JPH06331813A - Production of optical parts - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the process for production of optical parts having diffraction gratings in which wax and solvents, such as hydrocarbon halide, are not used and production efficiency is enhanced. CONSTITUTION:The marginal end of a transparent substrate 1 formed with the diffraction gratings consisting of glass, quartz crystal, etc., is fixed by a fixing frame 2 and holding jig 3 which are fixing means. The transparent substrate 1 is put together with the fixing frame 2 into a water tank 4 and the fixing frame 2 is set on a frame rest 5. The water tank 4 is internally filled with pure water. The pure water is frozen by using a refrigerating device to fix the transparent substrate 1 by ice. The frozen water tank 4 is set in a cutting device and the transparent substrate 1 is cut vertically and horizontally by a diamond blade 6 which is a cutting means, by which the diffraction gratings are formed. The ice is thereafter thawed and the diffraction gratings are washed by the pure water, by which the products are obtd.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an optical component having a diffraction grating (grating), which is a part of an optical pickup component, incorporated into a signal reading device for an optical recording medium such as a CD. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical component having a diffraction grating by cutting a transparent substrate on which the diffraction grating is formed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an optical component having a diffraction grating has been manufactured by the following method. That is, for example, φ7
A 5 mm flat glass or a transparent substrate such as a crystal is washed, masked, and then pattern-exposed, etching is performed to form a diffraction grating, and after this is cleaned, quality inspection is performed, and finally a protective film is coated to form the diffraction grating. To complete the formed substrate. Next, in order to cut this transparent substrate into an arbitrary size, a glass plate called so-called discarded glass is placed on a flat plate, molten wax is applied on this discarded glass, and a diffraction grating is formed on this. The transparent substrate is placed and fixed by cooling and solidifying the wax. Then, wax is further applied onto the transparent substrate in order to prevent abrasion of the blade of the cutter.

The transparent substrate, the upper and lower surfaces of which are hardened with wax, is cut in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction at arbitrary pitches by a disc type multi-cutter having a plurality of diamond blades. The diffraction grating thus produced is then put into a washing container using bamboo tweezers to remove wax and washed with an organic solvent such as Freon to obtain a product.

[0004]

Since the above-mentioned prior art uses wax, the working environment is deteriorated by the steam generated during melting and cutting of the wax. Further, since a solvent composed of a halogenated hydrocarbon such as CFC is used to wash the wax, it has a bad influence on the global environment such as destroying the ozone layer in the atmosphere. Further, when the diffraction grating cut to remove the wax is transferred to the cleaning device, the production efficiency was poor because it relied on manual labor such as using tweezers.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a diffraction grating which does not use a wax or a solvent such as a halogenated hydrocarbon and can improve the production efficiency. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an optical component having the same.

[0006]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, the edge portion of a transparent substrate on which a diffraction grating is formed is fixed by fixing means, and the fixed transparent substrate is immersed in water. Then, this was cooled to freeze the ice, and the transparent substrate was cut by the cutting means while keeping the ice.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a process chart showing an example of a method for manufacturing an optical component according to the present invention. The transparent substrate set in the water tank is shown in a sectional view of FIG. In the figure, glass,
An edge portion of the transparent substrate 1 on which a diffraction grating made of crystal or the like is formed is fixed by a fixing frame 2 and a holding jig 3 which are fixing means. Then, the transparent substrate 1 and the fixed frame 2 together with the water tank 4
Put it inside and hang the fixed frame 2 on the frame receiver 5. Next, the water tank 4 is filled with pure water, and this pure water is frozen using a freezing device to fix the transparent substrate 1 with ice.

FIG. 1 (b) is a plan view of the transparent substrate set in the water tank. As shown in the figure, the holding jig 3 fixes the transparent substrate 1 in water, but the number of the holding jigs 3 may be plural. After the pure water is frozen, the water tank 4 is set in the cutting device.

FIG. 1C is a sectional view showing a transparent substrate cut in ice. As shown in the figure, the transparent substrate 1 is cut in the vertical and horizontal directions by a diamond blade 6 as a cutting means to form a diffraction grating. After that, ice is melted and the diffraction grating is washed with pure water to obtain a product.

According to the above-described method of the present invention, since both sides of the transparent substrate 1 and the diffraction grating before thawing are covered with ice, it is possible to protect the transparent substrate 1 from damage and dust due to an external impact. Further, since the transparent substrate 1 is completely fixed by ice, it does not shift at the time of cutting and can be easily processed without damaging the surface of the diffraction grating by chips such as glass.

Further, a part of ice is melted by the frictional heat generated when the diamond blade 6 rotates at a high speed, and this water serves as a cutting fluid, so that the frictional heat is cooled, and chipping, chipping, etc. which are likely to occur during cutting. Can be prevented. Further, according to this method, since wax is not used, cleaning can be performed without using an organic solvent such as CFC, so that there is no fear of environmental pollution. Further, when pure water is used, the influence of dust is small, and the processed diffraction grating and cutting device are not damaged.

As shown in FIG. 1C, the cutting can be performed while supplying the cooled cutting fluid from the liquid injection nozzle 7 to the cutting portion of the diamond blade 6. The cutting liquid is preferably a mixed liquid of a surfactant and an alcohol such as ethyl alcohol or ethylene glycol. For example, the surfactant is mixed with the alcohol 3 in a weight ratio of 3. If this cutting fluid is used at 0 ° C. or lower, for example, −5 ° C., the frozen state of the transparent substrate 1 can be maintained even better and the fixing can be perfected, so that the diffraction grating may be scattered after cutting. Absent.

As the holding jig 3, various kinds other than the above can be used. FIG. 2A is a plan view showing another example of the method of fixing a transparent substrate according to the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a schematic view of another holding jig used for fixing. As shown in FIG. 3A, it is preferable to use a plurality of holding jigs 3 and stop the edge portions of the transparent substrate 1 at several positions. In addition, as an example of the holding jig 3, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the base portion 8 fixed to the fixed frame 2 and the transparent substrate 1
An example is a holding part 9 for holding the holding part, and an up-and-down movable arm 10 connecting the base part 8 and the holding part 9. Above all, the arm 10 is locked when the transparent substrate 1 is fixed to the fixed frame 2, and when the lock is released, the holding portion 9 is held.
It is preferable to use the holding jig 3 having a mechanism that allows the transparent substrate 1 to be detached by jumping up.

A preferred method for recovering the diffraction grating cut by the above method will be described below. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the method of sedimentation / alignment of a cut diffraction grating according to the present invention. In the same figure (a), the cut diffraction grating is taken out from the water tank 4 together with the ice, and the thawing device 1 as a heating means is provided above it.
1 shows a state in which 1 is arranged. However, in this example, the saucer 12 is set in the water tank 4 before the freezing, and the fixed frame 2 is placed on the saucer 12 to freeze them together. Therefore, in FIG. 3A, there is a tray 12 arranged so that the grid-shaped partition plate 13 is brought into contact with the mesh-shaped cut traces of the diamond blade 6.

In order to melt the ice using the thawing device 11, as shown in the figure, the partition plate 14 with the heater, which is a constituent part of the thawing device 11, is pushed into the mesh-shaped cut by the diamond blade 6. To heat. As the ice block melts, the thawing device 11 sinks under its own weight, and the partition plate 14 with a heater
The tip of the abutment contacts the upper surface of the grid-shaped partition plate 13 of the tray 12. An enlarged view of this contact portion is shown in FIG. As is apparent from the figure, both partition plates are formed so that the partition plate with a heater 14 can be fitted into the grid-shaped partition plate 13.

