title: Noncontact microembossing technology for fabricating thermoplastic optical polymer microlens array sheets.
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.
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China ; Key Laboratory of Precision Actuation and Transmission, Fujian Province University, Xiamen 361024, China.
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China ; Key Laboratory of Precision Actuation and Transmission, Fujian Province University, Xiamen 361024, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8816-7352
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D007909:Lenses; D055616:Microtechnology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate