Commented review on refractive microlenses and microlens arrays metrology

Abstract. The fabrication of high-quality microlenses is possible only when it is assisted by efficient and accurate metrology. For this reason, developing expertise in measurement procedures is crucial for the micro-optics manufacturer. We review and comment on this topic by first discussing what features of microlenses must be characterized and controlled. We then review the existing techniques and instruments that can be employed for this task. Finally, we detail the limitations of these different methods, we compare them, and we propose practical guidelines to setup effective metrology methodology. We believe that this paper can be an introduction to the topic but also serves as a reference document for the more experienced reader.

[1]  D. Daly,et al.  Testing and measurement of microlenses , 1993, Optics & Photonics.

[2]  Palle Geltzer Dinesen,et al.  Diamond micro-milling for array mastering , 2008, Optical Engineering + Applications.

[3]  Wei Yuan,et al.  Fabrication of Microlens Array and Its Application: A Review , 2018 .

[4]  Sylwester Bargiel,et al.  A simple method for quality evaluation of micro-optical components based on 3D IPSF measurement. , 2014, Optics express.

[5]  W. Noell,et al.  Correction of spherical surface measurements by confocal microscopy , 2020, Measurement Science and Technology.

[6]  J. Zavada,et al.  Relationship between surface scattering and microtopographic features (A) , 1979 .

[7]  Hans Zappe,et al.  Combined Twyman-Green and Mach-Zehnder interferometer for microlens testing. , 2005, Applied optics.

[8]  Peter J. de Groot,et al.  Measuring High-Slope and Super-Smooth Optics with High-Dynamic-Range Coherence Scanning Interferometry , 2014 .

[9]  Myun-Sik Kim,et al.  Small-size microlens characterization by multiwavelength high-resolution interference microscopy. , 2010, Optics express.

[10]  A. Duparré,et al.  Surface characterization techniques for determining the root-mean-square roughness and power spectral densities of optical components. , 2002, Applied optics.

[11]  Lei Li,et al.  Design and fabrication of a freeform microlens array for a compact large-field-of-view compound-eye camera. , 2012, Applied optics.

[12]  R. Noll.  Effect of mid- and high-spatial frequencies on optical performance. [surface error effects on reflecting telescopes] , 1979 .

[13]  H. Thienpont,et al.  Micro-optic reflection and transmission interferometer for complete microlens characterization , 2009 .

[14]  Roger Artigas,et al.  Imaging confocal microscopy , 2020, Advances in Optical Surface Texture Metrology.

[15]  Eduard Reithmeier,et al.  Systematic errors on curved microstructures caused by aberrations in confocal surface metrology. , 2015, Optics express.

[16]  James E. Harvey,et al.  Light-Scattering Characteristics Of Optical Surfaces , 1977, Other Conferences.

[17]  Marc Wielandts,et al.  Novel method for fabrication of monolithic multi-cavity molds and wafer optics , 2015, SPIE Optifab.

[18]  B. Dörband,et al.  Testing the Geometry of Optical Components , 2015 .

[19]  Johannes Schwider,et al.  Null test measurement of high-numerical-aperture cylindrical microlenses in transmitted light , 2003, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[20]  Richard Leach,et al.  On tilt and curvature dependent errors and the calibration of coherence scanning interferometry. , 2017, Optics express.

[21]  Denzel Bridges,et al.  Fabrication, characterization, and applications of microlenses. , 2015, Applied optics.

[22]  Gregg E. Davis,et al.  Comparison of freeform manufacturing techniques in the production of monolithic lens arrays , 2009, Optical Engineering + Applications.

[23]  P. Nussbaum,et al.  Design, fabrication and testing of microlens arrays for sensors and microsystems , 1997 .

[24]  J Schwider,et al.  Homogeneity testing by phase sampling interferometry. , 1985, Applied optics.

[25]  Wenhao Huang,et al.  Micro lens fabrication by means of femtosecond two photon photopolymerization. , 2006, Optics express.

[26]  M. Eisner,et al.  Improvements on the uniformity of large-area microlens arrays in Fused Silica. , 2019, Optics express.

[27]  C. Dragone,et al.  Ideal microlenses for laser to fiber coupling , 1993 .

[28]  M Sieler,et al.  Microoptical array projectors for free-form screen applications. , 2013, Optics express.

[29]  Reinhard Voelkel,et al.  Full wafer microlens replication by UV imprint lithography , 2010 .

[30]  Reinhard Voelkel,et al.  Laser beam homogenizing: limitations and constraints , 2008, Optical Systems Design.

[31]  Peter Lehmann,et al.  Vertical scanning white-light interference microscopy on curved microstructures. , 2010, Optics letters.

[32]  J. E. Harvey,et al.  Modeling of light scattering in different regimes of surface roughness. , 2011, Optics express.

[33]  E. Iso,et al.  Measurement Uncertainty and Probability: Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement , 1995 .

[34]  Jaquet-Droz,et al.  Wafer-scale micro-optics fabrication , 2012 .

[35]  J. Goodman.  Introduction to Fourier optics , 1969 .

[36]  R. Leach,et al.  Optical topography measurement of steeply-sloped surfaces beyond the specular numerical aperture limit , 2020, Optics and Photonics for Advanced Dimensional Metrology.

[37]  Andreas Tünnermann,et al.  Ultraslim fixed pattern projectors with inherent homogenization of illumination. , 2012, Applied optics.

[38]  W. Noell,et al.  Optical characterization of high numerical aperture microlenses for quality assessment and fabrication process optimization. , 2020, Applied optics.

[39]  Johannes Schwider,et al.  Twyman-Green interferometer for testing microspheres , 1995 .

[40]  B. Bhushan,et al.  Comparison of surface roughness measurements by stylus profiler, AFM and non-contact optical profiler , 1995 .

[41]  Cheng-Hsiang Lin,et al.  Fabrication of microlens arrays in photosensitive glass by femtosecond laser direct writing , 2009 .

[42]  Young-Sik Ghim,et al.  Application of the random ball test for calibrating slope-dependent errors in profilometry measurements. , 2013, Applied optics.

[43]  S. Haselbeck,et al.  Microlenses fabricated by melting a photoresist on a base layer , 1993 .

[44]  Takaaki Miyashita,et al.  Standardization for Microlenses and Microlens Arrays , 2007 .

[45]  Reinhard Voelkel,et al.  Fabrication of aspherical microlenses in fused silica and silicon , 2001, SPIE Optics + Photonics.