Patent ID: 7014988

Claim:
A method of fabricating an encapsulated optical element, said method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a body comprising: (i) a photopolymerizable precursor comprising a diffusing species, said precursor forming a polymer matrix upon photopolymerization, and said polymer matrix having an index of refraction; (ii) a substantially non-diffusing binder component having an index of refraction that is lower than the index of refraction of the polymer matrix and that is miscible with the photopolymerizable precursor; and (iii) a multiphoton photoinitiator system; (b) imagewise exposing at least a portion of the body to energy under conditions effective to multiphoton photopolymerize the polymer precursor in a pattern effective to form a three-dimensional optical element; and (c) after imagewise exposing the body; nonimagewise exposing at least a portion of the body to a photopolymerizing fluence of energy.