Fabrication of 3D microoptical lenses in photosensitive glass using femtosecond laser micromachining

We describe the fabrication of microoptical cylindrical and hemispherical lenses vertically embedded in a photosensitive Foturan glass by femtosecond (fs) laser three-dimensional (3D) micromachining. The process is mainly composed of four steps: (1) fs laser scanning in the photosensitive glass to form curved surfaces (spherical and/or cylindrical); (2) postannealing of the sample for modification of the exposed areas; (3) chemical etching of the sample for selective removal of the modified areas; and (4) a second postannealing for smoothening the surfaces of the tiny lenses. We examine the focusing ability of the microoptical lenses using a He-Ne laser beam, showing the great potential of using these microoptical lenses in lab-on-a-chip applications. PACS 42.62.-b; 81.05.Kf; 82.50.Pt     

Three-dimensional integration of microoptical components buried inside photosensitive glass by femtosecond laser direct writing

We report the three-dimensional (3D) integration of microoptical components such as microlenses, micromirrors and optical waveguides in a single glass chip by femtosecond (fs) laser direct writing. First, two types of microoptical lenses were fabricated inside photosensitive Foturan glass by forming hollow microstructures using fs laser direct writing followed by thermal treatment, successive wet etching and additional annealing. One type of lens is the cylindrical microlens with a curvature radius R of 1.0 mm, and the other is the plano-convex microlens with radius R of 0.75 mm. Subsequently, by the continuous procedure of hollow microstructure fabrication, a micromirror was integrated with the plano-convex microlens in the single glass chip. Further integration of waveguides was performed by internal refractive index modification using fs laser direct writing after the hollow structure fabrication of the microlens and the micromirror. A demonstration of the laser beam transmission in the integrated optical microdevice shows that the 3D integration of waveguides with a micromirror and a microoptical lens in a single glass chip is highly effective for light beam guiding and focusing. PACS 42.62.-b; 81.05.Kf; 42.82.Cr; 82.50.Pt; 42.79.Gn     

Research on micro-optical lenses fabrication technology

We present a detail investigation on the development of a series of gradient index (GRIN) optical glass microlens and polymer microlens and microlens arrays in our laboratory in recent years. The special glass material GRIN lenses have been fabricated mainly by using ion-exchange technology, which are applied to construct micro-optic devices and other applications. On one hand, we demonstrated the light propagation and imaging properties of GRIN lenses and the results analyzed. On the other hand, we have explored a drop-on-demand ink-jet printing method to produce microlens array using nano-scale polymer droplets involved with a uniform ultraviolet light and heat solidifying process. The experimental setup for manufacturing polymer microlens array and the performance of refractive microlens elements are also given in this paper.     

On the holographic simulation of non-circular zone plates

New methods involving the manipulation of fundamental wavefronts (e.g., plane and spherical) with simple optical components such as pinholes and spherical lenses have been developed for the fabrication of elliptic, hyperbolic and conical holographic zone plates. Also parabolic zone plates by holographic techniques have been obtained for the first time. The performance behaviour of these zone plates has been studied. Further a phenomenological explanation is offered for the observed improved fringe contrast obtained with a spherical reference wave. An erratum to this article is available at .     

3D microoptical elements formed in a photostructurable germanium silicate by direct laser writing

We present our investigations into the fabrication of three-dimensional microoptical elements by the direct femtosecond laser writing of a germanium–silicon photosensitive hybrid material. Germanium glass composites are very interesting for optical applications as they are photosensitive, and maintain high optical transparency in the visible and near-infrared bands of the spectrum. Here, we have used a germanium containing hybrid material to make nanophotonic structures and microoptical elements such as photonic crystal templates, prisms and spatial polarization plates, both on flat surfaces and fiber tips. Our results show that this germanium silicate composite is an excellent material for microoptics fabrication.     

抛物面型X射线组合折射透镜聚焦性能的理论与实验研究

结合衍射理论和矩阵光学方法得出抛物面型X射线组合折射透镜的光学性能指标(包括其焦距的严格表达式、薄透镜近似的判定准则、透过率和有效孔径,以及极限聚焦光斑尺寸等).采用X射线深度光刻技术实际制作了PMMA材料抛物面型X射线组合折射透镜并给出了工艺测试结果.最后在北京同步辐射装置(BSRF)上,实际构建了基于3种不同结构参数的PMMA材料抛物面型X射线组合折射透镜的微束聚焦实验系统.并实际测试了其聚焦性能,均获得了良好的聚焦效果,给出实测结果并对实测结果进行了分析和讨论.     

