Exposure method and system and liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element processing method thereof

Abstract

The invention provides an exposure method and system and a liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element processing method thereof. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring a target low-frequency aberration phase diagram of a device to be compensated; converting the target low-frequency aberration phase diagram into a plurality of corresponding low-frequency phase projection drawings; wherein the plurality of low-frequency phase projection drawings are in one-to-one correspondence with order phase drawings corresponding to the target low-frequency aberration phase diagram; an exposure system constructed by a numerical control micromirror DMD unit is controlled, and each low-frequency phase projection drawing is adopted to carry out amplification projection exposure on the orientation layer; after all the low-frequency phase projection drawings are amplified, projected and exposed, an orientation layer with orientation completed is obtained; wherein the orientated orientation layer is used for processing and producing the liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element corresponding to the to-be-compensated device, and compared with a traditional DMD system with reduced magnification exposure, the time consumption is shorter, compared with other processing methods, the cost is low, the phase can be changed as required, and the flexibility is high.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of optoelectronic technology, and in particular to an exposure method and system and a method for processing a liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element. Background Art

[0002] Planar liquid crystal lenses have the advantages of high efficiency, low cost, and large-area fabrication. The wavefront aberration of planar liquid crystal lenses is the key to determining whether they can be applied to major demand areas such as high-resolution imaging and long-distance optical communications. However, due to the instability of the processing technology, large-aperture planar liquid crystal optical elements have the problem of large wavefront aberrations, among which low-frequency aberrations dominate. By correcting such low-frequency aberrations, the imaging quality of the device can be significantly improved. Therefore, achieving accurate correction of low-frequency aberrations in large-aperture planar liquid crystal elements has important application value. A direct solution is to correct them by processing a large-aperture planar liquid crystal compensation lens with an opposite aberration phase.

[0003] However, the imbalance between efficiency, cost and flexibility in existing processing methods has restricted the practical application of this technology. For example, the traditional DMD dynamic mask light orientation technology uses a reduced-magnification exposure to align the liquid crystal. As a result, when processing large-aperture liquid crystal lenses, the traditional DMD dynamic mask light orientation technology requires multiple scans, resulting in low processing efficiency. Although laser direct writing technology has a high phase resolution, its point-by-point scanning mode makes its processing speed difficult to meet the needs of industrial large-scale production. Interference exposure technology requires the pre-preparation of specific template lenses, which leads to a surge in costs and the inability to achieve dynamic phase control, severely limiting design freedom. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide an exposure method and system and a method for processing a liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides an exposure method, the method comprising: obtaining a target low-frequency aberration phase map of a device to be compensated; converting the target low-frequency aberration phase map into a corresponding plurality of low-frequency phase projection maps; wherein the plurality of low-frequency phase projection maps are in phase with the target low-frequency aberration phase map. Figure 1 One-to-one correspondence; controlling the exposure system constructed by the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit, using each low-frequency phase projection pattern to perform magnified projection exposure on the orientation layer; after the magnified projection exposure of all the low-frequency phase projection patterns, an orientation layer with completed orientation is obtained; wherein, the orientation layer with completed orientation is used to process and produce the liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element corresponding to the device to be compensated.

[0006] The exposure method provided by this solution, which uses a numerically controlled micromirror DMD unit designed in this solution in conjunction with magnified projection to achieve an exposure method for the liquid crystal orientation layer that compensates for low-frequency aberrations, does not affect the low-frequency aberration compensation required for low-resolution imaging while achieving large-aperture component processing and saving time and costs. Therefore, the exposure method designed in this solution is shorter in time than the traditional DMD system for reduced-magnification exposure, has a lower cost than other processing methods, can change the phase on demand, and has high flexibility.

[0007] In an optional embodiment of the first aspect, the exposure system includes an adjustable polarization unit, a numerically controlled micromirror DMD unit, and a magnifying lens unit; the exposure system constructed by controlling the numerically controlled micromirror DMD unit uses each low-frequency phase projection image to perform magnified projection exposure on the orientation layer, including: determining the polarization rotation angle corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection image according to each low-frequency phase projection image; loading multiple low-frequency phase projection images into the numerically controlled micromirror DMD unit, and using the numerically controlled micromirror DMD unit to project multiple low-frequency phase projection images in sequence; when each low-frequency phase projection image is projected, adjusting the deflection angle of the adjustable polarization unit to the target polarization rotation angle corresponding to the currently projected low-frequency phase projection image, and using the numerically controlled micromirror DMD unit and the magnifying lens unit to magnify the currently projected low-frequency phase projection image, so as to achieve magnified projection exposure of each low-frequency phase projection image to the orientation layer.

