Nanopantography is a method for patterning nanofeatures over large areas. Transfer of patterns defined by nanopantography using highly selective plasma etching, with an oxide layer of silicon serving as a hard mask, can improve patterning speed and etch profile. With this method, high aspect ratio features can be fabricated in a substrate with no mask undercut. The ability to fabricate complex patterns using nanopantography, followed by highly selective plasma etching, provides improved patterning speed, feature aspect ratio, and etching profile.

A method for fabricating one or more elements in a multi-lens column. Drops of ultraviolet (UV)-curable liquid are dispensed by an inkjet on a substrate, which may be supported by a chuck. A non-uniform liquid film is then formed, such as by spreading and merging of the inkjetted drops. The film is then locally heated, such as by using a digital micromirror device array. The film is then cured by exposing it to UV light, where the cured film together with the substrate form an element of the multi-lens column. The substrate is then brought to a metrology station where optical metrology is performed on the cured film and the substrate for quality control.

The present invention relates to a replication tool for replicating an element from a replication material, the replication tool comprising a replication side, a plurality of cavities on the replication side, each defining the shape of one element or a group of elements, the replication tool further comprising at least one bump portion, protruding, on the replication side, from the cavities, and further comprising means for confining the replication material to a predetermined area of the tool, when the tool is pressed against a substrate, which predetermined area exceeds the desired volume of the element in at least one direction along the surface of the substrate.

This invention relates to a die tool, a device and a method for producing, in particular embossing, a monolithic lens wafer that has a large number of microlenses.

Provided is a technique that can suppress stray light incident on a microlens array from a gap between a lens component and a light shielding film and improve the imaging performance of the microlens array.

A light shielding film is provided around one or more lens components arranged at a base material portion having a substantially flat plate shape such that a predetermined gap region is formed with respect to at least a portion of an outer periphery of the lens component, and a surface roughened region having a surface roughness greater than that of another region in the base material portion is provided in at least a portion of the gap region.

The present invention relates to a micropattern layer based image film and a method for manufacturing the same. The image film comprises: a sacrificial layer; a first micropattern layer formed on the sacrificial layer; a second micropattern layer formed on the first micropattern layer; a focal length layer formed on the second micropattern layer; and a micro-image pattern formed on the focal length layer, wherein the first micropattern layer includes a plurality of concave parts extending in one direction, and concave curved surfaces of the plurality of concave parts are formed adjacent to the sacrificial layer; the second micropattern layer includes a plurality of convex parts extending in one direction, and convex curved surfaces of the plurality of convex parts are formed adjacent to the focal length layer; and the first micropattern layer and the second micropattern layer are orthogonal to each other.

A method for producing a microlens according to the present invention includes an etching step and a surface treatment step. In the etching step, a target object which is obtained by forming a second organic film having a lens shape on a first organic film that is formed on a substrate is subjected to etching that uses a plasma of a first processing gas, while using the second organic film as a mask, so that the first organic film is etched so as to transfer the lens shape of the second organic film to the first organic film, thereby forming a microlens in the first organic film. In the surface treatment step, a surface treatment is performed so as to smooth the surface of the microlens that is formed in the first organic film.

Device and method for producing a plurality of microlenses from a lens material. The method includes: applying lens material intended for the embossing of the microlenses to a plurality of first lens molds distributed on a first embossing side of a first die for embossing of the microlenses, moving the first die and a second die located essentially parallel, in an X-Y plane, and opposite the first die, on top of one another in a Z-direction running essentially perpendicular to the X-Y plane, embossing the microlenses by shaping and curing the lens material, the shaping taking place by moving the first and second embossing sides on top of one another, up to a thickness D.sub.1 of the lens material in the Z-direction, wherein the lens material of each microlens at least during curing is separate from the lens material of each microlens which is adjacent in the X-Y plane.

Optical lenses and methods for manufacturing optical lenses are disclosed herein. Lenses having a reduced aperture size are also disclosed herein along with methods for making the same. The optical lenses disclosed herein can be made having improved optical properties. The lenses can be used in optical microscopes, including optical microscopes with a shorter optical path relative to conventional optical microscopes.

An optical film has a plurality of aligned convex microlenses, each of which has a region α and a region β, region β forming the outer part of the convex shape of the microlens and positioned so as to cover region α. Both region α and region β contain a resin, and the refractive index of the resin in region α is higher than the refractive index of the resin in region β; region β contains fine particles, and region α contains fine particles, and the content of the fine particles contained in region α is lower than the content of the fine particles contained in region β; or region α contains fine particles, and region β contains fine particles, and the content of the fine particles contained in region α is higher than the content of the fine particles contained in region β.