Direct Fabrication of Microlens Arrays on PMMA With Laser-Induced Structural Modification

• Published in: IEEE photonics technology letters Vol. 27; no. 21; pp. 2253 - 2256
• Main Authors: Ou, Yan, Yang, Qing, Chen, Feng, Deng, Zefang, Du, Guangqing, Wang, Jiuhong, Bian, Hao, Yong, Jiale, Hou, Xun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.11.2015; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: convex microlens arrays; Fabrication; femtosecond laser; Imaging; Lenses; Microoptics; Optimized production technology; Plastics; single pulse structural modification; Surface morphology; femtosecond laser; single pulse structural modification; Convex microlens arrays
• ISSN: 1041-1135; 1941-0174
• DOI: 10.1109/LPT.2015.2459045

Reported here is the direct fabrication of the convex microlens arrays on poymethylmethacrylate using laser-induced structural modification. Based on single femtosecond pulse in situ modification, sixty thousand convex microlenses, whose diameters was <;12 μm, could be fabricated per minute, exhibiting much higher efficiency than conventional laser direct writing technique. The formation mechanism was mainly attributed to photodecomposition, which would result in the scission of polymer chains. The shape of microlenses could be tuned by the laser power. In addition, the good optical performance of the microlens was revealed by its ability of high resolution imaging. This technique may open up a new way of preparing low-cost and large-area convex structure which is widely used in many advanced microdevices, such as lab-on-chips and biomimetic compound eyes.