[0008] The above-mentioned embodiment is based on a digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit, a magnifying lens unit and an adjustable polarization unit to realize the magnified projection exposure of each low-frequency phase projection pattern to the orientation layer, thereby realizing a short-time large-aperture low-frequency aberration compensation liquid crystal orientation layer exposure method based on a simple exposure optical structure.

[0009] In an optional implementation of the first aspect, the polarization rotation angle corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection image is determined based on each low-frequency phase projection image, including: obtaining the phase value corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection image; calculating half of the phase value corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection image to obtain the polarization rotation angle corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection image.

[0010] In the above implementation manner, this solution is based on half of the phase value corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection image to quickly calculate the polarization rotation angle corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection image.

[0011] In a second aspect, the present application provides a method for processing a liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element, the method comprising: anchoring liquid crystal molecules using an orientation layer to obtain a processed liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element; wherein the orientation layer is obtained by exposure orientation using the exposure method of any optional embodiment of the first aspect.

[0012] The method for processing a liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element provided in this solution has a large aperture, short processing time and low processing cost, because its orientation layer is obtained by exposure orientation based on the exposure method of any optional embodiment of the first aspect.

[0013] In a third aspect, the present application provides an exposure system, comprising a light source, an adjustable polarization unit, a digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit, a magnifying lens unit, and a control unit; the control unit is used to obtain a target low-frequency aberration phase map of the device to be compensated, convert the target low-frequency aberration phase map into a corresponding plurality of low-frequency phase projection maps, and determine the polarization rotation angle corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection map according to each low-frequency phase projection map; wherein the plurality of low-frequency phase projection maps and the step-by-step phase corresponding to the target low-frequency aberration phase map are Figure 1 One to one correspondence; each time a low-frequency phase projection image is projected, the control unit is further used to adjust the deflection angle of the adjustable polarization unit to the target polarization rotation angle corresponding to the currently projected low-frequency phase projection image; the adjustable polarization unit is used to adjust the polarization state of the incident exposure light beam from the light source to the target polarization state at the target polarization rotation angle, and transmit the adjusted polarized light to the CNC micromirror unit; wherein the target polarization state is determined according to the target low-frequency aberration phase image of the exposure projection; the CNC micromirror DMD unit is used to convert the adjusted polarized light into a projection light beam; wherein the projection pattern corresponding to the projection light beam is the currently projected low-frequency phase projection image; the magnifying lens unit is used to amplify the projection light beam to perform amplified projection exposure to the orientation layer.

[0014] The exposure system designed above uses a numerically controlled micromirror DMD unit in combination with magnified projection to realize the orientation of the liquid crystal orientation layer for low-frequency aberration compensation. While realizing large-aperture component processing and saving time and cost, it does not affect the low-frequency aberration compensation required for low-resolution imaging. Therefore, the exposure system designed in this scheme is shorter than the traditional DMD system for reduced-magnification exposure, has a lower cost than other processing methods, can change the phase as needed, and has high flexibility.

[0015] In an optional embodiment of the third aspect, the exposure system further includes an illumination lens unit, which is disposed between the light source and the adjustable polarization unit; the illumination lens unit is configured to uniformly transmit the incident exposure beam from the light source to the adjustable polarization unit.

[0016] In an optional implementation of the third aspect, the illumination lens unit includes a first illumination lens group and a second illumination lens group, and the first illumination lens group and the second illumination lens group constitute a Kohler illumination optical path.

[0017] In an optional embodiment of the third aspect, the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit includes a digitally controlled micromirror DMD array and a prism; the prism is used to reflect the adjusted polarized light transmitted by the adjustable polarization unit to the digitally controlled micromirror DMD array; the digitally controlled micromirror DMD array is used to convert the currently projected low-frequency phase projection image into a projection light beam corresponding to the projection pattern; the prism is also used to transmit the projection light beam reflected by the digitally controlled micromirror DMD array to the magnifying lens unit.

