JP2008214167A - Method of producing optical glass element and method of fine-adjusting refractive index of glass molded article - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of producing an optical glass element by which a change in the refractive index caused by the change of conditions or the like in the manufacture of a glass molded article by press molding can precisely be fine-adjusted. <P>SOLUTION: When the measured refractive index of the glass molded article obtained by press-molding a glass material is smaller than the designed value, the glass molded article is fine-adjusted to approach the designed value by applying heat-treatment in a low temperature range. The lower limit temperature in the heat-treatment temperature range is higher than the temperature 300°C lower than the distortion point of the glass material and the upper limit temperature is less than the temperature 150°C lower than the distortion point of the glass material. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical glass element for manufacturing a glass molded article such as an optical glass element by press molding and a fine adjustment method for a refractive index of a glass molded article, and in particular, a highly accurate optical element such as an aspheric lens. The present invention relates to a fine adjustment method for finely adjusting the refractive index of a glass molded product by heat treatment when manufacturing by press molding and an optical glass element manufacturing method using the same.

  In recent years, attention has been focused on a direct press molding method in which an optical glass element such as a glass lens is press-molded and can be used as it is without polishing the molding surface. The optical element obtained by the direct press molding method has a refractive index value somewhat lower than the refractive index (catalog value) of the optical glass before molding because the temperature rapidly decreases after pressing at the molding temperature. For this reason, the lens designed based on the catalog value cannot be used as it is, and an annealing process is required to return the refractive index to the catalog value or the vicinity of the catalog value. In order to manufacture a lens without this annealing treatment, it is necessary to examine the refractive index after molding (annealless refractive index) in advance and design the lens based on the value.

  In addition, when a lens that has been manufactured by a molding method that has been annealed in the past is manufactured by switching to a molding method that does not have an annealing process, it is equivalent to a lens that has undergone conventional annealing in order to respond without changing the design. It is necessary to change the composition of the lens to a glass composition that shows the refractive index without annealing treatment, and for this purpose, the formulation of the glass material must be changed. On the other hand, in the field of optical design, there are various glass compositions that have been used by designers as classics in the design of optical glass products. It is desirable to be able to use the catalog value of the standard glass so that it can be designed. However, since these numerical values are those of the glass that has undergone annealing treatment, it is difficult to directly use it when omitting the annealing treatment.

In such a situation, in the method for forming an optical glass element not subjected to the annealing treatment proposed in Patent Document 1, the refractive index change generated in the glass material by press molding from the value of the refractive index required for the optical glass element after molding. Press molding is performed using a glass material having a refractive index of a value obtained by subtracting the minutes. Moreover, in patent document 2 which proposes the same method as patent document 1, it is further described that press molding is performed under conditions that substantially eliminate the thermal history of the glass material. Further, Patent Document 3 discloses an annealing process, and the molded optical element is heated to a slow cooling point and held for a certain period of time, and then annealed under the condition that it is slowly cooled to the strain point. Yes. This describes that the distortion of the optical element is removed and the refractive index distribution disappears. Patent Document 4 discloses a method of performing a heat treatment at a temperature in the range of 150 ° C. below the strain point of the glass to less than the strain point in order to adjust the refractive index change when the cooling rate is changed.
Japanese Patent No. 3196952 Japanese Patent No. 3801136 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-7423 JP 2005-239432 A

  As described above, in order to produce an inexpensive optical element with excellent optical performance by press molding, a rapid cooling process for realizing a short cycle time is required. As a result, the refractive index of the molded optical element is lower than the refractive index of the annealed glass material.

  Therefore, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, this is dealt with by using a glass composition having a refractive index of a value obtained by subtracting a refractive index change caused by press molding from a target refractive index value.

However, when it becomes necessary to further shorten the cycle time, if the cooling rate after press molding is made faster in order to cope with this, the refractive index of the obtained lens will be lower than the originally planned value. Therefore, in order to obtain a lens having a desired refractive index, it is necessary to change the composition of the glass material again to cope with the change in the refractive index due to the change in the cooling rate.

