This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 9949, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction (if any), and Conference Committee listing.

We theoretically and experimentally study an add-drop ring resonator to achieve tunable Fano resonance. In this system, the Fano resonance results from the interference of two beams from add and through port. The line shapes of the Fano resonances are tunable through controlling the phase bias of the two beams from add and through port. At the same time, add-drop ring resonator structure enabling the truly on/off switching mechanism is realized when the phase bias is 0 or π. The experimental results well agree with the theoretical calculation.

We report design, fabrication and characterization of molded chalcogenide microlens array for Infrared sensing applications. A master of desired microlens array with high sag value is prepared using ultraviolet lithography and thermal reflow method on a positive photoresist (ma–P1275HV). The negative replica of the master is created using polydimethylsiloxane which serves as a mold for micro-molding. Further, chalcogenide solution is prepared in ethanolamine solvent and spin coated on a substrate to get a uniform film; these films are characterized and are found to have the same optical properties as the parent bulk chalcogenide glass. Finally, the microlens array is fabricated by the micro-molding of chalcogenide film. Fabricated chalcogenide microlenses are characterized for geometrical parameters, which are used to estimate the optical parameters.

The use of chalcogenide glass in the thermal infrared domain is an emerging alternative to commonly used crystalline materials such as germanium. The main advantage of chalcogenide glass is the possibility of mass production of complex shaped geometries with replicative processes such as precision glass molding. Thus costly single point diamond turning processes are shifted to mold manufacturing and do not have to be applied to every single lens produced. The usage of FEM-Simulation is mandatory for developing a molding process for complex e.g. non rotational symmetric chalcogenide glass lenses in order to predict the flow of glass. This talk will present state of the art modelling of the precision glass molding process for chalcogenide glass lenses, based on thermal- and mechanical models. Input data for modelling are a set of material properties of the specific chalcogenide glass in conjunction with properties of mold material and wear protective coatings. Specific properties for the mold-glass interaction such as stress relaxation or friction at the glassmold interface cannot be obtained from datasheets and must be determined experimentally. A qualified model is a powerful tool to optimize mold and preform designs in advance in order to achieve sufficient mold filling and compensate for glass shrinkage. Application of these models in an FEM-Simulation “case study” for molding a complex shaped non-rotational symmetric lens is shown. The outlook will examine relevant issues for modelling the precision glass molding process of chalcogenide glasses in order to realize scaled up production in terms of multi cavity- and wafer level molding.

Isothermal precision glass molding of imaging optics is the key technology for mass production of precise optical elements. Especially for numerous consumer applications (e.g. digital cameras, smart phones, …), high precision glass molding is applied for the manufacturing of aspherical lenses. The usage of diffractive optical elements (DOEs) can help to further reduce the number of lenses in the optical systems which will lead to a reduced weight of hand-held optical devices. But today the application of molded glass DOEs is limited due to the technological challenges in structuring the mold surfaces. Depending on the application submicrometer structures are required on the mold surface. Furthermore these structures have to be replicated very precisely to the glass lens surface. Especially the micro structuring of hard and brittle mold materials such as Tungsten Carbide is very difficult and not established. Thus a multitude of innovative approaches using diffractive optical elements cannot be realized. Aixtooling has investigated in different mold materials and different suitable machining technologies for the micro- and sub-micrometer structuring of mold surfaces. The focus of the work lays on ultra-precision grinding to generate the diffractive pattern on the mold surfaces. This paper presents the latest achievements in diffractive structuring of Tungsten Carbide mold surfaces by ultra-precision grinding.

Compression molding of precision optics is gradually becoming a viable manufacturing process for low cost high performance optical elements. In this process, a glass preform in the form of gob or disk is heated rapidly above its glass transition temperature then pressed between two optical mold halves to finish dimensions. The molded lens is first cooled slowly then at a fast cooling rate to room temperature to complete the process. For more than a decade, the authors have conducted a collaborated research in glass molding using both experiments and numerical modeling. In this presentation, we will discuss the recent work in molding of both conventional glass optics and extreme high temperature glass optics – fused silica material. In addition, development of graphene like coatings for precision glass molding will also be described.

Constant LED developments show increasing levels of luminous flux and power densities. In particular, automotive and entertainment industries are requesting mechanically and optically stable light guides for their new mid to highest-power lighting solutions. The switch from polymer to glass optics comes with improved temperature resistance, higher optical performance and better longevity of the systems [1, 2]. Even highest-power LEDs can be driven at maximum current obtaining best light output. The option of directly implementing micro structures on the output aperture of glass light guides gives the opportunity to customize final color mixing and light scattering over a wide range. This reduces the amount of required components and subsequently the total system costs.

Today’s trends in illumination engineering clearly turn towards high power LED applications with a precisely controlled light output. The first requires glass optics which will withstand the increasing temperature load and lumen output of LEDs. The second requires tight control of production tolerances and defined surface structuring. Especially the surface structure – which can be realized for example as micro lens arrays – is of increasing importance. Using two different fabrication techniques we investigated the implementation of micro surface textures on glass optics. The first method uses directly molded glass from the liquid phase while the second is an imprint process. For both methods we determined the minimum replicable feature size and found current limits of only 50 μm for the imprint process.

