Fabrication of Plastic Microlens by Thermal Deformation Induced with laser

Microlens is a key component in the fields of optical communication, data storage and digital display. Integration of microlenses and optical devices is also required for weight saving, reduction in assembly cost and higher accurate alignment. This paper deals with the development of a novel method to fabricate spherical microlenses and microlens arrays. In this method, microlenses are formed on the surface of acrylate resin which is used as sealing material for the optical devices such as photodetectors, laser diodes, CCD image sensors and so on. Microlenses are fabricated under several conditions, and the influences of process parameters on the dimension of microlenses are investigated. The fabricated microlens and microlens array have the appropriate shape, surface finish and alignment so as to condense light.