Abstract: A number of optical devices are fabricated by forming a pattern of channels on a first side of a substrate to define a plurality of mesas on the first side of the substrate. A thin-film optical structure is deposited onto each of the mesas. An excess thickness of the substrate is removed from each thin-film optical device, preferably by temporarily affixing a temporary support to the tops of each thin-film optical structure, removing an excess amount of the substrate from a second side of the substrate so that the thin-film optical devices are isolated from each other but affixed to the temporary support, and separating the tops of the thin-film optical structures from the temporary support.