Lens array

A part of a microlens array in a hexagonal pattern

A microlens array is an optical device that has lots of tiny lenses. It can be used to make a light field display.

It is a flat piece of glass with tiny lenslets manufactured into the surface.

A microlens array can potentially be made out of a holographic optical element.

They can be made out of fused silica.

A microlens array can be found in a light field camera.

Each lens in the array has its own optical axis. However, when the array is viewed as a cohesive unit, the lenses form a shared main optical axis.

The side with the roundings should generally face towards the source of the light. In a display, this means that the user's eye faces the flat side of the array, and the underlying display faces the side with the roundings.

Microlens arrays can be found in infra-red motion detectors.

Manufacturing

Microlens arrays can be produced using microfabrication techniques, in particular photolithographic techniques.

Microlens arrays have been manufactured at the wafer level by Lytro.

Microlens arrays have been produced with a distance between microlenses of about 125 microns, which is 1/8 of a millimeter.

To make a plenoptic microlens based display, each microlens should be at the minimum 200 pixels wide and 200 pixels long.