Endoscope Lens Unit Stealth Dicing via Groove-Guided Laser
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manufacturing lens units for endoscopes result in large diameters, increasing invasiveness, and are prone to chipping during cutting processes, which complicates the manufacturing of small-diameter lens units with efficient and reliable results.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the production of stacked wafers with optical devices, including a glass substrate and resin lenses, where grooves are formed using a dicing blade and then cut using a filamentation laser to create lens units with side surfaces featuring a striation pattern, reducing chipping and allowing for smaller diameters and efficient manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional cutting methods are used to manufacture lens units, then manufacturing is simpler, but the lens unit diameter is large and chipping occurs during cutting
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting process is divided into two distinct stages: first, a dicing blade forms grooves to define the cutting path and provide mechanical guidance; second, a filamentation laser performs the actual separation along these grooves. This segmentation allows each method to perform its optimal function - the blade provides precision guidance while the laser delivers clean, chip-free cutting.
Solution Approach 2:
The grooves formed by the dicing blade serve as an intermediary structure that guides the filamentation laser. These grooves act as a mediator between the mechanical positioning system and the laser cutting process, ensuring the laser follows the exact cutting path while maintaining the simplicity of blade-based positioning.
2Length of moving object
If lens unit diameter is reduced to decrease invasiveness, then endoscope invasiveness is reduced, but manufacturing becomes more difficult and chipping increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical cutting methods with a filamentation laser-based cutting process. The laser creates clean fractures along the groove paths without the mechanical contact that causes chipping, enabling precise cutting of small-diameter lens units where chipping would be particularly problematic.
3Productivity
If high-speed cutting is performed, then productivity increases, but chipping occurs on glass surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical cutting with laser-based filamentation cutting, which achieves high cutting speeds while maintaining excellent surface quality. The laser energy creates clean fractures without mechanical contact, eliminating the chipping that plagues high-speed mechanical cutting of glass.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method enables the production of small-diameter lens units with reduced chipping and increased reliability, facilitating the manufacturing of image pickup apparatuses and endoscopes with improved optical performance and reduced invasiveness.
Implementation Method 1
dividing the stacked wafer into a plurality of lens units by performing stealth dicing using a filamentation laser along the grooves
Data Source
AI summary
A method of manufacturing a lens unit includes: producing a stacked wafer including a plurality of optical wafers that include at least one optical wafer in which a light shielding layer is disposed and having a first principal surface and a second principal surface; forming grooves in a grid pattern on the first principal surface or the second principal surface of the stacked wafer using a dicing blade, in which the grooves have a depth at which the light shielding layer is cut; and dividing the stacked wafer into a plurality of lens units by performing stealth dicing using a filamentation laser along the grooves.