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Research paper−24−Synthesiology - English edition Vol.1 No.1 (2008) process energy, and also the reduction of number of optical parts, which will enable the production of advanced home electronic devices earlier than the neighboring countries.2 Future direction and research objectives for industrializationOptical elements and their production method have appeared since 1600 are shown schematically in Figure 1. Manufacturing in this field can be classified into “optical material” and “microfabrication”. The development of materials with properties required through the design such as refraction index and dispersion, the precise processing following the characterization are continued repeatedly until they satisfy each other. During the period from 1600 to 1800, various theories were formulated in geometric optics and wave optics based on three optical elements: lens, prism, and diffraction grating. Such theory and optical design led the manufacturing. The manufacturing responded to the demands accurately, and in turn promoted further 1 IntroductionSemiconductor technology and optical technology contributed to the formation of advanced information society. Optical technology has hundreds of years of history, and still receives high expectations because of the following two reasons. The first reason is the extremely large information capacity and communication speed. The second reason is that humans receive over 80 % of information through sight. The expectation for optical technology grows every day, because of the technological innovations of various kinds of hardware such as display, storage, and imaging devices, as well as the dramatic progress of mutual information exchanging environments through optical communication network. To respond to such expectation, the methodology in question now is how to establish secure “technology” from the results of optics accumulated as “science”.This paper focuses attention on optical elements which are expected to significantly affect the next generation technologies for information input and output (I/O). I shall describe the works to realize the industrial fabrication technologies of next generation optical components placed behind the current refraction and diffraction optics, by combining factors which are scientifically clarified and predicting future optical device technologies. Such technologies will be required in the fields of home electronics and information technologies in the next 10 to 20 years.If the fabrication technology of next-generation optical elements is established for the future information I/O, users will be able to enjoy high-speed and effective imaging, storage, and replay a large-volume data including high quality images. On the other hand, manufactures will receive substantial advantages such as greatly simplified manufacturing process of optical elements without so much - Fabrication of sub-wavelength periodic structures via glass-imprinting process -Junji NishiiPhotonics Research Institute, AIST 1-8-31, Midorigaoka Ikeda, Osaka 563-8577, Japan E-mail : junji.nishii@aist.go.jpFactors, such as production cost, which impede practical applications of “sub-wavelength optical elements” with periodic structures smaller than light wavelengths, were targeted for alleviation through a combination of advanced Japanese glass molding methods and a novel imprinting process. Collaboration between material manufacturers, consumer-electronics companies, universities, and AIST under a clear sharing of roles enabled the fabrication of functions such as polarization rotation effects and antireflection effects on glass surfaces.A challenge to the low-cost production ofhighly functional optical elements16002000199019801800202020101600200019901980180020202010AcademicworldGeometric opticsScalar opticsResonance and sub-wavelength opticsNano opticsIndustrialworldGrinding and polishingLithography etchingInjection mold method, Mold methodSphereDiffraction grating, Lens arrayAspheric surfaceAdjustable sphereFig. 1 Optical elements that appeared after 1600 and fabrication methods that contributed to the industryKeywords : Optical element, periodic structure, imprinting, glass, microfabrication[Translation from Synthesiology, Vol.1, No.1, p.24-30 (2008)]

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