TWI409450B - Optical metrology mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an optical metrology mechanism, which includes a base unit, a first holder, a second holder, a suspension mechanism and a driving device. The base unit has a first opening disposed on a top surface thereof. The first holder is disposed on the top surface of the base unit, and located beside the first opening. The second holder is disposed over the first holder, wherein the second holder has a second opening having a same axial as the first opening. The second holder is suspended by the suspension mechanism disposed thereabove. The suspension mechanism includes an adjustable means for moving the second holder upward and downward along the axial. The driving device, which is connected to the second holder, is used for driving the second holder into rotation.

Description

Optical measuring mechanism

The present invention relates to an optical measuring mechanism.

A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a display device that uses liquid crystal characteristics to achieve a display effect. The liquid crystal display panel can be colored, mainly from a color display color filter. The light emitted by the backlight passes through the lower polarizer to become polarized light, and then the driving circuit (Integrated Circuit; IC) is used to change the pressure difference between the upper and lower substrates of the liquid crystal panel, and the liquid crystal molecules are arranged in a row or twisted shape. Forming a gate to select whether polarized light can penetrate the upper polarizer, thus producing a picture. Generally, the upper and lower polarizers are arranged in an orthogonal arrangement, but in some small size or cholesteric liquid crystal products, upper and lower polarized light The slices will form an arrangement of non-orthogonal specific angles.

A glass substrate located between the upper and lower polarizers, such as a color filter substrate, a liquid crystal panel, or the like, may affect its optical characteristics due to the quality or process of the material used, particularly the influence of the material on the polarization of light, possibly The polarized light is depolarized and the contrast of the liquid crystal display panel is lowered. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a measurement of the contrast value of each glass substrate and polarizer of the liquid crystal display panel for this requirement. This set of measuring equipment is used to assist in finding the parallel polarization and vertical polarization between the two polarizers and the optical characteristics of the sample to be tested, thereby improving the product characteristics.

The method for measuring the contrast value between the color filter and the polarizer is to place the lower polarizer above the light source, and the color filter is disposed about 5-10 cm above the lower polarizer, and the upper polarizer is Set at about 5 to 10 cm above the color filter, and then measure, but the data may still have some errors after the measurement, because the parallelism between the two polarizers and the sample to be tested cannot be established during the measurement. .

In addition, if the conventional method is to understand the relationship between the polarization degree of the liquid crystal panel and the polarizer, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of liquid crystal samples, and the polarizer is attached to the angle to be measured to measure. Such a measurement method is very inconvenient.

The conventional measurement method has the following disadvantages in actual operation: the distance between the upper and lower polarizers and the object to be tested is 5 to 10 cm, and the distance between the three cannot be shortened to simulate the real product condition, and The parallelism between the polarizer and the object to be tested.

By using a plurality of pieces of the object to be tested, attaching the upper and lower polarizers having different corresponding angles to the upper and lower sides makes the measurement very cumbersome, and it is difficult to grasp the result of the slight angle change.

Accordingly, after discovering its shortcomings and inconveniences by using the conventional measurement method, the present invention and a measurement device for comparing the value of the object to be tested and the polarizer are established for this requirement. This set of measuring equipment is used to assist in finding the parallel polarization and vertical polarization between the two polarizers and the optical characteristics of the object to be tested, thereby improving the product characteristics.

In order to improve the disadvantages of the prior art, the present invention provides a measuring device for measuring the degree of light polarization of an object to be tested, which comprises a base, a first carrier, a second carrier, a driving component and a measuring component. The upper plate of the base has a first opening and a light source within the base. The first carrier is disposed on the upper surface of the base at least on both sides of the opening. The second carrier has a second opening and the first opening is coaxial with the second opening. The second carrier is disposed in parallel above the base and is driven to rotate by the driving element. When the measuring device is used to measure the object to be tested, the first polarizer is disposed on the upper surface of the base and shields the first opening, and the second polarizer is disposed on the lower surface of the second carrier and shields the second opening. The object to be tested is placed on the upper surface of the first carrier. The light polarization degree of the object to be tested can be obtained by measuring the change of the light passing through the first opening and the second opening by the measuring component. The pedestal can be made of a material that is opaque and thermally insulated to avoid interference of residual light during measurement and to maintain the brightness of the light source. In general, to simulate a real product condition, the height of the first carrier may be equal to or slightly greater than the thickness of the polarizer, and the difference between the two is generally no more than 1 mm. In addition, the second carrier has a fixing member for fixing the second polarizer.

