Diffraction optical waveguide preparation method and diffraction optical waveguide

Abstract

The invention provides a preparation method of a diffraction optical waveguide and the diffraction optical waveguide. The method comprises the following steps: providing a glass substrate; forming a mask on the surface of the glass substrate, wherein the mask covers part of the surface of the glass substrate; carrying out toughening treatment on the glass substrate on which the mask is formed so as to carry out toughening on an area which is not covered by the mask, and enabling the toughened glass substrate to comprise a toughened area and a non-toughened area; the mask on the glass substrate subjected to toughening treatment is removed; and waveguide preparation treatment is conducted on the glass substrate with the masks removed, at least two diffraction optical waveguides are obtained, and partial areas or all areas of waveguide substrates of the diffraction optical waveguides are tempered areas. The problem that the diffraction optical waveguide cannot be prepared from tempered glass is solved, and the diffraction optical waveguide prepared through the preparation method of the diffraction optical waveguide has the high refractive index and the good mechanical shock resistance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of optics, and in particular to a method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide and a diffractive optical waveguide. Background Art

[0002] Diffractive optical waveguides are currently the preferred solution for augmented reality (AR) display. The base material of existing diffractive optical waveguides is mostly glass, but glass is easily damaged when subjected to mechanical impact, and there are problems with safety of use and short service life. Therefore, in other solutions, tempered glass is used to prepare diffractive optical waveguides to improve the mechanical impact resistance of the diffractive optical waveguides.

[0003] Tempered glass is a glass substrate with good mechanical impact resistance. Since tempered glass cannot be cut, it is usually cut before tempering. However, in the process of preparing diffractive optical waveguides, a spin coating process is required. In this process, uneven glue coating areas are likely to appear at the edge of the glass substrate of the diffractive optical waveguide. At this time, the glass substrate can no longer be cut, so the prepared diffractive optical waveguide will have uneven glue coating areas, which limits the application of tempered glass substrates in diffractive optical waveguides. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present application provides a method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide and a diffractive optical waveguide, aiming to avoid the problem that, in the process of preparing the diffractive optical waveguide, the tempered glass cannot be cut after being coated with glue, resulting in the inability to serve as a waveguide substrate of the diffractive optical waveguide.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide, the method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide comprising the following steps:

[0006] providing a glass substrate;

[0007] forming a mask on the surface of the glass substrate, wherein the mask covers a portion of the surface of the glass substrate;

[0008] The glass substrate formed with the mask is subjected to a tempering treatment to temper the area not covered by the mask, wherein the glass substrate after the tempering treatment includes a tempered area and a non-tempered area;

[0009] Removing the mask on the tempered glass substrate;

[0010] The glass substrate with the mask removed is subjected to a waveguide preparation process to obtain at least two diffraction light waveguides, and a partial area or the entire area of ​​the waveguide substrate is the tempered area.

[0011] In some embodiments, the step of performing a waveguide preparation process on the glass substrate with the mask removed to obtain at least two diffraction optical waveguides comprises:

[0012] forming a plurality of diffraction microstructures on the glass substrate with the mask removed;

[0013] A plurality of the diffractive optical waveguides are obtained by cutting on the non-tempered area of ​​the glass substrate, and each of the diffractive optical waveguides includes at least two diffractive microstructures.

[0014] In some embodiments, a plurality of diffraction microstructures are formed on the glass substrate, comprising:

[0015] A plurality of the diffraction microstructures are formed in the tempered region on the glass substrate.

[0016] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0017] forming an alignment mark on the glass substrate, wherein the alignment mark is used to indicate a formation position of the diffraction microstructure;

[0018] The step of forming a plurality of diffraction microstructures on the glass substrate comprises:

[0019] A plurality of diffraction microstructures are formed on the glass substrate according to the alignment marks.

[0020] In some embodiments, the glass substrate includes a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other, and forming a mask on the surface of the glass substrate includes:

[0021] A first mask is formed on the first surface of the glass substrate according to the alignment mark, and a second mask is formed on the second surface of the glass substrate, wherein a projection of the first mask on the glass substrate coincides with a projection of the second mask on the glass substrate.

[0022] In some embodiments, forming an alignment mark on the glass substrate includes:

[0023] The alignment mark is formed on the glass substrate by using a laser marking process, a photolithography process, a nano-imprinting process and a silk-screen printing process.

