JP2006193407A - Glass preform for press-molding - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a glass preform for molding an optical element capable of preventing fusion of the glass material thereof and a mold, elongating the service life of the mold, and not preventing the formation of an optically coherent coating in a later process. <P>SOLUTION: The glass preform is manufactured by forming a matrix layer and a coating film consisting of the matrix layer in which a plurality of nanoparticles are dispersed on the surface of a glass material where a functional face for molding a later product, i.e. an optical element, is formed by press-molding. The matrix layer preferably consists of an amorphous carbon, a diamond-like carbon, or their combination. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a glass preform for press molding a glass material such as a glass optical element.

  There is known a method for producing a glass optical lens used for optical equipment or the like with high productivity by putting the glass material into a molding die having a predetermined surface accuracy without going through a polishing step and press-molding. Yes. As a typical pressure molding method, for example, a necessary amount of a glass material as an optical element molding material that has been melted and solidified in advance is softened by heating to a predetermined temperature, and the glass preform is molded into a mold for molding. There is a reheat press method in which a glass optical element is formed by pressurizing the glass optical element. By this method, a high-precision optical glass element can be easily manufactured in a short time compared with a molding method mainly using a conventional polishing process, but the mirror surface of the functional surface of the molded glass optical element is damaged early. Cloudiness and fusion are likely to occur, and it cannot be said that a satisfactory optical function is obtained.

Many methods for solving such problems have been disclosed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a state in which a surface of a glass material (surface on which a functional surface is formed) is covered with a carbon thin film to protect the surface and is in close contact with a molding die for a relatively long time at high temperature Discloses a method capable of imparting releasability from a mold without causing fusion even if contact is made. Patent Document 2 discloses that a carbon thin film is formed on the molding surface of a mold and a carbon film is formed on the surface of a glass material, so that, for example, adhesion force and frictional force applied to the interface are alleviated. There is disclosed a method for obtaining an optical glass element that is difficult to peel off, has a long mold, and is free from minute recesses and fogging.
JP 63-2222023 A JP 2003-313046 A

  As described in Patent Document 1, the surface of the glass material is coated by a sputtering method, a vapor deposition method, a sol-gel method, etc., is uniform, has sufficient strength as a protective film, and is chemically stable, Furthermore, a carbon thin film made of a carbon material capable of forming a continuous film that does not cause fusion with the mold is formed, but it does not affect the optical characteristics of the optical interference film formed in the subsequent process. For this reason, the lens material provided with the carbon thin film must be annealed to remove the remaining carbon thin film without leaving it, which is troublesome. According to the method of Patent Document 2, the carbon thin film used as the mold release film is worn and not fully functioning when it is subjected to many press moldings, such as partial peeling. In order to repair the deteriorated state, it is necessary to perform a regenerating operation of performing a removal process such as cleaning and ashing every predetermined number of presses and forming a new film. When such regeneration of the mold is repeated, the molding surface becomes rough, and it is transferred during pressing, and the surface of the optical lens element to be molded is cloudy or cloudy due to light scattering due to the decrease in surface roughness. There is a defect that appearance defects occur.

  If the inventor properly controls the adhesion of the protective film to the glass material in the glass preform, the glass material and the mold can be prevented from being fused, and predetermined optical characteristics can be satisfied. Moreover, it was considered that the optical properties of the optical interference film in the subsequent process could not be affected.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and prevents fusion between the glass material and the mold, further prolonging the mold, and optical interference in the post process. An object of the present invention is to provide a glass preform for molding an optical element that does not hinder the formation of a coating film.

  In order to achieve the above object, a glass preform for press molding according to the present invention comprises a matrix layer and a matrix on a surface on which a functional surface of a glass material for molding a subsequent optical element is formed by press molding. A protective film made of a dispersion in which a plurality of nanoparticles are dispersed in the layer is formed, and the matrix layer is preferably composed of, for example, amorphous carbon, diamond-like carbon, or a combination thereof.

  According to the above configuration, the formation of the carbon-based protective film on the glass material improves the slipperiness with the mold, suppresses fusion between the molds, and functions from the molding surface of the mold. The surface is accurately transferred to the surface on which the surface is formed.

  Therefore, the glass preform of the present invention has a carbon-containing protective film formed by introducing a plurality of nanoparticles with a thickness of 0.2 nm to 20 nm on a continuous surface on which the functional surface of the glass material is formed. It was found that the above purpose could be achieved. The protective film is composed of, for example, a matrix layer having a predetermined number of carbon atoms and carbon compound-containing nanoparticles.