Precision glass molding (PGM) enables high-performance, low-cost lens designs through aspheric shapes and a broad array of moldable glass types. While these benefits bring a high potential value, the design of PGM lenses must be skillfully approached to balance manufacturability and cost considerations. Different types of mold tooling and processes used by PGM suppliers can also lead to confusion regarding the manufacturing parameters and design rules that should be considered. The authors discuss the various factors that can affect manufacturability and cost of lenses made to PGM standards, and present a case study to demonstrate the trade-offs in performance.

Recently, it has been required to improve qualities of aspherical lenses mounted on camera units. Optical lenses in highvolume production generally are applied with molding process using cemented carbide or Ni-P coated steel, which can be selected from lens material such as glass and plastic. Additionally it can be obtained high quality of the cut or ground surface on mold due to developments of different mold product technologies. As results, it can be less than 100nmPV as form-error and 1nmRa as surface roughness in molds. Furthermore it comes to need higher quality, not only formerror( PV) and surface roughness(Ra) but also other surface characteristics. For instance, it can be caused distorted shapes at imaging by middle spatial frequency undulations on the lens surface. In this study, we made focus on several types of sinuous structures, which can be classified into form errors for designed surface and deteriorate optical system performances. And it was obtained mold product processes minimalizing undulations on the surface. In the report, it was mentioned about the analyzing process by using PSD so as to evaluate micro undulations on the machined surface quantitatively. In addition, it was mentioned that the grinding process with circumferential velocity control was effective for large aperture lenses fabrication and could minimalize undulations appeared on outer area of the machined surface, and mentioned about the optical glass lens molding process by using the high precision press machine.

The advantages of LED lighting, especially its energy efficiency and the long service life have led to a wide distribution of LED technology in the world. However, in order to make fully use of the great potential that LED lighting offers, complex optics are required to distribute the emitted light from the LED efficiently. Nowadays, many applications use polymer optics which can be manufactured at low costs. However, due to ever increasing luminous power, polymer optics reach their technological limits. Due to its outstanding properties, especially its temperature resistance, resistance against UV radiation and its long term stability, glass is the alternative material of choice for the use in LED optics. This research is introducing a new replicative glass manufacturing approach, namely non-isothermal glass molding (NGM) which is able to manufacture complex lighting optics in high volumes at competitive prices. The integration of FEM simulation at the early stage of the process development is presented and helps to guarantee a fast development cycle. A coupled thermo-mechanical model is used to define the geometry of the glass preform as well as to define the mold surface geometry. Furthermore, simulation is used to predict main process outcomes, especially in terms of resulting form accuracy of the molded optics. Experiments conducted on a commercially available molding machine are presented to validate the developed simulation model. Finally, the influence of distinct parameters on important process outcomes like form accuracy, surface roughness, birefringence, etc. is discussed.

Today, freeform micro-optical structures are desired components in many photonic and optical applications such as lighting and detection systems due to their compactness, ease of system integration and superior optical performance. The high complexity of a freeform structure’s arbitrary surface profile and the need for high throughput upon fabrication require novel approaches for their integration into a manufacturing process. For the fabrication of polymer freeform optics, in this contribution we discuss two principal technologies, mask-less laser direct write lithography (MALA) and replication from the as-fabricated master by imprinting. We show the high flexibility in design and rapid-prototyping of freeform optical microstructures that can be achieved by such an approach. First, the original structures known as masters are fabricated using MALA. Because of the specific requirements on shape and height (>50μm) of the microstructures, laser writing and photoresist processing have to be performed within a narrow range of fabrication parameters. Subsequently, UV-soft lithography based replication is used for serial production of the freeform micro-optical elements within a batch process. Aided by profilometry, optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy, the fidelity of the fabricated freeform microoptical elements to the design is characterised. Finally, the light intensity distribution on a target plane caused by the freeform micro-optical element illuminated with an LED is determined and compared with the predicted one.

An important, but largely invisible, area of polymer optics involves sensing the motion of warm objects. It can be further subdivided into optics for security, for energy conservation, and for convenience; the area has become known as optics for the passive infrared. The passive infrared is generally known as the 8 to 14 μm region of the optical spectrum. The region’s roots are in the traditional infrared technology of many decades ago; there is a coincident atmospheric window, although that has little relevance to many short-range applications relevant to polymer optics. Regrettably, there is no polymer material ideally suited to the passive infrared, but one material is generally superior to other candidates. The inadequacy of this material makes the Fresnel lens important. Polymer optics for the passive infrared were first introduced in the 1970s. Patents from that period will be shown, as well as early examples. The unfamiliar names of the pioneering companies and their technical leaders will be mentioned. The 1980s and 90s brought a new and improved lens type, and rapid growth. Pigments for visible-light appearance and other reasons were introduced; one was a spectacular failure. Recent advances include faster lenses, a new groove structure, additional pigments, and lens-mirror combinations. New sensor types are also being introduced. Finally, some unique and inventive applications will be discussed.