Patent Document 3 describes a conventional annealing process, but when a molded product with a large residual strain is annealed, the stress is relaxed, and asphalt and peculiarities are generated, and the surface accuracy deteriorates. There is. In addition, the processing time is at least 24 hours, which is inefficient.
In Patent Document 4, the refractive index is adjusted by heat treatment in a temperature range from a temperature 150 ° C. lower than the strain point of the glass to less than the strain point so as not to lower the surface accuracy. Satisfactory results may not be obtained for a lens of a standard that requires a higher accuracy such as 5 or less. Further, the change in the refractive index due to the heat treatment is excessive as an annealing for correcting the change in the refractive index caused by the change of the molding condition to increase the cooling rate in order to shorten the cycle time.

  The present invention is capable of finely adjusting the refractive index without lowering the surface accuracy in response to minor changes in manufacturing conditions, etc., when manufacturing glass molded products such as optical elements by press molding. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for finely adjusting the refractive index of a product and a method for producing an optical glass element using the same.

  Moreover, this invention makes it a subject to provide the manufacturing method of the optical glass element which can manufacture the optical element which has the surface precision and refractive index of a desired range efficiently with high precision by press molding.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to one aspect of the present invention, an optical glass element manufacturing method includes a step of press-molding a glass material into a predetermined shape to prepare a glass molded product, and refraction of the glass molded product. When the refractive index is smaller than the refractive index design value, the glass molded product is subjected to a heat treatment in a low temperature range to bring the refractive index of the glass molded product close to the refractive index design value, and the lower limit of the low temperature range The gist is that the temperature is at least 300 ° C. lower than the strain point of the glass material, and the upper limit temperature of the low temperature region is less than 150 ° C. lower than the strain point of the glass material.

  Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, the method for finely adjusting the refractive index of a glass molded article is a method for adjusting the refractive index of a glass molded article obtained by press molding a glass material when the measured value of the refractive index of the glass molded article is smaller than a design value. A method for finely adjusting the refractive index of a glass molded product that is subjected to a heat treatment in a low temperature range to bring the design value closer to the design value, wherein the lower limit temperature of the low temperature range is equal to or higher than a temperature that is 300 ° C. lower than the strain point of the glass material. Thus, the gist is that the upper limit temperature of the low temperature region is lower than a temperature lower by 150 ° C. than the strain point of the glass material.

  According to the present invention, when manufacturing a glass molded product by press molding, it is possible to appropriately adjust the refractive index without deteriorating the surface accuracy by appropriately responding to minor changes such as manufacturing conditions. Since a method for finely adjusting a refractive index is provided, a glass molded article such as an optical element whose refractive index is adjusted with high accuracy can be quickly provided by a method for manufacturing an optical glass element using the method.

  The refractive index is one of the most important properties of the glass optical element, but it can be easily changed by slightly changing the manufacturing conditions, particularly the temperature conditions. The refractive index can be adjusted to some extent by changing the glass composition, annealing after molding, etc., but in the case of molded products that require high precision such as optical elements, smaller fine adjustment is possible. It is desirable that there is a method, and it is preferable that the method can be arbitrarily coped with after production.

  We investigated a processing method suitable for fine adjustment of the refractive index and investigated the behavior of the glass over a wide range of temperatures. Conventionally, the refractive index was small at low temperatures where it was thought that the refractive index would not fluctuate. A change was observed, and it was found that the refractive index could be finely adjusted using this. That is, the present invention manufactures a glass molded article whose refractive index is adjusted with high accuracy by performing fine adjustment in this temperature region. Hereinafter, the manufacturing method of the glass molded product of this invention and embodiment of fine adjustment of a refractive index are demonstrated in detail.

