Manufacturing polymeric micro lenses and self-organised micro lens arrays by using microfluidic dispensers

Micro lenses and micro lens arrays have been widely used in numerous areas. In recent years, direct deposition of micro lenses and micro lens arrays by using drop-on-demand dispensers has been studied. However, the traditional drop-on-demand methods have issues such as expensive facilities and appropriateness for low viscosity materials. In this paper, a novel droplet-based method for fabricating polymeric micro lenses and lens arrays is presented. This method utilises microfluidic devices as dispensers to generate micro- to meso-scale droplets, and uses interfacial forces to control the lens profiles. This new method can create lenses with aperture sizes from 130 μm to 2000 μm for both low and high viscosity materials. It is also capable of fabricating self-organised lens arrays with high fill factors. This technology can simplify the manufacturing process and lower the manufacturing costs of micro lenses and lens arrays.