Intro
3D printing of micro-optics using 2-photon lithography enables the implementation of concepts that were previously difficult or not at all feasible. Due to the almost unlimited geometrical degrees of freedom, the technology places special demands on the optical design and requires well thought-out approaches for optimization and simulation.
Topics includes
- Design of complex printable free-form systems for illumination and imaging applications
- Refractive, reflective and diffractive systems and hybrid systems
- Tailor-made designs for direct printing on "difficult" substrates such as LEDs, CMOS image sensors, glass fibres and quantum dots
- Measurement setups for the analysis of printed optics in terms of shape and optical performance
- Production of own demonstrators, e.g. endoscope prototypes, miniature spectrometers, fiber-based micro-projectors or micro-cameras
- Holistic simulation and optimization using ray tracing and wave-optical algorithms.
Startup
In 2020, Dr. Simon Thiele founded the startup PrintOptics out of this research field.
Current projects
- Printoptics: Complex 3D-printed micro imaging systems
- Opterial: New optical materials for additive manufacturing of micro-optics.
Recent publications
- Thiele, C. Pruss, A. M. Herkommer, and H. Giessen, „3D printed stacked diffractive microlenses”, Opt. Express, vol. 27, pp. 35621 (2019).
- Drozella, A. Toulouse, S. Thiele, A. M. Herkommer, “Fast and comfortable GPU-accelerated wave-optical simulation for imaging properties and design of highly aspheric 3D-printed freeform microlens systems”, Proc. SPIE vol. 11105, 1110506 (2019).
- Toulouse, S. Thiele, H. Giessen, and A. Herkommer, “Alignment-free integration of apertures and non-transparent hulls into 3D-printed micro-optics,” Opt. Lett., vol. 43, no. 5283 (2018).
- Schmid, S. Thiele, A. Herkommer, and H. Giessen, "Three-dimensional direct laser written achromatic axicons and multi-component microlenses," Opt. Lett. 43, 5837-5840 (2018).
- Thiele, K. Arzenbacher, T. Gissibl, H. Giessen, and A. Herkommer, “3D-printed eagle eye: Compound microlens system for foveated imaging,” Science Advances, vol. 3, p. e1602655, (2017).