In an embodiment of the invention, the invention further includes a suspension mechanism, the second carrier can be installed under the suspension mechanism, and the suspension mechanism can include an adjustment mechanism to move the second carrier up and down in the axial direction. , the distance between the upper polarizer and the object to be tested can be changed. The adjustment mechanism may further include a coarse adjustment mechanism and a fine adjustment mechanism. In addition, the suspension mechanism further includes a driving member for rotating the second carrier.

In an embodiment of the invention, the invention has a bracket structure for erecting a suspension mechanism. In other embodiments of the present invention, the present invention has a bracket mechanism, which can be used not only to erect the suspension mechanism, but also to increase the suspension mechanism in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, or the X and Y-axis directions. The direction of movement is measured at different positions of the object to be tested. Of course, when designing for a fixed bracket structure, the upper plate of the base can be designed to be movable, and the purpose of measuring the different positions of the object to be tested can be achieved.

The susceptor of the invention has a receiving groove for accommodating the light source, and the light source design can be selectively fixed or replaceable. In the removable design, in order to make the light source and the lower surface of the upper plate equidistant, different heights of the light source holder can be designed to match the use of different light sources. In addition, the first carrier may optionally include a shading device to avoid interference with other non-measured light during measurement.

The invention further comprises a cylinder which can cooperate with the shape of the first opening and the second opening to pass through the two openings and can be tightly fitted for the opening, so that the second bearing can be ensured when the measuring device is installed The parallelism between the seat and the upper plate of the base.

The invention further provides a method of measurement. First, the first polarizer and the second polarizer are respectively disposed on the upper surface of the base and shield the first opening and the lower surface of the second carrier and shield the second opening. The second carrier is rotated to obtain a relative position of parallel polarization, vertical polarization or specific polarization between the two polarizers. When the object to be tested is placed on the first carrier, the optical characteristics of the object to be tested at different angles of the absorption axes of the first and second polarizers can be measured. In addition, the light source with different brightness and spectrum can be replaced, and the above measurement items can provide more experimental data, and can further study the characteristics of the object to be tested and improve product performance.

In another aspect of the invention, an optical measuring mechanism is provided, the mechanism comprising a base, a first carrier, a second carrier, a suspension mechanism and a driving component. The top mask of the base has a first opening. The first carrier is disposed on the top surface of the base and at least on both sides of the first opening. The second carrier is disposed above the first carrier, wherein the second carrier has a second opening, and the second opening is located at the same axial position as the first opening. The suspension mechanism is disposed above the second carrier for suspending the second carrier, and the suspension mechanism includes an adjustment mechanism for moving the second carrier up and down along the axis direction. The driving component is coupled to the second carrier to drive the second carrier.

The measurement device provided by the present invention can indeed simulate a real product for measurement, and makes the measurement very simple but can obtain more detailed results.

The measuring device provided by the invention does not need to make a very large number of samples to understand the characteristics of the polarizer at different angles, for example, using a stepping motor to drive the rotation of the second carrier, the two polarizers can be measured as small as possible. Only one sample is required for a change in the transmittance of polarized light between 0.1 degrees and even smaller angles. This greatly reduces the cumbersome and time consuming process of pre-measurement.

In order to further understand the objects, structural features and functions of the present invention, the drawings are described in detail below.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a schematic diagram of a measuring device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The measuring device 10 includes a base 100, a first carrier 102, a second carrier 104, a drive component 106, and a measuring component 120.