The partition plate 13 and the partition plate 14 are brought into contact with each other as described above, and then warm pure water is supplied from the warm pure water supply pipe 15 built in the defroster 11 as shown in FIG. 3 (c). Then, the ice is melted and the diffraction grating is washed at the same time.
Then, since the partition plate 13 and the partition plate 14 contact each other as described above to perform the function of the guide, the tray 12 aligns the diffraction gratings that sink while being washed with the melting of ice without changing their front and back sides and directions. can do.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Figure 4
FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing another example of the optical component manufacturing method according to the present invention. In the figure, the transparent substrate 1 has its edge fixed by a fixing frame 2 and a holding jig 3. The fixed frame 2 to which the transparent substrate 1 is fixed is a flat plate 16
It is fitted on the top of the frame 17 which is erected on the top, and forms a box body as a whole. On the other hand, inside the box body, a partition frame 18 in which plate materials are combined in a grid pattern to form a plurality of grids, and a saucer which is arranged below the partition frame 18 and has the grids aligned and combined with the partition frame 18 19 is placed.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of the partition frame and the tray. As shown in the figure, the grid of the partition frame 18 is formed so as to correspond to the grid of the tray 19. Further, in order to connect the partition frame 18 and the saucer 19, the grid portion of the saucer 19 is embossed and fitted into the lower end of the partition frame 18, or a convex portion is provided on the saucer 19 side or the partition frame 18 side. Any method may be used, such as providing a concave portion on the side of the partition frame 18 or the side of the tray 19 and fitting them together.

Returning to FIG. 4, the description will be continued. A box body composed of the fixed frame 2, the flat plate 16 and the frame body 17 is filled with water, frozen and frozen. The transparent substrate 1 is completely fixed by this ice. Then, this box is set in the cutting device. Then, the transparent substrate 1 is cut in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction by the diamond blade 6 while supplying the cooling cutting liquid from the liquid injection nozzle 7 so that the frozen state can be maintained even during cutting.

After the cutting, if the cutting fluid is warmed and used as a cleaning fluid, the ice melts and the diffraction grating is washed and settles in the water in the grid provided in the partition frame 18 without changing the front and back and the direction. Then, it is aligned with the saucer 19.

[0021]

As described above, according to the method of the present invention, the edge portion of the transparent substrate on which the diffraction grating is formed is fixed by the fixing means, and the fixed transparent substrate is immersed in water. Since the transparent substrate is cooled by the cutting means while it is frozen and the frozen substrate is cut in the frozen state, it is not necessary to fix the transparent substrate with wax as in the conventional case.

Therefore, the working environment is not deteriorated by the vapor generated during the melting and cutting of the wax. Furthermore, since the wax is not used, the cut diffraction grating can be easily washed, and it is not necessary to use a solvent composed of a halogenated hydrocarbon such as CFC.

If the cutting is carried out while supplying the cooled cutting fluid to the cutting portion, the frozen state of the transparent substrate can be maintained even better and the fixing can be completed completely. The diffraction grating will not be scattered later.

If the transparent substrate cut by the cutting means is then melted by the heating means, the ice is melted, and the transparent substrate is settled down and aligned in a grid-shaped saucer arranged below. The productivity can be improved because there is no need to pinch it with tweezers.

Furthermore, if the grid-shaped tray is used in combination with the grid-shaped partition frame, when the diffraction grating is settled on the grid-shaped tray, it is possible to align the front and back and the direction without changing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process chart showing an example of an optical component manufacturing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view (a) showing another example of a transparent substrate fixing method according to the present invention and a schematic view (b) of another holding jig used for fixing.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a method of sedimentation / alignment of a cut diffraction grating according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing another example of a method for manufacturing an optical component according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a partition frame and a tray according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Transparent substrate, 2 ... Fixed frame (fixing means), 3 ... Holding jig (fixing means), 4 ... Water tank, 5 ... Frame receiver, 6 ... Diamond blade (cutting means), 7 ... Liquid injection nozzle, 11 ... Defrosting device (heating means), 12, 19 ... saucer, 13, 14
... Partition plate, 15 ... Pipe, 16 ... Flat plate, 17 ... Frame body, 1
8 ... Partition frame.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing an optical component having a diffraction grating by vertically and horizontally cutting a transparent substrate having a diffraction grating formed thereon, wherein an edge portion of the transparent substrate having the diffraction grating is fixed by a fixing means. A method for manufacturing an optical component, which comprises immersing the fixed transparent substrate in water, cooling it to freeze it, and cutting the transparent substrate in a frozen state by cutting means. 2. The transparent substrate cut by the cutting means is then melted by the heating means to allow the ice to melt and settle on a grid-shaped saucer arranged below to be aligned. Of manufacturing optical components of.