Formation of a plano-convex micro-lens array in fused silica glass by using a CO2 laser-assisted reshaping technique

We report on fabricating high-fill-factor plano-convex spherical and square micro-lens arrays on fused silica glass surface by using a CO2 laser-assisted reshaping technique. Initially, periodic micro-pillars are encoded on glass surfaces by means of a femtosecond laser beam, afterwards, the micro-pillars are polished several times by irradiating a CO2 laser beam on top of the micro-pillars. Consequently, a spherical micro-lens array with micro-lens size of 50 μm × 50 μm and a square micro-lens array with micro-lens size of 100 μm × 100 μm are formed on the surface of the fused silica glass. We also study the intensity distribution of light passing through the glass sample engraved with a spherical micro-lens array. The simulation result shows that the focal length of the spherical micro-lens array is 35 μm. Furthermore, we investigate the optical properties of glass samples with engraved micro-lens arrays. The proposed CO2-laser-based reshaping technique is simple and fast and shows promises for fabricating arrays of smooth micro-lenses in various transparent materials.

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