Shaping of steel mold surface of lens array by electrical discharge machining with single rod electrode.

We propose a method for fabricating a lens array mold by electrical discharge machining (EDM). In this method, the tips of rods are machined individually to form a specific surface, and then a number of the machined rods are arranged to construct an electrode for EDM. The repetition of the EDM process using the electrode enables a number of lens elements to be produced on the mold surface. The effectiveness of our proposed method is demonstrated by shaping a lens array mold made of stainless steel with 16 spherical elements, in which the EDM process with a single rod electrode is repeatedly conducted.