Photopolymerized self-assembly microlens arrays based on phase separation

In the past decades, there has been much effort in developing and improving new techniques for the production of microlens arrays. Here a low-temperature self-assembly method using phase separation is demonstrated for the first time for the fabrication of polymer microlens arrays. In this paper, we present a simple method for producing microlens arrays based on liquid crystal/photopolymer blends via phase separation. The morphology of the microlens arrays has been measured by SEM, AFM and scanning white light interferometry. Our results show that the microlens arrays obtained from our experiments have a comparable light-gathering capability and can be applied in optical systems.