[0018] In an optional embodiment of the third aspect, the adjustable polarization unit includes a polarizer and a driver, the driver is connected to the polarizer, and the driver is electrically connected to the control unit; each time a low-frequency phase projection image is projected, the control unit is used to control the driver to drive the polarizer to rotate until the deflection angle of the polarizer is the target polarization rotation angle corresponding to the currently projected low-frequency phase projection image.

[0019] In an optional embodiment of the third aspect, the magnifying lens unit includes a converging correction lens group and a beam magnifying lens group arranged in sequence; the converging correction lens group is used to converge the projection light beam emitted by the digital micromirror DMD and correct the optical path aberration, and transmit the projection light beam that has completed the convergence correction to the beam magnifying lens group; the beam magnifying lens group is used to magnify the projection light beam that has completed the convergence correction, so as to perform magnified projection exposure to the orientation layer.

[0020] In the above-mentioned embodiment, this solution is based on a digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit, a magnifying lens unit and an adjustable polarization unit to realize the magnified projection exposure of each low-frequency phase projection pattern to the orientation layer, thereby realizing a short-time large-aperture low-frequency aberration compensation liquid crystal orientation layer based on a simple exposure optical structure.

[0021] In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides an electronic device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and when the processor executes the computer program, it executes the method described in the first aspect, any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or the second aspect.

[0022] In a fifth aspect, the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, performs the method described in the first aspect, any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or the second aspect.

[0023] In a sixth aspect, the present invention provides a computer program product, comprising a computer program / instruction, which, when executed by a processor, performs the method described in the first aspect, any optional embodiment of the first aspect, or the second aspect.

[0024] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of the present application. In order to more clearly understand the technical means of the present application, it can be implemented in accordance with the contents of the specification. In order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific implementation methods of the present application are listed below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the following drawings only show certain embodiments of the present application and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other relevant drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0026] Figure 1 A schematic flow chart of an exposure method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 2 A first structural schematic diagram of an exposure system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 3 A second structural schematic diagram of the exposure system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 4 A detailed structural diagram of the magnifying lens assembly provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0031] Icons: 10-light source; 20-adjustable polarization unit; 210-polarizer; 220-driver; 30-digital control micromirror DMD unit; 310-digital control micromirror DMD array; 320-prism; 40-magnifying lens unit; 410-converging correction lens group; 4110-first projection lens element; 4120-second projection lens element; 4130-aperture; 4140-third projection lens element; 420-beam magnifying lens group; 50-control unit; 60-illumination lens unit; 610-first illumination lens group; 620-second illumination lens group; 5-electronic device; 501-processor; 502-memory; 503-communication bus. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The following embodiments of the technical solution of the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments are only used to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the present application and are therefore only examples and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application.

[0033] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this application belongs; the terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit this application; the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof in the specification and claims of this application and the above-mentioned figure descriptions are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions.

[0034] In the description of the embodiments of this application, the technical terms "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish different objects and should not be understood to indicate or imply relative importance or implicitly specify the quantity, specific order, or primary and secondary relationship of the indicated technical features. In the description of the embodiments of this application, the meaning of "plurality" is more than two, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0035] References to "embodiments" herein mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it constitute an independent or alternative embodiment that is mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0036] In the description of the embodiments of this application, the term "and / or" is simply a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent the following three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0037] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "multiple" refers to more than two (including two). Similarly, "multiple groups" refers to more than two groups (including two groups), and "multiple pieces" refers to more than two pieces (including two pieces).

[0038] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the technical terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc., indicating the orientation or position relationship, are based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the embodiments of the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the embodiments of the present application.

[0039] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, technical terms such as "installed," "connected," "connected," and "fixed" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, they can refer to fixed connections, detachable connections, or integration; mechanical connections or electrical connections; direct connections or indirect connections through an intermediate medium; internal connections between two components or interactions between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the embodiments of the present application based on specific circumstances.

