# Fabrication of Customized Diffractive Optics in under 10 Minutes via Single-Shot Grayscale Projection on a Consumer-Grade DLP System

## TL;DR

A new method allows quick and easy fabrication of diffractive optical elements using a consumer-grade DLP system in under 10 minutes.

## Contribution

A maskless, grayscale lithography approach for rapid DOE fabrication without specialized facilities or skills.

## Key findings

- DOEs can be fabricated in about 10 minutes using a single-shot grayscale projection method.
- The technique successfully produced vortex plates, Zernike polynomial masks, and phase masks matching simulations.
- The method is user-friendly, reliable, and compatible with desktop resin 3D printers.

## Abstract

Fabrication of diffractive
optical elements (DOEs) is typically
slow, costly, and requires specialized expertise, motivating the need
for a rapid and accessible alternative. Here, a maskless, cost-effective
grayscale lithography approach is introduced for the rapid fabrication
of DOEs. The method relies on the single-step projection of a grayscale
pattern onto a droplet of UV-curable resin, followed by immersion-oil
sealing under near-index-matching conditions. This process reduces
the fabrication cycle from several days to about 10 min, remains user-friendly
and reliable, and does not require specialized skills. A calibration
procedure enables conversion of a phase map into a grayscale pattern
without requiring precise direct measurements of the refractive index.
The approach demonstrates the fabrication of a vortex plate, Zernike
polynomial masks, and phase masks for 3D localization microscopy,
all showing strong agreement with simulations. The technique does
not require specialized facilities and can be implemented with desktop
resin 3D printers, making custom DOE prototyping accessible to a wide
range of researchers.