JP2006342384A - Method and apparatus for manufacturing spherical lens with full face filter film, spherical lens with full-face filter film, and optical module - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem that, in a conventional method for depositing a non-reflective filter film or the like by performing the coating on a surface of a spherical lens by using a vacuum vapor deposition method or the like, it is difficult to deposit a uniform filter film over the entire surface, the method cannot be applied to a spherical lens of a very small outside diameter, and vapor deposition scraps are deposited on the spherical lens. <P>SOLUTION: In a method for manufacturing a spherical lens with a full-face filter film to be film-deposited, a supporting container 9 of a spherical lens 8 is supported above a feed source 3 of a filter film material 2 in a vacuum chamber 1 in a rotating and revolving manner. The axis 13 of the rotating motion is inclined with respect to the vertical direction by the predetermined angle θ. The supporting container has a net-shaped part 11 at least on a bottom side. The filter film material is fed from the feed source by loading a spherical glass on the net-shaped part and turning the supporting container while rolling the spherical glass to the net-shaped part. The filter film material is coated on the entire surface of the spherical glass. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is used, for example, in the field of image processing and optical communication for converting light and images, and optical semiconductor elements such as LDs (laser diodes) and PDs (photodiodes) and optical waveguides or optical fibers are coupled with high efficiency. The present invention relates to a manufacturing method, a manufacturing apparatus, a spherical lens with a full filter film, and an optical module.

  Various methods have been proposed in the past for forming a non-reflective filter film or the like by coating the surface of a spherical lens using a vacuum deposition method or the like.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, in a method of forming a filter film on a spherical lens by vacuum evaporation, the spherical lens is moved at a predetermined speed along an annular rolling surface whose contact position is defined by two concentric circles having different radii. A method of forming an antireflection filter film by supplying evaporated particles from a filter film material supply source while rotating and coating the surface of a spherical lens through a gap between two concentric circles is described.

  In Patent Document 2, a cylindrical container having a mesh is rotatably installed at an upper part in a vacuum chamber, and a container containing a large number of adherent filter film bodies is rotated while the container in the vacuum chamber is rotated. A method of evaporating the metal material from the crucible placed at the bottom and coating the adherent filter membrane through the mesh, and a pan-like container with an upper opening opened in the lower part of the vacuum chamber in an inclined state, A filter film material supply source, that is, a sputtering target, is disposed in the upper part of the vacuum chamber, and the metal particles from the supply source are applied through the openings while rotating a container containing a large number of deposited filter film bodies. A method for coating an adherent filter membrane is described.

  In Patent Document 3, a collar is provided on the outer periphery of the spherical lens, a coating jig having a support hole having an opening larger than the spherical lens and smaller than the collar is provided, and the spherical lens is attached to the coating jig with the collar. A configuration is described in which coating is performed one side at a time while being supported in a support hole.

Further, in Patent Document 4, a spherical lens is welded to the inside of a holder by a low melting glass ring molded body, and then a moisture-resistant protective filter film is formed on the surface facing the holder opening of the spherical lens and the glass pool by physical vapor deposition. A method is described in which an optical module is manufactured by forming and then combining a holder and an optical semiconductor element.
JP-A-2-26851 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-241157 JP-A-10-319213 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-230179

  However, the above prior art has the following problems.

  First, in the method of Patent Document 1, it is intended that the spherical lens can be continuously changed over the entire circumference due to the difference in radius between the inner and outer diameters of the annular rolling surface and can be deposited on the entire surface. However, since the spherical lens moves along a fixed trajectory, the vapor deposition filter film easily adheres in a strip shape, and the uniformity is reduced, for example, a slight seam is formed on the coated surface. Further, the number of spherical lenses that can be installed on the annular rolling surface is limited to, for example, one in the embodiment, and productivity is poor. On the other hand, the position of the inner and outer diameters of the annular rolling surface must be set precisely, the variation of jigs and tools during film formation increases, and the difference in inner and outer diameters causes the rotation of the ball lens. The environment is different, the film thickness of the attached filter varies, and the uniformity decreases. In addition, when film formation is performed on the entire circumference of a spherical lens with a small outer diameter, such as a φ0.5 mm spherical lens, the difference between the inner and outer diameters of the annular rolling surface must be 0.5 mm or less. It is impossible to manufacture an annular rolling surface having an optimum inner / outer diameter difference for the lens.

