US Patent 7508604 Optical lens and optical lens manufacturing method

The manufacturing method uses a substrate including an SOI layer (112), a SiO2 layer (114) and a Si layer (116). A lens surface (118) is formed on the surface of the SOI layer (112) of the substrate. A lens region including the lens surface (118) and an edge section (120) there around is formed by removing the SOI layer (112), with the exception of a section corresponding to the lens region, until the SiO2 layer (114) is exposed, such that the SOI layer (112) only remains in the lens region. A lens holding section (122) that holds the lens region is formed by removing the Si layer (116), with the exception of a section of the Si layer (116) corresponding to the lens holding section (122), until the SiO2 layer (114) is exposed at the rear surface of the substrate.