[0024] In some embodiments, the alignment mark is formed in a tempered area or a non-tempered area of ​​the glass substrate.

[0025] In some embodiments, the glass substrate includes a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other, and forming a mask on the surface of the glass substrate includes:

[0026] forming a first mask on a first surface of the glass substrate;

[0027] A second mask is formed on the second surface of the glass substrate according to the position of the first mask on the glass substrate, so that a projection of the first mask on the glass substrate coincides with a projection of the second mask on the glass substrate.

[0028] In some embodiments, forming a mask on the surface of the glass substrate includes:

[0029] A mask is formed on the surface of the glass substrate by a photolithography process or a nanoimprint process.

[0030] In a second aspect, the present application further provides a diffractive optical waveguide, which is manufactured by the method for manufacturing the diffractive optical waveguide provided in the first aspect.

[0031] The present application provides a preparation method of a diffractive optical waveguide and a diffractive optical waveguide. The present application forms a mask on the surface of a glass substrate, the mask covers part of the surface of the glass, and performs a tempering treatment on the glass substrate with the mask, so as to temper the area not covered by the mask, so that the tempered glass substrate includes a tempered area and a non-tempered area; after the glass substrate is tempered, the mask on the glass substrate is removed to obtain a tempered glass substrate without a mask, and the diffractive optical waveguide is prepared based on the glass substrate, so that the waveguide substrate of the prepared diffractive optical waveguide is tempered glass. Since the glass substrate has a non-tempered area, when the waveguide substrate is subjected to a spin coating and a uniform glue coating process, an uneven glue coating area can appear in the non-tempered area, so that the non-tempered area can be cut, thereby avoiding the problem that the uneven glue coating area appears in the tempered area and cannot be cut in the prepared diffractive optical waveguide, and the diffractive optical waveguide whose waveguide substrate is tempered glass can be mass-produced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0033] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a process for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a glass substrate for forming a mask provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 3 A schematic cross-sectional view of a glass substrate for forming a mask according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a tempered glass substrate provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0038] The flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings are only examples and do not necessarily include all the contents and operations / steps, nor must they be executed in the order described. For example, some operations / steps may also be decomposed, combined or partially merged, so the actual execution order may change according to actual conditions.

[0039] The embodiment of the present application provides a method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide and a diffractive optical waveguide. The prepared diffractive optical waveguide can be applied to an AR near-eye display device, so that the signal light emitted from the optical machine of the AR near-eye display device can be transmitted directionally to the eyes of a user wearing the AR near-eye display device through the diffractive optical waveguide, thereby providing AR display for the user.

[0040] In conjunction with the accompanying drawings, some embodiments of the present application are described in detail below. In the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

[0041] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a process for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide provided in one embodiment of the present application.

[0042] like Figure 1 As shown, the method for preparing the diffractive optical waveguide includes steps S101 to S105.

[0043] Step S101: providing a glass substrate.

[0044] Exemplarily, by providing a glass substrate, the waveguide substrate material corresponding to the diffractive optical waveguide prepared based on the glass substrate is still glass, so that the diffractive optical waveguide has a high refractive index to meet the needs of large field of view and color AR display in AR near-eye display devices. It should be understood that although glass has the characteristics of a high refractive index, glass is a fragile material, and in actual use, it has a short use safety and service life. Therefore, the present application improves the mechanical impact resistance of the prepared waveguide substrate by tempering the provided glass substrate, thereby improving the use safety of the AR near-eye display device.

[0045] It should be noted that, since there is a surface stress layer on the tempered glass, if the tempered glass is cut, the entire piece of tempered glass will break. In the process of preparing a diffractive optical waveguide from a glass substrate, the waveguide substrate needs to be coated with an embossed adhesive, a photoresist or a photosensitive adhesive. When a spin coating process is used for coating, the coating at the edge of the waveguide substrate is prone to unevenness. For a waveguide substrate of non-tempered glass, the edge can be cut to remove the uneven area, but for a waveguide substrate of tempered glass, it cannot be cut, which results in the inability to use tempered glass as a waveguide substrate during the preparation of the diffractive optical waveguide due to cutting problems. The preparation method of the diffractive optical waveguide provided in the present application can avoid the problem that the tempered glass cannot be cut after coating and cannot be used as a waveguide substrate, so that the prepared waveguide substrate has mechanical impact resistance and a higher refractive index. The following will continue to explain the process of preparing the diffractive optical waveguide.

