Lens array

A part of a lens array in a hexagonal pattern

A lens array is an optical device that has lots of tiny lenses. It is used in light field cameras and light field displays.

A lens array with a lens width less than 1 millimeter is a microlens array.

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

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

They can be made out of fused silica.

A lens 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.

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

Manufacturing

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

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

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

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

Materials

• Glass
• PMMA