The susceptor 100 has an upper plate 110 and at least one opening 112 therein, and the susceptor 100 has a receiving groove 101 therein for accommodating the light source 114. The first carrier 102 is disposed on the upper surface of the upper plate 110 of the base 100 at least on both sides of the opening 112. The second carrier 104 has an opening 122 and is coaxial with the opening 112. The second carrier 104 is disposed in parallel with the base 100 and is driven to rotate by the driving component 106. In this embodiment, the driving component 106 can be a stepping motor, and the coaxial portion corresponding to the opening 122 also has an opening. . The first polarizer 116 is disposed on the upper surface of the base 100 and shields the opening 112, and the second polarizer 118 is disposed in the second. The lower surface of the carrier 104 and the opening on the second carrier 104 are shielded. The object to be tested 119 is disposed on the upper surface of the first carrier 102. When the second carrier 104 is rotated, the measuring component 120 can measure the change of the light passing through the opening 122 of the opening 112 and the second carrier 104, thereby obtaining the degree of polarization of the light of the object to be tested 119. Wherein, the susceptor 100 can be made of a material that is opaque and thermally insulated, such as bakelite, to avoid light interference during measurement and to maintain the brightness of the light source.

The first carrier 102 can be used not only for carrying the object to be tested 119 but also for fixing the first polarizer 116. Accordingly, the first carrier 102 can be of a movable design, so that it can be pulled outward first. After the first polarizer 116 is placed, the first polarizer 116 is clamped and fixed inward.

The second polarizer 118 can be fixed to the lower surface of the second carrier 104 by magnetic attraction, that is, the lower surface of the second carrier 104 is provided with a magnetic block, for example, a magnet is placed under the second carrier 104. The second polarizer 118 is fixed to the lower surface of the second carrier 104 by a suction of a magnetic block (not shown) on the lower surface of the second carrier 104. The hollow portion of the thin iron piece 105 is approximately equal to or larger than the opening 122 in the second carrier 104. In addition, a vacuum adsorption device may be disposed on the second carrier 104, for example, a vacuum channel that penetrates the second carrier 104 up and down or an electrostatic electrode on the lower surface of the second carrier 104 to use vacuum adsorption or electrostatic adsorption. The second polarizer 118 is fixed to the lower surface of the second carrier 104. The second carrier 104 can also be made of an opaque material, such as bakelite, and can function as a light-shielding function to avoid interference by other non-measured light during measurement.

Please continue to refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram showing how to accurately and quickly confirm the parallelism between the two bases of the second carrier and the upper plate of the base. In this embodiment, the opening 112 of the base plate 110 and the opening 122 of the second carrier 104 are circular in the same diameter. When the measuring device 10 is installed in FIG. 1 , the cylindrical body 124 having the same diameter as the openings 112 and 122 passes through the two openings 112 , 122 and can be tightly fitted for the openings 112 , 122 . The parallelism of the second carrier 104 to the base upper plate 110 can be ensured simply and quickly.

In order to make the light source of different sizes and the lower surface of the upper plate can be equidistant, the embodiment further discloses a design of a bracket. 3A and 3B are schematic views showing the design of a replaceable light source in the susceptor. As shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B , the susceptor 100 has a receiving groove 101 , and the light source can be disposed in the accommodating groove 101 . In FIGS. 3A and 3B, the light source 126 and the light source 128 have different heights. Therefore, when the light source 126 is replaced by the light source 128, the light source holder 130 is disposed below the light source 128 to make the light sources 126, 128 and the upper plate. The distance between the lower surfaces of 110 is the same.

Referring to FIG. 1 again, the measuring device disclosed in the embodiment may firstly position the first polarizer 116 on the upper surface of the upper plate 110 of the base 100, and may fix and shield the first carrier 102. Opening 112. The second polarizer 118 is then fixed to the lower surface of the second carrier 104 by the hollow thin iron piece 105 of the second carrier 104 and shields the opening. The second carrier 104 is lowered by a height such that the distance between the polarizers 116 and 118 is approximately equal to the thickness of the object 119 to be tested. The relative position of the parallel polarization, the vertical polarization or the specific polarization between the two polarizers is obtained by rotating the second carrier 104 and measuring the change of the light with the measuring unit 120.

Then, after the second carrier 104 is raised, the object to be tested 119 is placed on the first carrier 102, and then the second carrier 104 is lowered to a distance between the second polarizer 118 and the object to be tested 119. Then, the influence of the object to be tested 119 on the polarization of the light when the first polarizer 116 and the second polarizer 118 are at different angles can be measured. In addition, it is also possible to replace the light source with different brightness and spectrum, and then provide more experimental data with the above measurement items, so that the researcher can do more research on the characteristics of the object 119 and improve product performance. In this example, the object to be tested 119 is a color filter. For the filter, you can use different kinds of light sources (such as LED Black light) to test. It can be understood that the color photoresist destroys the polarization of the light and causes light leakage or the influence of different light sources on the polarization of the light, so that the contrast Reduce the severity of the phenomenon.

