Fabrication of high quality and low cost microlenses on a glass substrate by direct printing technique

The fabrication of high quality and low cost microlenses on a glass substrate using a simple, rapid, and precise direct microplotting technique is shown in this paper. The fabrication method is based on the use of a microplotter system, which is significantly different from the existing inkjet, roll-to-roll printing, and reactive ion etching technology and could work with higher viscosity materials. By optimizing the parameters of voltage, dispense time, and concentration of the polymer solution, high quality microlenses with a diameter of 20 μm could be obtained. The geometrical and optical characteristics of the microlenses are analyzed by measurement of the surface profile and the imaging properties in the near-field and far-field zones as well as the diffraction pattern. We think that the fabricated microlenses could be attractive for enhancing the light extraction efficiency of light emitting diodes.