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Accurate characterization of high numerical aperture aspheric microlenses currently is a nonstandard procedure that remains an open challenge. Here, we present and discuss a characterization method based on interferometric and point spread function measurements performed in transmission by a high-resolution interferometric microscope. In particular, we show that a single phase measurement performed under fixed testing conditions can be processed in a simple way that yields wavefront aberration as well as surface topography for plano-convex microlenses with arbitrary asphericity. This approach simultaneously allows both fabrication process optimization and optical quality testing for microlenses with different optical functions without heavy modification of the testing setup. For illustration, we present the case of a microlens with a numerical aperture of ∼ 0.4 .

Tolerancing is an important step toward the fabrication of high-quality and cost-effective lens surfaces. It is critical for wafer-level optics, when up to tens of thousands microlenses are fabricated in parallel and whose surfaces cannot be formed individually. However, approaches developed for macro-optics cannot be directly transposed for microlenses because of differences in fabrication and testing techniques. In particular, microlens surfaces are usually limited to conical surfaces. Here, we study the connection between the microlens optical performance and the form of its surface, suggesting surface form representations suited for tolerancing purposes. Then, we compare them with common representations for tolerancing real optical systems. Measured surface forms of microlenses are also provided to make the tolerancing procedure realistic. In addition, we propose term definitions for micro-optics, complements to typical terms for macro-optics, to ease the communication between optical designers and manufacturers. Based on the results presented in this paper, guidelines are proposed for tolerancing microlenses. We suggest applying them as a first step toward a more effective and comprehensive tolerancing procedure.

In proximity mask aligner photolithography, diffraction of light at the mask pattern is the predominant source for image shape distortions such as line end shortening and corner rounding. One established method to mitigate the impact of diffraction is optical proximity correction. This method relies on a deliberate sub-resolution modification of photomask features to counteract such shape distortions, with the goal to improve pattern fidelity and uniformity of printed features. While previously considered for masks featuring only rectangular shapes in horizontal or vertical orientation, called Manhattan geometries, we demonstrate here the capabilities of computational mask aligner lithography by extending optical proximity correction to non-Manhattan geometries. We combine a rigorous simulation method for light propagation with a particle-swarm optimization to identify suitable mask patterns adapt to each occurring feature in the mask. The improvement in pattern quality is demonstrated in experimental prints. Our method extends the use of proximity lithography in optical manufacturing, as required in a multitude of micro-optical devices. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

The wafer-level production of Fused Silica microlens arrays is limited by systematic process non-uniformities. The common molten resist-reflow process with subsequent dry-etching allows for manufacturing of microlens arrays on 200 mm wafers. A thorough process review yielded one free parameter. By switching from the geometrical lens description via radius of curvature and conic constant to a functional assessment via the optical design figure of merit we can describe microlens via their optical quality for the intended application with one parameter for a wide variety of cases. Leveraging these points we show improvements on the uniformity of microlens arrays by a factor of 2 for Fused Silica microlens arrays bigger than 100 mm by 100 mm.

Characterizing the surface of microlenses by optical profilers has the important advantages of measurement speed, flexibility and automation. Nevertheless, the accuracy of such characterization is limited by error occurring in non-flat measurements. Here, we propose a method that uses multiple measurements of a single reference ball combined with a machine learning algorithm that fits the experimental data to correct the measurements. The success of the method is demonstrated by showing that the residual error after correction reaches 20 nm RMS. Such results extend greatly the quality of microlens characterization by optical profilers.

The uniformity of large microlens arrays in Fused Silica is governed by the production process. It comprises photolithographic patterning of a spin-coated layer of photoresist on a 200mm wafer with a molten resist reflow process and subsequent dry etching. By investigating systematic influences throughout the production process we show how to steer the lens production process with a single degree of freedom to improve the uniformity of the final microlens array. To enable this we describe the optical performance of microlenses with only one parameter: the principal aberration component. It is the result of principal component analysis of the chosen optical merit function. We present the case of manufactured microlens arrays with element sizes > 100 mm x 100 mm where uniformity was improved by a factor of 2. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Mask-aligner lithography is a technology used to transfer patterns with critical dimensions in the micrometer range from below 1 micron for contact printing to a dozen of microns in proximity printing. This technology is widely used in the fabrication of MEMS, micro-optical components, and similar fields. Traditionally, the light sources used for mask-aligners are high-pressure mercury arc lamps, which emit in the UV rang of the spectrum with peaks at 365 nm, 405 nm and 435 nm, respectively the g-, h- and i- lines. These lamps suffer from several disadvantages (inefficient, bulky, dangerous), which makes alternatives interesting. In recent years, high power UV LEDs at the same wavelengths appeared on the market, opening the door to new illumination systems for mask-aligners. We have developed a modular 250 W LED-based illumination system, which can advantageously replace a 1 kW mercury arc lamp illumination. LEDs, arranged in a 7×7 grid array, are placed in the entrance apertures of individual reflectors, which collimate the individual irradiation to an output angle of 10°. A subsequent fly’s eye integrator homogenizes the illumination in the mask plane. It is followed by a Fourier lens, superimposing the individual channels in the mask plane, and a field lens to ensure telecentric illumination. This multisource approach allows the shaping of the source by switching individual illumination channels, determining the illumination angles and the spatial coherence in the mask plane. This concept can be used, for example, to do source-mask optimization. Compared to mercury arc lamp illumination, our system is simultaneously more efficient, compact, versatile, economic and sustainable. In our contribution, we present the design of the system as well as lithographic test prints done with different illumination patterns.

