Lens and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract

The invention relates to a lens and a method of manufacturing a lens. The lens includes: a lens portion; a metal oxide layer including a metal oxide and disposed on a surface of the lens portion; a buffer layer including SiO or SiO and Cr, and disposed on a surface of the metal oxide layer; and a fluorinated organic layer disposed on a surface of the buffer layer.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0032635 filed on March 7, 2024, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0134109 filed on October 2, 2024, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to lenses and methods of manufacturing the same. Background Art

[0004] In order to reduce the reflectivity of the lens, an anti-reflection coating is applied to the surface of the lens. In the related art, the anti-reflection coating is formed by alternately depositing and laminating two types of materials having a high refractive index and a low refractive index.

[0005] However, because the refractive index of thin films deposited in this manner is based on the unique properties of the material, the tuning range can be narrow, and there may be limits to the reduction in reflectivity that can be achieved.

[0006] In particular, in the recent lens market, a low reflectivity level may be required, which is impossible to achieve with such an antireflection coating of a multi-layer thin film structure, and therefore, a new type of antireflection coating is required.

[0007] To meet the need, nanostructured antireflective coating technology has been disclosed.

[0008] Nanostructured antireflective coatings are a method of creating voids in a thin film to lower the effective refractive index.

[0009] Here, if the ratio of the voids to the total volume of the thin film gradually increases, a layer called a "graded refractive index material" can be formed, and an antireflection coating that ideally converges to a reflectivity of "0" can be made.

[0010] Such nanostructured antireflective coatings can be mainly divided into two manufacturing methods: dry method and wet method.

[0011] Wet methods involve chemical reactions in the process of nanostructuring vacuum deposited thin films.

[0012] Typically, the industry uses a water-based wet process, which is easy to manage but has problems with degradation of the anti-reflective coating over time due to moisture in the air and reduced yield due to reaction residues.

[0013] In addition, in the case of a dry process, an organic layer was deposited on an oxide layer, and when different types of films were alternately deposited and left in a high temperature (85°C) and high humidity (85%) environment for reliability testing, a phenomenon was observed in which the two layers separated due to the difference in thermal coefficients, which led to an increase in the defect rate.

[0014] The above information is presented as background information only to assist in understanding the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above content may be applicable as prior art with respect to the present disclosure. Summary of the Invention

[0015] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0016] In one general aspect, a lens includes: a lens portion; a metal oxide layer including a metal oxide and disposed on a surface of the lens portion; a buffer layer including SiO or SiO and Cr and disposed on a surface of the metal oxide layer; and a fluorinated organic layer disposed on a surface of the buffer layer.

[0017] The metal oxide layer may include SiO2.

[0018] The fluorinated organic layer can be made of form.

[0019] In another general aspect, a lens includes: a lens portion; a metal oxide layer including a metal oxide and disposed on a surface of the lens portion; a buffer layer disposed on a surface of the metal oxide layer; and a fluorinated organic layer disposed on a surface of the buffer layer, wherein the fluorinated organic layer has an uneven portion formed on an upper surface thereof.

[0020] The uneven portion may have an etched irregular shape obtained by etching.

[0021] The buffer layer may include SiO.

[0022] The buffer layer may include SiO and Cr.

[0023] The metal oxide layer may include SiO2.

[0024] In another general aspect, a method for manufacturing a lens includes: depositing a metal oxide on a substrate to form a metal oxide layer; depositing a metal material on the metal oxide layer to form a buffer layer; depositing a fluorinated organic material on the buffer layer to form a fluorinated organic material base layer; coating a thin film on the fluorinated organic material base layer; and performing accelerated ion etching on the thin film to form a fluorinated organic layer having an irregular concave portion formed from an upper surface of the fluorinated organic layer toward a lower surface of the fluorinated organic layer.

[0025] Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a stacked structure of a lens according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figures 2 to 4 are cross-sectional views sequentially illustrating a process of manufacturing a lens according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 5 is a graph showing a comparison between the reflectivity of the fluorinated organic layer when no buffer layer is applied and the reflectivity of the fluorinated organic layer when the buffer layer is applied.

[0029] Throughout the drawings and detailed description, unless otherwise described, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements. For clarity, illustration, and convenience, the drawings may not be drawn to scale, and the relative sizes, proportions, and depictions of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Hereinafter, although examples of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is noted that the examples are not limited thereto.

