Spectral Decomposition Device Loose Tolerance Substrate
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional spectral decomposition devices, especially miniaturized scanning grating spectrometers, face challenges in manufacturing due to tight thickness tolerances and limited adjustment possibilities, leading to increased costs and reduced flexibility in achieving different spectral characteristics and ranges.
Innovation Solution
The approach involves manufacturing substrate stacks with loose tolerances and subsequently mounting optical functional elements to cover windows, allowing for adjustments and compensations in the optical path, enabling flexible setting of spectral ranges and reducing manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If functional elements are integrated in miniaturized substrates, then device size is reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase and adjustment possibilities are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into multiple functional substrates (e.g., grating substrate, detector substrate, optical element substrate) that are separately manufactured and then assembled together. This segmentation allows each substrate to be manufactured with standard tolerances while the overall device achieves miniaturization through the integrated stack configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple functional elements are nested within a compact substrate stack structure where substrates are arranged in layers. The optical path is formed through the stacked substrates, creating a space-efficient configuration that maintains miniaturization while allowing individual substrate manufacturing with relaxed tolerances.
2Ease of manufacture
If substrate thickness is used to determine functional element distances, then manufacturing is simplified, but adjustment and calibration possibilities are greatly limited
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates adjustable mounting mechanisms that allow functional elements to be positioned and adjusted after assembly. This dynamic adjustability compensates for manufacturing variations and enables calibration without requiring extremely tight substrate thickness tolerances during manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
Mounting structures serve as intermediaries between the substrates and functional elements, providing adjustable positioning capabilities. These intermediaries allow for compensation of dimensional variations and enable precise alignment and calibration after the device is assembled.
3Adaptability or versatility
If spectral range is changed by modifying substrate layout, then spectral characteristics are adapted, but manufacturing costs increase due to non-standardization
Solution Approach 1:
A universal substrate stack platform is designed with standardized mounting interfaces and optical path configurations. Different functional elements (gratings, detectors, optical elements) can be mounted on this standardized platform to achieve various spectral ranges, eliminating the need for completely different substrate layouts for each spectral configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The device allows dynamic reconfiguration of spectral characteristics by adjusting the position or type of functional elements mounted on the standardized substrate stack, rather than requiring permanent manufacturing changes. This enables cost-effective adaptation to different spectral ranges.
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
This method balances manufacturing effort with spectrometer accuracy, allowing for various spectral configurations without requiring tight substrate tolerances, thus reducing costs and enhancing flexibility in spectral range settings.
Implementation Method 1
an optical functional element having a spectrally decomposing effect
Implementation Method 2
in the substrate stack a convolved optical path is formed
Data Source
AI summary
For achieving balance between manufacturing effort and spectrometer accuracy, a spectral decomposition device is not completely integrated into a substrate stack, but, for example, after manufacturing the substrate stack in the manufacturing process, the opportunity of compensating inaccuracies in substrate stack manufacturing is given by mounting a component with a suitable optical functional element to a window, like, e.g., an entry, exit or intermediate window of the substrate stack, to at least partially cover the respective window, wherein the optical functional element is, for example, an entry aperture, an exit aperture or also part of an optics or an optical element having a spectrally decomposing effect. The substrate stack may be manufactured on wafer level and the manufacturing tolerances in this manufacturing may be loosened, as the subsequent substrate stack-individual mounting or even window-individual mounting of the components may compensate the fluctuations which resulted in substrate stack manufacturing.