TWI414616B - Device for optical coating - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for optical coating includes a vacuum chamber, a supporter for supporting workpieces, and an evaporation source. The supporter and the evaporation source are arranged in the vacuum chamber. The optical coating device further includes a baffle assembly arranged between the supporter and the evaporation source. The baffle assembly includes a first baffle and a second baffle. The first baffle divides the vacuum chamber into two spaces. The first baffle has a through hole aligned with the supporter and the evaporation source, such that the steam of the evaporation source can go through the through hole to reach the supporter. The second baffle is capable of moving relative to the first baffle to cover or expose the through hole.

Description

Optical coating device

The present invention relates to the field of optical coating, and more particularly to an optical coating apparatus.

With the development of optical products, the application range of optical lenses is becoming wider and wider. Accordingly, the industry uses a variety of methods to fabricate optical lenses to accommodate the market demand for different sizes of optical lenses (see "Fabrication of Diffractive Optical Lens for Beam splitting Using LIGA Process", Jauh Jung Yang; Mechatronics and Automation, Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE International Conference on, pp. 1242-1247, 2006.06). At the same time, in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency, mass production is carried out to meet the demand for optical lenses. Generally, the manufactured optical lenses are subjected to subsequent processing to obtain good performance suitable for the application.

The coating process is one of the important steps in the subsequent processing. Coating refers to the physical or chemical method of plating a single layer or a multilayer film on the surface of an optical element, and utilizing the interference of incident, reflected and transmitted light on the film interface to achieve focusing, collimation, filtering, reflection and refraction. The coating process of the optical component is: first, the optical component is mounted on the component carrier to be plated, and the component carrier to be plated is disposed in a coating chamber; secondly, the coating chamber is sealed and vacuumed; then, steaming Plating or sputtering is applied to the part where the optical component needs to be coated; finally, the coated component is removed from the component carrier to be plated. However, in the coating source and the component carrier to be plated There is a certain space between them. Even if the evaporation or sputtering source is turned off, residual coating materials or contaminants will be deposited on the substrate in the space, which will affect the film thickness accuracy and cleanliness.

In view of the above, it is necessary to provide an optical coating apparatus which can improve the accuracy of film thickness control, reduce the possibility of impurities contaminating components to be plated, and improve the quality of coating.

An optical coating device comprising a vacuum coating chamber, a component carrier to be plated, and a coating source, wherein the component carrier to be plated and the coating source are disposed in the vacuum coating chamber, the optical coating device further comprising a coating baffle, the coating block The plate is disposed between the component carrier to be plated and the coating source, the coating baffle includes a first baffle and a second baffle, and the first baffle partitions the vacuum coating chamber into two spaces. The first baffle has a through hole corresponding to the component carrier to be plated and the coating source, so that the coating material gas generated by the coating source passes through the through hole to reach the component to be plated placed on the component carrier to be plated. The second baffle is movable relative to the first baffle and respectively blocks or exposes the through hole.

Compared with the prior art, the optical coating device provided by the present invention can separate the vacuum coating chamber into two spaces by using the coating baffle, and can control whether the coating material enters the component carrier to be plated by using the opening and closing of the coating baffle. The space is in place to precisely control the thickness of the coating and improve the quality of the coating.

The embodiments of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, a first embodiment of the present invention provides an optical coating apparatus 100. The optical coating apparatus 100 includes a vacuum coating chamber 10, a component carrier 20 to be plated, a coating source 30, and a coating shutter 40. The component carrier 20 to be plated, the coating source 30, and the coating baffle 40 are disposed in the vacuum coating chamber 10. The optical coating device 100 may be a vapor deposition or sputtering device. In this embodiment, a vapor deposition device is taken as an example.

The component carrier 20 to be plated is mounted on the top 11 of the vacuum coating chamber 10 via a rotating shaft 21, and the component carrier 20 to be plated is fixedly coupled to the rotating shaft 21, and the component carrier 20 to be plated is rotatable thereabout. The shaft 21 rotates. In this embodiment, the component carrier 20 to be plated is connected to the rotating shaft 21 by screws. The component carrier 20 to be plated includes a plurality of substrates 60 carrying components 70 to be plated. In this embodiment, the component carrier 20 to be plated is in the shape of an umbrella. Of course, the component carrier 20 to be plated is not limited to such a shape, and it may also be a flat plate shape.

The coating source 30 is fixed to the bottom portion 12 of the vacuum coating chamber 10. The coating source 30 is an evaporation source. The coating material 32 is usually disposed in the crucible 31, and the coating material 32 in the crucible 31 is hit by an electron gun 33 to evaporate, thereby oscillating upward. The plated component carrier 20 is coated on the corresponding surface of the component to be plated 70.

The coating baffle 40 is disposed between the component carrier 20 to be plated and the coating source 30, adjacent to the component carrier 20 to be plated without contacting the component carrier 20 to be plated, and disposed away from the coating source 30. In this embodiment, the coating baffle 40 is located directly below the component carrier 20 to be plated.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 together, the coating baffle 40 includes a first block. The plate 41 and a second baffle 42. The first baffle 41 has a through hole 411 in the center. The through hole 411 is disposed corresponding to the component carrier 20 to be plated and the coating source 30, so that the coating material 32 vapor generated by the coating source 30 passes through the through hole 411 to the component 70 to be plated placed on the component carrier 30 to be plated. . The first baffle 41 is fixed to the inner wall 13 of the vacuum coating chamber 10. In the present embodiment, the inner wall 13 of the vacuum coating chamber 10 is provided with a recess 14 surrounding the inner wall 13. In this embodiment, a groove is directly formed on the inner wall 13. The position of the groove 14 is located between the component carrier 20 to be plated and the coating source 30, and is adjacent to the component carrier 10 to be plated. In this embodiment, the vacuum coating chamber 10 has a cylindrical shape, and the shape of the first baffle 41 is the same as the cross-sectional shape of the vacuum coating chamber 10 and slightly smaller than the diameter of the cross section of the vacuum coating chamber 10. Thus, the first baffle 41 can be fixed in the recess 14 and divide the vacuum coating chamber 10 into two spaces, that is, the first space 15 and the second space 16.

It can be understood that the first baffle 41 can be fixed by other means, and the groove 14 is also unnecessary. For example, two symmetrically disposed support columns can be erected under the first baffle 41 to secure the first baffle 41 in the vacuum coating chamber 10, and the support post is fixed to the bottom 12 of the vacuum coating chamber 10. In this case, it is not necessary to provide the recess 14 on the inner wall 13 of the vacuum coating chamber 10.

The second baffle 42 is movably fixed to the first baffle 41, and the second baffle 42 can cover the through hole 411 or the through hole by a driving member (not shown). 411 was exposed. In this embodiment, the second baffle 42 is fixed to the first baffle by a rotating shaft 421, and the second baffle 42 is rotatable about the rotating shaft 421 by a certain angle. When the second baffle 42 When the direction of the distance from the through hole 411 is rotated and the through hole 411 is completely exposed, the coating plate 40 is in an open state, and at this time, coating can be performed. When the second baffle 42 is rotated until the second baffle 42 blocks the through hole 411, the coating baffle 40 is in a closed state, at which time the coating material 32 is blocked in the second space 16.

It can be understood that the shape of the coating baffle 40 can be set according to actual needs. The first baffle 41 of the coating baffle 40 should be selected to match the cross-sectional shape of the vacuum coating chamber 10, so that the first baffle 41 can completely separate the first space 15 from the second space 16. . In addition, the shape of the through hole 411 can also be set according to actual needs, for example, a square shape or a diamond shape. In this embodiment, the size of the second baffle 42 is not less than the size of the through hole 411 so as to cover the through hole 411.

The optical coating device can include a cover 50 that is fixed directly above the coating source 30. When the film is coated, the cover 50 can be closed or opened to block or evaporate the coating material 32 of the coating source 30. The cover 50 is used to control the thickness of the coating, and the coating baffle 40 provided by the present invention can assist the cover 50. After the coating is finished, the coating baffle 40 is closed, so that the component 50 to be plated can be placed above the cover 50. The coating material 32 below the 20 is blocked outside the component carrier 20 to be plated, so that the coating thickness is precisely controlled and other contaminants are prevented from contaminating the component to be plated.

