Concave micro-lens arrays fabricated from the photo-patternable GeO ₂/ormosils hybrid sol-gel films

Photo-patternable GeO₂/γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane hybrid thin films were synthesized by a low-temperature sol-gel spin-coating technique. Optical properties and photochemical activities of the as prepared hybrid sol-gel films baked at different temperature were characterized by atomic force microscopy, prism coupling technique, UV-Visible spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The thermal stability of the gel powder obtained from the hybrid material sol was also examined by a thermal gravimetric analysis. Advantages for fabrication of concave micro-lens arrays based on the as-prepared photo-patternable hybrid films were demonstrated by a UV-cured imprint technique. Results indicate that the as-prepared photo-patternable hybrid materials have great applicability for the fabrication of photonic components. And the UV-cured imprint technique has advantages of simplicity, cost-effective, mass-production, and potential applications in industry production.