[0031] The following detailed description is provided to help the reader gain a comprehensive understanding of the methods, devices and / or systems described herein. However, various changes, modifications and equivalents of the methods, devices and / or systems described herein will be apparent after understanding the present disclosure. For example, the order of operations described herein is merely an example and is not limited to the order set forth herein, but may be changed as will be apparent after understanding the present disclosure, except for operations that must occur in a certain order. In addition, descriptions of features known in the art may be omitted for clarity and brevity.

[0032] The features described herein may be implemented in different forms and are not to be construed as limited to the examples described herein. Rather, the examples described herein are provided merely to illustrate some of the many possible ways to implement the methods, devices, and / or systems described herein that will be apparent upon understanding the present disclosure.

[0033] Throughout the specification, when an element (such as a layer, region, or substrate) is described as being “on,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element, it may be directly “on,” directly “connected to,” or directly “coupled to” the other element, or one or more other elements may be present between them. In contrast, when an element is described as being “directly on,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element, there are no other elements present between them.

[0034] As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any one of the associated listed items and any combination of any two or more of the associated listed items; similarly, "at least one of..." includes any one of the associated listed items and any combination of any two or more of the associated listed items.

[0035] Although terms such as "first," "second," and "third" may be used herein to describe various members, components, regions, layers, or portions, these members, components, regions, layers, or portions are not limited by these terms. Instead, these terms are used solely to distinguish one member, component, region, layer, or portion from another member, component, region, layer, or portion. Thus, a first member, first component, first region, first layer, or first portion mentioned in the examples described herein may also be referred to as a second member, second component, second region, second layer, or second portion without departing from the teachings of the examples.

[0036] For ease of description, spatially relative terms such as "above," "upper," "below," "lower," etc. may be used herein to describe the relationship of one element to another element as shown in the accompanying drawings. In addition to the orientation depicted in the accompanying drawings, such spatially relative terms are intended to also include different orientations of the device in use or operation. For example, if the device in the accompanying drawings is turned over, an element described as being "above" or "upper" relative to another element will then be "below" or "lower" relative to the other element. Thus, the term "above" includes both the orientations of above and below, depending on the spatial orientation of the device. The device may also be oriented in other ways (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or in other orientations), and the spatially relative terms used herein will be interpreted accordingly.

[0037] The terms used herein are only used to describe various examples and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. The terms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include plural meanings as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "include", "comprising", and "having" specify the presence of stated features, quantities, operations, components, elements, and / or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, quantities, operations, components, elements, and / or combinations thereof.

[0038] Due to manufacturing techniques and / or tolerances, the shapes shown in the drawings may vary. Therefore, the examples described herein are not limited to the specific shapes shown in the drawings but include variations in shape that occur during manufacturing.

[0039] In this document, it is noted that use of the term “may” with respect to an example, for example with respect to what an example may include or implement, means that there is at least one example that includes or implements this feature, and all examples are not limited thereto.

[0040] As will be apparent after understanding this disclosure, the features of the examples described herein may be combined in various ways. In addition, although the examples described herein have multiple configurations, other configurations are also possible, as will be apparent after understanding this disclosure.

[0041] One aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a lens and a method of manufacturing the same, which are capable of improving a film peeling phenomenon occurring when a reliability test is performed while manufacturing a lens having a nanostructured anti-reflection coating structure through a dry process.

[0042] Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a stacked structure of a lens according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] Reference Figure 1 The lens 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure has a nanostructured anti-reflection coating structure using dry etching, and includes a lens portion 10 , a metal oxide layer 20 , a buffer layer 30 , and a fluorinated organic layer 40 .

[0044] The lens portion 10 may include a substrate.

[0045] The shape and type of the lens portion 10 are not particularly limited, and may be implemented in the form of a lens that can be used in an optical device such as a camera module.

[0046] In addition, the lens portion 10 may be formed of glass. However, the lens portion 10 may be formed of a material other than glass, and may be formed of, for example, a plastic resin including a resin component.

[0047] The plastic resin may include at least one component of polycarbonate and polyolefin.

[0048] Here, the polyolefin may include at least one of a cycloolefin polymer and a cycloolefin copolymer.