  A glass molded product is obtained by press-molding a glass material prepared by blending a raw glass material into a desired glass composition under heating.

  A glass material used for press molding is prepared according to a conventional method, and a glass raw material is mechanically blended based on a target glass composition to adjust the composition, and heat melting, vitrification, defoaming, and homogenization may be performed. .

The press molding is generally performed by heating to a temperature at which the viscosity of the prepared glass material becomes a predetermined value (usually about 10 ⁻⁹ dPa · s), and then cooled. The refractive index of the glass molded article depends on the cooling after pressing (rapid cooling or gradual cooling, whether or not the temperature is maintained). The faster the cooling rate from the press temperature to around Tg, the lower the refractive index of the glass molded article. Usually, the cooling after forming can be changed at a speed of about 50 to 200 ° C / min. Therefore, shortening the cycle time and improving the efficiency of the manufacturing process often involve a change in temperature conditions after pressing. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures to compensate for the change in the refractive index of the glass molded product due to such a change. Conventional adjustment of the refractive index by annealing or the like is suitable when the refractive index variation is large, but is not suitable for adjusting a deviation of about 100 × 10 ⁻⁵ or less. In the present application, fine adjustment suitable for such a relatively small refractive index deviation is performed as necessary to adjust the refractive index of the glass molded product more precisely.

  This fine adjustment is due to the heat treatment of the glass molded product at a low temperature, so that the processing temperature does not reach a temperature 150 ° C. lower than the strain point of the glass (hereinafter, this temperature is expressed as T (S-150)). Set to Above this temperature T (S-150), the refractive index changes drastically, so that it is not suitable for fine adjustment, and a change in surface accuracy that does not meet the optical element standard occurs. However, at a processing temperature where the difference from the strain point of the glass exceeds 300 ° C., almost no change in refractive index can be obtained, so a temperature that is 300 ° C. lower than the strain point (hereinafter, this temperature is expressed as T (S-300)). Set the processing temperature above. That is, the processing temperature T is set in the range of T (S-300) ≦ T <T (S-150), with the upper limit being less than T (S-150) and the lower limit being T (S-300). . Such fine adjustment in the low temperature range can be widely applied to glass having a strain point of 500 ° C. or higher. It is more preferable to set the temperature from a temperature 180 ° C. lower than the strain point (T (S-180)) to a temperature 250 ° C. lower than the strain point (T (S-250)).

  When heat treatment is performed in the above temperature range, the refractive index increases in proportion to the treatment time in the initial stage, but thereafter the change gradually relaxes and reaches the upper limit value. Therefore, it is preferable to select the treatment time as appropriate within a range of about 2 to 10 hours. The upper limit of the refractive index fluctuation amount depends on the heat treatment temperature and the glass composition. Accordingly, if the heat treatment temperature is set such that the required adjustment range of the refractive index and the upper limit value of the refractive index fluctuation amount are equal, fine adjustment can be made with high accuracy without being affected by the heat treatment time. In order to shorten the time required for fine adjustment, a heat treatment temperature having a higher upper limit value of the refractive index variation than the required adjustment width may be set and processed in a short time.

By the above-mentioned heat treatment, the refractive index of the glass molded product can be suitably adjusted in the range of about 10 × 10 ⁻⁵ to 80 × 10 ⁻⁵ . The accuracy at that time can be set to about ± 5 × 10 ^−5, and the change in shape due to the heat treatment is within the measurement error, so that it can also be applied to a lens with strict accuracy requirements.

For example, when the rate of cooling after pressing is changed from 100 ° C./min to 200 ° C./min, which is twice as much, the change in the refractive index changes by about 50 × 10 ⁻⁵ at the maximum although it depends on the glass composition. That is, the lens has a refractive index lower by 50 × 10 ⁻⁵ than the design value. Usually, since the refractive index tolerance of the lens is ± 30 × 10 ⁻⁵ , the above-described fine adjustment by the heat treatment at a low temperature is very useful in order to correct the deviation due to the variation of the refractive index and keep it within the tolerance. . In addition, it is possible to cope with a decrease in yield in response to fluctuations in the refractive index of the glass molded product due to variations in manufacturing conditions or unexpected situations.

