Fabrication of Quartz Microlenses Using Lasers

Abstract Various types of quartz micro lenses were fabricated by two subsequent stages using two lasers. Fiber laser of 1.06µm was employed for the laser ablation while CO 2 laser with 10.6µm was used for direct laser writing. The experimental data demonstrate formation of spherical, cylindrical micro lenses and microlens array with optimum numerical aperture of 0.55. Theoretical calculations and simulation were conducted to estimate the temperature at the quartz surface during the ablation stage and simulation the reshaping stage. Temperature of 2500 K is achieved in ablation stage and 2015 K was established during the reshaping process. The ablation depth is 280 µm, diameter is 150 µm and heat affected zone of approximately 1345 µm after 1 second. Due to the controllable laser micromachining process, optoelectronics and biological imaging are viable applications for microlens arrays.