RESEARCH ARTICLE | MARCH 15 1983

Submicrometer periodicity gratings as artificial anisotropic

dielectrics 
Dale C. Flanders

Appl. Phys. Lett. 42, 492–494 (1983)

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Submicrometer periodicity gratings as artificial anisotropic dielectrics
Dale C. Flanders
Lincoln Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lexington, Massachusetts 02173

(Received 13 December 1982; accepted for publication 5 January 1983)

Gratings of dielectric material can act as homogeneous birefringent materials if the wavelength of
the incident radiation is greater than twice the period of the grating. For the case of square profile
gratings, simple equations predict the birefringence versus linewidth-to-period ratio of the
gratings. By using x-ray lithography and reactive ion etching, 240-nm period gratings of
polymethylmethacrylate and silicon nitride were fabricated with various linewidths. The
birefringence of these was measured at 632.8 nm and found to agree closely with the theory.
Silicon nitride gratings which act as half-wave and quarter-wave plates in the visible were made.
PACS numbers: 42.1O.Qj, 42.80.Fn, 42.70.Gi, 85.40.Ci

A grating whose periodicity is smaller than one-half the odic stratified medium sandwiched between two homogen-
wavelength of incident radiation will produce no diffracted eous dielectrics. Yariv and Yeh have used the theory of elec-
orders. Such a grating does, however, have interesting opti- tromagnetic Bloch waves to calculate the optical properties
cal properties. For instance, it has been shown that metal of periodic stratified media. 4 The basic result of their calcu-
gratings can act as anisotropic conductors in the visible and lations shows that if P<,A the whole structure behaves as ifit
are useful as polarizers. '-3 Calculations indicate that grat- were homogeneous and uniaxially anisotropic. A simple
ings of dielectric material can act as homogeneous birefrin- treatment of the problem can also be done for propagation
gent materials. 4 The properties of these "artificial materials" parallel to the layers of the medium by solving the eigenvalue
depend upon the profile, thickness, and line-to-space ratio of problem for an array of periodic dielectric waveguides. 6
the grating. Recent advances in submicrometer fabrication Both this simple treatment and that of Yariv and Yeh give
technology have made possible precise control of the geome- the same result for P<,A for propagation parallel to the lay-
try of gratings with periodicities less than 200 nm. 3 •5 This ers. We have for the effective indices of refraction nil for E
means that artificial dielectrics with reproducible properties parallel to the layers and n 1 for E perpendicular to the layers:

03 October 2023 15:24:56

can now be made in the optical regime. The fabrication of
nil = [niq+n~(I-q)]'/2, (1)
240-nm period dielectric gratings and the measurement of
the birefringence of these gratings at 632.8 nm using ellipso- n 1 = [(1/ni)q+(1/n~)(I-q)]-'/2. (2)
metry are described in this letter. Excellent agreement is Figure 2 shows a plot versus q of .:in = nil - n 1 for several
found between the measured properties and those predicted values ofn2 with n, = 1. Note that a continuous range of.:in
by a simple theory. can be obtained for any n 2 and that.:in can be large when n 2 is
Rigorous calculation of the electromagnetic properties large.
of gratings in the optical regime is difficult. A simple ap- In the strictest sense, the requirement P <,A is difficult to
proach which should be accurate when the grating period is meet in the visible regime. However, as long as P < A /2 there
much smaller than the wavelength was taken. Figure 1 will be no diffracted orders and the grating will act as an
shows a schematic cross section of a square profile grating on anisotropic medi urn, although the actual values of n II and n 1
a substrate. Since it is assumed that the grating profile is may not agree precisely with the simple equations given
square, the geometry is completely defined by the grating above.
thickness t, ratio of opening to period, q, and periodicity P.
This structure can be treated as though the grating is a peri-

0.8

..\n

o
q
FIG. I. Illustration of the geometry of a square profile grating on a sub-
strate. UsuaJJy the index of refraction of the substrate and n2 would be the FIG. 2. Plot of calculated.LIn = nil - n 1 vs q for five different values of n 2 •
same and n, = I. with n, = I.

