TY - GEN

T1 - Bringing PMMA freeform optics fabrication to the desktop: a low-cost system based on cold atmospheric plasma etching

AU - Radnatarov, D.

AU - Gromov, I.

AU - Kobtsev, S.

N1 - The work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (FSUS-2025-0011).

PY - 2025/11/19

Y1 - 2025/11/19

N2 - An inexpensive integrated system for prototyping free-form optical elements made of plastic/glass, intended for laser beam shape transformation, is presented. The system combines directed etching with cold atmospheric plasma, a white light interferometer for measuring the surface shape, and a post-processing method that achieves a roughness of less than 50 nm. Most components are assembled from readily available inexpensive parts, while others are 3D printed, and the entire set-up is assembled on a consumer 3D printer platform. As a demonstration, lenses made of PMMA with an aperture of 10 mm were produced to transform a Gaussian beam with a diameter of 2 mm (wavelength of radiation 532 nm) into beams of various shapes: square, circle, star (top-hat).

AB - An inexpensive integrated system for prototyping free-form optical elements made of plastic/glass, intended for laser beam shape transformation, is presented. The system combines directed etching with cold atmospheric plasma, a white light interferometer for measuring the surface shape, and a post-processing method that achieves a roughness of less than 50 nm. Most components are assembled from readily available inexpensive parts, while others are 3D printed, and the entire set-up is assembled on a consumer 3D printer platform. As a demonstration, lenses made of PMMA with an aperture of 10 mm were produced to transform a Gaussian beam with a diameter of 2 mm (wavelength of radiation 532 nm) into beams of various shapes: square, circle, star (top-hat).

KW - free-form optics

KW - plasma etching

KW - confocal profilometry

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105025197494

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/b125bbc8-6d4f-35ad-b70a-5183979a9333/

U2 - 10.1117/12.3074312

DO - 10.1117/12.3074312

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 9781510693845

T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

BT - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

PB - The International Society for Optical Engineering

T2 - SPIE/COS Photonics Asia 2025

Y2 - 12 October 2025 through 14 October 2025

ER -