[0046] In specific embodiments, the glass substrate includes, but is not limited to, a glass plate or a glass sheet.

[0047] Step S102: forming a mask on the surface of the glass substrate, wherein the mask covers a portion of the surface of the glass substrate.

[0048] Exemplarily, a mask is formed on the surface of the glass substrate to achieve tempering of the glass substrate based on the mask.

[0049] In a specific implementation process, the mask material is chromium, so that the mask can withstand the temperature when the glass substrate is tempered.

[0050] See also Figure 2 , Figure 2 A schematic structural diagram of a glass substrate 10 for forming a mask 20 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0051] like Figure 2 As shown, the mask 20 covers part of the surface of the glass substrate 10 (the gray area is the covered surface, and the white area is the uncovered area). Specifically, the shape of the area not covered by the mask 20 is the same as the outer shape of the diffractive optical waveguide to be prepared, or the shape of the area not covered by the mask 20 is smaller than the outer shape of the diffractive optical waveguide to be prepared, so that as many areas as possible in the diffractive optical waveguide are tempered glass areas. Specifically, on the glass substrate 10, at least two areas not covered by the mask 20 are included, so that the preparation of waveguide substrates corresponding to multiple diffractive optical waveguides can be achieved on one glass substrate 10, so as to improve the preparation efficiency of the diffractive optical waveguide.

[0052] In some embodiments, forming the mask 20 on the surface of the glass substrate 10 includes: forming the mask 20 on the surface of the glass substrate 10 by a photolithography process or a nanoimprint process.

[0053] In a specific embodiment, the photolithography process includes steps such as coating photoresist, exposure, development, metal deposition, etching, and removal of photoresist to form a mask 20 on the surface of the glass substrate 10; in other embodiments, the nanoimprint process includes nanomold fabrication, imprint material coating, imprinting the imprint material through the nanomold, curing the imprinted imprint material, demolding, and etching or metal deposition to form a mask 20 on the surface of the glass substrate 10. It should be understood that there may be other ways to form the mask 20 on the surface of the glass substrate 10, which are not limited in this application.

[0054] See also Figure 3 , Figure 3 A schematic cross-sectional view of a glass substrate 10 for forming a mask 20 according to another embodiment of the present application.

[0055] In some embodiments, the glass substrate 10 includes a first surface and a second surface relative to each other, and forming a mask 20 on the surface of the glass substrate 10 includes: forming a first mask 21 on the first surface of the glass substrate 10; and forming a second mask 22 on the second surface of the glass substrate 10 according to the position of the first mask 21 on the glass substrate 10, wherein a projection of the first mask 21 on the glass substrate 10 coincides with a projection of the second mask 22 on the glass substrate 10.

[0056] like Figure 3 As shown, the glass substrate 10 includes a first surface and a second surface relative to each other, a first mask 21 is formed on the first surface of the glass substrate 10, and a second mask 22 is formed on the second surface of the glass substrate 10, respectively, and the projection of the first mask 21 on the glass substrate 10 coincides with the projection of the second mask 22 on the glass substrate 10, so that the first mask 21 and the second mask 22 can protect the area of ​​the glass substrate 10 covered by the mask 20 during the tempering process and form the non-tempered area 12 of the glass substrate 10.

[0057] In a specific implementation process, after the first mask 21 is set on the first surface, the position of the first mask 21 on the first surface can be determined by using the contour features of the first mask 21, and then the second mask 22 is aligned with the first mask 21 on the second surface, so that the area covered by the first mask 21 on the first surface is the same as the area covered by the second mask 22 on the second surface.

[0058] In some other embodiments, the glass substrate 10 includes a first surface and a second surface relative to each other, and forming the mask 20 on the surface of the glass substrate 10 includes: forming a first mask 21 on the first surface of the glass substrate 10 according to the alignment mark, and forming a second mask 22 on the second surface of the glass substrate 10, and the projection of the first mask 21 on the glass substrate 10 coincides with the projection of the second mask 22 on the glass substrate 10.

