A promising thermal pressing used in fabricating microlens array

This paper describes a simple and inexpensive technique for designing and fabricating polygon microlens arrays using a thermal pressing process. Polygon microlens array molds were fabricated using lithography and an electroforming process. The microlens patterns were designed on a photomask and transferred to a substrate through photoresist patterning. Electroforming technology was used to convert the photoresist microlens patterns into metallic molds. A hot pressing machine was then used to produce the microlens array in a polycarbonate (PC) substrate. The experimental variables were compression pressure, temperature, and the pressing time. The surface roughness of the produced microlens array was measured using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The average microlens radii of curvature ranged from 315 to 420 μm and the average sag heights were from 2.98 to 4.03 μm, respectively. The experimental result showed that this fabrication process is useful for microlens array production.