JP2005249965A - Optical element manufacturing method and optical element - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical element manufacturing method capable of preventing sticking. <P>SOLUTION: In a method of manufacturing a lens element 100 provided with a lens part 102 and a handling part 104, lens parts 102 are formed on a silicon layer 11 of a substrate 10 comprising the silicon layer 11, a SiO<SB>2</SB>layer 12, and a silicon layer 13 by etching , and then an optical element aggregate 120 is formed. The optical element aggregate 120 comprises a frame-like support part 121 and a plurality of lens element parts 101. Each lens element part 101 includes the lens part 102 and the handling part 104 a part of which is a connection part 118 and is connected to the support part 121. The SiO<SB>2</SB>layer 12 is removed, and the optical element aggregate 120 and the silicon layer 13 are separated, and then connection parts 118 are cut by cleavage to obtain lens elements 100. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical element suitable for optical communication equipment, devices for computers, and the like, and a method for manufacturing the same.

  A microlens or a micro optical element using a diffractive optical element is used as an optical disk reproducing device such as a CD (Compact Disk) or an optical component for optical communication. These diffractive optical elements have, for example, a cylindrical shape or a bowl shape as shown in Non-Patent Document 1 below. Further, such a diffractive optical element is manufactured by photolithography and etching, as shown in Non-Patent Document 1. These micro lenses and micro optical elements have a size of about 100 μm to several hundred μm square. As a substrate for manufacturing such a microlens, a general silicon wafer or SOI (silicon on insulator) wafer used for LSI (Large Scale Integration) manufacture is used. In order to separate the microlens from the substrate, a method of polishing the back surface of the substrate, or a method of removing an oxide film layer as an intermediate layer by etching in the case of an SOI substrate is used. For example, in the following Patent Document 1, a bar-shaped lens element assembly in which a plurality of microlenses are connected is formed on a substrate, and this is separated from the substrate and cut at a predetermined position to obtain a microlens. It is shown.

Hiroki Sasaki and 6 others, “High-precision mounting technology of light source and silicon microlens”, Journal of Japan Institute of Electronics Packaging, 2002, Vol. 5, no. 5, p. 466-472 JP 2003-161811 A

  However, in the manufacturing method using the SOI substrate, when the oxide film layer of the substrate is removed, a phenomenon called sticking occurs in which the upper silicon layer on which the lens is formed and the lower silicon layer are attached. In particular, the method of peeling a long bar shape shown in Non-Patent Document 1 has a problem that sticking is likely to occur because the peeled portion has an elongated shape. Sticking is a strong adhesion phenomenon, and once attached, it is difficult to separate.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and the object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved method of manufacturing an optical element capable of preventing sticking, and an optical device manufactured by this method. It is to provide an element.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an optical element that includes a lens portion and a handling portion that extends from a part of the periphery of the lens portion. The optical element manufacturing method includes a lens part forming step of forming a plurality of lens parts on the surface of the first layer of the substrate including the first, second, and third layers in order from the uppermost layer; To form a handling part corresponding to the formed lens part, and a support part that is connected to a part of the handling part and supports a plurality of handling parts. An optical element assembly forming step for forming an optical element assembly including a handling section corresponding to the above and a support section; and a first layer on which an optical element assembly is formed by removing the second layer; A removing step of separating the third layer, and a cutting step of obtaining an optical element having at least one lens portion by cutting a connection portion between the handling portion and the support portion of the separated optical element assembly. It is characterized by including.

  In such a configuration, a support portion connected to a part of the handling portion can be formed, so that the optical element assembly can be prevented from having an elongated bar shape, and the shape of the optical element assembly that is less likely to cause sticking can be configured. .

  At that time, in the cutting step, the connecting portion is preferably cut by cleavage. Cleavage means that a crystal is broken or peeled along a certain fragile direction to reveal a smooth surface (cleavage surface). Therefore, if cleavage is used, it can be easily cut. In addition, the cleavage plane formed by this cleavage is a smooth surface and can be distinguished from other surfaces. If this cleavage plane is arranged at an asymmetrical position, it can be used for discrimination between the front and back surfaces of the optical element.

  The removing step includes a step of removing a part of the second layer to expose a part of the third layer while at least a part of the second layer below the supporting part remains, and a step of removing the third layer. On the side, it is preferable to include a step of covering with a protective member from the support portion over the third layer, a step of removing the remaining second layer, and a step of removing the protective member. According to such a configuration, after removing the remaining second layer, the support portion and the third layer do not immediately contact each other, but the gap between the support portion and the third layer is maintained by the protective member. Therefore, sticking can be prevented.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the width | variety of a handling part and a support part is substantially the same. According to such a configuration, for example, when the second layer is removed by etching, the etching state of the second layer below the handling portion and the support portion becomes substantially the same in the same time, so that both are separated. The timing is almost the same, and sticking can be suppressed.

  In addition, you may comprise so that the handling part is a substantially bar shape and the end of the longitudinal direction of the handling part is connected with the support part. In this case, since a cut surface is formed at one end, it has asymmetry and can be used for discrimination between the front and back surfaces of the optical element. Or you may comprise so that a part of surface extended in the longitudinal direction of a handling part may be connected with the support part, and the handling part is substantially bar shape. According to such a configuration, for example, it is easy to move to the holding member while the support portion and the handling portion are connected, and to cut the connection portion on the holding member to obtain an optical element. In this case, a large number of optical elements can be collectively moved to the holding member and can be easily arranged on the holding member. Further, the lens unit may be constituted by a diffractive optical element. The first layer may be made of silicon.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a lens part formed on the surface of the substrate, a handling part that extends from a part of the periphery of the lens part and has a cleavage surface generated in the manufacturing process as a part thereof, The optical element characterized by including is provided. According to such a configuration, if this cleavage plane is arranged at an asymmetric position, it can be used for discrimination between the front and back surfaces of the optical element.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an optical element manufacturing method capable of preventing sticking, and an optical element manufactured by the manufacturing method.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  In a typical embodiment of the present invention, a lens element is used as the optical element. This lens element has a lens portion, an edge portion along a part of the periphery of the lens portion, and a bar-shaped handling portion extending to the other side of the periphery of the lens portion. This lens element manufacturing method mainly includes a lens part forming step, an optical element assembly forming step, a removing step, and a cutting step. First, in the lens part forming step, a substrate including at least three layers is prepared. The layers are first, second, and third layers in order from the top layer. Then, a plurality of lens portions are formed on the surface of the first layer of the substrate. In the next optical element assembly forming step, the first layer is etched to form an optical element assembly. The optical element assembly includes a lens part formed in the lens part forming step, a handling part corresponding to the lens part, and a support part connected to a part of the handling part and linking and supporting a plurality of handling parts. .

  In the removing step, the second layer is removed, and the first layer and the third layer on which the optical element assembly is formed are separated. In the cutting step, the connection portion between the handling portion and the support portion of the separated optical element assembly is cut to obtain an optical element having at least one lens portion. In addition, the direction of a connection part is comprised previously so that the cutting of the connection part in a cutting process may be performed by cleavage.

  Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing an optical element according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the steps of the optical element manufacturing method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 1 (a) and 1 (d) are perspective views, and FIGS. 1 (b) and 1 (c) are plan views.

First, the substrate 10 is prepared. The substrate 10 is an SOI (Silicon On Insulator) substrate, and has three layers of a silicon layer 11, an insulating layer SiO ₂ layer 12, and a silicon layer 13 in order from the top layer. An orientation flat 14 that is a plane showing a crystal orientation is formed on a part of the outer periphery of the substrate 10. The orientation flat 14 is formed so that the direction of the cleavage plane of the silicon layer 11 is parallel to and perpendicular to the orientation flat 14.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 1A, a plurality of lens portions 102 are formed in a row at a predetermined interval on the surface of the substrate 10. In the formation of the lens portion 102, for example, the surface of the silicon layer 11 is etched using photolithography and etching technology used in semiconductor technology, so that a large number of lens portions 102 exhibiting desired optical characteristics are collectively and It can be formed with high accuracy. In the present embodiment, the lens unit 102 has a circular shape. For example, the lens unit 102 may be an 8-phase step-like diffractive optical element, and in this case, the lens unit 102 can be formed by repeating photolithography and etching three times.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, the silicon layer 11 is processed by etching to form an optical element assembly 120. The optical element assembly 120 is formed by patterning a resist applied on the substrate 10 into a desired shape by photolithography, using the resist as an etching mask for dry etching, and transferring the resist shape to the substrate 10. Produced. As a dry etching method, an RIE method (reactive ion etching method) or an ICP-Bosch method is used. For example, when the ICP-Bosch method is used, the surface of the SiO ₂ layer 12 is etched. The thickness of the optical element assembly 120 can be set to 100 μm, for example.