A new method for calibrating optical scanning profilometers is presented. Especially adapted to spherical and aspherical profile measurements, it shows an increase of accuracy bigger than one order of magnitude for radius of curvature measurements. Calibration of vertical scaling is obtained with a reduction of its uncertainty by a factor larger than 2, which also demonstrates the advantage of this method for any surface measurements. Using commercially available reference balls, this method is easily implementable.

During the fabrication process of microlenses, characterization is essential for two purposes: evaluate the optical quality of the element and provide surface information feedback for process optimization. However, no technique can fulfill these two objectives at the same time. Interferometry is used for quality evaluation and optical profilometry for process optimization. In order to address this problem, we propose to use a high resolution interference microscope to characterize microlenses. The focusing capacity can be directly measured by recording the field near the focal spot at different wavelengths. Information about the microlens surface can also be retrieved. All this is illustrated for the front focus of a fused-silica microlens.

We introduce a novel industrial grade 193nm continuous-wave laser light source for proximity mask-aligner lithography. A diode seed laser in master-oscillator power-amplification configuration is frequency-quadrupled using lithiumtriborate and potassium-uoro-beryllo-borate non-linear crystals. The large coherence-length of this monomodal laser is controlled by static and rotating shaped random diffusers. Beam shaping with imaging and non-imaging homogenizers realized with diffractive and refractive micro-optical elements is compared in simulation and measurement. We demonstrate resolution patterns offering resolutions

We present a mask-aligner lithographic system operated with a frequency-quadrupled continuous-wave diode laser emitting at 193 nm. For this purpose, a 772 nm diode laser is amplified by a tapered amplifier in the master-oscillator power-amplifier configuration. The emission wavelength is upconverted twice, using LBO and KBBF nonlinear crystals in second-harmonic generation enhancement cavities. An optical output power of 10 mW is achieved. As uniform exposure field illumination is crucial in mask-aligner lithography, beam shaping is realized with optical elements made from fused silica and CaF2 featuring a diffractive non-imaging homogenizer. A tandem setup of shaped random diffusers, one static and one rotating, is used to control speckle formation. We demonstrate first experimental soft contact and proximity prints for a field size of 1 cm2 with a standard binary photomask and proximity prints with a two-level phase mask, both printed into 120 nm layers of photoresist on unstructured silicon substrates.

Mask aligners are lithographic tools used to transfer a pattern of microstructures by shadow printing lithography onto a planar wafer. Contact lithography allows us to print large mask fields with sub-micron resolution, but requires frequent mask cleaning. Thus, contact lithography is used for small series of wafer production. Proximity lithography, where the mask is located at a distance of typically 30–100 μm above the wafer, provides a resolution of approximately 3–5 μm, limited by diffraction effects. Proximity lithography in mask aligners is a very cost-efficient method widely used in semiconductor, packaging and MEMS manufacturing industry for high-volume production. Micro-optics plays a key role in improving the performance of shadow printing lithography in mask aligners. Refractive or diffractive micro-optics allows us to efficiently collect the light from the light source and to precisely shape the illumination light (customized illumination). Optical proximity correction and phase shift mask technology allow us to influence the diffraction effects in the aerial image and to enhance resolution and critical dimension. The paper describes the status and future trends of shadow printing lithography in mask aligners and the decisive role of micro-optics as key enabling technology.

