Optical Techniques for the Generation of Microlens Arrays

Abstract

A technique is described for the manufacture of regular closely packed arrays of very small lenses of good optical quality. Hexagonal fringes from three-beam interference are first recorded in photoresist to produce a hexagonal array of quasi-cylindrical lenses. These are then used to image a point source of light into an array of narrow lines, which are recorded in photoresist and developed through to the substrate. The photoresist is then melted to produce lenses.