JPH08332674A - Thin film forming method and jig used therein - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To facilitate the attaching work of a thin film forming jig and to accurately form a thin film even if a fine optical element is small. CONSTITUTION: Fine optical elements are held between a pair of plate members 1 having a large number of groove holes 2 so as to be engaged with the groove holes 2 and a thin element is formed on the upper and lower parts exposed from the groove holes 2 of the fine optical elements.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a jig for forming a thin film, and more particularly to a jig for forming a thin film on a micro optical element.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a method of forming a thin film on a micro optical element, that is, a ball lens, a ball lens 61 is first fitted and fixed to the center of a holder 62 having an annular shape, as shown in FIG. Fix with the jig 63.
The cross section along the dotted line C is shown in FIG. Next, the holder 62 to which the ball lens 61 is fixed is housed in the thin film deposition apparatus to form a thin film in the directions of arrows 71 and 72. Then, it is taken out from the thin film deposition apparatus.

Ball lens 6 having a thin film formed by this method
A side view of No. 1 is shown in FIG. Since the thin film is formed only on the exposed portion, it is formed in a hemispherical shape on the upper portion 78 and the lower portion 79 of the ball lens 61.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned method, one thin film forming jig, that is, an annular holder, is attached to one micro optical element (ball lens).
And a fixing jig is required. For this reason, there is a drawback that the mounting work is complicated and mass productivity is poor. Further, when the micro optical element is 1 mm or less, there are problems that the accuracy of the jig is deteriorated and that handling is required with caution.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a thin film forming method and a thin film forming jig in which a thin film forming jig can be easily attached and a thin film can be formed accurately even with a small optical element. It is in.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a pair of plate members having a plurality of slots,
After the micro optical element is locked in the slot and held by the slot, thin films are formed on the upper and lower portions where the micro optical element is exposed from the slot.

Further, a pair of plate members having a plurality of groove holes at predetermined intervals, and a fixing member for holding the plate member with the micro optical element locked in the groove holes are provided. Be prepared. Further, the groove hole may have an inner wall surface inclined in a direction of expanding or contracting the diameter of the surface of the plate member, the plate member is a silicon substrate, the groove hole, Plane orientation of the silicon substrate (10
It may be formed by etching from the (0) surface to the back surface.

[0008]

According to the above construction, since the plate member provided with a large number of slots is used as a thin film forming jig, it is possible to fix a large number of micro optical elements at once and form a thin film by batch processing. Therefore, the jig installation work is easy,
The thin film can be formed accurately and uniformly. Further, if a silicon substrate is used for the plate member, the groove hole can be formed with high accuracy, so that the thin film can be formed with high accuracy even if the micro optical element is small.

[0009]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the jig for forming a thin film of the present invention will be described.

The thin film forming jig comprises two silicon substrates and a concave fixing member 7 having appropriate elasticity.

In both of the silicon substrates 1 and 5, as shown in FIG. 1, the silicon substrate 1 is etched from the plane orientation (100) surface 9 to the back surface to form a through hole 2. The slot 2 has a rectangular opening end 6 on the front surface side.
However, the diameter is reduced toward the back surface, and the rectangular window 8 is formed on the back surface. Therefore, the cross section of the slot 2 becomes smaller from the opening end 6 toward the window 8 as shown in FIG. A front view of the back surface of the silicon substrate 1 (c)
It was shown to.

The slot 2 has such a size and shape that a ball lens to be placed later can be placed on the silicon substrates 1 and 5, and even if the ball lens is placed in all the slots 2, a ball lens is placed. The lenses are provided at intervals so that they do not interfere with each other. Further, the window 8 on the back surface side is formed in a size corresponding to the thin film forming region of the ball lens.

Next, the method of the present invention carried out using the above-mentioned thin film forming jig will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 2A, the ball lens 3 is placed on each groove 2 on the front surface side of the silicon substrate 1. The slot 2 has a shape that decreases toward the rear surface and the window 8 is smaller than the ball lens 3, so that the ball lens 3 is locked on the slot 2 without moving.
After all the ball lenses 3 are mounted, the surface of the silicon substrate 5 and the surface of the silicon substrate 1 shown in (b) face each other, and the groove 52 on the surface side of the silicon substrate 5 is locked on each ball lens 3. Place the silicon substrate 5 and ball lens 3
Is held between the two silicon substrates 1 and 5. At this time, the ball lens 3 is partially exposed through the window 8 on the back surface of the silicon substrates 1 and 5.

After that, as shown in FIG. 3, the concave fixing member 7 is fitted to the outer peripheral edges of the silicon substrates 1 and 5 to firmly fix the ball lens 3 between the silicon substrates 1 and 5. . Here, four fixing members 7 are provided on the outer periphery of the silicon substrates 1 and 5 at 90 ° intervals so as not to close the windows 8.

Thereafter, the above-mentioned thin film forming jig is housed in a thin film forming apparatus to form a thin film in the directions of arrows 54 and 55 as shown in FIG.

The ball lens 3 after the thin film is formed is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a thin film is formed on the upper part 57 and the lower part 58 where the ball lens 3 is partially exposed from the window 8.

Therefore, according to the present invention, since a silicon substrate having a large number of groove holes is used, a large number of micro optical elements can be easily fixed at one time, and a thin film forming jig can be easily attached. Moreover, since the thin film formation can be performed by a batch process, a uniform thin film with few individual differences can be formed.

Next, other embodiments will be described.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the ball lens 3 is fixed so as to be housed in and locked in the slot 2, but when the size of the ball lens 3 is small. Etc., as shown in FIG.
The ball lens 44 is placed in the groove hole of the silicon substrate 45, and the other silicon substrate 45 is placed so that the window 42 locks the ball lens 44 to sandwich the ball lens 44, or as shown in (c). , The ball lens 47 is a silicon substrate 48, 49
It may be held in the window. This is effective when the ball lens is smaller than the opening end.

The distance between the grooves of the silicon substrate may be changed according to the size of the ball lens. Therefore, the present invention can accurately form a thin film regardless of the size of the ball lens.

Further, although a silicon substrate is preferable as the plate member, the material is not limited as long as the groove hole can be accurately formed.

[0024]

In summary, according to the present invention, since a plate member having a large number of slots is used, many micro optical elements can be easily fixed at one time, and thin film formation can be performed by batch processing. The work is easy and a uniform thin film can be formed. Therefore, productivity can be improved and manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a jig used in the thin film forming method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a jig used in the thin film forming method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a jig used in the thin film forming method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the thin film forming method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a jig used in a conventional thin film forming method.

7 is a side view showing a ball lens having a thin film formed by the method of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Silicon Substrate (Plate Member) 2 Groove Hole 3 Ball Lens (Micro Optical Element) 5 Silicon Substrate (Plate Member) 6 Opening End 7 Fixing Member 8 Window

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A micro optical element is locked between the pair of plate members having a plurality of groove holes and held between the plate members, and then the upper and lower portions where the micro optical element is exposed from the groove holes. A method of forming a thin film, which comprises forming a thin film. 2. A pair of plate members having a plurality of groove holes at predetermined intervals, and a fixing member for holding the plate members with the micro optical element locked in the groove holes. A jig for use in a thin film forming method characterized by being provided. 3. The jig used in the thin film forming method according to claim 2, wherein the slot has an inner wall surface inclined in a direction of expanding or contracting the diameter of the surface of the plate member. 4. The plate member is a silicon substrate, and the groove is formed by etching so as to reach the back surface from the plane orientation (100) surface of the silicon substrate. A jig for use in the thin film forming method described in 1.