[0040] Planar liquid crystal lenses have the advantages of high efficiency, low cost, and large-area fabrication. The wavefront aberration of planar liquid crystal lenses is the key to determining whether they can be applied to major demand areas such as high-resolution imaging and long-distance optical communications. However, due to the instability of the processing technology, large-aperture planar liquid crystal optical elements have the problem of large wavefront aberrations, among which low-frequency aberrations dominate. By correcting such low-frequency aberrations, the imaging quality of the device can be significantly improved. Therefore, achieving accurate correction of low-frequency aberrations in large-aperture planar liquid crystal elements has important application value. A direct solution is to correct them by processing a large-aperture planar liquid crystal compensation lens with an opposite aberration phase.

[0041] However, the imbalance between efficiency, cost and flexibility in existing processing methods has restricted the practical application of this technology. For example, the traditional DMD dynamic mask light orientation technology uses a reduced-magnification exposure to align the liquid crystal. As a result, when processing large-aperture liquid crystal lenses, the traditional DMD dynamic mask light orientation technology requires multiple scans, resulting in low processing efficiency. Although laser direct writing technology has a high phase resolution, its point-by-point scanning mode makes its processing speed difficult to meet the needs of industrial large-scale production. Interference exposure technology requires the pre-preparation of specific template lenses, which leads to a surge in costs and the inability to achieve dynamic phase control, severely limiting design freedom.

[0042] Based on the above problems, the present application designs an exposure method and system and a method for processing liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation elements. Among the aberrations that usually affect the imaging quality of large-aperture devices, low-frequency aberrations account for the main influence. The projection system for amplifying spatial low-frequency light for imaging just meets the ability to correct low-frequency aberrations while meeting the aperture requirements. Compared with the traditional reduced-magnification exposure system, the exposure light path with a magnification ratio can realize large-aperture component processing without the need for splicing scanning, saving time and cost, and has the same effect in realizing low-frequency aberration imaging. Therefore, the exposure method designed in this scheme adopts the DMD-based amplified projection exposure light path to process the flat liquid crystal compensation lens, which can realize the low-frequency aberration compensation correction of optical lenses or optical systems in a low-cost and highly flexible manner.

[0043] Based on the above ideas, this application first provides an exposure method, which can be applied to computing devices, including but not limited to computers, servers, host computers, controllers, chips, etc., which can be selected according to actual application scenarios, such as Figure 1 As shown, the exposure method can be implemented by the following methods, including:

[0044] Step S100: obtaining a target low-frequency aberration phase map of the device to be compensated.

[0045] Step S110: converting the target low-frequency aberration phase map into a corresponding plurality of low-frequency phase projection maps.

[0046] Step S120: controlling the exposure system constructed by the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit to perform magnified projection exposure on the alignment layer using each low-frequency phase projection pattern.

[0047] Step S130: After all the low-frequency phase projection images are magnified and projected for exposure, an alignment layer with completed alignment is obtained.

[0048] In the above embodiments, the device to be compensated refers to an optical element that requires optical low-frequency aberration compensation, for example, it may specifically include a camera lens, a telescope objective lens, a projection lens, a lithography objective lens, a microscope objective lens, and the like.

[0049] Aberration refers to the imaging defect caused by the deviation of light from the ideal propagation path (such as the path under Gaussian optics approximation) in actual optical systems. Low-frequency aberration usually refers to the aberration component with lower spatial frequency, corresponding to the slowly changing part of the wavefront distortion. The low-frequency aberration phase map is a phase distribution image used to intuitively represent the distribution of low-frequency aberrations in the optical system. This scheme can obtain the target low-frequency aberration phase map of the device to be compensated in advance.

[0050] As a specific implementation method, this solution can obtain the target low-frequency aberration phase map of the device to be compensated in advance through an interferometer, and then store the target low-frequency aberration phase map in the storage device of the computing device, and perform a read operation when executing step S100.

[0051] In the case of obtaining the target low-frequency aberration phase map of the device to be compensated, this scheme can convert the target low-frequency aberration phase map into a corresponding plurality of low-frequency phase projection maps, wherein the phase distribution of the target low-frequency aberration phase map is continuously changing, and the phase order n of the low-frequency phase difference phase map can be freely selected according to actual needs. The phase order n of the converted plurality of low-frequency phase projection maps corresponding to the target low-frequency aberration phase map is Figure 1One-to-one correspondence. For example, assuming that the target low-frequency aberration phase map has a 6-order phase according to actual needs, this solution divides the target low-frequency aberration phase map into 6 low-frequency phase projection maps, each of which corresponds to the first-order phase in the target low-frequency aberration phase map. Different low-frequency phase projection maps correspond to different phase orders.

