Fabrication of uniform-aperture multi-focus microlens array by curving microfluid in the microholes with inclined walls

Abstract

A variety of techniques have been proposed for fabricating high-density, high-numerical-aperture microlens arrays. However, a microlens array with a uniform focal length has a narrow depth of field, limiting the ability of depth perception. In this paper, we report on a fabrication method of multi-focus microlens arrays. The method for the preparation of the mold of the microlens array is based on 3D printing and microfluidic manipulation techniques. In the preparation of the mold, curved surfaces of the photo-curable resin with different curvatures are formed in the 3D printed microholes whose walls are inclined with different angles. The replicated microlens array consists of hundreds of lenslets with a uniform diameter of 500 µm and different focal lengths ranging from 635 µm to 970 µm. The multi-focus microlens array is capable of extending the depth of field for capturing clear images of objects at different distances ranging from 14.3 mm to 45.5 mm. The multi-focus microlens array has the potential to be used in a diversity of large-depth-of-field imaging and large-range depth perception applications.