After the use of highly efficient but expensive inorganic optical materials, solution-processable polymers and hybrids have drawn more and more interest. Our group have recently developed a novel polymer-based hybrid optical material from titanium oxide hydrate exhibiting an outstanding set of optical and material properties. Firstly, their low cost, processability and cross-linked states are particularly attractive for many applications. Moreover, a high refractive index can be repeatedly achieved while optical losses stays considerably low over the entire visible and near-infrared wavelength regime. Indeed, the formation of inorganic nanoparticles, usually present in nanocomposites, is avoided by a specific formulation process. Even more remarkably, the refractive index can be tuned by either changing the inorganic content, using different titanium precursors or via a low‑temperature curing process. A part of our work is focused on the reliable optical characterization of these properties, in particular a microscope-based setup allowing in-situ measurement and sample mapping has been developed. Our efforts are also concentrated on various applications of these exceptional properties. This hybrid material is tailored for photonic devices, with a specific emphasis on the production of highly efficient solution processable Distributed Bragg Reflectors (DBR) and anti-reflection coatings. Furthermore, waveguides can be fabricated from thin films along with in-coupling and out-coupling structures. These light managements structures are particularly adapted to organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) and light emitting diodes (OLEDs).

Fresnel lenses have been found by some optical systems designers to be useful in combination with a main lens to provide quality telecentric images. Aspheric Fresnel lenses are an ideal choice for this application because they achieve a high degree of telecentricity across the entire field of view and introduce very little distortion. In a telecentric system consisting of an aspheric Fresnel lens and an off the shelf non-telecentric main lens, the design parameters are few. Aberration theory, constraints on the visibility of the grooves, and physical constraints can effectively be used to quickly determine if a solution exists for a given application and identify the solution space if it does.

For years, rigid plastics dominated as cover lenses in mobile and computing devices before being replaced by rigid glass sheets, which have become the current de facto standard. This is changing again. Optically clear, soft polymer films and film stacks now offer a promising alternative to glass. These polymer films provide a fundamentally different user experience, dramatically improving the user experience of writing and drawing, while also providing good durability. Tactus has developed an optically clear stack of polymer materials for use in a writing-first device. Details, usability studies, and performance data will be presented.

Roll-to-roll (R2R) ultraviolet (UV) curable embossing replication process is a highly accurate and cost effective way to replicate large quantities of thin film polymer parts. These structures can be used for microfluidics, LED-optics, light guides, displays, cameras, diffusers, decorative, laser sensing and measuring devices. In the R2R UV-process, plastic thin film coated with UV-curable lacquer, passes through an imprinting embossing drum and is then hardened by an UV-lamp. One key element for mastering this process is the ability to manufacture a rotating drum containing micro- and nanostructures. Depending on the pattern shapes, the drum can be directly machined by diamond machining or it can be done through wafer level lithographical process. Due to the shrinkage of UV-curable lacquer, the R2R drum pattern process needs to be prototyped few times, in order to get the desired performance and shape from the R2R produced part. To speed up the prototyping and overall process we have developed a combination process where planar diamond machining patterns are being turned into a drum roller. Initially diamond machined patterns from a planar surface are replicated on a polymer sheet using UV-replication. Secondly, a nickel stamper shim is grown form the polymer sheet and at the end the stamper is turned into a roller and used in the R2R process. This process allows various micro milled, turned, grooved and ruled structures to be made at thin film products through the R2R process. In this paper, the process flow and examples of fabricating R2R embossed UVcurable thin film micro- and nanostructures from planar diamond machined patterns, is reported.

The photopolymer materials are good media to record thick hologram gratings, because photopolymer materials have high resolution, low cost, simple process technology and so on. According to coupled wave theory for thick hologram gratings, we know that the same object beam can be reconstructed if the same reference beam is used to retrieve a thick hologram grating. However, the shrinkage always occurs in the photopolymer materials because of environment temperature, humidity, vibration etc. For instance, the same object beam cannot be reconstructed even the same reference beam to be used. In this paper, we will analysis the shrinkage influence of photopolymer materials for thick hologram gratings. We divide the photopolymer materials into several geometry layers, and analysis the reconstructed characteristics separately basing on coupled wave theory of Kogelnik. Through gradually continuous changing the angle between gratings and the border (we call it slant angle), we can build the geometry model of gratings bending caused by shrinkage of materials. We calculate wave complex amplitude diffracted from every layer, and superpose them to compute the total diffraction efficiency. We simulate above methods to obtain the curve of diffraction efficiency with reconstruction wavelength by using Matlab software. Comparing the simulated results with the experiments results, we can deduce the probable situation of thick hologram gratings bending after photopolymer materials shrink.