Abstract

The basic technique for the manufacture of laser reticulated IR detector arrays, by means of KOH assisted UV laser etching, has been described in earlier work in which the individual elements of the array are reticulated by a set of orthogonal grooves cut by a single UV laser beam focused to a diffraction limited spot.¹ The maximum area of array that can be fabricated is governed by the cut speed (typically 500 µm/sec) and the period during which the ceramic can be immersed in the KOH without degradation. These parameters combine to prevent all but relatively small area arrays being fabricated using a single beam. This problem can be overcome by the use of a multiplexed system in which multiple focused beam substrate illumination is generated. This paper describes the design and application of the optical system that has been developed to deliver such an illumination distribution.

© 1994 IEEE