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the main difference between the optical coating device (not shown) provided by the second embodiment of the present invention and the optical coating device 100 provided by the first embodiment is that the optical coating device of the second embodiment is used. The coating baffle 240 is different from the structure of the coating baffle 40 in the first embodiment, and is mainly The difference is that the second baffle 242 of the coating baffle 240 is composed of a plurality of sub baffles 2421, and the plurality of sub baffles 2421 are identical in shape. In this embodiment, the plurality of sub baffles 2421 are in the shape of a fan blade. Each of the sub baffles 2421 is fixed to the first baffle 241 via a rotating shaft 2422 , and each of the sub baffles 2421 is rotatable about the rotating shaft 2422 by a certain angle. The sub-baffle 2421 can be driven to rotate by a driving member (not shown) to open and close the coating baffle 240, respectively. When the sub-baffle 2421 is completely rotated away from the through hole 2411 and the through hole 2411 is completely exposed, the coating baffle 240 is in an open state, and at this time, coating can be performed. When the sub-baffle 2421 is rotated to block the through hole 2411, the coating baffle 240 is in a closed state. At this time, the coating material is blocked under the coating baffle 240 and cannot enter the space where the component carrier to be plated is located. Thereby, the coating material can be prevented from contaminating the component to be plated, thereby increasing the precision and cleanliness of the film thickness control, thereby improving the coating quality.

In summary, the present invention has indeed met the requirements of the invention patent, and has filed a patent application according to law. However, the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and it is not possible to limit the scope of the patent application of the present invention. Equivalent modifications or variations made by persons skilled in the art in light of the spirit of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

Optical coating unit ‧‧100

Vacuum coating chamber ‧‧10

Top ‧‧11

Bottom ‧‧12

Inner wall ‧‧13

Groove ‧‧14

First space ‧‧15

Second space ‧‧16

Component carrier to be plated ‧‧20

Rotating shaft ‧‧21

Coating source ‧ ‧ 30

坩埚‧‧‧31

Coating material ‧‧‧32

Electronic gun ‧‧33

Coated baffle ‧‧40,240

Covering ‧ ‧ 50

Substrate ‧‧60

Components to be plated ‧‧70

First baffle ‧‧41,241

Second baffle ‧‧‧42,242

Through hole ‧‧411, 2411

Rotary shaft ‧ ‧ 421, 2422

Sub baffle ‧‧2421

1 is a schematic view of an optical coating apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a schematic view showing the coating baffle of the optical coating device of FIG. 1 in an open state.

Figure 3 is a view showing the coating baffle of the optical coating device of Figure 1 in a closed state intention.

4 is a schematic view showing a coating baffle of an optical coating device according to a second embodiment of the present invention in an open state.

Figure 5 is a schematic view of the coated baffle of Figure 4 in a closed state.

Optical coating unit ‧‧100

Vacuum coating chamber ‧‧10

Top ‧‧11

Bottom ‧‧12

Inner wall ‧‧13

Groove ‧‧14

First space ‧‧15

Second space ‧‧16

Component carrier to be plated ‧‧20

Rotating shaft ‧‧21

Coating source ‧ ‧ 30

坩埚‧‧‧31

Coating material ‧‧‧32

Electronic gun ‧‧33

Coated baffle ‧‧40

Covering ‧ ‧ 50

Substrate ‧‧60

Components to be plated ‧‧70

Claims (8)

An optical coating device comprising a vacuum coating chamber, a component carrier to be plated, and a coating source, wherein the component carrier to be plated and the coating source are disposed in the vacuum coating chamber, wherein the optical coating device further comprises a coating baffle The coating baffle is disposed between the component carrier to be plated and the coating source, and divides the vacuum coating chamber into two spaces, the coating baffle includes a first baffle and a second baffle, the first baffle a baffle has a through hole corresponding to the component carrier to be plated and the coating source, so that the coating material gas generated by the coating source passes through the through hole to the component to be plated placed on the component carrier to be plated, The second baffle is movable relative to the first baffle and respectively blocks or exposes the through hole. The optical coating device of claim 1, wherein the second baffle is rotatably fixed to the first baffle. The optical coating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the vacuum coating chamber has an inner wall, and the first baffle is fixed to an inner wall of the vacuum coating chamber. The optical coating apparatus of claim 3, wherein the inner wall has a groove, and the first baffle is fixed in the groove. The optical coating apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second baffle comprises a plurality of sub baffles that are rotatable relative to the first baffle such that the through holes are blocked or exposed. The optical coating apparatus of claim 5, wherein the plurality of sub-baffles are respectively fixed to the first baffle by a rotating shaft. An optical coating apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the The shape of the plurality of sub-baffles is a fan blade shape. The optical coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating baffle is disposed close to the coating carrier to be plated away from the coating source.