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Development of a fabrication process for production of diffractive optics

MetadataDetails
Publication Date2023-04-11
JournalApplied Optics
AuthorsTiantong Chen, Wenchen Zhou, Yuxin Cai, Shu Yang, Abolfazl Zolfaghari
InstitutionsThe Ohio State University
Citations4

In this study, a novel fabrication process, to the best of our knowledge, was developed to fabricate a glass harmonic diffractive lens. In this process, a polymethylmethacrylate master of the diffractive lens was machined using single-point diamond turning. Then an electrolytic plating process was conducted to grow a reverse nickel (Ni) mold. Precision compression molding was performed using the Ni mold to replicate the diffractive lens structures onto a glass surface. Surface measurements and optical testing show that the replicated diffractive lenses by the proposed method have high tolerances and require optical performance, demonstrating a high-volume, high-precision, and cost-effective process. The proposed method will be critical for consumer products where glass optics are increasingly used in lens assemblies.