The ambition of this review is
to provide an up-to-date synopsis of the state of 3D printing
technology for optical and photonic components, to gauge technological
advances, and to discuss future opportunities. While a range of
approaches have been developed and some have been commercialized, no
single approach can yet simultaneously achieve small detail and low
roughness at large print volumes and speed using multiple materials.
Instead, each approach occupies a niche where the
components/structures that can be created fit within a relatively
narrow range of geometries with limited material choices. For
instance, the common Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) approach is
capable of large print volumes at relatively high speeds but lacks the
resolution needed for small detail (
>
100
µ
m
) with low roughness (
>
9
µ
m
). At the other end of the spectrum,
two-photon polymerization can achieve roughness (
<2022
3D printing of optical components can broaden access to optical fabrication. However, consumer options for 3D printing have been limited due to the form and roughness requirements for optics. Previous efforts have established a protocol for the fabrication of singlet lenses using a stereolithographic printer and simple post-processing techniques. Here we further elevate this research by building a consumer-grade 3D printed spectrometer utilizing achromatic doublet printed lenses. These lenses are fabricated using stereolithographic printers with a filled cavity and reduce chromatic focal shift by a factor of 6 over singlet lenses. The proof-of-concept spectrometer system incorporates a pinhole, two doublet lenses, and a dispersing prism. Opto-mechanics for the system were fabricated using an FDM 3D printer. Results from the fabricated system closely matched results obtained with a commercially available spectrometer device.
This paper presents a successful demonstration of a spectrometer device fully printed on consumer-grade 3D printers. Optical components were made with SLA technology while FDM printing was applied to fabricate opto-mechanical and casing components.
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