Optical component mfr. by reactive etching - of metal oxide dielectric, esp. tantalum or hafnium oxide

摘要

Prodn. of a component, esp. an optical component, having a layer system including at least one dielectric layer with one or more stepped thickness changes, involves (i) applying, onto a substrate, a dielectric layer of the type MeOx, in which Me is a metal of mass at least 44 and x is chosen such that the absorption coefficient for light of wavelength 308 nm is max. 0.01; and (ii) reactively etching the layer with an activated gas to form the stepped thickness. USE/ADVANTAGE - The dielectric MeOx layer is esp. suited to reactive etching, is highly refractive even in the UV region, and can be profiled by reactive etching with high selectivity and etch rate. The alkaline earth metal dopant gives an orange indicator colour when the layer surface is reached during reactive etching by means of a glow discharge. The Y2O3 etch-stop layer is etched less than etch-stops such as Al2O3.