[0059] Exemplarily, an alignment mark is first formed on the glass substrate 10 so that the first mask 21 formed on the first surface and the second mask 22 formed on the second surface can be aligned with the alignment mark, so that the area covered by the first mask 21 on the first surface is the same as the area covered by the second mask 22 on the second surface, and the alignment accuracy of the first mask 21 and the second mask 22 is improved.

[0060] In a specific embodiment, an alignment mark is formed on the glass substrate 10 or on the first mask 21, so that after forming the first mask 21, the formation position of the second mask 22 can be determined by the alignment mark, so that the projection of the first mask 21 on the glass substrate 10 coincides with the projection of the second mask 22 on the glass substrate 10. The alignment mark can be set on the glass substrate 10, or on the surface of the first mask 21 facing the glass substrate 10, so that the alignment mark can be observed when forming the second mask 22.

[0061] See also Figure 4 , Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a tempered glass substrate 10 provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present application.

[0062] Step S103 , performing a tempering treatment on the glass substrate 10 formed with the mask 20 to temper the area not covered by the mask 20 . The tempered glass substrate 10 includes a tempered area 11 and a non-tempered area 12 .

[0063] Exemplarily, the glass substrate 10 formed with the mask 20 is subjected to glass tempering treatment to obtain a tempered glass substrate 10, wherein Figure 4 As shown, the tempered glass substrate 10 includes a tempered area 11 and a non-tempered area 12. It should be understood that the glass substrate 10 corresponding to the tempered area 11 can be used to prepare a diffractive optical waveguide.

[0064] In a specific embodiment, the glass substrate 10 formed with the mask 20 is immersed in high-temperature salt so that ions are exchanged between the surface of the glass and the salt, thereby forming a stress layer on the surface of the glass, and then the glass substrate 10 formed with the mask 20 is tempered; it should be understood that due to the presence of the mask 20, the area covered by the mask 20 will not contact the salt, and thus will not exchange ions with the salt, so the area covered by the mask 20 is not tempered, while the area not covered by the mask 20 completes the glass tempering, so the glass substrate 10 after the tempering treatment includes a tempered area 11 and a non-tempered area 12.

[0065] It should be noted that the area covered by the mask 20 does not need to be tempered, so the mask 20 needs to avoid being damaged in high-temperature salt, so as to avoid the area covered by the mask 20 from being tempered; based on this, the mask 20 can use chromium as a preparation material to be able to withstand the high temperature during tempering and not undergo ion exchange with the salt, or other materials that can withstand high temperatures and not undergo ion exchange with the salt may be selected, and this application does not limit the specific materials.

[0066] Step S104 , removing the mask 20 on the tempered glass substrate 10 .

[0067] In a specific embodiment, the mask 20 on the tempered glass substrate 10 is removed by wet etching or dry etching. For example, if the mask 20 is made of chromium, the mask 20 can be etched by a chromium etching solution to achieve the purpose of removing the mask 20, thereby obtaining the tempered glass substrate 10. It can be understood that the surface of the glass substrate 10 obtained after removing the mask 20 is no longer adhered to the substance forming the mask 20.

[0068] Step S105 , performing a waveguide preparation process on the glass substrate 10 with the mask 20 removed to obtain at least two diffractive optical waveguides, wherein a partial area or the entire area of ​​the waveguide substrate of the diffractive optical waveguide is the tempered area 11 .

[0069] Exemplarily, during tempering, the glass substrate 10 includes areas covered by the mask 20 and areas not covered by the mask 20, so that the tempered glass substrate 10 includes a non-tempered area 12 and a tempered area 11, and the tempered area 11 can be used as a waveguide substrate of the diffractive optical waveguide, so that the diffractive optical waveguide has mechanical impact resistance and a high refractive index.

[0070] Exemplarily, the portion cut from the glass substrate 10 from which the mask 20 is removed may include only the tempered area 11, or most of the area may be the tempered area 11 and a small part of the area may be the non-tempered area 12, so that if cutting is required in the subsequent preparation process, cutting can be performed in the non-tempered area 12 to meet the preparation requirements.

[0071] In some embodiments, the waveguide preparation process is performed on the glass substrate 10 with the mask 20 removed to obtain at least two diffraction optical waveguides, including: forming a plurality of diffraction microstructures on the glass substrate 10 with the mask 20 removed; and cutting is performed on the non-tempered area 12 of the glass substrate 10 to obtain a plurality of the diffraction optical waveguides, each of the diffraction optical waveguides including at least two diffraction microstructures.

