The diffractive optical element (DOE) is a specific patterned fine structure designed according to the diffraction theory of the electromagnetic wave and Fourier optics. The patterned structure operates as a manipulator of the amplitude and phase of the electromagnetic wave and/or an apparatus, for example, including, a splitter, a diffuser, or a manipulator of the incident light in order to obtain detailed information for 3-dimentional sensing.
However, an optical structure having a high efficiency for specific light shape has been a great challenge in the art due to both of the limited capacity of DOE design software and geometric structure of DOE.
One aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a diffraction optical element. The diffraction optical element includes a substrate and multiple grating units. The grating units are disposed above the substrate. The grating units diffract incident light to generate diffracted light being passing through the substrate. A refractive index of the substrate is substantially below 1.45.
In some embodiments, the diffraction optical element further includes a first layer that is sandwiched between the grating units and the substrate and extends below each of the grating units. The first layer has a first refractive index that is substantially below 1.45.
In some embodiments, a thickness of the first layer is associated with the first refractive index.
In some embodiments, the diffraction optical element further includes a second layer sandwiched between the first layer and the substrate. The second layer has a second refractive index different from the first refractive index.
In some embodiments, the diffraction optical element further includes a layer that is patterned to be disposed between each two of the grating units and disposed on a surface of the substrate. A refractive index of the layer is substantially below 1.45.
In some embodiments, the diffraction optical element further includes multiple layers disposed between the grating units and the substrate. At least half of the layers have a refractive index substantially below 1.45.
In some embodiments, the layers include layers of magnesium fluoride (MgF2), silicon dioxide (SiO2), or the combinations thereof.
In some embodiments, the diffraction optical element further includes a layer extending below each of the grating units. The layer includes magnesium fluoride (MgF2), silicon dioxide (SiO2), or the combinations thereof.
Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a diffraction optical element. The diffraction optical element includes a glass substrate, a first layer disposed on the glass substrate, and a periodic structure disposed on the first layer. The first layer has a first refractive index that is substantially below 1.45. The glass substrate, the first layer, and the periodic structure diffract incident light from a first side of the glass substrate to generate diffracted light at a second side, opposite of the first side, of the glass substrate.
In some embodiments, the first layer includes magnesium fluoride (MgF2) or silicon dioxide (SiO2), and has a thickness of about 200 nanometers.
In some embodiments, the diffraction optical element further includes a second layer sandwiched between the first layer and the glass substrate. The second layer has a second refractive index different from the first refractive index.
In some embodiments, the first and second layers include layers of magnesium fluoride (MgF2), silicon dioxide (SiO2), or the combinations thereof.
In some embodiments, the first layer has a first thickness and the second layer has a second thickness different from the first thickness.
In some embodiments, the glass substrate has a second refractive index. The diffraction optical element further includes a second layer sandwiched between the first layer and the glass substrate. The second layer has a third refractive index. The first to third refractive indices are different from each other and substantially below 1.45.
In some embodiments, the diffraction optical element further includes a second layer sandwiched between the first layer and the periodic structure. The first layer includes magnesium fluoride (MgF2) and the second layer includes silicon dioxide (SiO2).
In some embodiments, the diffraction optical element further includes an adhesion film formed between the first layer and the periodic structure. The adhesion film has a refractive index that is below 1.45.
Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method of forming a diffraction optical element, and the method includes the following operations: forming a film stack on a substrate that has a refractive index below 1.45; and forming multiple grating units on the film stack. The film stack includes multiple films, and a ratio of a first portion, having a first refractive index, in the films over a second portion, having a second refractive index different from the first refractive index, in the films is above 50%. The first refractive index is below 1.45.
In some embodiments, the forming the film stack includes patterning the film stack according to the structure of the grating units.
In some embodiments, the film stack includes magnesium fluoride (MgF2), silicon dioxide (SiO2), or the combinations thereof.
In some embodiments, a thickness of the first portion in the films is twice thicker than a thickness of the second portion in the films.
Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It is noted that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion.
The spirit of the present disclosure will be discussed in the following drawings and detailed description, and those of ordinary skill in the art will be able to change and modify the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
It should be understood that, in this document and the following claims, the terms “first” and “second” are to describe the various elements. However, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element may be termed a second element. Similarly, a second element may be termed a first element without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments.
It should be understood that, in this document and the following claims, the terms “include,” “comprise,” “having” and “has/have” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “include, but not limited to.” It should be understood that, in this document and the following claims, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Further, spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. The spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. The apparatus may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein may likewise be interpreted accordingly. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
As used herein, “around”, “about”, “approximately” or “substantially” shall generally refer to any approximate value of a given value or range, in which it is varied depending on various arts in which it pertains, and the scope of which should be accorded with the broadest interpretation understood by the person skilled in the art to which it pertains, so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures. In some embodiments, it shall generally mean within 20 percent, preferably within 10 percent, and more preferably within 5 percent of a given value or range. Numerical quantities given herein are approximate, meaning that the term “around”, “about”, “approximately” or “substantially” can be inferred if not expressly stated, or meaning other approximate values.
Reference is now made to
In some embodiments, as shown in
The substrate 120 is a substrate having a refractive index n1 that is below 1.45. in some embodiments, the substrate 120 is a silicon, silicon-containing, glass substrate, or a substrate of any other suitable materials that has a refractive index below 1.45. The substrate may be a bare substrate or have one or more layers of material deposited thereon and/or features formed therein. The values associated with and configurations of the substrate 120 are given for illustrative purposes. Various implements are within the contemplated scope of the present disclosure. For example, in some embodiments, the refractive index of the substrate 120 ranges between 1.40 to 1.5.
With reference to
d·sin θ·n3=mλ (1)
in which the symbol d is the grating pitch d, the symbol θ is the angle of incidence, the symbol n1 is the refractive index of the substrate 120, and the symbol λ is the wavelength of the incident light IL.
Furthermore, in some embodiments, the diffraction optical element 10 is placed in the air. Compared with some approaches implementing a substrate having a highly refractive index (e.g., more than 1.5), the transmittance Tsub of the present disclosure is improved because the substrate 120 having the lower refractive index reduces the higher order diffraction light beams. Alternatively stated, the intensity of the zero order beam Dl0 raises while the intensity of higher order beams shrinks. The dots efficiency (denoted as DE for explanation in
In addition, with the configurations of the present disclosure, the non-uniformity and diffraction patterns of the diffraction optical element 10 maintain as the refractive index of the substrate 120 decreases, compared with the aforementioned approaches.
The configurations of
Reference is now made to
Compared with
The layer 130 has a refractive index n2 that is substantially below 1.45. In some embodiments, the layer 130 is formed as a coating film on the substrate 120 before the grating units 111 are formed. In various embodiments, the layer 130 includes a dielectric layer, such like a layers of magnesium fluoride (MgF2), silicon dioxide (SiO2), the combinations thereof, or any other suitable materials that has a refractive index below 1.45.
For illustration, the layer 130 has a thickness h1. In some embodiments, the thickness h1 of the layer 130 is associated with the refractive index n2 of the layer 130, as shown in
Reference is now made to
For illustration, curves represent the dots efficiency of various refractive indices and thickness of the layer 130. As shown in
Reference is now made to
As shown in
Similarly, a curve 302 corresponds to the layer 130 including magnesium fluoride that has a refractive index 1.38. For illustration, the dots efficiency climbs from 78.00% (without coating the layer 130) to about 79.35% (with the thickness h being about 200 nm,) with the improvement of 1.35%. Based on the disclosure above, the lower the thickness h1 of the layer 130 is, the higher the dots efficiency is improved. Moreover, the transmittance with the substrate 120 coated with the layer 130 of magnesium fluoride (thickness 200 nm) raises 1.16%, compared with the approaches without coating the layer 130.
In addition, a person who is skilled in the art can implement the present disclosure according to the actual practice to determine a preferable thickness h1 of the layer 130. For example, in
With the configurations of the present disclosure, the dots efficiency is improved while the non-uniformity and diffraction patterns of the diffraction optical element 20 maintain as the substrate 120 is coated by the layer 130, compared with the approaches having no coating.
The configurations of
Reference is now made to
Compared with
The configurations of
Reference is now made to
Compared with
In some embodiments, the layer 140 is configured with respect to, for example, the layer 130. For example, in some embodiments, the layer 140 has a refractive index n3 that is substantially below 1.45. In various embodiments, the layer 140 includes a dielectric layer, such like a layers of magnesium fluoride, silicon dioxide, the combinations thereof, or any other suitable materials that has a refractive index below 1.45. Alternatively stated, the layers 130-140 in the film stack 510 layers of magnesium fluoride, silicon dioxide, the combinations thereof, or any other suitable materials that has a refractive index below 1.45. In addition, in some embodiments, the refractive index n2 of the layer 130 is different from the refractive index n3 of the layer 140. For example, the layer 130 includes magnesium fluoride while the layer 140 includes silicon dioxide. In some embodiments, the layer 140 includes an adhesion film having a refractive index below 1.45. The adhesion film, in some embodiments, includes, for instance, a silicon resin.
For illustration, as shown in
With reference to
The number and configurations of
Reference is now made to
In operation 610, the film stack 510 on the substrate 120 that has the refractive index n1 below 1.45. As shown in
In some embodiments, when the film stack 510 includes a number n of layers, in which n is an integer greater than n, layers having a refractive index below 1.45 are referred to as the first portion of film stack 510, and the layers having a refractive index above 1.45 are referred to as the second portion of film stack 510. In various embodiments, when the film stack 510 includes double layers of the layer 130 having the refractive index n2 below 1.45, the ratio of the low refractive index layer in the film stack 510 is determined to be 100%.
In some embodiments, the ratio of the first and second portions of the film stack 510 is determined according to thickness of the first portion and second portion. For example, as shown in
In some embodiments, the operations forming the film stack 510 further includes operations of patterning the film stack 510 according to the structure of the grating units 111 in the periodic structure 110. For example, instead of having single layer 130 in the diffraction optical element 40 of
In operation 620, the grating units 111 are formed on the film stack 510, as shown in
Through the configurations of the various embodiments above, the diffraction optical elements and the method of forming the same provided by the present disclosure provide high dots efficiency of the diffraction optical element by utilizing a low refractive index substrate and/or at least one layer coated on the substrate.
It should be understood that, in this document and the following claims, unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
While the disclosure has been described by way of example(s) and in terms of the preferred embodiment(s), it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art may make various changes, substitutions, and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.