  In the method of Patent Document 2, the rotating shaft for rotating a container containing a large number of adherent filter membrane bodies is fixed at a predetermined inclination angle, and the relative positional relationship with the filter membrane material supply source does not change. For this reason, the relative positional relationship between each of the many deposited filter membrane bodies and the supply source of the filter membrane material is not necessarily random, and as a result, the uniformity of the coated filter film thickness is reduced. Further, when the supply source of the filter film material is disposed above the container of the deposited filter film body, the vapor deposition residue (dust) adheres to the spherical lens, and the appearance of the spherical lens surface is deteriorated.

  In addition, the methods of Patent Documents 3 and 4 do not coat the entire surface of the spherical lens with a filter film.

Further, in the methods described in the above Patent Documents 1 to 4, it is very difficult to coat the surface of a microlens, for example, a φ0.5 mm spherical lens.
The present invention aims to solve the above problems.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, in the present invention, first, a filter film material coating is applied to the entire surface of a spherical lens by vapor deposition, and in the method of forming a film, the supply source of the filter film material in the vacuum chamber is reduced. The support container of the spherical lens is supported so as to be capable of rotating, and the support container is formed with a net-like portion at least on the bottom side, and the spherical glass is formed into a net-like shape by placing the spherical glass on the net-like portion and rotating the support vessel. Proposes a manufacturing method for a spherical lens with a filter film that is formed by coating the filter film material on the entire surface of the spherical glass by supplying the filter film material from the supply source while rolling to the part. To do.

  Further, in the present invention, the support container of the spherical lens is supported above the filter membrane material supply source in the vacuum chamber so as to be capable of rotating and revolving, and the rotation axis of the rotation is inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction. , This supporting container proposes an apparatus for producing a spherical lens with a full-surface filter film in which a net-like portion is formed at least on the bottom side.

  Further, in the present invention, in the above method or apparatus, the support container is capable of rotating and revolving, and the rotation axis of the rotating motion is inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction. Propose the device.

  In the present invention, in the above method or apparatus, it is proposed that the mesh portion has an opening of 10 to 90% of the diameter of the spherical lens.

  Further, in the present invention, in the above-described method or apparatus, it is proposed that the mesh portion is configured by knitting a linear body or a plate body in which a large number of holes are formed.

  The present invention proposes that the diameter of the linear body is 0.1 to 1 mm in the above-described method or apparatus in which the mesh portion is formed by knitting a linear body.

  Further, in the present invention, in the above method or apparatus, it is proposed that the mesh portion is formed in a planar shape or a concave shape.

  In the present invention described above, as the vapor phase growth method, a physical vapor phase growth method such as a vacuum vapor deposition method, an ion plating method, an ion assist method, an ion beam vapor deposition method or a chemical vapor deposition method is applied. Can do.

  The present invention proposes a spherical lens with an entire filter film formed by coating the entire surface of the spherical lens with a filter film material by the above method or apparatus.

  In the present invention, the filter film to be coated on the entire surface of the spherical lens is such that an optical filter film having a refractive index of 1.3 to 2.5 is constituted by a single layer or a multilayer, or an absorption filter film having a reflectance of 0 to 95%. Is composed of a single layer or multiple layers.

  The present invention also proposes an optical module in which the above spherical lens is coupled to a semiconductor laser or an optical waveguide.

  In the above configuration, the spherical lens placed on the mesh portion of the support container rolls with respect to the mesh portion by rotation around a rotation axis inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction. The surface of the spherical lens located on the side changes continuously, and the relative positional relationship between the mesh and the filter film material source changes continuously due to the rotation and revolution of the support container. The surface of the spherical lens facing the material source changes continuously and randomly. For this reason, it is possible to coat the particles of the filter film material that have passed through the openings of the mesh portion uniformly on the surface of the spherical lens, thereby forming a uniform filter film over the entire surface.

  Since the spherical lens is supported by the mesh part in the support container, by appropriately setting the mesh opening of the mesh part, for example, a spherical lens having a diameter of 0.5 mm or less, which is impossible with the conventional method, is also coated. Film formation is possible.

  In addition, the reticulated portion can accommodate many ball lenses as long as the rolling of the ball lens due to the rotation of the support container is not hindered, and a film can be formed on many ball lenses at a time. Is greatly improved.

  As the net-like part, it is possible to use a plate with a number of holes, such as punching metal, in addition to using a literal net knitted, literally, and the shape does not cause the ball lens to fall during movement. If it is a configuration, a flat shape, a concave shape or the like is appropriate.

  As described above, the spherical lens with the filter film formed on the entire surface has no directionality, so it can be easily assembled when assembling an optical module by coupling to a semiconductor laser or an optical waveguide. Productivity is improved and can be manufactured at low cost.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of an ion-assisted electron beam vacuum deposition apparatus as an embodiment of an apparatus for carrying out the method according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an enlarged main part. is there.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a vacuum chamber. A supply source container 3 in which a filter film material 2 is placed is installed in the lower part of the vacuum chamber 1 and an electron beam 4 is generated in the vicinity of the supply source container 3. An electron gun 5 is installed, and an ion gun 7 that generates an ion beam 6 is installed. On the other hand, a support container 9 for supporting a spherical lens 8 for film formation is installed in the upper part of the vacuum chamber 1.

  The support container 9 is configured in a tray shape having a side wall portion 10 and a bottom surface portion, and the bottom surface portion is formed as a planar net-like portion 11. In the figure, the mesh portion 11 is constituted by a plate body in which a large number of holes are formed as openings 12, for example, a punching metal (punched metal mesh). , Which can be composed of literal nets. In addition, the material of the mesh portion 11 is not limited to a metal, but may be made of synthetic resin, glass, ceramics, etc., which affects the film formation in consideration of degassing property and heat resistance during film formation described later. It is appropriate if there is no material.

  The support container 9 is supported so as to be capable of rotating about a rotation axis 13 in a direction perpendicular to the mesh portion 11, and is supported to be capable of revolving around a rotation axis 14 in the vertical direction. The rotating shaft 13 for performing the inclination is inclined by a predetermined angle θ with respect to the vertical direction.

  Here, the support container 9 is capable of rotating around the rotating shaft 13 and is supported so as to be able to revolve around the rotating shaft 14, that is, the self-revolving mechanism includes, for example, a supporting member that supports the rotating shaft 13. A mechanism that can move along a circular locus can be appropriately configured. Of course, the mechanical elements of the self-revolving mechanism are arranged at positions that do not hinder the deposition of the filter film material 2 from the supply source container 3 below the support container 9.

In the above configuration, the method for manufacturing a spherical lens with a full filter film according to the present invention will be described in more detail.
First, the foreign material, oil, etc. on the surface are removed by cleaning the uncoated ball lens 8. Next, a predetermined number of cleaned ball lenses 8 are put into the support container 9 and set at a predetermined position in the vacuum chamber 1. Then, the filter membrane material 2 is placed in the supply source container 3.

In this state, the vacuum pump (not shown) is evacuated, for example, to a degree of vacuum of 10 × 10 ⁻³ Pa, and the filter film material 2 as a vapor deposition material is heated and evaporated by the electron beam 4 from the electron gun 5. . The particles 17 thus evaporated jump out toward the upper support container 9, receive energy from the ion beam 6 irradiated from the ion gun 7, enter the support container 9 from the opening 12 of the mesh portion 11 of the support container 9, and It adheres to the surface of the spherical lens 8 and forms a thin film.

  At this time, since the support container 9 performs the rotation motion 15 and the rotation motion 16 by a rotation mechanism that is not shown, the ball lens 8 placed on the mesh portion 11 of the support container 9 moves in the vertical direction. The surface of the spherical lens 8 located on the mesh portion 11 side is continuously changed and supported by the rotation of the mesh portion 11 by the rotation around the rotation shaft 13 inclined at a predetermined angle θ. Since the relative positional relationship between the mesh portion 11 and the supply source 3 of the filter membrane material 2 is continuously changed by the rotation motion 15 and the revolution motion 16 of the container 9, the sphere facing the supply source 3 of the filter membrane material 2. The surface of the lens 8 changes continuously and randomly.

  For this reason, the particles of the filter film material 2 that have passed through the openings 12 of the mesh portion 11 can be uniformly applied to the surface of the spherical lens 8 to perform coating, and a uniform filter film 18 is formed over the entire surface. be able to. A desired optical filter film 18 can be formed by controlling the attached filter film material 2 and the film thickness.

  Since the spherical lens 8 is supported by the mesh portion 11 in the support container 9, in the conventional method, the mesh opening of the mesh portion 11 is appropriately set within a range of, for example, 10 to 90% of the diameter of the spherical lens 8. For example, it is possible to form a film by coating even on a spherical lens 8 having a diameter of 0.5 mm or less.

  In addition, the reticulated portion 11 can accommodate a large number of spherical lenses 8 as long as the rolling of the spherical lens 8 due to the rotation of the support container 9 is not hindered. And productivity is greatly improved.

  As the mesh portion 11, as described above, a plate body in which a large number of holes such as punching metal are formed can be used, and as shown in FIG. 4, a literal mesh knitted with a linear body 19 can be used. As for the shape, if the ball lens 8 does not fall during the above-mentioned movement, it has a planar shape as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, and a concave shape as shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. It can also be formed.

  Since the spherical lens 8 having the filter film 18 formed on the entire surface as described above has no directionality of the filter film 18, it can be easily assembled when the optical module is assembled by being coupled to a semiconductor laser or an optical waveguide. As a result, productivity in the case of an optical module is improved, and it can be manufactured at low cost.

In the present invention, the ball lens 8 to be coated, lens diameter Fai0.3～10Mm, can be applied BK7, TaF ₃ optical glass ball lens to the refractive index 1.4 to 2.5, such as. By optimizing the configuration of the filter film 18 for various refractive indexes of these spherical lenses 8, an appropriate filter coating can be applied to the spherical lenses 8 over these wide ranges.

  Here, the coating is performed in order to obtain all optical filters such as non-reflective coating, high-reflective coating, bandpass, edge filter, and the like. Filter film materials for coating include silicon, titanium oxide, and tantalum oxide. Materials used for optical filters such as hafnium oxide, zinc oxide, zircon oxide, aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, and magnesium fluoride can be appropriately used. In addition, by selecting 1 to 5 types of the above materials for the desired filter configuration, designing the film based on high-precision calculations, and forming a single layer or multiple layers with one or more materials, An arbitrary optical filter film 18 having a refractive index of 1.3 to 2.5 can be obtained.

  In addition, there is a filter for light transmittance adjustment as another filter. For this purpose, chromium, titanium, aluminum, silver, nickel, iron, and an alloy film thereof are coated as an optical absorption film. It ’s fine. Thus, in the present invention, one to several kinds of the above materials are selected, a film design is performed based on highly accurate calculation, and a single layer or a multi-layer structure made of one or a plurality of materials is used. Arbitrary optical filter films 18 up to% can be obtained.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, as the vapor deposition method, CVD (chemical vapor deposition method) or the like can be applied in addition to the above-described physical vapor deposition method such as vacuum deposition or sputtering by electron beam. In these general-purpose devices, the manufacturing device can be easily configured by applying the support container and the self-revolving mechanism.

  When applying the vacuum deposition method, the heating method of the filter film material may be a resistance heating method, a flash evaporation method, an arc evaporation method, a laser evaporation method, a high frequency heating method, or the like. Also effective is an ion plating method in which evaporated particles are turned into plasma to form a thin film on the spherical lens 8.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, one support container 9 is supported in the vacuum chamber 1 so as to be able to rotate and revolve, but in addition, for example, as shown in FIG. 9 (9a, 9b, 9c, 9d) may be supported in the vacuum chamber 1 so as to be capable of rotating and revolving. In FIG. 7, the same components as those in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the filter film 18 can be formed on many ball lenses 8 at the same time.

Next, a specific embodiment in which a filter coat (non-reflective coat) is formed on the entire circumference of a BK7 ball lens having a diameter of 1.5 mm by the method of the present invention will be described.
The support container 9 has a mesh portion 11 made of a metal mesh, and this metal mesh has a diameter of 100 mm and a spherical concave shape with a radius of about 200 mm. Approximately 500 1.5 mm ball lenses 8 were introduced. The mesh size of the mesh portion 11 was in the range of 10% to 90% with respect to the diameter of the spherical lens 8, and the mesh wire diameter was in the range of 0.1 mm to 1 mm.

  Next, the support container 9 was set at a predetermined position in the vacuum chamber 1 of the vapor deposition apparatus. In the vacuum chamber 1 of the vapor deposition apparatus, a self-revolution mechanism having a vertical revolution axis and a rotation axis inclined by about 30 ° from the vertical direction is provided, and the support container 8 containing the ball lens 8 is placed at 30 ° While being tilted, the above-described vacuum deposition was performed while rotating at a revolution speed of 1 rpm and a rotation speed of 0.5 rpm.

The vacuum deposition conditions are selected according to the type of material for forming the antireflective film and the diameter of the ball lens 8, and in this specific example, a multi-coat of Ta ₂ O ₅ / SiO ₂ is adopted. However, since an optimum design is performed depending on the material of the spherical lens 8, a vapor deposition material for optical filters such as MgF ₂ , Al ₂ O _{3, and} TiO ₂ can be used as the filter film material.

  In this specific example, it is possible to form a film on the spherical lens 8 having a diameter of φ0.3 mm to 2.5 mm only by changing the mesh size (opening / wire diameter) of the mesh portion 11. It was confirmed that the application of this method enables coating the entire circumference of ball lenses 8 of various sizes.

Specifically, the lens transmittance after anti-reflection coating on the BK7 ball lens was 98% or more (reflectance 0.3% or less) in all directions of the ball lens 8. In addition, non-reflective characteristics were confirmed over the entire circumference. (About 91% without coating). Further, the surface of the spherical lens 8 after the film formation had a quality equivalent to or better than the conventional method. Also, the adhesive strength of the coated filter film was equal to or higher than that of the conventional product as shown in Table 1 as a result of the tape test and the pencil hardness test. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the reliability as a lens for optical communication, the test shown in Table 2 was conducted, and the transmittance and appearance after the test were evaluated. In all these tests, the transmittance was 98% or more in all directions, and it was found that high reliability equivalent to or better than the conventional method could be realized.

Since the present invention is as described above, the present invention has the following characteristics and has great industrial applicability.
1. The spherical lens placed on the mesh part of the support container has a mesh-like shape because the surface of the spherical lens facing the filter membrane material source changes continuously and randomly due to the rotation and revolution of the support container. The film of the filter film material that has passed through the opening of the part can be uniformly deposited on the surface of the spherical lens for coating, and a uniform filter film can be formed over the entire surface.

  2. Since the spherical lens is supported by the mesh part in the support container, by appropriately setting the mesh opening of the mesh part, for example, a spherical lens having a diameter of 0.5 mm or less, which is impossible with the conventional method, is also coated. Film formation is possible.

  3. As long as the rotation of the ball lens due to the rotation of the support container is not hindered, the mesh part can accommodate a large number of ball lenses, and can form a film on many ball lenses at a time. Greatly improved.

  4). Since the supply source of the filter film material is disposed below the support container containing the ball lens, it is possible to prevent vapor deposition debris (dust) from adhering to the ball lens.