In such measurement, it is necessary for the second polarizer 118 to be as close as possible to the object to be tested 119 (color filter), because in the actual product, the polarizer is directly attached to the color filter. on. The experiment for measuring the contrast of the color filter under the condition of changing the distance between the second polarizer 118 and the object to be tested 119 is found in Table 1.

When the distance between the second polarizer 118 and the object to be tested 119 is greater than 6 cm, the measured contrast is about 12% higher than the contrast obtained when the second polarizer 118 is in close contact with the object to be tested 119. Conventional measurement methods cannot effectively screen out inappropriate objects to be tested. At least 10% of the products will be scrapped due to poor contrast or be considered as secondary products.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention. The measuring device 20 includes a base 200, a first carrier 202, a second carrier 204, a suspension mechanism 206, a first bracket 208, a second bracket 210, and a measuring component holder 212. The first carrier 202 is disposed on the base 200 and movable along the Y-axis direction, and the two first carriers 202 are movable in opposite directions to release/clamp a polarizer. The second carrier 204 can be disposed under the suspension mechanism 206. The suspension mechanism 206 can include an adjustment mechanism. The adjustment mechanism includes a coarse adjustment mechanism 207 and a fine adjustment mechanism 205. The fine adjustment mechanism 205 can adjust the second carrier 204 to move the second carrier 204 up and down in the Z-axis direction, so that the polarizer fixed under the second carrier 204 and the object to be tested can be changed. distance. When the distance adjustment is performed, the coarse adjustment mechanism 207 can be used to perform the large-scale (long-distance) adjustment, so that the second carrier 204 can quickly reach the measurable range, and the fine adjustment mechanism 205 can be used to perform the small amplitude. The distance is adjusted to bring the second carrier 204 to a preset position. The adjustment mechanism can be adjusted using the coarse adjustment mechanism 207 and the fine adjustment mechanism 205. The suspension mechanism 206 is mounted on the first bracket 208. In the present embodiment, the suspension mechanism 206 is of a fixed design in the X-axis and Y-axis directions. The measuring component holder 212 is fixed on the cross member 220 of the second bracket 210. The second bracket 210 has a sliding rail 218 for moving the beam 220 in the Y-axis direction. The measuring element holder 212 is designed such that a measuring element (not shown) mounted thereon can be moved up and down in the Z-axis direction. All of the movable components have corresponding fixed components that can be fixed after the components are in place (not shown). The front end of the base 200 has a light source replacement port 214. When the light source needs to be replaced, the front cover (not shown) can be removed/opened to replace the light source, and then the front cover is closed to achieve the purpose of shading. A chute may be disposed between the measuring component holder 212 and the beam 220 to move the measuring component holder 212 in the X-axis direction.

In the present embodiment, the suspension mechanism 206 and the measuring component holder 212 are disposed on different bracket first brackets 208 and second brackets 210, but can also be disposed on the same bracket to suspend the suspension mechanism 206 and the measuring component. The seat 212 can move synchronously. The suspension mechanism 206 can also be disposed on a beam that spans the bracket such that the suspension mechanism 206 can move the X-Y axis (X-axis or Y-axis). Such a design allows measurement of different locations of the object to be tested. In addition, the second carrier 204 is disposed in parallel above the base 200 and is driven to rotate by a driving component (not shown). In this embodiment, the driving component may be a stepping motor and the second carrier is corresponding thereto. The opening on the opening 204 (not shown) also has an opening.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical measuring mechanism for measuring optical properties of an object, the mechanism comprising a base, a first carrier, a second carrier, and a Suspension mechanism and a driving element. The top mask of the base has a first opening. The first carrier is disposed on the top surface of the base and at least on both sides of the first opening. The second carrier is disposed above the first carrier, wherein the second carrier has a second opening, and the second opening is located at the same axial position as the first opening. The suspension mechanism is disposed above the second carrier for suspending the second carrier, and the suspension mechanism includes an adjustment mechanism for moving the second carrier up and down along the axis direction. The driving component is coupled to the second carrier to drive the second carrier.

