Fabrication of high-quality microlens arrays on fused silica based on combined rapid evaporative ablation and precision melting polishing of CO2 lasers
Microlens arrays (MLAs) made from fused silica possess broad applications in wavefront sensing, optical focusing, beam shaping, etc. However, it is challenging to fabricate the hard-brittle silica MLAs with high accuracy and low cost by conventional manufacturing techniques efficiently. In this work...
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Elsevier
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Journal of Materials Research and Technology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2238785424023536 |
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| author | Zixiao Zhang Hongqin Lei Jian Cheng Qiang Zhao Xinxin He Linjie Zhao Mingjun Chen Jinghe Wang |
| author_facet | Zixiao Zhang Hongqin Lei Jian Cheng Qiang Zhao Xinxin He Linjie Zhao Mingjun Chen Jinghe Wang |
| author_sort | Zixiao Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Microlens arrays (MLAs) made from fused silica possess broad applications in wavefront sensing, optical focusing, beam shaping, etc. However, it is challenging to fabricate the hard-brittle silica MLAs with high accuracy and low cost by conventional manufacturing techniques efficiently. In this work, a novel two-step method, which consists of rapid evaporative ablation and precision melting polishing by CO2 lasers, is proposed to fabricate high-quality MLAs. The first step is to rapidly ablate and engrave micro-pillar arrays (MPAs) with flat groove bottom by high-energy density CO2 lasers. The second step is to precisely polish and shape the flat-topped MPAs into the dome-topped MLAs with good surface roughness (Sa) by low-energy density CO2 lasers. The whole preparation process could be achieved through a set of machining system. Firstly, the geometric dimension (period, p and height, h) of the microlens is determined by the Monte Carlo ray tracing method. Secondly, to diminish the groove depth inconsistency caused by heat accumulation, the multiple ablation compensation strategy is developed. The MPAs (p = 200–400 μm), of which maximum height error is 7.1%, are prepared in 1 s by the proposed compensation strategy. Then, the MPAs are smoothed into the MLAs by low-energy density CO2 lasers, and the average Sa is improved from 960 nm to 32.56 nm. Finally, the optical performances of the MLAs are verified from the effectiveness of imaging, focusing and homogenization. The proposed two-step processing method paves a new way to fabricate high-performance MLAs on hard-brittle fused silica with low cost and high efficiency. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c701a25a99fc41a29cfe43111cad8de5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2238-7854 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Materials Research and Technology |
| spelling | doaj-art-c701a25a99fc41a29cfe43111cad8de52024-12-26T08:54:33ZengElsevierJournal of Materials Research and Technology2238-78542024-11-013339283943Fabrication of high-quality microlens arrays on fused silica based on combined rapid evaporative ablation and precision melting polishing of CO2 lasersZixiao Zhang0Hongqin Lei1Jian Cheng2Qiang Zhao3Xinxin He4Linjie Zhao5Mingjun Chen6Jinghe Wang7School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Robotics and System, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China; School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Robotics and System, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China; School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China; Zhengzhou Research Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhengzhou, 450000, China; Corresponding author. State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China.School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, ChinaSchool of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, ChinaSchool of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Robotics and System, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China; School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, ChinaSchool of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, ChinaMicrolens arrays (MLAs) made from fused silica possess broad applications in wavefront sensing, optical focusing, beam shaping, etc. However, it is challenging to fabricate the hard-brittle silica MLAs with high accuracy and low cost by conventional manufacturing techniques efficiently. In this work, a novel two-step method, which consists of rapid evaporative ablation and precision melting polishing by CO2 lasers, is proposed to fabricate high-quality MLAs. The first step is to rapidly ablate and engrave micro-pillar arrays (MPAs) with flat groove bottom by high-energy density CO2 lasers. The second step is to precisely polish and shape the flat-topped MPAs into the dome-topped MLAs with good surface roughness (Sa) by low-energy density CO2 lasers. The whole preparation process could be achieved through a set of machining system. Firstly, the geometric dimension (period, p and height, h) of the microlens is determined by the Monte Carlo ray tracing method. Secondly, to diminish the groove depth inconsistency caused by heat accumulation, the multiple ablation compensation strategy is developed. The MPAs (p = 200–400 μm), of which maximum height error is 7.1%, are prepared in 1 s by the proposed compensation strategy. Then, the MPAs are smoothed into the MLAs by low-energy density CO2 lasers, and the average Sa is improved from 960 nm to 32.56 nm. Finally, the optical performances of the MLAs are verified from the effectiveness of imaging, focusing and homogenization. The proposed two-step processing method paves a new way to fabricate high-performance MLAs on hard-brittle fused silica with low cost and high efficiency.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2238785424023536Fused silicaCO2 laser machiningMicrolens arraysRapid ablationPrecision polishing |
| spellingShingle | Zixiao Zhang Hongqin Lei Jian Cheng Qiang Zhao Xinxin He Linjie Zhao Mingjun Chen Jinghe Wang Fabrication of high-quality microlens arrays on fused silica based on combined rapid evaporative ablation and precision melting polishing of CO2 lasers Journal of Materials Research and Technology Fused silica CO2 laser machining Microlens arrays Rapid ablation Precision polishing |
| title | Fabrication of high-quality microlens arrays on fused silica based on combined rapid evaporative ablation and precision melting polishing of CO2 lasers |
| title_full | Fabrication of high-quality microlens arrays on fused silica based on combined rapid evaporative ablation and precision melting polishing of CO2 lasers |
| title_fullStr | Fabrication of high-quality microlens arrays on fused silica based on combined rapid evaporative ablation and precision melting polishing of CO2 lasers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fabrication of high-quality microlens arrays on fused silica based on combined rapid evaporative ablation and precision melting polishing of CO2 lasers |
| title_short | Fabrication of high-quality microlens arrays on fused silica based on combined rapid evaporative ablation and precision melting polishing of CO2 lasers |
| title_sort | fabrication of high quality microlens arrays on fused silica based on combined rapid evaporative ablation and precision melting polishing of co2 lasers |
| topic | Fused silica CO2 laser machining Microlens arrays Rapid ablation Precision polishing |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2238785424023536 |
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