Fabrication and application of soft glass micro-optical elements for midIR fiber optics

In this paper we describe the application of the hot embossing process to fabricate micro-optical elements using multi-component soft glasses. The fabricated elements are either refractive lenses (plano-concave, plano-convex and biconvex) and diffractive elements (1D and 2D diffraction gratings, Fresnel lenses and arrays of Fresnel lenses) that can be used in the visible to mid-infrared range up to 5 μm. We present all steps of the fabrication process, the results of quality measurements of pattern replication and optical properties of the elements obtained. Finally, we discuss the use of these elements building of a microscopic objective, later employed in a setup for light coupling to the single and multimode optical fibers and in a setup for collimating light from a LED and a single mode fiber.