Advances in Hard X-ray Focusing Optics

Focusing and imaging components, such as lenses and mirrors, are necessary in a wide range of optical systems. For the visible light region, such components are readily available, but they are still in the research and development stage for the hard X-ray region. The extremely short wavelengths of hard X-rays require unprecedented accuracy in the manufacture of focusing devices. For many years, a large amount of research carried out at synchrotron facilities has focused on the theory, fabrication, evaluation, and application of X-ray focusing elements.     

Three‐dimensional femtosecond laser micromachining of photosensitive glass for biomicrochips

Internal modification of transparent materials such as glass can be carried out using multiphoton absorption induced by a femtosecond (fs) laser. The fs‐laser modification followed by thermal treatment and successive chemical wet etching in a hydrofluoric (HF) acid solution forms three‐dimensional (3D) hollow microstructures embedded in photosensitive glass. This technique is a powerful method for directly fabricating 3D microfluidic structures inside a photosensitive glass microchip. We used fabricated microchips, referred to as a nanoaquarium, for dynamic observations of living microorganisms. In addition, the present technique can also be used to form microoptical components such as micromirrors and microlenses inside the photosensitive glass, since the fabricated structures have optically flat surfaces. The integration of microfluidics and microoptical components in a single glass chip yields biophotonic microchips, in other words, optofluidics, which provide high sensitivity in absorption and fluorescence measurements of small volumes of liquid samples.     

渐进多焦点镜片面形误差与光焦度关系的分析

渐进多焦点眼镜片能够同时满足视远与视近的需求,其应用日益广泛.本文介绍了渐进多焦点镜片的设计与评价方法,在此基础上通过对镜片面形方程及球面度方程求解偏微分,构建了渐进多焦点镜片光焦度分布与面形误差的关系模型.根据国家标准规定的镜片有效区域实际屈光度与名义值差值小于0.1 D的要求,对加光度为2.0D(6.0D8.0D)的渐进面面形误差进行了实例分析.应用给定的面形误差结果进行实验加工的镜片,经分析后实验输出的光焦度变化符合所设定的国家标准要求的范围,进一步验证了面形误差与光焦度分布关系模型的正确性,为渐进多焦点镜片加工的面形控制精度提供理论依据.     

Subwavelength-size solid immersion lens

We report on the fabrication and characterization of nanoscale solid immersion lenses (nano-SILs) with sizes down to a subwavelength range. Submicrometer-scale cylinders fabricated by electron-beam lithography are thermally reflowed to form a spherical shape. Subsequent soft lithography leads to nano-SILs on transparent substrates for optical characterization. The optical characterization is performed using a high-resolution interference microscope with illumination at 642 nm wavelength. The focal spots produced by the nano-SILs show both spot-size reduction and enhanced optical intensity, which are consistent with the immersion effect.     

Characterization of organic material micro-structures transferred by laser in nanosecond and picosecond regimes

The laser-induced forward transfer technique has been performed on thin layers of conducting organic materials for applications in plastic micro-electronics.This process is a promising alternative for fabrication of organic electronic components on flexible supports when usual techniques, such like ink-jet printing, cannot be considered. For example, when the organic material has no solubility properties or when complex architectures are needed.Experiments on the influence of pulse duration (nanosecond and picosecond) and wavelength on a large range of fluences have been proceeded using different lasers. An optimization of the process has been carried out by inserting a thin layer of absorbing metallic material between the substrate and the organic film. The advantage of this technique is to preserve organic layers from being damaged by thermal and photochemical effects during the interaction.The morphology and thickness of the deposit have been investigated by optical and scanning electronic microscopy. This experimental study is supplemented by electrical characterization of the deposits.     

Mid-infrared microlenses fabricated by the melting method

It is shown that by using the melting method it is possible to fabricate microlenses that work with mid-IR radiation. The fabrication method is described, and the characteristics of the polymeric material and the fabricated lenses are shown.     

光电设备中球罩的视轴误差研究

光学窗口是光电设备中必不可少的光学元件,对处于大视场成像或全方位扫描工作模式的光电系统,常采用曲面形式的同心球罩作为光学窗口。球罩加工过程中的球心偏差和装配过程中与光电系统入瞳中心的偏差都会对光电系统的视轴角度带来误差。推导了球罩加工、装调误差对光电系统视轴影响的数学表达式,分析了各误差对光电系统视轴的影响,得到了球罩的各误差环节对光电系统视轴影响的规律,对球罩的设计和在光电系统中的使用具有重要的意义。     

Realizable planar gradient-index solar lenses

The design of single element planar hemispherical gradient-index solar lenses that can accommodate the constraints of realistic materials and fabrication techniques are presented, and simulated with an extended and polychromatic solar source for concentrator photovoltaics at flux concentration values exceeding 1000 suns. The planar hemispherical far-field lens is created from a near-field unit magnification spherical gradient-index design, and illustrated with an f/1.40 square solar lens that allows lossless packing within a concentrator module.     

