Nanoscale roughness micromilled silica evanescent refractometer

We demonstrate machining of precision slots in silica with nanoscale roughness for applications in photonics. Using our in-house developed milling system we have achieved machined slots with surface roughness of 3.0 nm (Sa) and 17 µm depth of cut. This result represents eight times improvement in surface roughness and forty times increase in depth of cut than previously reported. We also demonstrate integration of these milled slots with UV-written waveguides and Bragg gratings to create optical refractometers, based on monitoring Fabry-Pérot spectral fringe changes.