Microlens Array Fabrication by Using a Microshaper

A simple, easy, inexpensive, and quick nonsilicon-based micromachining method was developed to manufacture a microlens array. The spherical surface of the microlens was machined using a microshaper mounted on a three-axis vertical computer numerical control (CNC) machine with cutter-path-planning. The results show the machined profiles of microlens agree well with designed profiles. The focus ability of the machined microlens array was verified. The designed and measured focal lengths have average 1.5% error. The results revealed that the focal lengths of micro lens agreed with the designed values. A moderate roughness of microlens surface is obtained by simply polishing. The roughness of the lens surface is 43 nm in feed direction (x-direction) and 56 nm in path interval direction (y-direction). It shows the simple, scalable, and reproducible method to manufacture microlenses by microshaper with cutter-path-planning is feasible.

Automated summary

A simple, inexpensive method was developed to manufacture a microlens array using nonsilicon-based micromachining. The machined microlens profiles closely matched the designed ones, with only an average 1.5% error in focal lengths. The results suggest that this method is feasible for producing microlenses with moderate roughness.