Fabrication of large-area concave microlens array on silicon by femtosecond laser micromachining

In this Letter, a novel fabrication of large-area concave microlens array (MLA) on silicon is demonstrated by combination of high-speed laser scanning, which would result in single femtosecond laser pulse ablation on surface of silicon, and subsequent wet etching. Microscale concave microlenses with tunable dimensions and accessional aspherical profile are readily obtained on the 1 cm x 1 cm silicon film, which are useful as optical elements for infrared (IR) applications. The aperture diameter and height of the microlens were characterized and the results reveal that they are both proportional to the laser scanning speed. Moreover, the optical property of high-performance silicon MLAs as a reflective homogenizer was investigated for the visible wavelength, and it can be easily extended to IR light. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America