A method for fabricating optical MEMS (optical Micro-Electro-Mechanical
Systems or Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MOEMS)) is described.
The basic process involves deposition and patterning of a sacrificial
spacer layer and a combined molding and photolithography step.The method
described allows the fabrication of micromechanical elements
incorporating micro-optical structures such as lenses (diffractive or
refractive), gratings (for polarizers or resonant filters), waveguides or
other micro-optical relief structures fabricated by UV-curing replication
processes.