[0049] The metal oxide layer 20 includes a metal oxide having excellent anti-reflection properties and is disposed on one surface of the lens portion 10 .

[0050] Here, the metal oxide layer 20 may be formed of a material including SiO 2 .

[0051] The metal oxide layer 20 may be formed on the lens portion 10 using various deposition methods such as atomic layer deposition (ALD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), and the like.

[0052] The buffer layer 30 is disposed on one surface of the metal oxide layer 20 .

[0053] In addition, the buffer layer 30 may be formed of a material including SiO.

[0054] In addition, as another exemplary embodiment, the buffer layer 30 may be formed of a mixed material including SiO and Cr.

[0055] The buffer layer 30 may be formed on the metal oxide layer 20 using various deposition methods such as ALD, CVD, PVD, etc.

[0056] The buffer layer 30 provides bonding strength and prevents the metal oxide layer 20 and the fluorinated organic layer 40 from being peeled off when a reliability test under high temperature and high pressure conditions is performed.

[0057] The fluorinated organic layer 40 is disposed on one surface of the buffer layer 30 .

[0058] The fluorinated organic layer 40 may include an organic material including a fluorine group having excellent anti-reflection properties, and may be formed on the buffer layer 30 using various deposition methods such as ALD, CVD, PVD, etc.

[0059] Here, the fluorinated organic layer 40 may be made of a material having a relatively high melting point. This makes it easy to deposit and readily available as a material, and the desired etching effect can be reproducibly obtained.

[0060] Furthermore, the fluorinated organic layer 40 has an uneven portion 41 formed on an upper surface thereof.

[0061] Here, at least a portion of the concave portion 42 between the uneven portions 41 may extend to the upper surface of the buffer layer 30. Here, the uneven portion 41 is formed only in the fluorinated organic layer 40, and not in the metal oxide layer 20.

[0062] When the fluorinated organic layer 40 is composed of When formed, the concave portion 42 has a refractive index of about 1 corresponding to the refractive index of air, and the uneven portion 41 having no concave portion 42 has a refractive index of about 1.37, which is The refractive index of Figure 1 The fluorinated organic layer 40 has a refractive index of approximately the average value of the refractive indices of the concave portion 42 and the uneven portion 41 when viewed in the horizontal direction in FIG.

[0063] Furthermore, the uneven portion 41 is formed by etching, and may be formed to have an overall regular shape, or as another example, may be formed to have an irregular shape.

[0064] The irregular shape of the uneven portion 41 means that the length, width, and depth of each concave portion 42 concave in the thickness direction of the uneven portion 41 are formed to be different.

[0065] Due to the uneven surface structure, the fluorinated organic layer 40 may reduce the reflectivity of the lens 100 by scattering light incident on the lens 100 .

[0066] As for the fluorinated organic layer 40, a thin film 50 having a thickness less than 10 nm may be formed on the surface of the fluorinated organic layer 40 (see Figure 2 ), and when accelerated ion etching is performed on the thin film 50, a portion of the upper surface of the fluorinated organic layer 40 may be etched, thereby forming an irregular uneven portion 41.

[0067] In the lens 100 configured in this manner, the buffer layer 30 is provided between the fluorinated organic layer 40 formed of an organic material and the metal oxide layer 20 formed of an inorganic material, thereby increasing adhesion between the metal oxide layer 20 and the fluorinated organic layer 40 .

[0068] Therefore, the optical characteristics of the lens 100 can be improved by the dry nanostructured anti-reflective coating, and the buffer layer 30 provided between the fluorinated organic layer 40 and the metal oxide layer 20 can prevent the film peeling phenomenon that may occur when performing high temperature and high humidity reliability testing, thereby improving the defect rate.

[0069] Figures 2 to 4 are cross-sectional views sequentially illustrating a process of manufacturing a lens according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0070] Reference Figures 2 to 4 To manufacture the lens 100 having such a configuration, first, a metal oxide is deposited on the lens portion 10 formed as a substrate to form the metal oxide layer 20 , and then a metal material is deposited on the metal oxide layer 20 to form the buffer layer 30 .

[0071] Next, a fluorinated organic material is deposited on the buffer layer 30 to form a fluorinated organic material base layer 40 ′, and a thin film 50 is coated on the fluorinated organic material base layer 40 ′.

