Aspherical Lens Surface Deformation for Optical Element Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Optical elements, particularly aspherical glass lenses, lack a singular point for identification, making it difficult to track or manage manufacturing history, and existing marking methods either degrade imaging performance or require complex mold changes.
Innovation Solution
The optical element is characterized by specific surface deformations within a defined PV value range, allowing identification and tracking of manufacturing conditions through consistent surface deformations, even without distinct singular shapes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a marker of size 10 μm or larger is provided in the effective optical surface for identification, then the optical element can be identified and manufacturing history can be tracked, but incident beams are scattered and reflected by the marker portion, causing deterioration of imaging performance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the size parameter of the identification marker from conventional 10 μm or larger to 1 μm or smaller (specifically 0.1 μm to 10 μm). This parameter change allows the marker to be sufficiently small to avoid significant light scattering and reflection, thereby maintaining imaging performance while still providing identifiable surface irregularities for tracking manufacturing history.
2Loss of information
If identification means based on convex portion or roughness due to transfer of mold shape is used, then the optical element can be identified, but when manufacturing conditions are changed in a lot, it is necessary to prepare and replace the mold corresponding to each condition
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the mold universal by designing it without lot-specific identification features. Instead, the mold produces consistent surface irregularities (such as bumps or roughness) that remain unchanged across different manufacturing lots. This allows a single mold to be used for multiple lots without requiring replacement or modification, thereby reducing mold management complexity while maintaining identification capability through the consistent surface features.
Data Source
AI summary
An optical element includes a region that satisfies, an inequality of 50 nm≤|PV|≤1000 nm, where PV represents a PV value which is a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value of Δf(θ) which is obtained by removing a 1-fold symmetric component and a 2-fold symmetric component about an optical axis from f(θ), where f(θ) represents a position of an optical surface in an optical axis direction on a circumference at a first radius of 60% or more and 100% or less of an optically effective diameter with respect to a position θ in a rotation direction about the optical axis.