We present and discuss Talbot mask-aligner lithography, relying on a continuous wave laser emitting at 193nm for the illumination. In this source, a diode laser at 772nm is amplified by a tapered amplifier in master-oscillator power-amplifier configuration and frequency-quadrupled in two subsequent enhancement cavities using lithium triborate and potassium fluoro-beryllo-borate nonlinear crystals to generate the emission at 193 nm. The high coherence and brilliance of such an illumination source is predestined for plane wave mask-aligner illumination, crucial in particular for high-resolution lithographic techniques such as Talbot lithography and phase-shift masks. Talbot lithography takes advantage of the diffraction effect to image periodic mask features via self-replication in multiples of the Talbot distance behind the photomask when exposed by a plane wave. By placing a photoresistcoated wafer in one of the Talbot planes, the mask pattern is replicated in the resist. Periodic patterns with diverse shapes are required for wire grid polarizers, diffraction gratings, and hole arrays in photonic applications as well as for filters and membranes. Using an amplitude mask with periodic structures, we demonstrate here with such a technique sub-micron feature sizes for various designs at a proximity gap of 20 µm.

In Earth Observation instruments, observation of scenes including bright sources leads to an important degradation of the recorded signal. We propose a new concept to remove dynamically the bright sources and then obtain a field of view with an optically enhanced Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MOEMS) could be key components in future generation of space instruments. MOEMS-based programmable slit masks will permit the straylight control in future Earth Observation instruments. Experimental demonstration of this concept has been conducted on a dedicated bench. This successful first demonstration shows the high potential of this new concept in future spectro-imager for Earth Observation.

Multi-object spectroscopy (MOS) is a powerful tool for space and ground-based telescopes for the study of the formation and evolution of galaxies. This technique requires a programmable slit mask for astronomical object selection. We are engaged in a European development of micromirror arrays (MMA) for generating reflective slit masks in future MOS, called MIRA. The 100 x 200 μm2 micromirrors are electrostatically tilted providing a precise angle. The main requirements are cryogenic environment capabilities, precise and uniform tilt angle over the whole device, uniformity of the mirror voltage-tilt hysteresis and a low mirror deformation. A first MMA with single-crystal silicon micromirrors was successfully designed, fabricated and tested. A new generation of micromirror arrays composed of 2048 micromirrors (32 x 64) and modelled for individual addressing were fabricated using fusion and eutectic wafer-level bonding. These micromirrors without coating show a peak-to-valley deformation less than 10 nm, a tilt angle of 24° for an actuation voltage of 130 V. Individual addressing capability of each mirror has been demonstrated using a line-column algorithm based on an optimized voltage-tilt hysteresis. Devices are currently packaged, wire-bonded and integrated to a dedicated electronics to demonstrate the individual actuation of all micromirrors on an array. An operational test of this large array with gold coated mirrors has been done at cryogenic temperature (162 K): the micromirrors were actuated successfully before, during and after the cryogenic experiment. The micromirror surface deformation was measured at cryo and is below 30 nm peak-to-valley.

Due to the relatively large number of optical Earth Observation missions at ESA, this area is interesting for new space technology developments. In addition to their compactness, scalability and specific task customization, optical MEMS could generate new functions not available with current technologies and are thus candidates for the design of future space instruments. Most mature components for space applications are the digital mirror arrays, the micro-deformable mirrors, the programmable micro diffraction gratings and tiltable micromirrors. A first selection of market-pull and techno-push concepts is done. In addition, some concepts are coming from outside Earth Observation. Finally two concepts are more deeply analyzed. The first concept is a programmable slit for straylight control for space spectro-imagers. This instrument is a push-broom spectroimager for which some images cannot be exploited because of bright sources in the field-of-view. The proposed concept consists in replacing the current entrance spectrometer slit by an active row of micro-mirrors. The MEMS will permit to dynamically remove the bright sources and then to obtain a field-of-view with an optically enhanced signal-to-noise ratio. The second concept is a push-broom imager for which the acquired spectrum can be tuned by optical MEMS. This system is composed of two diffractive elements and a digital mirror array. The first diffractive element spreads the spectrum. A micromirror array is set at the location of the spectral focal plane. By putting the micro-mirrors ON or OFF, we can select parts of field-of-view or spectrum. The second diffractive element then recombines the light on a push-broom detector. Dichroics filters, strip filter, band-pass filter could be replaced by a unique instrument.

