PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | June 22, 2013
Proc. SPIE. 8769, International Conference on Optics in Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology (icOPEN2013)
KEYWORDS: Polymers, Glasses, Hybrid optics, Thermography, Confocal microscopy, Microscopes, Fabrication, Precision optics, Optical design, Glass molding
This research develops a precise hybrid optical micro-component (PHOMC) that includes polymer and glass materials.
Although glass offers better anti-thermal, anti-environmental, anti-scraped, anti-corrosive, and optical properties than
polymer materials do, glass materials are difficult to fabricate for microstructures. This research describes the fabrication
of a PHOMC, which retains the advantages of glass materials; in addition, the cost of microstructure polymers is lower
than for glass. In this study, polymers with micro sine waves can change the spot light intensity from a Gaussian
distribution to a line with uniform distribution. The glass base can protect the PHOMC to avoid damage from the
environment. First, the sine wave was designed using optical design software to change the light profile. A precise
diamond-turning technique was used to fabricate a mold with a sine-wave profile. A glass plate was used for the base of
the PHOMC. During the heating process, a thermosetting polymer was formed to match the sine-wave profile, and
covered the glass base. The PHOMC is 10 mm in diameter, and a sine wave with 100 μm in amplitude and 6.283 in
angular frequency was obtained. The surface profile of the PHOMC was evaluated using an ultra-precise laser confocal
microscope. Processing parameters, such as the forming temperature, are discussed in this paper. The PHOMC with the
sine wave that was developed in this study can generate a reference straight line for use in alignment, machine vision
systems, construction, and process control.
