Nanostructuring lithium niobate substrates by focused ion beam milling

TL;DR

This paper introduces two innovative focused ion beam (FIB) techniques for submicron patterning of lithium niobate, enabling precise fabrication of photonic crystals on these substrates.

Contribution

The study presents two novel FIB-based methods for patterning lithium niobate at submicronic scales, expanding fabrication options for photonic devices.

Findings

Homogeneous structures with well-reproduced periodicity achieved

Both methods successfully pattern lithium niobate at submicron scale

Potential for fabricating photonic crystals on lithium niobate substrates

Abstract

We report on two novel ways for patterning Lithium Niobate (LN) at submicronic scale by means of focused ion beam (FIB) bombardment. The first method consists of direct FIB milling on LiNbO3 and the second one is a combination of FIB milling on a deposited metallic layer and subsequent RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) etching. FIB images show in both cases homogeneous structures with well reproduced periodicity. These methods open the way to the fabrication of photonic crystals on LiNbO3 substrates.