Micro lens and method and apparatus for fabricating
First Claim
1. A method for forming microlenses having diameters less than about 1 mm comprising:
- positioning a photomask with respect to a wafer to define a plurality of etchable regions corresponding to desired positions of lenses;
selectively removing material from said wafer by a process which includes etching said wafer substantially simultaneously at least in said etchable regions;
cutting said wafer along a plurality of cut lines to separate into a plurality of dice, at least a first number of said dice, each having at least one etched lens thereon.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Micro lenses are fabricated using processes which operate on multiple lenses at a time. In one embodiment, wafer-scale processing includes employing photolithography for defining gray-scale masks which permit relatively smooth or continuous curvatures of lens surfaces to be formed by, e.g., reactive ion etching. Processes and materials are used which achieve desired etching at a sufficiently rapid rate such as etching to a depth of about 200 micrometers in less than about 10 hours. Wafer-scale molding processes can also be used. Diffractive features can be formed on or adjacent lens surfaces to provide functions such as dispersion correction. Also, sub-wavelength scale features may be etched to provide quarter-wave plate functionality, birefringence, anti-reflective functions and the like. Structures such as mounting rings and/or crash stops can be formed integrally with the lens body, eliminating the need to glue or otherwise couple separate components.
46 Citations
54 Claims
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1. A method for forming microlenses having diameters less than about 1 mm comprising:
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positioning a photomask with respect to a wafer to define a plurality of etchable regions corresponding to desired positions of lenses;
selectively removing material from said wafer by a process which includes etching said wafer substantially simultaneously at least in said etchable regions;
cutting said wafer along a plurality of cut lines to separate into a plurality of dice, at least a first number of said dice, each having at least one etched lens thereon. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. Apparatus for forming microlenses having diameters less than about 1 mm comprising:
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a wafer having a plurality of etchable regions defined thereon by a photomask, said plurality of etchable regions corresponding to desired positions of lenses;
etching means for selectively removing material from said wafer substantially simultaneously in at least said plurality of etchable regions;
separating means for separating said wafer along a plurality of cut lines into a plurality of dice, at least a first number of said dice, each having at least one etched microlens thereon. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A microlens assembly comprising:
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first and second opposed lens surfaces etched from portions of opposed surfaces of a substrate to provide a first microlens;
a structure adjacent at least a portion of the perimeter of said first or second lens surfaces, said structure being at least one of;
a lens mount;
a crash stop;
oran aperture stop;
wherein said microlens and at least a portion of said adjacent structure are formed as a single, unitary substantially monolithic piece, without the need to couple two or more separately-formed structures to provide said piece. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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Specification
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- Resources
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Current AssigneeDPHI Acquisitions, Inc.
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Original AssigneeDataPlay, Inc. (DPHI Incorporated)
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InventorsRedmond, Ian R.
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Granted Patent
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Time in Patent OfficeDays
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Field of Search
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US Class Current359/619
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CPC Class CodesG02B 3/00 Simple or compound lensesG11B 7/1353 Diffractive elements, e.g. ...G11B 7/1374 Objective lenses optical ob...G11B 7/13922 passiveG11B 7/22 Apparatus or processes for ...