  When forming a protective film containing a plurality of nanoparticles, the atmospheric temperature of the coating treatment of the film is made lower than the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the glass material, and the entire protective film is formed in an amorphous state. The original thermal conductivity and friction are maintained. The glass preform on which the protective film is formed can transmit heat uniformly even during high-temperature press molding using a molding die, and has good slipperiness with the molding surface in the die. In addition, the carbon-containing compound nanoparticles close to the homogeneity of the glass material can give moderate adhesion to the protective film, and even after high-temperature molding for the glass material on which the protective film is formed. The annealing process can remove all traces of nanoparticles remaining on the glass layer and the matrix layer having a predetermined number of carbon atoms, but even if traces of nanoparticles remain on the surface of the glass It does not affect the optical properties of the optical interference coating formed in the process.

  Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the glass preform for press molding of the present invention has a protective film 3 formed on the surface 21 of a glass material 2 having a continuous surface 21. The glass material is a glass material preformed into a predetermined shape for molding a glass optical element by press molding.

  In the glass preform according to the present invention, the protective film 3 formed on the continuous surface 21 on which the functional surface of the glass material 2 is formed has a matrix layer 31 and nanoparticles 321, 321,. Is composed of a dispersion 32 formed by dispersing a plurality of.

  The matrix layer 31 is preferably made of, for example, amorphous carbon, diamond-like carbon, or a combination thereof.

The dispersion 32, preferably a composition containing M ₁ and carbon, A, B, or composed of a combination thereof. A is a composition containing M ₁ and carbon, a composition containing M ₁ and oxygen, or a composition containing M ₁ , carbon and oxygen. B includes a composition containing M ₁ and carbon, a composition containing M ₁ and nitrogen, or a composition containing M ₁ , carbon and nitrogen. Here, M ₁ is preferably silicon (Si), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), chromium (Cr), zirconium (Zr), vanadium (V). At least one selected from niobium (Nb), hafnium (Hf), boron (B), and combinations thereof can be used. Specifically, in a preferred embodiment, the matrix layer 31 uses A and M ₁ uses silicon, that is, the dispersion 32 includes a composition containing silicon and carbon, and a composition containing silicon and oxygen. And a composition containing silicon, carbon, and oxygen. Accordingly, the nanoparticles 321 include nanoparticles containing silicon and carbon (Si—C), nanoparticles containing oxygen and silicon (Si—O), and silicon, carbon and oxygen (Si—C—O). It is the structure containing 3 types of nanoparticles of the nanoparticle containing.

The protective film 3 is a decomposition reaction product of the starting material. As the starting material, a structure including one selected from an M ₁ source, a carbon source, a hydrogen source, and an oxygen source, a nitrogen source, or a combination thereof is used. Here, as the M ₁ source, silicon (Si), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), chromium (Cr), zirconium (Zr), vanadium (V), At least one selected from niobium (Nb), hafnium (Hf), boron (B), and combinations thereof can be used, and a silicon source is preferably used. When the M ₁ source is a silicon source, the starting material should use a composition source including a silicon source, a carbon source, a hydrogen source and an oxygen source, and contain gas molecules of silicon, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Is more preferable. In the examples, hexamethyldisiloxane (C ₆ H ₁₈ OSi ₂ ) is used as a starting material.

In the present invention, the protective film 3 may have a thickness of 0.2 nm or more, and preferably in the range of 0.2 nm to 20 nm.
<Example>
EXAMPLES Next, although an Example demonstrates this invention further in detail, this invention is not limited at all by these examples.

  In the glass preform for pressure molding of the present invention, the matrix layer 31 of the protective film 3 is amorphous carbon, the dispersion 32 is a composition containing silicon and carbon, a composition containing silicon and oxygen, and silicon and carbon. And a composition containing oxygen. In this example, the nanoparticles are nanoparticles comprising silicon and carbon (Si—C), nanoparticles comprising silicon and oxygen (Si—O), and silicon, carbon and oxygen (Si—C—O). ).

  In this example, a glass material having a model number L-LBAL35 and a transition point Tg = 527 ° C. is used as the glass material 2.

  Hereafter, the manufacturing method of the glass preform of this Example is demonstrated in detail.

  A glass material 2 preformed to have a continuous surface is prepared and thoroughly cleaned with isopropyl alcohol.

A well-cleaned glass material 2 was placed in the reaction vessel. The inside of the reaction vessel was evacuated to 4 × 10 ⁻³ Pa with a vacuum pump, and then heated and maintained at 480 ° C. for 60 minutes. Next, the pressure was maintained at 0.5 Pa by exhausting with a vacuum pump while introducing hexamethyldisiloxane gas as a starting material. Process parameters such as anode current value: 0.75 A, bias pressure: 120 V, film formation rate: 1 nm / min are used.