The use of the present invention does have the following advantages, it is indeed possible to simulate a real product for measurement, and the measurement becomes very simple but can obtain more detailed results, so that the object to be tested, such as color, can be found. The color photoresist in the filter destroys the degree of polarization of the light to cause light leakage, so that the contrast is lowered, and the optical characteristics at the different angles of the absorption axes of the upper and lower polarizers can be measured. Furthermore, the optical characteristics of the multi-angle intersection between the two parallel polarizers can be measured to evaluate the optical characteristics of the polarizer. In addition, when understanding the characteristics of the angle between the liquid crystal cell and the polarizer, there is no need to prepare a plurality of samples, and there is no need to worry about the relative angular accuracy of the two polarizers, because the measuring device and method of the present invention can accurately control the two polarized lights by using an electronic control program. The angle between the pieces. In addition, different light sources can be replaced, and the backlight module with different brightness and spectrum can be replaced by this method, and more experimental data can be provided together with the above measurement items, and more research on the material characteristics can be made and the product can be improved. performance.

Although the present invention has been described above in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the invention, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

10, 20. . . Measuring device

100, 200. . . Pedestal

101. . . Locating slot

102, 202. . . First carrier

104, 204. . . Second carrier

105. . . Hollow thin iron piece

106. . . Drive component

110. . . On board

112, 122. . . Opening

114, 126, 128. . . light source

116, 118. . . Polarizer

119. . . Object to be tested

120. . . Measuring element

124. . . Cylinder

130. . . Holder

205. . . Micro adjustment mechanism

206. . . Suspension mechanism

207. . . Rough adjustment mechanism

208, 210. . . First bracket, second bracket

212. . . Measuring element holder

214. . . Light source replacement port

218. . . Slide rail

220. . . beam

The above and other objects, features, advantages and embodiments of the present invention will become more apparent and understood.

1 is a schematic view showing a device for measuring the influence of a thin layer on the degree of polarization of light according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing how to accurately and quickly confirm the parallelism between the two bases of the second carrier and the upper plate of the base;

3A and 3B are schematic views showing the design of a replaceable light source in the susceptor;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

10. . . Measuring device

100. . . Pedestal

101. . . Locating slot

102. . . First carrier

104. . . Second carrier

105. . . Hollow thin iron piece

106. . . Drive component

110. . . On board

112, 122. . . Opening

114. . . light source

116. . . First polarizer

118. . . Second polarizer

119. . . Object to be tested

120. . . Measuring element

Claims (10)

An optical measuring mechanism for measuring an optical property of an object, the optical measuring mechanism comprising: a base, the top mask of the base has a first opening; a first bearing seat is disposed on the base a second carrier is disposed on the top surface of the first opening; the second carrier is disposed above the first carrier, wherein the second carrier has a second opening, and the second The opening is located at the same axial position as the first opening; a suspension mechanism is disposed above the second carrier for suspending the second carrier, and the suspension mechanism includes an adjustment mechanism. The second carrier is movable up and down along the axis direction; and a driving component is coupled to the second carrier to drive the second carrier. The optical measuring mechanism of claim 1, wherein a first polarizer covers the first opening, and the first carrier height is equal to or greater than a thickness of the first polarizer. The optical measuring mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a first bracket structure for erecting the suspension mechanism. The optical measuring mechanism according to claim 3, wherein the first supporting structure comprises two brackets and a beam, and the beam is spanned on the two brackets. The optical measuring mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the first carrier is movable, and a side of the base has a light source replacement port. The optical measuring mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a light source holder and a light source, wherein the light source holder is disposed in the base, and the light source is disposed on the light source holder, The light source holder is used to change the distance of the light source to the inner side of the top surface of the base. The optical measuring mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a second polarizer and a fixing component for fixing the second polarizer to the bottom surface of the second carrier. The optical measuring mechanism of claim 7, wherein the fixing component is an electrostatic electrode, and the electrostatic electrode is disposed on a bottom surface of the second carrier. The optical measuring mechanism of claim 7, wherein the fixing component comprises a hollow thin iron piece and a magnetic block disposed on a bottom surface of the second carrier. The optical measuring mechanism of claim 7, wherein the fixing component is a vacuum adsorption mechanism, and the vacuum adsorption structure is disposed on a bottom surface of the second carrier.