Technique for monolithic fabrication of microlens arrays.

A microlens fabrication process is described which can be used in applications requiring integration of optical elements (lenses) and microcircuits. The process is fully compatible with 1C fabrication technology and uses commercially available 1C processing materials. The obtained microlenses are of excellent quality and basically show diffraction-limited resolution with ~1-microm spot size. Extensions of the process to production of nonspherical lenses and use of alternative material packages are also discussed.