Continuous laser direct writing of discrete patterns of micro-polarizer arrays via synchronized exposure and path...

The micro-polarizer array (MPA), as an essential micro-nano optical component, has wide applications in polarization imaging, optical information processing, and quantum optics. Nevertheless, conventional laser direct writing techniques exhibit low efficiency when processing discrete patterns in MPA and suffer from problems such as processing path deviations and poor endpoint morphology consistency. In this paper, a continuous processing method for discrete patterns in different directions during MPA fabrication was proposed, using a position-synchronized exposure strategy, instead of asynchronous exposure, to ensure the stability of the scanning speed and improve the processing efficiency. Additionally, to correct the processing path deviations observed during experiments, the shutter response delay time was measured, and a compensation path was introduced. Acceleration control in the transition regions was also optimized to address the problem of uneven endpoint dimensions. The results showed that the optimized method achieved an average scanning speed of 0.19 mm/s, nearly six times higher than the traditional method. Meanwhile, the total processing time was reduced to 287 s (43% of the traditional method) with no path deviations or exposure failures, dramatically improving MPA processing efficiency and consistency.