Gratings, Fresnel lenses, phase masks, and waveguides are among the optical components that have been fabricated by 172 nm irradiation of various polymers through photomasks. Intensities above ~ 70 mW/cm^2 are now commercially available at 172 nm with flat Xe2 lamps. Such optical fluences are capable of precisely (< 500 nm lateral and 20 nm depth resolution) ablating a wide range of polymers, including PMMA and ABS, thereby allowing for a variety of 3D optical and biomedical components to be realized economically by dry processing.
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