Tapered capillary optics
First Claim
1. A process for producing a tapered capillary optic of desired taper for focusing radiation comprising the steps of:
- providing an etchant bath;
providing a wire to be etched by the etchant bath;
placing the wire in the etchant bath to a preselected depth for etching;
withdrawing the wire from the preselected depth at a controlled rate to form a differential etch to form a tapered wire with a desired taper having the desired taper profile of the tapered capillary optic;
coating the tapered wire with a coating reflective of the radiation to be focused by the capillary optic to produce a coated wire; and
,removing the tapered wire from the coated wire to leave only a coated bore having the desired taper for focussing radiation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A metal or glass wire is etched with great precision into a very narrowly tapering cone which has the shape of the desired final capillary-optics bore. By controlling the rate of removal of the wire from an etchant bath, a carefully controlled taper is produced. A sensor measures the diameter of the wire as it leaves the surface of the etchant. This signal is used for feedback control of the withdrawal speed. The etched wire undergoes a treatment to produce an extremely low surface-roughness. The etched and smoothed wire is coated with the material of choice for optimizing the reflectivity of the radiation being focused. This could be a vacuum evaporation, sputtering, CVD or aqueous chemical process. The coated wire is either electroplated, built up with electroless plating, or encapsulated in a polymer cylinder such as epoxy to increase the diameter of the wire for easier handling and greater robustness. During this process, the wire is vertically oriented and tensioned to assure that the wire is absolutely straight. The coated and electroformed wire is bonded to a flat, rigid substrate and is then periodically segmented by cutting or etching a series of narrow slits or grooves into the wire. The wire is vertically oriented and tensioned during the bonding process to assure that it is straight. The original wire material is then chemically etched away through the slits or otherwise withdrawn to leave the hollow internal bore of the final tapered-capillary optical element.
75 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A process for producing a tapered capillary optic of desired taper for focusing radiation comprising the steps of:
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providing an etchant bath; providing a wire to be etched by the etchant bath; placing the wire in the etchant bath to a preselected depth for etching; withdrawing the wire from the preselected depth at a controlled rate to form a differential etch to form a tapered wire with a desired taper having the desired taper profile of the tapered capillary optic; coating the tapered wire with a coating reflective of the radiation to be focused by the capillary optic to produce a coated wire; and
,removing the tapered wire from the coated wire to leave only a coated bore having the desired taper for focussing radiation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 20, 21, 22)
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10. A process for producing a tapered capillary optic of desired taper for focusing radiation comprising the steps of:
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providing a tapered wire with the desired taper profile of the tapered capillary optic; coating the tapered wire with a coating reflective of the radiation to be focused by the capillary optic to produce a coated wire; and
,removing the tapered wire from the coated wire to leave only a coated bore having the desired taper for focussing radiation. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. Apparatus for producing a tapered capillary optic for focusing radiation comprising:
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an etchant bath; a wire to be etched by the bath; means for placing the wire in the bath to a preselected depth for etching by the bath and withdrawing the wire from the preselected depth at a controlled rate to form a differential etch on the wire to taper the wire with the desired taper profile of the capillary optic; means for coating the tapered wire with a coating reflective of the radiation to be focused by the capillary optic; and
,means for removing the wire to leave only the coating with an internally tapered bore for focussing radiation. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification