Thin Optical Component Surface Accuracy via Reference Conforming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Thin optical components, such as those made from silicon or quartz wafers, face challenges in maintaining surface accuracy due to their susceptibility to bending, bowing, or warping, which leads to undesirable wavefront distortion and insertion loss penalties.
Innovation Solution
A method involving positioning a thin optical component against a reference surface, urging it together with a support member, and adhering it to a separate support surface, allowing the component to conform to the reference surface's accuracy, thereby maintaining surface accuracy despite its thinness and susceptibility to deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a thin optical component is used, then cost competitiveness and fabrication accuracy are improved, but surface accuracy deteriorates due to bending, bowing, or warping
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by flattening the thin optical component against a reference surface before the component is fully fabricated or assembled. This preliminary flattening step ensures that the component achieves the desired surface accuracy early in the process, preventing subsequent bending or warping during fabrication and use. The component is urged against a reference surface with sufficient force to conform its surface to the reference, establishing the required flatness before final assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a reference surface as an intermediary element that mediates between the thin optical component and the desired flatness requirement. The reference surface provides a stable, known-accurate baseline against which the thin component is compared and adjusted. This intermediary reference allows the thin component to achieve high surface accuracy without requiring the component itself to have inherent structural rigidity, resolving the contradiction between thinness and surface accuracy.
2Manufacturing precision
If a thick substrate is used, then surface accuracy is maintained by resisting bending and warping, but the component becomes less suitable for thin optical applications
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of relying on thickness to prevent bending, the patent applies preliminary flattening action to thin components before they are assembled into optical systems. The component is urged against a reference surface to establish the required surface accuracy early, and then adhesive is applied to hold it in that flattened state. This preliminary action allows thin components to achieve the surface accuracy that would otherwise require thick substrates.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state or condition of the thin component by applying adhesive to hold it in a flattened state against a reference surface. This parameter change (adding adhesive constraint) allows the thin component to maintain surface accuracy without increasing its thickness. The adhesive creates a new constraint parameter that compensates for the lack of structural rigidity in thin components.
3Manufacturing precision
If adhesive is applied to hold the component, then surface accuracy is maintained, but the component structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the surface accuracy function from the structural support function. Instead of requiring a thick substrate to provide both structural support and surface accuracy, the patent separates these functions: a thin component provides the optical function, while a reference surface and adhesive provide the surface accuracy constraint. This extraction allows the thin component to maintain surface accuracy without adding significant structural complexity to the optical path.
Solution Approach 2:
The adhesive acts as an intermediary element that transfers the surface accuracy constraint from the reference surface to the thin optical component. Rather than the component itself needing to be structurally complex to maintain flatness, the adhesive mediates the transmission of the flatness constraint from the stable reference surface through the thin, flexible component, simplifying the overall structure while maintaining precision.
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 effectively improves the surface accuracy of thin optical components by conforming them to a reference surface, reducing wavefront distortion and maintaining stability, even after separation from the reference surface, thus enhancing their operational performance.
Implementation Method 1
urging together the reference member and the optical component substantially conforms the final surface accuracy of the first surface of the optical component to the reference surface accuracy of the reference surface
Implementation Method 2
adhering a second surface of the optical component to a first surface of a support member
Data Source
AI summary
A method for improving surface accuracy of an optical component comprises: positioning a first surface of the optical component against a reference surface of a reference member; urging together the reference member and the optical component; adhering a second surface of the optical component to a first surface of a support member; and separating the reference member from the optical component while leaving the optical component adhered to the support member. Urging together the reference member and the optical component substantially conforms the surface accuracy of the first surface of the optical component to the surface accuracy of the reference surface of the reference member. Adhering the optical component to the support member and then separating the reference member from the optical component leaves the surface accuracy of the first surface of the optical component substantially in conformance with the surface accuracy of the first surface of the reference member.