Excimer laser micromachining of aspheric microlenses with precise surface profile control and optimal focusing capability

This paper demonstrates the unique and exceptional capability of excimer laser micromachining in fabricating aspheric microlenses with precise surface profile control. A newly developed laser scanning method is introduced for machining refractive types of microlenses, which have pre-designed surface profiles aiming at minimizing the optical focal spot sizes. The machining accuracy and machined surface roughness are examined experimentally, and very good results are obtained. Optical testing on the fabricated aspheric microlenses shows significant improvement in focusing capability and the focal spot sizes are approaching optical diffraction limits. The proposed excimer laser micromachining method is flexible, versatile, and accurate, hence can be very useful and powerful in machining 3D microstructures of complex profiles and demanding profile accuracy.