离子束辅助淀积低温微光学元件红外宽带增透膜

简要叙述了锗基片微光学元件红外宽带减反膜的设计与制作。着重介绍了离子束辅助淀积制备该膜系的过程，给出了用该方法制作８～１２μｍ波段的减反膜的测试曲线，它具有峰值透过率高，在设计波长范围内的平均透过率大于９７％以上，膜层附着好，可以切割和擦洗，可以在室温和１００Ｋ低温下反复循环使用。     

A New Approach to the Design of Hybrid Lenses for Integrated Optics

The Fresnel lens is one of the most extensively studied components in both classical and integrated optics. This structure is free from axial spherical aberration, but is heavily affected by both off-axis and chromatic aberrations. The latter can be compensated by introducing a refractive component, whose chromatic behavior is the opposite of that of the diffractive lens. This hybrid refractive-diffractive structure, however, is not able to deal effectively with off-axis aberrations, namely, with coma. In this work, a novel methodology for the design of corrected hybrid lenses is proposed which allows for correction of both chromatism and coma. The design method is based on a ray-optics variational approach which provides a range of possible achromatic solutions. An optimization procedure is performed by means of a series of beam propagation method numerical calculations which make it possible to simulate the lens operation and thus to find the best solution.     

Design of off-axis reflective projection lens using spherical Fresnel surface

In this paper, an off-axis reflective projection lens with single Fresnel reflective surface and three aspheric surfaces were designed. The design method of reflective lens using spherical Fresnel surface is discussed. The MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) of the off-axis reflective lens, with optical magnification 100×, F-number 2.5 and field of view 120°, is over 40% at 0.6 lp/mm on the image side, the distortion is less than 2%. This design method can provide reference for application of Fresnel surface in wide field of view imaging, and possesses a bright future with the continuous development of fabrication technique.     

Photoresist reflow method of microlens production Part I: Background and experiments

We present a two part study of melted microlens arrays. This first part concentrates on the production and measurement of microlens arrays while the second part examines attempts to model the microlens profiles. In this paper we first review some of the fabrication techniques used over the past twenty years to produce lens arrays. Some applications of microlens arrays are then discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on the photoresist reflow method of microlens production that was suggested by Popovic et al., as this was the method used to produce the microlens examined in this study. Lenses produced using this method can have large deviations from the spherical case, i.e. the profile that would be expected from a simple minimisation of the surface energy. These deviations have not been explained to date in the literature, however a number of possible causes for this deviation are given in this paper.Therefore the fundamental questions we wish to explore here are: (1) Why physically do dips occur? and (2) Can the resulting surface profile be predicted? Any model developed to quantitatively estimate the optical effects of surface shape will depend on the physical assumptions made regarding the surface formation mechanism. However as we shall indicate at this point only an informed guess regarding the relative importance of a number of possible mechanisms can be made.     

液滴微粒直径分布的激光散射法测量

本文利用氦氖激光器为光源在自行设计的光散射实验装置上对球形微粒群进行了粒径平均直径及直径分布的理论研究和测量.实验结果表明,本实验装置具有测量精度高、适用范围广和测量粒径范围宽等特点.     

Double-slot antennas on extended hemispherical and elliptical quartz dielectric lenses

In this paper, the theoretical far-field patterns and Gaussianbeam coupling efficiencies are investigated for a double-slot antenna placed on quartz hemispherical lenses with varying extension lengths. The radiation patterns of the double-slot antenna are computed using ray-tracing inside the lens and electric and magnetic field integration on the spherical dielectric surface. The theoretical results are equally valid for double-dipole, log-periodic, and spiral antennas, and are presented in extension length/radius and radius/. Therefore, the results yield universal design curves for quartz lenses of different diameters and at different frequencies and using different antennas. The results indicate that forsingle units, there exists a wide range of extension lengths (ext. length/radius=0.61 to 0.76) which result in high Gaussian-coupling efficiencies to moderately highf/# systems. Forimaging array applications with high packing densities, an extension length/radius=0.82 to 0.93 (depending on frequency) will result in peak directivity and highest packing density but lower Gaussian-coupling efficiencies.