  An example of a mold and a molding apparatus used in glass press molding is shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 1 shows a lower mold of a pair of upper and lower molds used for molding a ball lens, and a cemented carbide part 1 in which an aspherical concave press surface is formed on one circular end surface of a cemented carbide cylinder. And an Ir—Re composition coating film 2 covering the concave press surface. The coating film 2 is formed through a Ti film (not shown) for imparting adhesion to the cemented carbide.

FIG. 2 shows a press molding apparatus 10 in which upper and lower molds 11 and 12 having a structure as shown in FIG. 1 are incorporated. In press molding, after the inside of the chamber 13 is made an N ₂ atmosphere, the upper mold 11 and the lower mold 12 are heated by the heater blocks 14 and 15, so that the viscosity of the glass to be molded becomes about 10 ⁻⁹ dPa · s. When reaching, the lower shaft 17 is pulled down by the hydraulic cylinder 16, and the molding 18 is placed on the lower mold 12. While maintaining the temperature of the mold, the lower shaft 17 is raised by the hydraulic cylinder 16 and pressed by the upper mold 11 and the lower mold 12. Usually, the molding pressure is about 100 to 5000 N, and the molding time is about 0.1 to 1 minute. Thereafter, the temperature is lowered at a predetermined cooling rate, and when the temperature of the upper and lower molds reaches a temperature lower by about 30 ° C. than the Tg temperature of the basic composition of the sample, the lower mold 12 is lowered. Remove and collect from chamber 13. In this example, the lower mold 12 is movable, but a structure in which the upper mold 11 is moved by the upper shaft 19 may be used.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples.

<Preparation of glass material>
Composition (wt%) _{is, SiO 2: 6%, B} 2 O 3: 21%, WO 3: 4%, BaO: 3%, Al 2 O 3: 1%, ZnO: 12%, ZrO 2: 4% , La ₂ O ₃ : 39%, Nb ₂ O ₅ : 10% glass raw materials were prepared (physical property values in this glass composition are transition point Tg = 600 ° C., yield point = 635 ° C., strain point) = 557 ° C., ν _d = 40.4).

  The preparation was put into a platinum crucible at room temperature, inserted into an electric furnace maintained at 1300 ° C., and melted at once. Take out 1 hour after insertion, stir with a platinum rod, put it in an electric furnace at 1300 ° C again and hold it for 2 hours, and then lower the temperature to a temperature suitable for casting (here 1000 ° C) over 1 hour. Was taken out and poured into a mold. The poured glass material was put into an electric furnace maintained at an annealing temperature (glass (Tg + 15) ° C.) and held for 1 hour, and then cooled to (Tg−200) ° C. at a constant cooling rate of 60 ° C./hour. An annealing treatment was performed. Then, it naturally left to cool to obtain a glass material.

<Press molding and measurement of refractive index>
Press molding for optical glass lens consisting of a pair of upper and lower molds by machining a cemented carbide cylinder of diameter 18mm x height 50mm and having a concave aspherical press surface (approximately φ14mm) with a radius of curvature of approximately 16mm Created a type. After the upper and lower press surfaces are polished to a mirror surface using 0.1 μm diamond abrasive grains, a 50 nm Ti film is formed on the mirror surface by sputtering, and the ratio of Ir to Re is 4: 2. An evaluation mold was prepared by forming a coating film having a composition of 1 to a thickness of 250 nm. A cross section of the lower mold part of this mold is shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a lower cemented carbide part, and reference numeral 2 denotes a coating film (the Ti film is not shown). The Ti film is for improving the adhesion between the cemented carbide portion 1 and the coating film 2.