  In this way, a glass preform is obtained in which the entire surface 21 of the glass material 2 is covered with a protective film of approximately 10 nm (FIGS. 1 and 2). Next, the glass preform coated with the protective film is subjected to processes such as washing, press molding, annealing at 430 ° C., and coating with an optical interference film.

  It can be seen that the glass preform according to the present example well withstands the subsequent isopropyl alcohol cleaning. Further, in the high-temperature press molding process, the protective film 3 having high thermal conductivity quickly transfers heat to the glass material 2 and becomes slippery between the molding dies, and the molding surface of the molding dies is accurately transferred. A glass optical element having excellent surface properties of the molded product can be produced.

  And since the protective film 3 formed on the glass raw material 2 is comprised with a carbon-type nanoparticle, while protecting the surface by which a functional surface of a glass optical element is shape | molded through a shaping | molding process, a subsequent annealing process is performed. However, since all the nanoparticles 321 remaining on the surface 21 of the glass material 2 can be removed, the optical properties of the optical interference coating formed in the subsequent process are not affected.

Moreover, it turns out that the frequency | count of use of a shaping | molding die can be increased 5000 times-6000 times.
<Comparative example>
For comparison, the glass material 2 (L-LBAL35) was used and hot-pressed with a molding die in the same manner as in Example, except that the protective film 3 was not formed.

  It can be seen that in a mold for press-molding a glass material that does not form the protective film 3, the number of uses is only 500 to 1000 times, which is considerably less than in the above-described example.

  As described above, according to the press-molding preform of the present invention, the fusion with the mold during high-temperature press molding is suppressed, the transfer density of the molding surface is high, the number of times the mold is used is increased, and it is formed in the subsequent process. A preform for press molding that does not affect the optical properties of the optical interference coating is obtained.

Sectional drawing which shows schematically the structure of the glass preform for press molding concerning this invention. The partial expanded sectional view of the glass preform of FIG. Sectional drawing which shows schematically the glass raw material of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

2. . . Glass material 21. . . Surface 3. . . Protective film 31. . . Matrix layer 32. . . Dispersion 321. . . Nanoparticles

Claims (11)

A protective film composed of a matrix layer and a dispersion in which a plurality of nanoparticles are dispersed in the matrix layer is formed on the surface on which the functional surface of the glass material for forming a glass optical element as a product later is formed by press molding. Being
A glass preform for press molding, wherein the matrix layer is composed of amorphous carbon, diamond-like carbon, or a combination thereof. As the dispersion composition containing M ₁ and carbon, it is constituted A, B, or combinations thereof,
As the A, a composition containing M ₁ and carbon, a composition containing M ₁ and oxygen, or a composition containing M ₁ , carbon and oxygen,
As B, a composition containing M ₁ and carbon, a composition containing M ₁ and nitrogen, or a composition containing M ₁ , carbon and nitrogen,
Here, the _{M 1,} silicon (Si), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), chromium (Cr), zirconium (Zr), vanadium (V), niobium The glass preform for press molding according to claim 1, wherein at least one selected from (Nb), hafnium (Hf), boron (B), and combinations thereof is used. The glass preform for press molding according to claim 2, wherein the dispersion is made of the A, and the M ₁ is silicon. The protective film is a decomposition reaction product of a starting material, and the starting material includes one selected from an M ₁ source, a carbon source, a hydrogen source, an oxygen source, a nitrogen source, or a combination thereof. The glass preform for press molding according to claim 1. Examples of the M ₁ source include silicon (Si), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), chromium (Cr), zirconium (Zr), vanadium (V), niobium ( The glass preform for press molding according to claim 4, wherein at least one selected from Nb), hafnium (Hf), boron (B), and combinations thereof is used. Wherein M ₁ is a glass preform for press molding according to claim 5, characterized in that the silicic Motogen.   The glass preform for press molding according to claim 6, wherein the starting material includes a silicon source, a carbon source, a hydrogen source, and an oxygen source.   The glass preform for press molding according to claim 6, wherein the starting material contains gas molecules of silicon, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.   The glass preform for press molding according to claim 8, wherein hexamethyldisiloxane gas is used as a starting material containing gas molecules of silicon, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.   The glass preform for press molding according to claim 1, wherein the protective film has a thickness of 0.2 nm or more.   The glass preform for press molding according to claim 1, wherein the protective film has a thickness in a range of 0.2 nm to 20 nm.

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