  FIG. 1C shows one of the optical element assemblies 120. The optical element assembly 120 includes a rectangular frame-shaped support part 121 and a plurality of lens element parts 101. The plurality of lens element portions 101 are arranged in a line in the frame of the support portion 121 along one of the long sides of the support portion 121, and the long sides of the support portion 121 and one end of the lens element portion 101 are connected. ing. A portion where the lens element portion 101 and the support portion 121 are connected is referred to as a connection portion 118. The connection portion 118 is cut in a later process, and the optical element assembly 120 is configured so that the cut surface at that time is in a direction parallel to the cleavage plane.

  The lens element portion 101 mainly includes a lens portion 102, an edge portion 103, a handling portion 104, and an overhang portion 106. The lens unit 102 is manufactured on the surface of the substrate 10 in the process shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the surface on which the lens portion is formed is referred to as a lens forming surface. The edge portion 103 is positioned as a part of the outer periphery of the lens portion 102 on the lower side of the lens portion 102 and has an arc shape along the circumferential shape of the lens portion 102. The outer shape of the edge portion 103 having an arc shape extends from the lens forming surface side to the opposite surface side, and has a substantially bowl shape that is a part of a substantially cylindrical shape having the optical axis of the lens portion 102 as a central axis. It has become. This substantially bowl-shaped portion that protrudes downward from the intermediate position of the handling portion 104 is referred to as an extension portion 106. For example, when the manufactured lens element is mounted in a component mounting groove, the protruding portion 106 can be mounted in contact with the groove. For this reason, it is preferable that the overhanging portion 106 be configured to have a shape and a size that match the component mounting groove. Here, the edge portion 103 is provided so as to surround the lens portion 102, but the outer periphery of the lens portion 102 may constitute the edge portion 103.

  The handling unit 104 extends so as to surround the upper part of the periphery of the lens unit 102, has a wider width than the lens unit 102 in a plane substantially parallel to the surface of the lens unit 102, and has a substantially bar shape extending in the left-right direction. Have A part of one end in the longitudinal direction of the handling part 104 serves as a connection part 118 and is connected to the support part 121, and the other part is a slope. In this way, by using a slope other than the connection part 118 at one end, the connection part 118 can be made small, and the handling part 104 and the support part 121 can be easily separated in a later process. The other end in the longitudinal direction of the handling unit 104 is not connected to the support unit 121. The handling unit 104 is for facilitating holding when the manufactured lens element is handled. The handling part 104 is formed integrally with the lens part 102, the edge part 103, and the overhang part 106.

  The lens element portion 101 is a portion that becomes a lens element after the connection portion 118 is cut. The support unit 121 is connected to a part of the handling unit 101 to connect and support the plurality of handling units 104. In the present embodiment, the handling unit 104 and the long side of the support unit to which the handling unit 104 is connected are configured to be substantially vertical. In addition, the width of the handling unit 101 and the width of the handling unit 104 in the surface of the substrate 10 are configured to be substantially the same.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, the silicon layer 11 and the silicon layer on which the optical element assembly 120 is formed by removing the SiO ₂ layer 12 from the substrate 10 by etching using a hydrofluoric acid solution. 13 is separated. Next, the connection part 118 of the optical element assembly 120 is cut by cleavage. Thereby, the support part 121 and the lens element part 101 are isolate | separated, and the lens element 100 shown in FIG.1 (d) is obtained. As described above, since the cut surface obtained at this time is configured to be parallel to the cleavage plane, the connection portion 118 can be easily cut by cleavage. The formed lens element 100 has a cleavage surface 108 at one end of the handling part. Since the cleaved surface is a smooth surface, it can be distinguished from other surfaces.

In the above manufacturing method, the optical element assembly 120 having the structure as shown in FIG. 1C is formed. Since the optical element assembly 120 is not an elongated bar shape as in the conventional method, the optical element assembly 120 and the silicon layer 13 do not cause sticking and do not damage the lens element 100 to be manufactured. And can be separated. Furthermore, since width of the handling portion 104 of the support portion 121 are substantially identical, when removing the SiO ₂ layer 12 by etching, and the SiO ₂ layer of the lower part of the supporting portion 121, the lower handling portion 104 The etching time of the partial SiO ₂ layer is almost the same. Thereby, both will be isolate | separated substantially simultaneously and sticking can be suppressed further.

