Sub-micron grating fabrication on hafnium oxide thin-film waveguides with focused ion-beam milling.

Uniform period sub-micron gratings have been fabricated using focused ion beam milling on hafnium oxide waveguides. Atomic force microscopy indicates that the gratings have smooth and uniform profiles. At the period of 330 nm, the largest peak-to-peak height that was achieved was 85 nm. Scattering at the grating imperfections was found to be at least two orders of magnitude weaker than the intensity of the diffracted order.