[0052] When multiple low-frequency phase projection images are obtained by the above method, this solution controls the exposure system constructed by the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit, and uses each low-frequency phase projection image to perform magnified projection exposure on the orientation layer. Specifically, this solution can load the obtained multiple low-frequency phase projection images into the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit, and the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit will project these low-frequency phase projection images in sequence from low to high phase orders according to the low-frequency phase projection images. When projecting each low-frequency phase projection image, the polarizer of the exposure system is rotated to the corresponding angle so that the light field is in the required polarization state, and then the projection light beam is magnified and projected for exposure, thereby realizing the exposure of the liquid crystal orientation layer. After all the low-frequency phase projection images are magnified and projected for exposure, an orientation layer with completed orientation is obtained. Among them, the orientation layer with completed orientation can produce the corresponding liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element, and the liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element can perform low-frequency aberration compensation on the device to be compensated.

[0053] The exposure method designed above is based on the resolution at which the image plane can be detected during the projection process of the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit, that is, the resolution of the DMD. The image plane pixel size is the multiplication of the pixel size of the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit by the magnification. That is, when using the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit for magnified projection imaging, the greater the magnification, the lower the cutoff frequency of the system.

[0054] The cutoff frequency is the highest frequency that light can effectively transmit through an optical system. The higher the cutoff frequency, the greater the system's ability to resolve minute details, and ideally, the higher the imaging resolution. The lower the cutoff frequency, the lower the system's resolution, meaning that projection imaging based on digitally controlled micromirror (DMD) units naturally has a lower resolution.

[0055] However, in terms of low-frequency aberration compensation, it only needs to meet the requirements of low-resolution imaging. In this way, the numerically controlled micromirror DMD unit designed in this scheme cooperates with magnified projection to realize the exposure method of the liquid crystal orientation layer for low-frequency aberration compensation. On the basis of realizing large-aperture component processing and saving time and cost, it does not affect the low-frequency aberration compensation required for low-resolution imaging. Therefore, the exposure method designed in this scheme is shorter than the traditional DMD system with reduced magnification exposure, has low cost compared to other processing methods, can change the phase as needed, and has high flexibility.

[0056] In an optional implementation of this embodiment, for the magnified projection exposure in step S120 described above, this solution can be designed as follows: Figure 2 The exposure system shown includes a light source 10, an adjustable polarization unit 20, a digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit 30, a magnifying lens unit 40 and a control unit 50, wherein the control unit 50 is the computing device mentioned above.

[0057] In the exposure system designed above, the control unit 50 can load multiple low-frequency phase projection images into the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit 30, and use the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit 30 to project the multiple low-frequency phase projection images in sequence.

[0058] Each time a low-frequency phase projection pattern is projected, the light source 10 emits an incident light beam, and the control unit 50 controls the adjustable polarization unit 20 to rotate to a target polarization rotation angle, where the target polarization rotation angle can be determined based on the low-frequency phase projection pattern currently being projected. Specifically, the control unit 50 calculates half of the phase value corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection pattern to obtain the polarization rotation angle corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection pattern, and then adjusts the rotation angle of the adjustable polarization unit 20 based on the polarization rotation angle corresponding to the currently projected low-frequency phase projection pattern.

[0059] The adjustable polarization unit 20 adjusts the polarization state of the incident exposure light beam from the light source to the target polarization state at the target polarization rotation angle, and transmits the adjusted polarized light to the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit 30; the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit 30 converts the adjusted polarized light into a projection light beam, and transmits the projection light beam to the magnifying lens unit 40, wherein the projection pattern corresponding to the projection light beam is the currently projected low-frequency phase projection diagram; the magnifying lens unit 40 amplifies the projection light beam, thereby performing magnified projection exposure on the alignment layer A.

[0060] The exposure system designed above uses a numerically controlled micromirror DMD unit in combination with magnified projection to realize the orientation of the liquid crystal orientation layer for low-frequency aberration compensation. While realizing large-aperture component processing and saving time and cost, it does not affect the low-frequency aberration compensation required for low-resolution imaging. Therefore, the exposure system designed in this scheme is shorter than the traditional DMD system for reduced-magnification exposure, has a lower cost than other processing methods, can change the phase as needed, and has high flexibility.