[0072] Exemplarily, the waveguide preparation process includes two steps of processing and cutting. In this embodiment, the diffraction optical waveguide is first processed on the tempered area 11 on the glass substrate 10 from which the mask 20 is removed, and then each tempered area 11 is cut from the glass substrate 10 to obtain a plurality of diffraction optical waveguides. It should be understood that since the processing of the diffraction optical waveguide has been completed on the glass substrate 10, the plurality of cut glass that has been processed can be directly used as the diffraction optical waveguide without further processing the cut glass. That is, in this embodiment, the diffraction optical waveguide is first processed, and then the glass substrate 10 is cut to directly obtain the diffraction optical waveguide. It should be understood that this method can meet the preparation of a large number of identical diffraction optical waveguides, thereby improving the preparation efficiency of optical waveguides.

[0073] Exemplarily, the processing of the diffraction optical waveguide includes but is not limited to forming at least one diffraction microstructure on the corresponding glass substrate 10, wherein the diffraction microstructure includes but is not limited to a surface relief grating and a volume holographic grating, etc., so that the obtained diffraction optical waveguide can achieve light coupling in and out.

[0074] In some embodiments, forming a plurality of diffraction microstructures on the glass substrate 10 includes: forming a plurality of diffraction microstructures on the glass substrate 10 by a nanoimprint process or a holographic exposure process.

[0075] In the specific implementation process, a plurality of diffraction microstructures are formed on the glass substrate 10 through a nanoimprint process including the steps of nano-mold making, imprint material coating, imprinting, curing, demolding and post-processing, or through a holographic exposure process to complete the processing of the diffraction optical waveguide on the glass substrate 10.

[0076] In some embodiments, forming a plurality of diffraction microstructures on the glass substrate 10 includes: forming a plurality of the diffraction microstructures in a tempered region 11 on the glass substrate 10 .

[0077] In a specific implementation process, the position where the diffraction microstructure is formed is fixed in the tempered area 11, so that the material of the final diffraction optical waveguide is tempered glass, thereby making the diffraction optical waveguide have mechanical impact resistance and a higher refractive index.

[0078] It should be noted that the tempered area 11 of the tempered glass substrate 10 forms a diffraction microstructure. After the diffraction microstructure is formed, the non-tempered area 12 of the glass substrate 10 can be cut to obtain a plurality of diffraction optical waveguides. It should be understood that since the glass substrate 10 is not entirely tempered (the portion covered by the mask 20 is not tempered), the non-tempered area 12 can be cut to obtain a diffraction optical waveguide after the diffraction microstructure is formed. Since the glass can be cut normally in the non-tempered area 12, the entire glass will not be broken. This solves the problem of needing to process each diffraction optical waveguide when tempered glass is used as a waveguide substrate, thereby improving the preparation efficiency of diffraction optical waveguides using tempered glass as a waveguide substrate.

[0079] In some embodiments, the method further includes: forming an alignment mark on the glass substrate 10, wherein the alignment mark is used to indicate a formation position of the diffraction microstructure; and forming a plurality of diffraction microstructures on the glass substrate 10 includes: forming a plurality of diffraction microstructures on the glass substrate 10 according to the alignment mark.

[0080] Exemplarily, an alignment mark for indicating the formation position of the diffraction microstructure is formed on the glass substrate 10, so that when the glass substrate 10 is processed into a diffraction optical waveguide, for example, when the diffraction microstructure is formed, the diffraction microstructure can be formed according to the alignment mark on the glass substrate 10, so that the diffraction microstructure can be formed at the corresponding position. Specifically, the formation position of the diffraction microstructure is in the tempered area 11, and the diffraction microstructure formed in each tempered area 11 can serve as the coupling-in area and the coupling-out area of ​​the diffraction optical waveguide to meet the coupling-in and coupling-out requirements of the diffraction optical waveguide for light. For example, at least two diffraction microstructures are formed in each tempered area 11, and the formed diffraction microstructures are a certain distance apart.

[0081] In some embodiments, forming the alignment mark on the glass substrate 10 includes: forming the alignment mark on the glass substrate 10 by using one of a photolithography process, a nanoimprint process, and a silk screen process.

