Microlenses
Semiconductor-based imagers, such as charge coupled devices (CCDs), CMOS active pixel sensors (APS), photodiode arrays, charge injection devices and hybrid focal plane arrays use micro-lenses to increase the amount of light on the devices. In conventional micro-lens fabrication, photo-resist is reflowed to form micro-lenses with radii proportional to the pixel sizes. It is hard to form a small micro-lens while maintaining the appropriate focal length in conventional micro-lens fabrication. The smaller a micro-lens made through conventional processes is, the shorter the focal length becomes. Thus, it would be advantageous to form micro-lenses that are aspherical and have differently sized radii. Micro-lenses may be formed through an additive process in which a lens material is formed on a substrate and subsequently formed into a shaped micro-lens. Micro-lenses also may be formed by a subtractive process. (Li, US Patent 7,572,385, 8/11/2010)
Recent US Patents
To go to the text version of the patent, click on US Patent Number Search and enter the patent number in the search box. 3/23/2010 7,682,147 Apparatus for forming an array of microlenses under artificial gravity 8/11/2009 7,572,385 Method of forming micro-lenses
Recent Journal Articles
To get to the abstract or article, copy the citation and paste it into favorite search engine (ex. Google). The date is the date the entry was found. 3/26/2010 <b>Polarizer-free and fast response microlens arrays using polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystals</b> (# 113505) Applied Physics Letters 96 #11 (2010
Review Articles
To get to the abstract and the article, open up your internet search engine and copy the title to the search box. Once on the Journal's website, find the year and issue. Then scroll to the article. The date is the date of the entry made on this page.
Editor's Notes
As the literature is reviewed, and items of interest concerning this topic are found. These may be added in an abbreviated form with the reference. Readers and contributors are invited to add their own notes. Contributors may add them directly and other readers can simply send their notes to the editor, Roger Corneliussen at rcorneliussen@4spe.org. He may edit and add them to this page at his discretion.