Abstract
Thermoplastic optical polymers have replaced traditional optical glass for many applications, due to their superior optical performance, mechanical characteristics, low cost, and efficient production process. This paper investigates noncontact microembossing technology used for producing microlens arrays made out of PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate), PS (polyStyrene), and PC (polycarbonate) from a quartz mold, with microhole arrays. An array of planoconvex microlenses are formed because of surface tension caused by applying pressure to the edge of a hole at a certain glass transition temperature. We studied the principle of noncontact microembossing techniques using finite element analysis, in addition to the thermal and mechanical properties of the three polymers. Then, the independently developed hot-embossing equipment was used to fabricate microlens arrays on PMMA, PS, and PC sheets. This is a promising technique for fabricating diverse thermoplastic optical polymer microlens array sheets, with a simple technological process and low production costs.
Highlights
Thermoplastic optical polymers have replaced traditional optical glass in many applications, owing to their superior optical performance, mechanical characteristics, low cost, and efficient production process
Polymer microlenses and microlens arrays have the advantages of being of small size and low weight, and can be conveniently integrated, playing the critical roles on military affairs, science & technology, and more
The noncontact hot embossing is performed on a thermoplastic polymer sheet
Summary
Thermoplastic optical polymers have replaced traditional optical glass in many applications, owing to their superior optical performance, mechanical characteristics, low cost, and efficient production process. LIGA technology is used to produce a nickel plate with round-hole arrays Using this plate, the noncontact hot embossing is performed on a thermoplastic polymer sheet. The curvature and height of the microlens can be controlled by adjusting the temperature, pressure, and duration of the embossing process This technology is convenient and flexible, and it provides a quality microlens surface. The noncontact microembossing simplifies the process, due to one-step molding, which is unaffected by the quality of the mold’s surface. This demonstrates that noncontact microembossing is of low cost and highly efficient method for fabricating diverse thermoplastic optical polymer microlens array sheets
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