Nano- and microlens arrays grown using atomic-layer deposition

A method for making optical micro- and even nano-sized lens arrays with 100 % fill factor is reported here. Lens arrays with a wide range of diameters and pitches, from deep submicron to tens of microns, were made through conformal growth of dielectric monolayers onto prepatterned templates by using atomic-layer deposition. This method has a degree of freedom of choosing lens materials with a broad range of optical refractive indexes, as well as of controlling the curvature of the lens surface and the fill factor of the lens array. This method greatly boosts our capability to make optimal lens arrays for broad applications.