Simple reflow technique for fabrication of a microlens array in solgel glass

A simple reflow method for fabrication of refractive microlens arrays in inorganic-organic SiO2-ZrO2 solgel glass is presented. To our knowledge, this is the first report that presents a simple reflow technique for transforming a negatively induced hybrid solgel material into desirable spherical microlenses. It is shown that the microlenses have excellent smooth surfaces and uniform dimensions. The reflow technique is considerably cheaper than use of a high-energy beam-sensitive gray-scale mask and is suitable for mass production. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.