[0082] In the specific implementation process, the screen printing process is a process of transferring ink to the surface of the glass substrate 10 using a screen plate, thereby realizing marking on the surface of the glass substrate 10, and the photolithography process and the nanoimprint process have been mentioned above and will not be repeated here. By setting the alignment mark on the glass substrate 10, the accuracy of the position of the diffraction microstructure can be effectively improved, thereby improving the preparation effect of the diffraction optical waveguide.

[0083] In some embodiments, the alignment mark is formed in the tempered area 11 or the non-tempered area 12 of the glass substrate 10 .

[0084] Exemplarily, when the glass substrate 10 is processed first and then cut, the alignment mark can be set in the area corresponding to the shape of the waveguide substrate or outside the area corresponding to the shape of the waveguide substrate. It should be understood that when the alignment mark is set outside the area corresponding to the shape of the waveguide substrate, the alignment mark will be cut off during the process of cutting the glass substrate 10, but because the processing has been completed before cutting, cutting off the alignment mark will not affect the final diffraction light waveguide.

[0085] In another embodiment, when the alignment mark is not formed on the glass substrate 10, the formation position of the diffraction microstructure is determined by the contour of the first mask 21, so that the diffraction microstructure can be formed in the corresponding position. It should be noted that the formation position of the diffraction microstructure is determined by the contour of the first mask 21 to ensure that the diffraction optical waveguide cut from the glass substrate 10 contains the diffraction microstructure, thereby completing the preparation of the diffraction optical waveguide.

[0086] In another embodiment, the glass substrate 10 with the mask 20 removed is subjected to a waveguide preparation process to obtain at least two diffractive optical waveguides, including: cutting on the non-tempered area 12 of the glass substrate 10 to obtain at least two waveguide substrates; and forming a plurality of diffractive microstructures on the waveguide substrate to obtain a diffractive optical waveguide.

[0087] Exemplarily, the non-tempered area 12 on the glass substrate 10 is first cut to separate the glasses corresponding to the multiple tempered areas 11 from the same glass substrate 10, and then each glass including the tempered area 11 is processed to obtain a diffractive optical waveguide. That is, this embodiment is to cut first and then process. Specifically, the glass including the tempered area 11 is first cut from the glass substrate 10, and then a diffractive microstructure is formed on each cut glass to obtain a diffractive optical waveguide. It should be understood that if the glass is cut first and then processed, the cut glass includes not only the tempered area 11 but also the non-tempered area 12, and the area of ​​the tempered area 11 is larger than the non-tempered area 12, so that when the glass needs to be cut in the subsequent processing of the optical waveguide, for example, when the corresponding area needs to be cut due to uneven glue coating, the non-tempered area 12 on the glass can be cut, thereby avoiding the situation where the diffraction optical waveguide cannot be cut and the glue coating is uneven, thereby avoiding the problem that the tempered glass cannot be used due to the need to cut the waveguide substrate in the process of preparing the diffraction optical waveguide. It should be noted that this preparation method can meet the preparation requirements of different diffraction optical waveguides because each waveguide substrate is processed separately.

[0088] In a specific embodiment, when the glass substrate 10 is cut and then processed, the formation position of the diffraction microstructure on the waveguide substrate is determined according to the shape of the cut waveguide substrate to complete the processing of the cut waveguide substrate and obtain a diffraction optical waveguide; alternatively, the formation position of the diffraction microstructure is determined by the alignment mark set on the glass substrate 10. It should be understood that when cutting is first performed and then processed, the alignment mark set needs to be located in the area corresponding to the shape of the waveguide substrate to avoid cutting the position marked with the alignment mark during the cutting process, so that the waveguide substrate obtained after cutting has no alignment mark, and the formation position of the diffraction microstructure cannot be determined.

[0089] The method for preparing the diffractive optical waveguide provided in the above embodiment forms a mask 20 on the surface of a glass substrate 10, wherein the mask 20 covers a portion of the surface of the glass, and performs a tempering treatment on the glass substrate 10 formed with the mask 20, so as to temper the area not covered by the mask 20, so that the tempered glass substrate 10 includes a tempered area 11 and a non-tempered area 12; after the glass substrate 10 is tempered, the mask 20 on the glass substrate 10 is removed to obtain a tempered glass substrate 10 without the mask 20, and the diffractive optical waveguide is prepared based on the glass substrate 10, so that the waveguide substrate of the prepared diffractive optical waveguide is tempered glass, so that the prepared diffractive optical waveguide has a higher refractive index and better mechanical impact resistance, and solves the problem that tempered glass cannot be used due to the need to cut the waveguide substrate in the process of preparing the diffractive optical waveguide.