[0072] Thereafter, accelerated ion etching is performed on the thin film 50 to form a fluorinated organic layer 40 having irregular uneven portions 41, wherein the irregular uneven portions 41 are formed to have recessed portions 42 recessed downward from the upper surface of the fluorinated organic layer 40, thereby manufacturing a lens 100 having improved adhesion between the organic material layer and the inorganic material layer.

[0073] The related art lens having a dry-process nanostructured anti-reflective coating structure has a configuration in which an organic material layer is deposited on an oxide layer, and since the bonding strength of the oxide layer and the organic material layer is weak, if different types of films are alternately deposited and then left in a high temperature (85°C) and high humidity (85%) environment for reliability testing, a phenomenon of separation between the two films is observed, which leads to an increase in the defect rate.

[0074] However, according to the exemplary embodiment, the buffer layer 30 can increase the bonding strength between the fluorinated organic layer 40 and the metal oxide layer 20, thereby solving the problem of low bonding strength between the organic material layer and the oxide layer in the dry nanostructured anti-reflective coating of the related art, thereby improving the film peeling phenomenon that occurs when performing an environmental reliability test, and thus significantly reducing the defect rate.

[0075] on the other hand, Figure 5 is a graph showing a comparison between the reflectivity of the fluorinated organic layer when no buffer layer is applied and the reflectivity of the fluorinated organic layer when a buffer layer is applied, Figure 5 It is a cumulative graph of reflectivity after 20 repetitions of coating, where the X-axis is wavelength, the Y-axis is reflectivity, and each line represents the dispersion level of coating reflectivity during batch production in the coating process.

[0076] Reference Figure 5 , it can be seen that even when the buffer layer is applied according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the reflectivity is not significantly reduced, and thus the transmittance of the lens can be maintained at a certain level.

[0077] The lens according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is configured as a lens having a nanostructured anti-reflective coating structure in a dry manner, and has an effect of preventing a film peeling phenomenon that occurs when a reliability test is performed on a related art lens having a dry nanostructured anti-reflective coating structure.

[0078] Although specific examples have been shown and described above, it will be apparent after understanding this disclosure that various changes in form and detail can be made in these examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and their equivalents. The examples described herein are to be considered merely descriptive and not for purposes of limitation. The description of features or aspects in each example is considered to be applicable to similar features or aspects in other examples. Suitable results may also be obtained if the described techniques are performed in a different order, and / or if components in the described systems, architectures, devices, or circuits are combined in different ways and / or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited by the specific embodiments, but by the claims and their equivalents, and all changes within the scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as included in this disclosure.

Claims

1. A lens comprising: Lens part; a metal oxide layer including a metal oxide and disposed on a surface of the lens portion; a buffer layer comprising SiO or SiO and Cr and disposed on the surface of the metal oxide layer; as well as The fluorinated organic layer is disposed on the surface of the buffer layer.

2. The lens according to claim 1, wherein The metal oxide layer includes SiO2.

3. The lens according to claim 1, wherein The fluorinated organic layer is composed of form.

4. A lens comprising: Lens part; a metal oxide layer including a metal oxide and disposed on a surface of the lens portion; a buffer layer, disposed on the surface of the metal oxide layer; as well as a fluorinated organic layer disposed on the surface of the buffer layer, The fluorinated organic layer has an uneven portion formed on an upper surface thereof.

5. The lens according to claim 4, wherein: The uneven portion has an etched irregular shape obtained by etching.

6. The lens according to claim 4, wherein The buffer layer includes SiO.

7. The lens according to claim 4, wherein: The buffer layer includes SiO and Cr.

8. The lens according to claim 4, wherein: The metal oxide layer includes SiO2.

9. The lens according to claim 4, wherein: The fluorinated organic layer is composed of form.

10. A method for manufacturing a lens, the method comprising: depositing a metal oxide on the substrate to form a metal oxide layer; depositing a metal material on the metal oxide layer to form a buffer layer; depositing a fluorinated organic material on the buffer layer to form a fluorinated organic material base layer; coating a thin film on the fluorinated organic material base layer; as well as Accelerated ion etching is performed on the thin film, so that a fluorinated organic layer is formed, the fluorinated organic layer having irregular concave portions formed from an upper surface of the fluorinated organic layer toward a lower surface of the fluorinated organic layer.

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