Fabrication of a Microlens Array with Controlled Curvature by Thermally Curving Photosensitive Gel Film beneath Microholes

Dawei Zhang, Qiao Xu, Chaolong Fang, Kaimin Wang, Xu Wang, Songlin Zhuang, Bo Dai*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A rapid method is developed for fabricating low-cost and high-numerical-aperture photosensitive-gel microlens arrays (MLAs) with well-controlled curvatures. An UV-curable photosensitive-gel film beneath the microholes of a silicon mold can be flexibly deformed by thermally manipulating the surface tension of the photosensitive gel and the pressure difference across the air-photosensitive-gel interface. The concave interface is then solidified through UV curing, forming a MLA with a concave curvature. MLAs with a focal length ranging from 51.4 to 71.9 μm and a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.49 were fabricated. The photocured MLA has high mechanical and thermal strength and is suitable as a master mold for the further production of convex MLAs. The fabricated microlenses have uniform shapes and smooth surfaces. In a demonstration of imaging and focusing performance, clear and uniform images and focused light spots were observed using concave and convex MLAs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)16604-16609
Number of pages6
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume9
Issue number19
Early online date28 Apr 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 May 2017

Keywords

  • microlens array
  • micromolding
  • microstructure fabrication
  • optical performance
  • surface tension

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science

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