[0061] In an optional implementation manner of this embodiment, as a possible implementation manner, Figure 3 As shown, the exposure system designed in this solution also includes an illumination lens unit 60, which is arranged between the light source 10 and the adjustable polarization unit 20. The illumination lens unit 60 can uniformly transmit the exposure light beam incident from the light source 10 to the adjustable polarization unit 20.

[0062] Furthermore, the illumination lens unit 60 designed in this solution may specifically include a first illumination lens group 610 and a second illumination lens group 620 . The first illumination lens group 610 and the second illumination lens group 620 constitute a Kohler illumination optical path to provide uniform illumination for subsequent projection exposure.

[0063] In the optional implementation of this embodiment, as a possible implementation, please continue to refer to Figure 3 The digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit 30 designed in this solution may include a digitally controlled micromirror DMD array 310 and a prism 320. The prism 320 may reflect the adjusted polarized light transmitted by the adjustable polarization unit 20 to the digitally controlled micromirror DMD array 310. The digitally controlled micromirror DMD array 310 converts the currently projected low-frequency phase projection image into a projection beam corresponding to the projection pattern. The prism 320 transmits the projection beam reflected by the digitally controlled micromirror DMD array 310 to the magnifying lens unit 40. Specifically, the digitally controlled micromirror DMD array 310 represents an integration of multiple micro-mirrors capable of controlling reflection angles. It may adopt any current digitally controlled micromirror DMD array of any size, for example, a digitally controlled micromirror DMD array of 1064*768 size or a digitally controlled micromirror DMD array of 600*600 size. The digitally controlled micromirror DMD array 310 presents a pattern in the same manner as in the prior art. Specifically, the mirrors in the patterned area are turned on, and the mirrors in the unpatterned area are turned off. The mirrors in the digitally controlled micromirror DMD array that are turned on reflect the light beam transmitted by the prism 320, feed it into the prism 320, and then project it onto the magnifying lens unit 40. The mirrors in the digitally controlled micromirror DMD array that are turned off reflect the remaining light beam into the other side of the prism 320, which then reflects it out of the entire optical path. It should be noted that the on and off states of the mirrors simply cause the mirrors of the digitally controlled micromirror DMD array to operate at different angles and do not mean that they do not reflect light.

[0064] In the optional implementation of this embodiment, please continue to refer to Figure 3 The adjustable polarization unit 20 of this embodiment may include a polarizer 210 and a driver 220. The driver 220 is connected to the polarizer 210 and electrically connected to the control unit 50. Each time a low-frequency phase projection pattern is projected, the control unit 50 controls the driver 220 to rotate the polarizer 210 until the deflection angle of the polarizer 210 reaches the target polarization rotation angle corresponding to the currently projected low-frequency phase projection pattern. Specifically, the driver 220 may be a drive motor or other form of driver, such as a cylinder, a transmission belt, an angle adjustment device, or the like.

[0065] In the optional implementation of this embodiment, please continue to refer to Figure 3The magnifying lens unit 40 designed in this scheme may include a convergence correction lens group 410 and a beam magnifying lens group 420 arranged in sequence, wherein the convergence correction lens group 410 can converge the projection light beam emitted by the digital micromirror DMD unit 30 and correct the optical path aberration, and transmit the converged and corrected projection light beam to the beam magnifying lens group 420. The beam magnifying lens group 420 can magnify the converged and corrected projection light beam to perform magnified projection exposure on the alignment layer.

[0066] Specifically, the convergence correction lens group 410 designed in this solution may include a first projection lens element 4110, a second projection lens element 4120, an aperture 4130 and a third projection lens element 4140. Figure 4 The first projection lens element 4110 can be a plano-convex lens L1, the second projection lens element 4120 is a doublet lens L2 composed of a double convex lens and a meniscus lens, and the third projection lens element 4140 is formed by a wedge-shaped structure lens L3 and a meniscus lens L4.

[0067] Among them, the first projection lens component 4110 is mainly used to initially converge the light, converge the light emitted from the prism into a flat state, and provide suitable incident light conditions for the subsequent lens group. Specifically, the first projection lens component 4110 has positive optical power, which undertakes the task of converging light and cooperates with other lenses to correct aberrations such as spherical aberration, astigmatism and field curvature.

