VCSEL collimation using self-aligned integrated polymer microlenses

International audienceWe report on the design and fabrication of polymer microlenses fabricated on patterned SU-8 layers in view of integrating microlenses on VCSEL arrays for laser beam shaping. For a standard top-emitting VCSEL, the lens has to be fabricated on a thick intermediate layer (pedestal) whose optimal thickness can be modelled as a function of the initial and of the aimed optical properties of the VCSEL beam. In this work, pedestals are fabricated with SU-8, which is a negative-tone photoresist transparent at the lasing wavelength. Lens deposition is realized using a robotized silicon microcantilever spotter technique after a simple SU-8 photolithography step in order to define high aspect ratio cylindrical pedestals with wide range diameters [30-140 μm]. The effect of pedestal diameter on the final contact angle and curvature radius has been investigated using non contact optical profilometry and scanning electron microscopy. We show that this technique leads to a complete delimitation of the polymer droplets and to a better control of the final lens size. Moreover, lens positioning is fully ensured by the self-alignment of the droplet with the pillar center and consequently with the VCSEL source, and allows for meeting the stringent requirements on alignments