Method for manufacturing a light guide plate

• US 6,704,070 B2
• Filed: 09/10/2002
• Issued: 03/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd., Nitto Denko Corporation
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd., Nitto Denko Corporation
• Inventors: Umemoto, Seiji, Taniguchi, Hitoshi, Ariyoshi, Toshihiko, Hira, Yasuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Ton, Toan
• Assistant Examiner(s): AKKAPEDDI, PRASAD R
• Application Number:
  US10/237,784
• Publication Number:
  US 20030080450A1
• Time in Patent Office: 546 Days
• Field of Search: 349/61, 349/63, 349/65, 349/187, 385/146, 385/901, 116/24
• US Class Current: 349/65
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0036 2-D arrangement of prisms, protrusions, indentations or roughened surfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0061 to provide homogeneous light output intensity
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0065 Manufacturing aspects; Material aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0068 Arrangements of plural sources, e.g. multi-colour light sources
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 385/901 Illuminating or display apparatus

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a light guide plate having dots on one surface thereof includes forming an oxide film on a crystal plane of a silicon substrate, forming a resist film on the oxide film, and forming a dot pattern in the oxide film by using the resist film as a mask, anisotropically etching the silicon substrate by using the oxide film as a mask, forming a metal film on the silicon substrate, stripping the metal film off so as to produce a stamper or a replica thereof, and transferring the dots onto a surface of a film or a plastic sheet or plate by using the stamper or the replica.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a front-lighting light guide plate having dots on one surface thereof, comprising the steps of:

(a) forming an oxide film on a crystal plane of a silicon substrate, said crystal plane being within a range of angles determined by subtracting a sectional inclination angle of 35 to 43 degrees from an angle between a surface of a dot reflection slope and a (001) crystal plane;

(b) forming a resist film on said oxide film, and forming a dot pattern of said resist film;

(c) etching said oxide film by using said dot pattern as a mask;

(d) anisotropically etching said silicon substrate by using said oxide film as a mask to form dots which are substantially rectangular in plan view and which are substantially V-shape in section with a vertex angle of about 70.6°

±

2.5°

;

(e) forming a metal film on said silicon substrate;

(f) stripping said metal film off so as to produce a stamper or a replica thereof; and

(g) transferring said dots onto a surface of a film or a plastic sheet or plate by using said stamper or said replica.

2. A method for manufacturing a front-lighting light guide plate according to claim 1, wherein said crystal plane of said silicon substrate is selected so that an inclination angle of said section is in a (111) crystal plane.

3. A method for manufacturing a front-lighting light guide plate according to claim 1, wherein said dot pattern has a short-side length in a range of 0.002 to 0.05 mm and a long-side length in a range of 0.002 to 0.2 mm.

4. A method for manufacturing a front-lighting light guide plate according to claim 1, wherein said dot pattern is disposed at random on said oxide film.

5. A method for manufacturing a front-lighting light guide plate according to claim 1, wherein an area not smaller than 95% of a whole area of the surface where said dot pattern is formed is sectioned into 0.25 to 1 mm² square areas, and said dot pattern is disposed on said oxide film so that a function G(R) which is obtained by taking a weighted average of a radial distribution function g(R) obtained for each of said dots in accordance with an arrangement relationship of said dots and which is obtained by approximating said weighted average by a least squares method satisfies a relation of 0<

S₁/S₂<

0.2 in a range of R/R₀=3 to 6;

provided that R designates a distance from a central position of one dot to a central position of another dot;

R₀, a value obtained by dividing a length of one side of said square area by a square root of the number of said dots existing in said square area;

S₁, a value obtained by integrating a difference between G(R) and an average value of G(R) with R/R₀ which is in a range of from 3 to 6; and

S₂, a value obtained by integrating said average value of G(R) with R/R₀ which is in a range of from 3 to 6.

6. A method for manufacturing a front-lighting light guide plate according to claim 5, said dot pattern is disposed so that said function G(R) is substantially 0 in a range of R<

(short-side length of said dot)×

2, at least two peaks exist in said function G(R), and said two peaks each of which said two peaks is at least twice as large as said average value of said function G(R) exist in a range of R/R₀=3 to 6.