Precision glass microlens arrays produced using hot embossing technique

Article Summary

When it comes to lenses for digital pico projectors, there’s currently something of a trade-off. Traditional lenses, where multiple glass magnifiers are placed one in front of the other, are long and bulky. Microlens arrays, in which many tiny lenses are assembled together on one flat surface, are a much more compact, lightweight alternative. However, so far such arrays have mostly been made out of plastic, which the bulbs in some projectors are capable of melting. Now, researchers from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology have come up with what they say is a solution: microlens arrays made from glass, using a hot embossing technique.

Precision glass microlens arrays produced using hot embossing technique

That's pretty cool. I also wonder if those DLP micro-mirror arrays could be used for focusing in the same manner or if it introduces too much noise or "quantization" in the image.

Wow, I can't believe they can mold glass!

10micron sized laser = now possible?

Leodahsan said:

10micron sized laser = now possible?

Click to expand...

What do you take as the size of a laser? Single atom lasers even exist.