FABRICATION OF REFRACTIVE MICROLENS ARRAYS BY EXCIMER-LASER ABLATION OF AMORPHOUS TEFLON

The fabrication of refractive microlens arrays by the technique of excimer laser ablation of doped amorphous Teflon combined with the subsequent annealing and melting of the produced polymer islands is described. The microlenses obtained are optically clear from the far UV (190 m) to the near IR (2000 nm) and are of good optical quality. They vary in size from 50 to 385 mum in diameter with numerical apertures between 0.2 and 0.3. Utilization of these microlenses for material processing by excimer lasers at 193 nm is demonstrated, and possible applications are discussed.