EVALUATION OF MICROLENS PROPERTIES IN THE PRESENCE OF HIGH SPHERICAL-ABERRATION

Microlenses can be generated with various fabrication technologies. So me of these technologies cause large spherical aberrations in the resu lting microlenses. We describe an algorithm based on Rayleigh's quarte r-wave criterion, which allows the evaluation of lens parameters for t hose microlenses. Specifically, we investigate numerical aperture, foc al length, and space-bandwidth product with respect to applications in optical microsystems. We apply our algorithm to different types of mi crolenses, three gradient-index lenses, and one surface-relief lens. T he experimental results demonstrate that our algorithm provides a help ful characterization method for microlenses with large aberrations.