Microlens arrays

Microlenses have been with us for a long time as indeed the very word lens reminds us. Many early lenses,including those made by Hooke and Leeuwenhoek in the 17th century were small and resembled lentils. Many languages use the same word for both (French tilentillelt and German "Linse") and the connection is only obscure in English because we use the French word for the vegetable and the German for the optic. Many of the applications for arrays of inicrolenses are also well established. Lippmann's work on integral photography at the turn of the century required lens arrays and stimulated an interest that is very much alive today. At one stage, lens arrays played an important part in high speed photography and various schemes have been put forward to take advantage of the compact imaging properties of combinations of lens arrays. The fact that many of these ingenious schemes have not been developed to their full potential has to a large degree been due to the absence of lens arrays of a suitable quality and cost.