492 Appl. Phys. Lett. 42 (6), 15 March 1983 0003-6951/83/060492-03$01.00 © 1983 American Institute of PhySics 492
 To measure the properties of gratings as birefringent strate had a thin metal coating to render it conductive for
media, a series of experiments were done using 240-nm peri- electrostatic clamping. Exposure was done using the 4.5-nm
od gratings fabricated in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) carbon x ray. The samples were developed in a mixture of
and nonstochiometric silicon nitride 7 (SiN x ). The gratings 40% methyl isobutyl ketone and 60% isopropyl alcohol. Be-
were fabricated in PMMA using carbon K x-ray lithog- fore optical measurements were made the metal coating on
raphy. The x-ray masks used were fabricated using a pre- the back of the substrate was removed by chemical etching.
viously reported technique which allows precise control of Figure 3 shows a series of scanning electron microscopy
linewidths. 5 By using holographic lithography, reactive ion (SEM) micrographs of 240-nm period gratings in PMMA
etching, and anisotropic etching of (100) silicon, triangular with linewidths of 55, 86, 120, and 160 nm. The lines appear
profile gratings of 240-nm period were produced in silicon. :::: 14 nm larger in the micrographs because they have been
A replica of this structure was then made in polyimide plas- coated with a 7-nm layer of gold to prevent charging during
tic by spinning polyimide precursor onto the structure, bak- viewing.
ing the polyimide to crosslink it, and etching the silicon away Gratings in nonstochiometric silicon nitride (SiNx )
to leave a free-standing membrane. The membrane is mount- were fabricated by exposing gratings in PMMA on SiNx -
ed on a ring of aluminum. A range of linewidths was pro- coated substrates, lifting off a thin layer of chromium, and
duced on the mask by evaporating tungsten at different an- reactive ion etching in CF4 , Figure 4 shows SEM micro-
gles in separate regions of the mask. These masks were graphs of three SiN x gratings etched to different depths.
clamped into contact with PMMA-coated transparent sub- The index difference .dn at A = 632.8 nm of several
strates using electrostatic clamping. The back of the sub- PMMA and SiNx gratings was measured. By using an ellip-
someter the phase shift of Ell with respect to E1> .d, was
measured at normal incidence. The angle if! was also mea-
sured with the ellipsometer, where tan if! = IE II I/IE1 1. The
dimensions of the gratings were measured after the optical
measurements by cleaving the samples and observing them
q=O.77 in the SEM. From the data for.d and t the index difference
.dn was calculated. The theoretical variation of.dn vs q for a
PMMA grating (n( = 1, n 2 = 1.47) and the measured values
of .dn for several values of q are plotted in Fig. 5. Even

03 October 2023 15:24:56

though A is not <,P the agreement between theory and exper-
iment is very good. As expected, the PMMA gratings did not

q=O.64

q=O.5

t=310nm

q=O.33
t=590nm

FIG. 3. SEM micrographs of 240-nm period PMMA gratings on optically

transparent substrates. The samples were coated with 7 nm of gold to pre-
vent charging. FIG. 4. SEM micrographs of SiN x gratings.

493 Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 42, No.6, 15 March 1983 Dale C. Flanders 493
 0.' 0 l---'-~---'-'--'--'---''----Y-----'----'
TABLE 1. Measured and calculated values of the optical IA. = 632.8 nm)
and structural parameters of the SiN, gratings shown in Fig. 4.

