Fabrication of large-area cylindrical microlens array based on electric-field-driven jet printing

Abstract

The cylindrical microlens array (CMLA) is an important micro-optical component, it has very significant application effects in the fields of naked eye three-dimensional display, laser line generation, and deformed beam shaping. However, the high efficiency and low-cost manufacturing of large-area CMLA is still challenging for industry and academia. Based on the electric-field-driven (EFD) jet printing technique, a new method for manufacturing a large-area CMLA with high efficiency and low cost has been proposed. We use the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation to investigate the basic principle of EFD jet printing. The influence of process parameters on the formation of CMLA was revealed by experiments. Using optimized process parameters, the fabrication of a CMLA with a patterned area of 50 × 50 mm2, a line width of 70 μm, and a period of 100 μm was achieved. The geometric and optical properties of the fabricated CMLA were characterized, showing that the products have the good geometric appearance and focusing effect. The results show that the proposed fabrication method provides a new manufacturing process for large-area manufacturing of CMLA with high efficiency and low cost.