Microlens arrays for confocal microscopy

A new; high resolution measuring system based on confocal microscopy has been developed for the evaluation of microlens arrays; in particular for applications in confocal microscopy itself. Lenslet arrays for parallel scanning and processing in confocal microscopy were designed as phase-matched Fresnel lenslets and fabricated by direct laser writing. Replica arrays were produced by ultraviolet embossing and hot embossing techniques. Fabricated arrays with a numerical aperture of 0.28 exhibited near diffraction limited performance and a focal length standard deviation of 120 nm in a nominal value of 250 μm. The technique developed represents a convenient and powerful technique for the characterization of lenslet arrays in general.