We fabricated transmissive optical diffusers with a randomized concavo-convex surface that was designed to control the irradiation distribution and can be fabricated easily. The diffusers were molded from acrylic using the mold cores machined by ultraprecision cutting or milling. Less stray light was observed from the diffuser molded with the cutting core compared with the milling core. As the Fourier optics simulation was consistent with the measured distribution, it was beneficial for the design evaluation of diffusers. Furthermore, we molded a Penrose-tiling micro-lens-array to generate uniform light distribution without random displacement of each lens. The measurement results showed the feasibility of the Penrosetiling micro-lens-array as a diffuser.
Rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) has been used for determining periodic grating structures of diffractive optical
elements (DOE) such as rectangular surface-relief gratings. When we observed a cross-sectional image of a
manufactured rectangular grating by the scanning transmission electron spectroscopy (STEM), we found that the
rectangular structure was deformed to a trapezoidal shape with non-zero corner radii. Therefore, we assumed that we
could derive more accurate diffraction efficiencies by RCWA using parameters of the trapezoid such as the height, base
angles, and the corner radii as well as the grating pitch. However, each parameter varies in distribution, resulting in a
variation in diffraction efficiencies. Tolerance analysis in the design stage is effective in quantitatively predicting that the
diffraction efficiencies are in the allowable ranges. Therefore, we have developed a Monte Carlo simulation program by
applying RCWA, which can handle distributions of these trapezoid parameters. The program can also handle the
distributions of the thickness and refractive indices of the thin films deposited on the grating. The distributions of the
trapezoid parameters were obtained through multiple measurements of the substrates without thin films using atomic
force microscopy. The distribution of the thickness and refractive indices of the thin films were obtained from analyzed
data measured in the vacuum deposition equipment. According to our measurements of the diffraction efficiencies of the
manufactured gratings, the diffraction efficiencies have been in the allowable range, and have also been consistent with
the Monte Carlo simulations for the tolerance analysis.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.