Polarisation Control in Arrays of Microlenses and Gratings: Performance in Visible-IR Spectral Ranges

Microlens arrays (MLAs) which are increasingly popular micro-optical elements in compact integrated optical systems were fabricated using a femtosecond direct laser write (fs-DLW) technique in the low-shrinkage SZ2080 (TM) photoresist. High-fidelity definition of 3D surfaces on IR transparent CaF2 substrates allowed to achieve similar to 50% transmittance in the chemical fingerprinting spectral region 2-5 mu m wavelengths since MLAs were only similar to 10 mu m high corresponding to the numerical aperture of 0.3 (the lens height is comparable with the IR wavelength). To combine diffractive and refractive capabilities in miniaturised optical setup, a graphene oxide (GO) grating acting as a linear polariser was also fabricated by fs-DLW by ablation of a 1 mu m-thick GO thin film. Such an ultra-thin GO polariser can be integrated with the fabricated MLA to add dispersion control at the focal plane. Pairs of MLAs and GO polarisers were characterised throughout the visible-IR spectral window and numerical modelling was used to simulate their performance. A good match between the experimental results of MLA focusing and simulations was achieved.

Automated summary

Microlens arrays (MLAs) were fabricated using a femtosecond direct laser write (fs-DLW) technique, allowing high-fidelity definition of 3D surfaces on IR transparent substrates. A graphene oxide (GO) grating acting as a linear polariser was also fabricated by fs-DLW. The MLAs and GO polarisers were characterised and their performance was simulated through numerical modelling with good agreement between experimental results and simulations.