  Next, the glass material was ground into a diameter of 9 mm, and molded by the following procedure using the press molding apparatus 10 shown in FIG.

First, the chamber 13 is evacuated by a vacuum pump (not shown), N ₂ gas is introduced to make the inside of the chamber 13 an N ₂ atmosphere, and the upper mold 11 and the lower mold 12 are moved by the heater blocks 14 and 15. Heated. When the viscosity of the glass to be molded reaches a temperature (about 660 ° C.) at which the viscosity becomes about 10 ⁻⁹ dPa · s, the lower shaft 17 is pulled down by the hydraulic cylinder 16, and an object to be molded (polishing ball) is used using an auto hand (not shown). ) 18 was set on the lower mold 12.

  Next, after the temperature of the mold was maintained for 3 minutes, the lower shaft 17 was raised by the hydraulic cylinder 16, and the upper mold 11 and the lower mold 12 were pressed at a molding pressure of 3000 N for 1 minute to form a lens. Thereafter, the temperature was lowered at a cooling rate of 100 ° C./min, and the lower die 12 was lowered when the temperature of the upper and lower dies reached a temperature (570 ° C.) lower by 30 ° C. than the Tg temperature of the sample. The molded sample 18 was taken out from the lower mold 12 with an automatic hand and recovered from the chamber 13 through a replacement device (not shown).

Glue the molded sample to the grinding jig, attach the jig to the horizontal grinding machine, grind one side for 5 minutes, remove the jig once, rotate 90 degrees and attach it to the grinding machine again. The surface of was processed for 5 minutes. The refractive index of the obtained 90 ° prism was measured using a Pullfrich refractometer (manufactured by Shimadzu Device Manufacturing Co., Ltd., trade name: KPR-200). The measured value of the refractive index of the glass molded product obtained under the above conditions was n _d = 1.86010. This value was as designed.

Furthermore, in the above operation, a glass molded product was obtained in the same manner except that the cooling rate after press molding was changed from 100 ° C./min to 200 ° C./min. The measured value of the refractive index was 52 × from the design value. It became 10 ^-5 smaller value.

<Fine adjustment of refractive index>
The following heat treatment was performed for fine adjustment of the refractive index using the glass molded product obtained at a cooling rate of 200 ° C./min after the press molding in the above.

(Samples 1 to 3)
The glass molded article is subjected to heat treatment at 357 ° C. (sample 1), 325 ° C. (sample 2) or 315 ° C. (sample 3) for 6 hours, and then the temperature is lowered to 40 ° C. lower than the heat treatment temperature over 1 hour. The temperature was further lowered to room temperature over 1 hour.

  The refractive index of the obtained glass molded product was measured. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Samples 4 and 5)
The glass molded article is subjected to heat treatment at 357 ° C. for 10 hours (sample 4) or 3 hours (sample 5), and then the temperature is lowered to a temperature 40 ° C. lower than the heat treatment temperature over 1 hour, and further, room temperature is taken over 1 hour. Lowered to.

  The refractive index of the obtained glass molded product was measured. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Samples 6-9)
The glass molded product is subjected to heat treatment at 407 ° C. (sample 6), 450 ° C. (sample 7), 400 ° C. (sample 8) or 550 ° C. (sample 9) for 2 hours, and then the temperature is set to the heat treatment temperature over 1 hour. The temperature was lowered to 40 ° C. and further lowered to room temperature over 1 hour.

  The refractive index of the obtained glass molded product was measured. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Evaluation)
Table 1 also shows the results of measuring the shape change before and after heat treatment, asphalt and habit of the glass molded products of Samples 1 to 9.

  FIG. 3 is a graph of the refractive index change due to the difference between the heat treatment temperature and the strain point from the results of Samples 1 to 3. FIG. 4 is a graph of the refractive index change according to the heat treatment temperature holding time from the results of Samples 1, 4 and 5. From these, it can be seen that the change in the refractive index due to the heat treatment increases as the heat treatment temperature or time increases. However, the refractive index is stabilized after several hours at a constant temperature. Therefore, if the heat treatment temperature is selected according to the required refractive index fluctuation amount, it is possible to reach the target refractive index very accurately and reliably.