  Further, according to the above manufacturing method, the lens element 100 is referred to as the left side surface of the handling unit 104 when viewed from the direction facing the lens forming surface with the handling unit 104 facing upward as shown in FIG. It becomes the structure which has the cleavage surface 108 in an asymmetrical position. When the lens element 100 is mounted, it is necessary to identify the lens forming surface and its opposing surface. However, normally, when the lens element 100 is mounted, only the upper surface of the handling unit 104 perpendicular to the lens forming surface is visible. In the case of a lens element having a symmetrical structure, it is difficult to distinguish between the lens forming surface and the opposite surface only with the upper surface. Since the lens element 100 according to the present embodiment has a cut surface formed by a cleavage plane only on one side surface of the handling unit 104, it is easy to identify the lens forming surface and its opposing surface.

Note that when the SiO ₂ layer 12 is removed from the substrate 10 and the optical element assembly 120 and the silicon layer 13 are separated, a method using the protective member 15 described below can be employed. This method will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a process cross-sectional view at the position AA ′ in FIG. FIG. 2A shows a state in which the optical element assembly 120 is formed on the silicon layer 11 by etching. Since the AA ′ position of the cross-sectional position does not include the lens element portion 101, FIG. 2 shows the support portion 121 as the optical element assembly 120 at this position. From this state, as shown in FIG. 2B, a part of the SiO ₂ layer 12 is removed from the substrate 10 to partially expose the silicon layer 13. For this removal, for example, 50% hydrofluoric acid can be used. In the state shown in FIG. 2B, a part of the SiO ₂ layer 12 below the support portion 121 remains, and the remaining SiO ₂ layer 12 is slightly narrower than the support portion 121. At this time, the SiO ₂ layer 12 in the region other than the lower part of the optical element assembly 120 is removed, and the lower silicon layer 13 is exposed.

Next, the protective member 15 is dropped on the outer side which is one side of the support part 121, and the remaining SiO ₂ layer 12 is included outside the support part 121 as shown in FIG. The protective member 15 covers the support layer 121 and the silicon layer 13. Thereby, the support part 121 and the silicon layer 13 are connected via the protective member 15. For example, a resin, a resist, or the like can be used for the protection member 15.

Next, the substrate 10 in the state shown in FIG. 2C is immersed in 50% hydrofluoric acid, and as shown in FIG. 2D, all the remaining SiO ₂ layer 12 is removed. Next, the protective member 15 is treated with IPA (isopropyl alcohol) and acetone to remove the protective member 15 as shown in FIG. Thereby, the optical element assembly 120 made of the silicon layer 11 and the silicon layer 13 are separated.

According to the above manufacturing method, even after all the SiO ₂ layer 12 is removed, the support portion 121 and the silicon layer 13 do not immediately contact each other, but can maintain a state in which only one side is connected by the protective member 15. The gap between the support part 121 and the silicon layer 13 can be maintained, and sticking can be prevented. According to the method using the protection member 15, the sticking can be prevented even when the length of the support portion 121 in the longitudinal direction is as long as several millimeters.

  Next, a method for manufacturing an optical element according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3A. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a configuration of an optical element assembly 220 according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment is largely characterized in that the position of the connecting portion is different from that of the first embodiment. Hereinafter, points different from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and a part of the same points as those of the first embodiment will be partially omitted.

  The optical element assembly 220 includes a rectangular frame-shaped support portion 221, a plurality of branch-shaped support portions 222, and a plurality of lens element portions 201. The plurality of branch-shaped support portions 222 are arranged in a line in the frame of the support portion 221 along one of the long sides of the frame-shaped support portion 221 and are provided so as to extend from the support portion 221 to the inside of the frame. ing. One end of the branch-shaped support part 222 is connected to the support part 221, and the other end is connected to one lens element part 201. A portion where the lens element portion 201 and the support portion 222 are connected is referred to as a connection portion 218. The connection portion 218 is cut in a later process, as in the first embodiment, and the optical element assembly 220 is configured so that the cut surface at that time is parallel to the cleavage plane.

  The lens element unit 201 has substantially the same shape as the lens element unit 101 of the first embodiment, and is the same as the lens unit 102, the handling unit 104, and the overhanging unit 106 of the lens element 100, respectively. A lens portion 202, a substantially bar-shaped handling portion 204, and an overhang portion 206. However, in the present embodiment, the handling part 204 and the long side of the support part 221 are substantially parallel, and the handling part 204 and the support part 222 are configured to be substantially vertical. The lens element unit 101 is connected to the support unit 222 at a part of a surface extending in the longitudinal direction of the handling unit 204. This surface is a surface facing the overhanging portion 206, and is a surface that becomes an upper surface when the lens element after fabrication is mounted so that the overhanging portion 206 faces downward. The optical element assembly 220 has a configuration in which the lens element portions 201 are arranged in one row.

  FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a configuration of an optical element assembly 320 according to a modification of the present embodiment. The optical element assembly 320 includes a rectangular frame-shaped support portion 321, a branch-shaped support portion 222, and a plurality of lens element portions 201. In this modification, branch-like support portions 222 are formed on the two long sides of the frame-like support portion 321, and the lens element portions 201 are arranged in two rows so that the lens element portions 201 face each other. . This modification is different from the second embodiment in this point, and the other points are the same as those in the second embodiment. In this modification, as compared with the second embodiment, a large number of lens elements can be arranged in the frame.

  In both the second embodiment and the modification, as in the first embodiment, the lens unit is formed by using the substrate 10 as the substrate, the optical element assembly is formed, and the optical element assembly and the lower layer are separated. Then, the lens element can be manufactured by separating the support part and the lens element part by cleavage. Moreover, it is possible to apply the method using the protection member shown in FIG. Since the manufacturing method similar to that of the first embodiment can be used, sticking can be similarly prevented in the second embodiment and the modification. The lens element manufactured according to the second embodiment and the modified example has a cleavage surface in a part of the surface of the handling part 204 substantially perpendicular to the lens forming surface.

  In the second embodiment and the modification, when the lens element unit 201 is separated, the lens element 200 can be placed on the holding member using the method described below. Hereinafter, the second embodiment will be described as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to a modified example. First, after the optical element assembly 200 and the lower layer are separated, a predetermined position of the frame-shaped support portion 221 is cut to produce the shape shown in FIG. 4A includes a plurality of lens element portions 201, a plurality of support portions 222, and a support portion piece 223. The support part piece 223 is one side to which the support part 222 is connected among the rectangular sides of the support part 221.

  Next, a holding case 252 provided with an adhesive sheet 250 is prepared as a holding member. As shown in FIG. 4B, the optical element assembly constituted by the support piece 223 instead of the support portion 221 is arranged such that the support piece 223 is on the upper side and the top portion of the overhanging portion 206 is on the adhesive sheet 250. It puts on the holding case 252 so that it contacts. In this state, the connection part 218 between the lens element part 201 and the support part 222 is cut by cleavage. By repeating this operation, a plurality of lens elements 200 can be arranged in a row on the holding case 252 as shown in FIG. In addition, if the shape of the overhang | projection part 206 is made into the shape by which the flat surface was formed in the top part as shown in FIG. 1 of patent document 1, the said operation | work can be performed more stably.

  In the above arrangement method on the holding member, a large number of lens elements 200 are arranged on the holding case 252 at the same time as the large number of lens element portions 201 are separated. If this method is used, it is possible to perform the work very efficiently and easily compared to the case where the lens elements are separated and arranged in the holding case 252 with the directions of the lens elements aligned one by one. it can. When forming the optical element assembly 200, it is preferable to set the interval between the lens elements in accordance with the size of the holding case 252 and the lens handling interval of the lens element mounting apparatus. In this case, after arranging a large number of lens elements in the holding case 252, the lens elements can be handled by the lens element mounting apparatus without rearranging the lens elements or adjusting the interval.

