Microlens arrays — uniform illumination, structured-light projection, and wavefront sensing.
Microlens arrays solve uniformity and patterning problems that single optics cannot. We design and replicate them in volume from SPDT-cut inserts on our press floor, and we run direct SPDT for the prototype and low-volume parts that ride ahead of tooling.
Five places programs reach for arrays instead of single optics.
- Beam homogenization
- Top-hat illumination for laser exposure, structured-light projection, and machine-vision lighting where intensity uniformity at the work plane is the design target.
- Structured-light projection
- Dot-pattern and grid projectors for depth sensing, biometric capture, and AR/VR tracking systems — array geometry tuned to the downstream pattern.
- Displays and HUDs
- Diffuser plates and integrator arrays for headlamp, HUD, and AR display systems where the eye sees uniform luminance regardless of source non-uniformity.
- Wavefront sensing
- Shack-Hartmann sensor arrays with custom pitch and focal length tied to the adaptive-optics or testing application the program is built around.
- Fly's-eye condensers
- Two-stage homogenizer architectures (fly's-eye condenser pairs) for high-uniformity output planes in photolithography, projection, and exposure systems.
Square, hex-pack, freeform, randomized — each chosen by the uniformity and speckle budget.
Pitch range: 30 µm to 5 mm. Sag range: 5 µm to 500 µm. Fill factors above 95 % achievable on hex-pack layouts. The choice between square and hex-pack is rarely about uniformity in isolation; it is about how the downstream optical train handles the higher-order diffraction lobes the array geometry produces.
Two routes — chosen by volume and the prototype-vs-production economics.
- Mold replication via SPDT-generated inserts
- Highest-volume route: SPDT cuts the master geometry on an electroless-nickel insert; the press floor replicates the array in polymer. Cycle-time and lot-economics scale to high volume once the cavity is qualified.
- Direct SPDT
- Prototype and low-volume route: arrays cut directly into the optical-grade polymer or metal substrate. Useful for design iteration, custom freeform geometries, and short-run programs where ramping a mold is not the right call.
A gaussian beam enters; a uniform output plane emerges.
What "uniform" means in practice, and what drives the envelope.
- Typical non-uniformity over the target plane: 5–10 % depending on geometry and tolerancing.
- Hex-pack geometries give the highest fill factor (> 95 %) and lowest geometric non-uniformity.
- Randomized layouts trade a small uniformity penalty for significant speckle reduction under coherent illumination.
- Tolerances on pitch, sag, and registration cascade into the final non-uniformity envelope — modeled per program with Monte-Carlo at design time.
Related capabilities
- manufacture Single Point Diamond Turning Moore Nanotech 350FG and 250UPL — prototypes, freeform surfaces, and mold-insert finishing in one bay.
- manufacture Polymer Injection Molding Six all-electric presses, ISO Class 8 cleanroom, closed-loop hold and pack on every cavity.
- design Optical & Mechanical Design Imaging and illumination optics designed for manufacturability — DFM lives in the prescription, not the review meeting.
Send us the illumination profile and the target plane.
We will tell you which geometry — square, hex, freeform, randomized — gives the uniformity and speckle envelope your program needs, and which fabrication route the volume justifies.