This paper summarizes the results of an EU project called ACTION: ACTive Implant for Optoacoustic Natural sound enhancement. The project is based on a recent discovery that relatively low levels of pulsed infrared laser light are capable of triggering activity in hair cells of the partially hearing (hearing impaired) cochlea and vestibule. The aim here is the development of a self-contained, smart, highly miniaturized system to provide optoacoustic stimuli directly from an array of miniature light sources in the cochlea. Optoacoustic compound action potentials (oaCAP) are generated by the light source fully inserted into the unmodified cochlea. Previously, the same could only be achieved with external light sources connected to a fiber optic light guide. This feat is achieved by integrating custom made VCSEL arrays at a wavelength of about 1550 nm onto small flexible substrates. The laser light is collimated by a specially designed silicon-based ultra-thin lens (165 um thick) to get the energy density required for the generation of oaCAP signals. A dramatic miniaturization of the packaging technology is also required. A long term biocompatible and hermetic sapphire housing with a size of less than a 1 cubic millimeter and miniature Pt/PtIr feedthroughs is developed, using a low temperature laser assisted process for sealing. A biofouling thin film protection layer is developed to avoid fibrinogen and cell growth on the system.

Shaping of light fields behind amplitude and phase masks the basis the lithographic structure reproduction. The aerial image or better the intensity distribution defines the resolution of the structure to be printed. Contrast is the main parameter and to achieve high contrast feature phase plays an important role. In our contribution we discuss the phase and intensity evolution of light fields behind different structures serving the same aim: correcting extensive corner rounding for proximity lithography. To do so we analyze the intensity characteristics behind in a binary mask having high resolution Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) at different proximity gaps and include phase evolution. The corner correction represent a two dimensional problem which is difficult to handle with simple rule based approaches. Implementation of small amplitude structures leads to sharp phase changes. The analysis has been done with an instrument called High Resolution Interference Microscopy (HRIM), a Mach - Zehnder interferometer that gives access to three dimensional phase and amplitude images.

The application of laser light sources for illumination tasks like in mask aligner lithography relies on non-imaging optical systems with multi-aperture elements for beam shaping. When simulating such systems, the traditional approach is to separate the beam-shaping part (incoherent simulation) from dealing with coherence properties of the illuminating laser light source (diffraction theory with statistical treatment). We present an approach using Gaussian beam decomposition to include coherence simulation into ray tracing, combining these two parts, to get a complete picture in one simulation. We discuss source definition for such simulations, and verify our assumptions on a well-known system. We then apply our approach to an imaging beam shaping setup with microoptical multi-aperture elements. We compare the simulation to measurements of a similar beam-shaping setup with a 193 nm continuous-wave laser in a mask-aligner configuration.

Various metrology techniques for refractive microlenses and microlens arrays (MLAs) are reviewed in order to investigate the limitations and strength of each technique. Manufacturing relies more on lens profile measurements which provide the radius of curvature (ROC) and the conic constant rather than aberrations and the focal properties which are more useful indications for users. The goal of this study is to set up stable and repeatable characterization and metrology routines for micro-optics manufacturing.

We review various metrology techniques for the characterization of refractive microlenses and microlens arrays (MLAs). The limitations and strength of each technique are analyzed. The goal is to obtain more stable and repeatable metrology routines for micro-optics manufacturing. This analysis comprises both techniques for the characterization of individual microlenses and the analysis of a very large number of microlenses in array configurations. Metrology of spherical and aspherical lens profiles, surface properties, aberrations, Strehl ratio, and focal properties will be presented.

We investigate the Gouy phase anomaly of light in the focus of refractive plano-convex microlens arrays by using longitudinal-differential (LD) interferometry and a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. We put emphasis on determining the amount of the Gouy phase shift for the line focus of the cylindrical lens and the point focus of the spherical lens. We discuss additional phase structures caused by diffraction, which lead to the discrepancy from the conventional Gouy phase shift.

We study experimentally and theoretically the electromagnetic field in amplitude and phase behind ball-lenses across a wide range of diameters, ranging from a millimeter scale down to a micrometer. Based on the observation, we study the transition between the refraction and diffraction regime. The former regime is dominated by observables for which it is sufficient to use a ray-optical picture for an explanation, e.g., a cusp catastrophe and caustics. A wave-optical picture, i.e. Mie theory, is required to explain the features, e.g., photonic nanojets, in the latter regime. The vanishing of the cusp catastrophe and the emergence of the photonic nanojet is here understood as the refraction limit. Three different criteria are used to identify the limit: focal length, spot size, and amount of cross-polarization generated in the scattering process. We identify at a wavelength of 642 nm and while considering ordinary glass as the ball-lens material, a diameter of approximately 10 µm as the refraction limit. With our study, we shed new light on the means necessary to describe micro-optical system. This is useful when designing optical devices for imaging or illumination.

In future space missions for Universe and Earth Observation, scientific return could be optimized using MOEMS devices. Micro-mirror arrays are used for designing new generation of instruments, multi-object spectrographs in Universe Observation and programmable wide field spectrographs in Earth Observation. Mock-ups have been designed and built for both applications and they show very promising results.