[0090] The present application also provides a diffractive optical waveguide, wherein the diffractive optical waveguide is prepared by any embodiment of the method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide provided in the present application. It should be understood that the waveguide substrate of the prepared diffractive optical waveguide is tempered glass, so that the prepared diffractive optical waveguide has a higher refractive index than an optical waveguide made of resin material, and has better mechanical impact resistance than an optical waveguide made of glass material.

[0091] It should be understood that the terms used in this application specification are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the application. As used in this application specification and the appended claims, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include plural forms.

[0092] It should also be understood that the term "and / or" used in the specification of this application and the appended claims refers to any combination of one or more of the associated listed items and all possible combinations, including these combinations. It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or system including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or system. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "including a..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or system including the element.

[0093] The serial numbers of the embodiments of the present application are for description only and do not represent the advantages and disadvantages of the embodiments. The above description is only a specific implementation mode of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of various equivalent modifications or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, and these modifications or replacements should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide, characterized in that: include: providing a glass substrate; forming a mask on the surface of the glass substrate, wherein the mask covers a portion of the surface of the glass substrate; The glass substrate formed with the mask is subjected to a tempering treatment to temper the area not covered by the mask, wherein the glass substrate after the tempering treatment includes a tempered area and a non-tempered area; Removing the mask on the tempered glass substrate; The glass substrate with the mask removed is subjected to a waveguide preparation process to obtain at least two diffractive optical waveguides, wherein a partial area or the entire area of ​​the waveguide substrate of the diffractive optical waveguide is the tempered area.

2. The method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of performing a waveguide preparation process on the glass substrate with the mask removed to obtain at least two diffraction optical waveguides comprises: forming a plurality of diffraction microstructures on the glass substrate with the mask removed; A plurality of the diffractive optical waveguides are obtained by cutting on the non-tempered area of ​​the glass substrate, and each of the diffractive optical waveguides includes at least two diffractive microstructures.

3. The method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide according to claim 2, characterized in that: The step of forming a plurality of diffraction microstructures on the glass substrate comprises: A plurality of the diffractive microstructures are formed in the tempered region on the glass substrate.

4. The method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide according to claim 3, characterized in that: The method further comprises: forming an alignment mark on the glass substrate, wherein the alignment mark is used to indicate a formation position of the diffraction microstructure; The step of forming a plurality of diffraction microstructures on the glass substrate comprises: A plurality of diffraction microstructures are formed on the glass substrate according to the alignment marks.

5. The method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide according to claim 4, characterized in that: The glass substrate comprises a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other, and forming a mask on the surface of the glass substrate comprises: A first mask is formed on the first surface of the glass substrate according to the alignment mark, and a second mask is formed on the second surface of the glass substrate, wherein a projection of the first mask on the glass substrate coincides with a projection of the second mask on the glass substrate.

6. The method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide according to claim 4, characterized in that: The step of forming an alignment mark on the glass substrate comprises: The alignment mark is formed on the glass substrate by using a laser marking process, a photolithography process, a nano-imprinting process and a silk-screen printing process.

7. The method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide according to claim 4, characterized in that: The alignment mark is formed on a tempered area or a non-tempered area of ​​the glass substrate.

8. The method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide according to claim 1, characterized in that: The glass substrate comprises a first surface and a second surface opposite to each other, and forming a mask on the surface of the glass substrate comprises: forming a first mask on a first surface of the glass substrate; A second mask is formed on the second surface of the glass substrate according to the position of the first mask on the glass substrate, so that a projection of the first mask on the glass substrate coincides with a projection of the second mask on the glass substrate.

9. The method for preparing a diffractive optical waveguide according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of forming a mask on the surface of the glass substrate comprises: A mask is formed on the surface of the glass substrate by a photolithography process or a nanoimprint process.

10. A diffractive optical waveguide, characterized in that: The diffractive optical waveguide is manufactured by the method for manufacturing a diffractive optical waveguide according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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