[0068] The second projection lens element 4120 is primarily used to further converge light and, in conjunction with other projection lenses, correct for optical path aberrations. The second projection lens element 4120 can also have positive optical power, further enhancing light convergence. Furthermore, its double-cemented structure, combining high-dispersion and low-dispersion materials, partially corrects for axial chromatic aberration in the system.

[0069] The third projection lens element 4140 also converges light and works with other lens elements to correct for optical aberrations. Its wedge-shaped structure corrects prism-induced astigmatism, significantly improving image quality. Its positive focal power converges light, providing suitable lighting conditions for subsequent lens elements to magnify and image. Furthermore, its low-dispersion material complements other high-dispersion lens elements to correct for axial chromatic aberration.

[0070] The aperture 4130 is located between the second projection lens 4120 and the third projection lens 4140 and is mainly used to limit the incident angle of light.

[0071] In an optional implementation manner of this embodiment, the beam magnifying lens group 420 designed in this solution can be a combined magnifying lens formed by combining two magnifying lenses. For details, please refer to Figure 4The beam magnifying lens assembly 420 is specifically formed by combining a meniscus lens L5 and a biconvex lens L6. The meniscus lens L5, with its negative optical power, is the primary component responsible for magnifying the projection optical path for imaging. It also balances coma, astigmatism, and field curvature within the optical path. The positive optical power of biconvex lens L6 slightly converges the light, collaborating with meniscus lens L5 for more precise light magnification. Furthermore, it primarily corrects system distortion caused by meniscus lens L5.

[0072] In the above embodiment, this scheme uses a magnification exposure system to expose the low-frequency compensation aberration phase required by a large-aperture flat liquid crystal lens at one time. Compared with the traditional DMD system with reduced magnification exposure, it takes less time and has lower cost than other processing methods. It can change the phase as needed and has high flexibility.

[0073] The present application also provides a method for processing a liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element. This method can use the orientation layer obtained by the exposure orientation method described above to anchor the liquid crystal molecules, thereby obtaining a processed liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element. In this way, a large-aperture liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element can be processed in one go, thereby reducing the processing time and processing cost of the large-aperture liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element.

[0074] According to some embodiments of the present application, Figure 5 As shown, the present application provides an electronic device 5, comprising: a processor 501 and a memory 502, the processor 501 and the memory 502 are interconnected and communicate with each other through a communication bus 503 and / or other forms of connection mechanisms (not shown), the memory 502 stores a computer program executable by the processor 501, and when the computing device is running, the processor 501 executes the computer program to execute any optional implementation method, such as steps S100 to S130: obtaining a target low-frequency aberration phase map of the device to be compensated; converting the target low-frequency aberration phase map into a corresponding plurality of low-frequency phase projection maps; controlling an exposure system constructed by a digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit, and using each low-frequency phase projection map to perform magnified projection exposure on the orientation layer; after magnified projection exposure of all low-frequency phase projection maps, obtaining an orientation layer with completed orientation.

[0075] The present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method in any of the aforementioned optional implementations is executed.

[0076] Among them, the storage medium can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device or a combination thereof, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic disk or optical disk.

[0077] The present application provides a computer program product. When the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the method in any optional implementation manner.

[0078] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some or all of the technical features therein. These modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and they should all be included in the scope of the claims and specification of the present application. In particular, as long as there is no structural conflict, the various technical features mentioned in the various embodiments can be combined in any way. The present application is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein, but includes all technical solutions that fall within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An exposure method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Obtaining a target low-frequency aberration phase map of the device to be compensated; Converting the target low-frequency aberration phase map into a plurality of corresponding low-frequency phase projection maps; wherein the plurality of low-frequency phase projection maps have a one-to-one correspondence with the order phase maps corresponding to the target low-frequency aberration phase map; The exposure system constructed by controlling the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit uses each low-frequency phase projection pattern to perform magnified projection exposure on the alignment layer; After all the low-frequency phase projection images are magnified and projected for exposure, an alignment layer with completed alignment is obtained; wherein, the alignment layer with completed alignment is used to process and produce a liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element corresponding to the device to be compensated.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The exposure system includes an adjustable polarization unit, a digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit and a magnifying lens unit; The exposure system constructed by controlling the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit uses each low-frequency phase projection pattern to perform magnified projection exposure on the alignment layer, including: Determining a polarization rotation angle corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection image according to each low-frequency phase projection image; Loading the multiple low-frequency phase projection images into the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit, and sequentially projecting the multiple low-frequency phase projection images using the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit; Each time a low-frequency phase projection image is projected, the deflection angle of the adjustable polarization unit is adjusted to the target polarization rotation angle corresponding to the currently projected low-frequency phase projection image, and the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit and the magnifying lens unit are used to amplify and project the currently projected low-frequency phase projection image, so as to realize amplified projection exposure of each low-frequency phase projection image to the orientation layer.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The determining, according to each low-frequency phase projection image, a polarization rotation angle corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection image includes: Obtaining the phase value corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection image; One half of the phase value corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection image is calculated to obtain the polarization rotation angle corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection image.