In Table 1, samples 1 to 6 have a refractive index measurement value in the range of the design value ± 30 × 10 ⁻⁵ (within the tolerance range), but the heat treatment in the low temperature range of the present invention was performed. In Samples 1 to 5, the shape change, asphalt, and habit are not seen. On the other hand, the change in shape and the occurrence of asperities and habits in the samples 6 to 9 are in the range where there is no problem with a normal lens, but are in an amount that is recognized as a defective product with a particularly precise lens.

(Table 1)
Change in refractive index due to heat treatment at low temperature
Heat treatment strain point and thermal refractive index change Design value Shape change Asked sample Temperature Time Processing temperature Difference from measured value
Difference between (℃) and (H) (℃) (× 10 ^-5 ) (μm) (book) (book)
1 357 6 -200 1.80610 52 0 0 0 0
2 325 6 -232 1.80595 27 -25 0 0 0
3 315 6 -242 1.80592 24 -28 0 0 0
4 357 10 -200 1.80610 52 0 0 0 0
5 357 3 -200 1.80593 35 -17 0 0 0
6 407 2 -150 1.80618 60 8 50 0.5 0.5
7 450 2-107 1.80696 130 78 70 0.6 0.6
8 500 2-57 1.80738 180 128 100 0.6 0.6
9 550 2 -7 1.80808 250 198 150 0.8 0.8

  Glass molding that can be provided as a glass optical element with a refractive index within the tolerance of the design value is manufactured by press molding that does not require polishing after molding and has mass productivity. In addition, the deviation from the design value of the refractive index of the optical glass element manufactured by press molding can be fine-tuned by heat treatment in a low temperature range, which can be used to improve the yield in the production of various optical elements. However, an advantageous method of manufacturing an optical glass element can be provided.

Schematic which shows the cross section of the shaping | molding die used in implementation of this invention. Schematic which shows the cross section of the press molding apparatus used in implementation of this invention. The graph which shows the relationship between the difference of heat processing temperature and a strain point, and the refractive index change by heat processing. The graph which shows the relationship between the retention time of heat processing temperature, and the refractive index change by heat processing.

Explanation of symbols

1: Cemented carbide part of lower mold, 2: Coating film, 10: Press molding device 11: Upper mold, 12: Lower mold, 13: Chamber, 14, 15: Heater block,
16: Hydraulic cylinder, 17: Lower shaft, 18: Molded object, 19: Upper shaft.

Claims (3)

A step of preparing a glass molded product by press-molding a glass material into a predetermined shape;
When the refractive index of the glass molded article is smaller than the refractive index design value, the glass molded article is subjected to a heat treatment in a low temperature range to bring the refractive index of the glass molded article close to the refractive index designed value. ,
The lower limit temperature of the low temperature region is not less than 300 ° C. lower than the strain point of the glass material, and the upper limit temperature of the low temperature region is lower than a temperature lower by 150 ° C. than the strain point of the glass material. Manufacturing method of optical glass element. The method of manufacturing an optical glass element according to claim 1, wherein a refractive index fluctuation amount by the heat treatment is 100 × 10 ⁻⁵ or less. When the measured value of the refractive index of the glass molded product obtained by press molding of the glass material is smaller than the design value, the refractive index of the glass molded product is brought close to the designed value by subjecting the glass molded product to a heat treatment in a low temperature range. A fine tuning method,
The lower limit temperature of the low temperature region is not less than 300 ° C. lower than the strain point of the glass material, and the upper limit temperature of the low temperature region is less than 150 ° C. lower than the strain point of the glass material. A method for finely adjusting the refractive index of a molded product.

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