t
Ipm) q LI ¢ Lln mea Lineal

la) 0.17 0.54 45.7' 47.6' 0.47 0.49

..'.n Ib) 0.31 0.58 95.7' 44' 0.54 0.47
Ic) 0.59 0.66 153.7' 47' 0.46 0.45

(b) has a.1 of 95.7° at 632.8 nm and functions as a precise

quarter-wave plate at ::::: 670 nm. Grating (c) with a .1 of
o 0.4 0.6 0.8
q
153.7° at 632.8 nm functions as a half-wave plate near 540
nm. The linewidth could be trimmed by isotropic etching to
FIG. 5. Plot of calculated LIn vs q for n 2 = 1.47 with measured LIn for
PMMA gratings similar to those shown in Fig. 3. The error bars indicate the
achieve a precise quarter-wave plate at 632.8 nm in the case
range of values measured on several gratings. of the grating (b). The depth would have to be increased in
grating (c) to achieve a precise half-wave plate at 632.8 nm.
In conclusion, the use of dielectric gratings of period
exhibit dichroism (t/!:::::45° for all gratings). smaller than one-half the wavelength of visible radiation as
A potential application of such an artificial birefringent artificial birefringent materials has been proposed. The con-
material is in quarter-wave and half-wave plates. These de- cept has been demonstrated at 632.8-nm wavelength using
vices require that the grating thickness be t = A /4.1n for a 240-nm period gratings fabricated in PMMA and SiN x .
quarter wave plate and t = A /2 .1n for a half-wave plate. There is excellent agreement between the experimental data
Clearly, a large .1n is desirable to keep the thickness small and a simple theory which treats the grating as an array of
since larger thickness translates into a grating of higher as- coupled dielectric waveguides. It is clear that by proper
pect ratio which is more difficult to fabricate. On the other choice of material and grating geometry a wide range ofma-
hand, a too large .1n means that thickness control can be terial properties can be obtained. In fact, a wider range can

03 October 2023 15:24:56

very critical. Figure 2 shows that an index of refraction of be obtained than is available in the naturally occurring bire-
2.35 gives a.1n = 0.5 at q = 0.5. Thus t = A /2 for a quarter- fringent crystalline materials.
wave plate and t = A for a half-wave plate. These grating I would like to thank D. K. Astolfi, K. E. Krohn, and J.
depths are quite reasonable in the optical regime. By adjust- T. Wright for technical assistance in the sample preparation
ing the stoichiometry of SiNx a range of values of refractive and L. A. Stem for SEM examination of the samples. This
index can be obtained from :::::2-3. Gratings of SiNx with work was sponsored by The Department of the Air Force.
n = 2.35 were made as described earlier. The measured and
calculated optical properties of the SiNx gratings shown in
Fig. 4 are given in Table I.
The grating profiles for the 31O-nm and 590-nm deep 'Pochi Yeh, Polarizers and Applications, Proc. SPIE 307,13 (1981).
gratings are not closely approximated by the assumed square 2G. J. Sonek, D. K. Wagner, andJ. M. Ballantyne, J. Vac. Sci. Techno!. 19,
profile. The values of q were measured at the midpoint 921 (1981).
between the top and bottom of the grating. The calculated 3D. C. Flanders and Alice E. White, J. Vac. Sci. Techno!. 19, 89211981).
4Amnon Yariv and Pochi Yeh, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 67, 438 (1977) .
.1n was computed assuming square profiles for these values 50. C. Flanders, J. Vac. Sci. Techno!. 16, 161511979).
of q. One would expect the calculated values to be reasonably 6S. Ramo, J. R. Whinnery, andT. VanDuzer, Fields and Waves in Commu-
close to the measured values since.1n does not change rapid- nications Electronics (Wiley, New York, 1965), p. 379.
7Misao Sekimoto, Hideo Yoshihara, Takashi Ohkudo, and Yasunao Saitoh,
ly in the vicinity of q = 0.5. The agreement between theory
Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 20, L669 11981).
and experiment is reasonably good although the value of.1n "R. M. A. Azzam and N. M. Bashara, Ellipsiometry and Polarized Light
for t = 310 nm is considerably larger than expected. Grating INorth Holland, New York, 1977), p. 174.

494 Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 42, No.6, 15 March 1983 Dale C. Flanders 494