Hot Embossing of Microoptical Components Prototyped by Deep Proton Writing

In this letter, we present the replication of out-of-plane coupling microcomponents using hot embossing, through the fabrication of a metal mould by electroforming a polymer template patterned by means of deep proton writing (DPW). We compare the surface roughness and the optical performance of the hot embossed replicas with the DPW prototypes and can conclude that the replicated components exhibit only a small increase in surface roughness and a very small decrease in coupling performance. This paves the way towards low-cost mass replication of DPW-fabricated prototypes in a variety of high-tech plastics.