  Next, a comparative example will be described. FIG. 5 is a process diagram in the case where a lens element having substantially the same shape as that in FIG. 1D is manufactured by a conventional manufacturing method according to this comparative example. In this conventional method, the shape of the handling part is a symmetrical bar shape. In the conventional method shown in FIG. 5, the lens element assembly 1 is formed on the substrate 10. The lens element assembly 1 has a substantially bar shape in which end surfaces of the handling portions of a plurality of adjacent lens elements are connected and extended in the extending direction of the handling portion. The lens element assembly 1 includes a plurality of lens portions 2 and edge portions 3 and overhang portions 6 corresponding to the lens portions 2 respectively. After separating the lens element assembly 1 from the lower layer, the lens element assembly 1 is cut at a predetermined position corresponding to the connection part of the handling part, that is, the end face of the handling part, to obtain a lens element. This cutting position is exemplarily shown in the uppermost lens element assembly 1 in FIG. In this conventional method, as shown in FIG. 5, the lens element assembly 1 has a very long substantially bar shape, so that sticking is likely to occur. Also, with this conventional method, cleavage surfaces are formed on both sides of the lens element handling part. In the first embodiment of the present invention, the lens forming surface and its opposing surface can be distinguished by utilizing the left-right asymmetry of the position of the cleaved surface. In this conventional method, such an identification method is used. I can't.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  The position of the connecting portion between the lens element and the support portion may be below the lens element or obliquely so long as it does not interfere with the mounting of the lens element. If sticking occurs, the lens element does not fall apart during the removal process. It only has to be connected to. The lens unit is not limited to a diffractive optical element, and may be a refractive lens, and may be a minute optical element that can be formed on a substrate. As a method of etching the side wall of the lens element, not only the ICP-Bosch method but also other etching methods can be used depending on the selection of the etching mask. As the substrate to be used, silicon is used in the above description, but other materials can be used as long as the material is transparent to the wavelength used for the optical system in which the lens element is used. The shapes of the support portion, lens element, lens portion, handling portion, overhang portion, support piece, etc. are not limited to those described above, and various shapes are conceivable. The number of optical element assemblies formed on the substrate can be arbitrarily set. The number of lens element portions included in the optical element assembly can also be arbitrarily set.

  The present invention can be applied to an optical element used in an optical communication device or the like and a manufacturing method thereof.

It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the optical element concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the optical element concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the optical element aggregate | assembly concerning the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the optical element aggregate | assembly concerning the modification of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the method to arrange | position the optical element concerning the 2nd Embodiment of this invention to a holding member. It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the conventional optical element.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Substrate 11 Silicon layer 12 SiO ₂ layer 13 Silicon layer 14 Orientation flat 15 Protection member 100, 200 Lens element 101, 201 Lens element part 102, 202 Lens part 103 Edge part 104, 204 Handling part 106, 206 Overhang part 108 Cleavage Surface 118,218 Connection part 120,220,320 Optical element assembly 121,221,222,321 Support part 223 Support part piece 250 Adhesive sheet 252 Holding case

Claims (9)

A method of manufacturing an optical element comprising a lens part and a handling part extending from a part of the periphery of the lens part,
A lens part forming step of forming a plurality of lens parts on the surface of the first layer of the substrate including the first, second and third layers in order from the uppermost layer;
The first layer is processed to form the handling part corresponding to the formed lens part, and a support part connected to a part of the handling part to connect and support the handling parts. , An optical element assembly forming step for forming an optical element assembly including a plurality of the lens portions, the handling portion corresponding to the lens portions, and the support portion;
Removing the second layer to separate the first layer on which the optical element assembly is formed and the third layer;
A cutting step of cutting the connection part between the handling part and the support part of the separated optical element assembly to obtain an optical element having at least one lens part. Manufacturing method. The method of manufacturing an optical element according to claim 1, wherein in the cutting step, the connection portion is cut by cleavage. The removal step includes
Removing at least a portion of the second layer while leaving at least a portion of the second layer below the support portion to partially expose the third layer;
Covering one side of the support portion with a protective member from the support portion to the third layer;
Removing the remaining second layer;
The method for manufacturing an optical element according to claim 1, further comprising a step of removing the protective member. The method of manufacturing an optical element according to claim 1, wherein the handling part and the support part have substantially the same width. 5. The method of manufacturing an optical element according to claim 1, wherein the handling portion has a substantially bar shape, and one end in the longitudinal direction of the handling portion is connected to the support portion. . The said handling part is substantially bar shape, and a part of surface extended in the longitudinal direction of the said handling part is connected with the said support part, The any one of Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned. A method for manufacturing an optical element. The method of manufacturing an optical element according to claim 1, wherein the lens unit is formed of a diffractive optical element. The method for manufacturing an optical element according to claim 1, wherein the first layer is made of silicon. A lens portion formed on the surface of the substrate;
An optical element comprising: a handling part extending from a part of the periphery of the lens part and having a cleaved surface produced in the manufacturing process as a part thereof.

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