  5. As described above, the spherical lens with the filter film formed on the entire surface has no directionality, so it can be easily assembled when assembling an optical module by coupling to a semiconductor laser or an optical waveguide. Productivity is improved and can be manufactured at low cost.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of an ion-assisted electron beam vacuum deposition apparatus as an embodiment of an apparatus for carrying out a method according to the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which expands and shows the principal part of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which formed the filter film into the whole surface of the spherical lens. It is sectional drawing which shows the other example of a support container. It is sectional drawing which shows another example of a support container. It is sectional drawing which shows another example of a support container. It is a typical perspective view which shows the Example which processes simultaneously the spherical lens accommodated in the several support container.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum chamber 2 Filter membrane material 3 Supply source container 4 Electron beam 5 Electron gun 6 Ion beam 7 Ion gun 8 Ball lens 9 Support container 10 Side wall part 11 Net-like part 12 Opening 13 Rotation axis (spinning axis)
14 Rotating shaft (revolving shaft)
15 Rotating motion 16 Revolving motion 17 Evaporating particle 18 Filter film 19 Linear body

Claims (19)

In the vapor deposition method, the entire surface of the ball lens is coated with a filter film material, and in the film forming method, the ball lens support container can be rotated and revolved above the filter film material supply source in the vacuum chamber. The rotational axis of rotation and rotation of the support container is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction, and the support container is formed with a net-like part at least on the bottom side, and a spherical glass is placed on the net-like part to rotate the support container. A spherical surface with a filter membrane, characterized in that the filter membrane material is supplied from a supply source while rolling the spherical glass relative to the mesh portion, and the entire surface of the spherical glass is coated with the filter membrane material. Lens manufacturing method. The method for producing a spherical lens with an entire filter film according to claim 1, wherein the mesh portion has an aperture of 10 to 90% of the diameter of the spherical lens. The method for producing a spherical lens with a full-surface filter film according to claim 1, wherein the net-like portion has a configuration in which a linear body is knitted. The method for producing a spherical lens with a full-surface filter film according to claim 3, wherein the diameter of the linear body is 0.1 to 1 mm. 2. The method of manufacturing a spherical lens with an entire filter film according to claim 1, wherein the mesh portion of the support container is a plate having a large number of holes. The method for producing a spherical lens with a full-surface filter film according to claim 1, wherein the net-like portion is formed in a planar shape. 2. The method for manufacturing a spherical lens with a full filter film according to claim 1, wherein the net-like portion is formed in a concave shape. 2. The method for producing a spherical lens with a full-surface filter film according to claim 1, wherein the vapor deposition method is a physical vapor deposition method or a chemical vapor deposition method.   A spherical lens support container is supported above the filter membrane material supply source in the vacuum chamber so as to be capable of rotating and revolving, and the rotation axis of the rotation is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction. An apparatus for producing a spherical lens with a full-surface filter film, wherein a net-like portion is formed at least on the bottom side. The apparatus for producing a spherical lens with an entire filter film according to claim 9, wherein the mesh portion has an opening of 10 to 90% of a diameter of the spherical lens. The apparatus for producing a spherical lens with a full-surface filter film according to claim 9, wherein the net-like portion has a configuration in which a linear body is knitted. 12. The apparatus for producing a spherical lens with an entire filter film according to claim 11, wherein the diameter of the linear body is 0.1 to 1 mm. The apparatus for producing a spherical lens with a full-surface filter film according to claim 9, wherein the mesh portion of the support container is a plate body in which a large number of holes are formed. The apparatus for producing a spherical lens with a full-surface filter film according to claim 9, wherein the net-like portion is formed in a planar shape. The apparatus for producing a spherical lens with a full-surface filter film according to claim 9, wherein the net-like portion is formed in a concave shape. A whole surface filter formed by coating the entire surface of a spherical lens with a filter film material by the production method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 or the production apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 15. Ball lens with film. 17. The spherical lens with an entire surface filter film according to claim 16, wherein the filter film coated on the entire surface of the spherical lens is composed of an optical filter film having a refractive index of 1.3 to 2.5 in a single layer or a multilayer. 17. The spherical lens with a full-surface filter film according to claim 16, wherein the filter film coated on the entire surface of the spherical lens is composed of an absorption filter film having a reflectance of 0 to 95% in a single layer or a multilayer. . An optical module formed by coupling the spherical lens according to any one of claims 16 to 18 to a semiconductor laser or an optical waveguide.

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