and expensive manufacturing steps using e-beam lithography. Inprentus elegantly addresses this bottleneck by employing a simple and unique nanoscale contact mode lithography technique called mechanical ruling as an alternative to e-beam lithography. The Inprentus technique is ideal for creating master diffractive optics used for prototyping as well as for high-volume replication. Inprentus’ mechanical ruling methods allow for multiple gratings – input, expander, and output – to be precisely oriented on a surface to create an AR waveguide using a single efficient manufacturing set-up. 

Peter Abbamonte, Inprentus’ founder and professor of physics at the University of Illinois, noted “Our experience over the past ten years, as providers of high-value diffraction gratings for materials research, precision spectroscopy, and the semiconductor lithography market, has primed us to address the stringent requirements of the emerging AR market. Clearly, the Inprentus method presents a distinct manufacturing advantage for surface relief waveguides where one does not have to choose between performance and scalability”.

Inprentus offers established optics engineering services including complete optical system designs, RCWA and FDTD simulations, design-for-manufacturing services, manufacturing of masters in collaboration with a replication partner, and a full suite of metrology techniques. 

Inprentus sponsors the 2023 Advanced Light Source User Meeting

Inprentus was proud to be a sponsor of the 2023 ALS User Meeting at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Our scientists Samuel Gleason and Subhalakshmi (Subha) Kumar, Ph.D. were able to answer inquiries for high efficiency diffraction grating solutions. As usual #blazed gratings, made using our unique #mechanicalruling #technology, are the best gratings.