4. A method for processing a liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element, characterized in that: The method comprises: The liquid crystal molecules are anchored by the orientation layer to obtain a processed liquid crystal low-frequency aberration compensation element; wherein the orientation layer is obtained by exposure and orientation by the exposure method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. An exposure system, characterized in that: The exposure system includes a light source, an adjustable polarization unit, a digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit, a magnifying lens unit and a control unit; The control unit is used to obtain a target low-frequency aberration phase map of the device to be compensated, convert the target low-frequency aberration phase map into a corresponding plurality of low-frequency phase projection maps, and determine a polarization rotation angle corresponding to each low-frequency phase projection map based on each low-frequency phase projection map; wherein the plurality of low-frequency phase projection maps have a one-to-one correspondence with the ordered phase maps corresponding to the target low-frequency aberration phase map; In the case of each projection of a low-frequency phase projection image, the control unit is further configured to adjust the deflection angle of the adjustable polarization unit to a target polarization rotation angle corresponding to the currently projected low-frequency phase projection image; The adjustable polarization unit is used to adjust the polarization state of the incident exposure light beam from the light source to the target polarization state at a target polarization rotation angle, and transmit the adjusted polarized light to the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit; wherein the target polarization rotation angle is determined based on the low-frequency phase projection image of the current exposure projection; The digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit is used to convert the adjusted polarized light into a projection beam; wherein the projection pattern corresponding to the projection beam is the low-frequency phase projection diagram of the current projection; The magnifying lens unit is used to magnify the projection light beam so as to perform magnified projection exposure on the alignment layer.

6. The exposure system according to claim 5, wherein: The exposure system further includes an illumination lens unit, wherein the illumination lens unit is arranged between the light source and the adjustable polarization unit; The illumination lens unit is used to uniformly transmit the incident exposure light beam from the light source to the adjustable polarization unit.

7. The exposure system according to claim 6, wherein: The illumination lens unit includes a first illumination lens group and a second illumination lens group, and the first illumination lens group and the second illumination lens group form a Kohler illumination optical path.

8. The exposure system according to claim 5, wherein: The digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit includes a digitally controlled micromirror DMD array and a prism; The prism is used to reflect the adjusted polarized light transmitted by the adjustable polarization unit to the digitally controlled micromirror DMD array; The digitally controlled micromirror DMD array is used to convert the currently projected low-frequency phase projection image into a projection beam corresponding to the projection pattern; The prism is further used to transmit the projection light beam reflected by the digitally controlled micromirror DMD array to the magnifying lens unit.

9. The exposure system according to claim 5, wherein: The adjustable polarization unit includes a polarizer and a driver, the driver is connected to the polarizer, and the driver is electrically connected to the control unit; Each time a low-frequency phase projection image is projected, the control unit is used to control the driver to drive the polarizer to rotate until the deflection angle of the polarizer is the target polarization rotation angle corresponding to the currently projected low-frequency phase projection image.

10. The exposure system according to claim 5, wherein: The magnifying lens unit includes a convergence correction lens group and a beam magnifying lens group arranged in sequence; The convergence correction lens group is used to converge the projection light beam emitted by the digitally controlled micromirror DMD unit and correct the optical path aberration, and transmit the converged and corrected projection light beam to the beam magnifying lens group; The beam magnifying lens group is used to magnify the projection beam that has been converged and corrected, so as to perform magnified projection exposure on the alignment layer.

Images