A thermal deformation monitoring system was developed in this study by applying the thermocouple sensors and capacitive displacement sensors, along with a Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) Network Model classifier, for the alignment turning system (ATS). An ATS can simultaneously provide the functions of measuring the centration error and dimensions of the lens cell in-line, and machining the lens barrel housing with reference to the lens optical axis. The ATS can manufacture precise lens cells, applied for optical metrology, high numerical aperture objective lenses, and lithography projection lenses. While rising temperature, the thermal error would occur on hydrostatic spindle which build in ATS. Therefore, the predetermined machining point would offset, thereby resulting in the machining error. In order to acquire the oil temperature of rotor and the relative thermal displacement between hydrostatic spindle and turret, the thermocouple sensors and capacitive displacement sensors were assembling on ATS. According to the measurement of oil temperature and relative displacement, the thermal deformation monitoring system of ATS hydrostatic spindle was established. Cause of the high resolution of capacitive displacement sensors, the more precise measurement values could be obtain so that the monitoring system would have higher accuracy. LSTM is a variant of Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) and could remember longer information changes than traditional RNN. The thermal deformation monitoring system with LSTM could be applied to compensate the thermal error to improve the workpiece quality in real-time, and also could save time and money of warming up centering machines in the future. Results shows that the mean square error (MSE) and RScore of forecasting thermal error is less than 0.0002 and higher than 0.997, which is highly accurate forecasting.
The degree of passivation of the grinding wheel is gradually increased during the machining process, the friction between the grinding wheel and the workpiece is increased which causing the vibration and noise of the machine are changed. Therefore, the vibration and noise values could be obtained by using the vibration sensor and microphone. We use the spectrum analyzer to analyze the trend of the variation of vibration and noise signals. As the wear of the grinding wheel increases, the sound acoustic pressure in the range of 4.3 kHz to 5.3 kHz decreases. As the friction between the grinding wheel and the workpiece increases, high-frequency noise greater than 6 kHz are excited and the acoustic pressure increases. According to the experimental results, it is known that the wear state of the grinding wheel and the noise spectrum in generating process has a significant correlation. The cutting force of the grinding wheel can be observed by the noise spectrum of the spectrum analyzer to identify whether there is an abnormality in the processing process to optimize the grinding parameter immediately for avoiding the damage of the lens.
We propose 3-step fabrication procedures for aspheric surface with larger departure. First step is to generate a specific aspheric surface with SSD depth under 10μm. Next step is to remove SSD and to keep the aspheric form by using Zeeko polisher with higher MRR pad. Final step is to figure and finish the aspheric surface by using QED MRF machine. In this study, we focus on 1st step to investigate the residual depth of SSD after grinding process on fused silica. The abrasion (Aa) or grindability is one of mechanical properties of glass material. The evaluation method of abrasion or grindability is different between the manufacturers. In this study, we apply the specific grinding parameters with #400 and #800 cylindrical diamond wheel on Tongtai GT-630 5-axes machine center. The ultrasonic assisted module is combined with BBT 40 tool arbor. The specifications of the ultrasonic unit are 15 - 45 kHz in frequency range, 0.2-2.5 μm in amplitude, and 1,000 Watt in power. The cross-grinding configuration is used in this study, due to its advantages of non-sensitive cutting direction in Z-axis, high cutting capability with large tools, and low cutting force for generating large convex aspheric surface. Before inspecting the SSD of the samples, wedge polishing would be applied on the ground surface for each sample. In general, the micro cracks of SSD aren’t observed easily by optical microscope due to the micro cracks were stuffed by abrasives of slurry and removed powders of glass. Thus, the mixture solution with hydrofluoric acid (HF) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) in water is used to etch ground surface. After etching, the micro cracks of SSD can be measured by Keyence VK-9700 confocal microscope. The depth of SSD is calculated by length of SSD and wedge angle of the plane.
The grinding process is the primary technology for curvature generation (CG) on glass optics. The higher material removal rate (MRR) leads to deeper sub-surface damage (SSD) on lens surface. The SSD must be removed by following lapping and polishing processes to ensure the lens quality. However, these are not an easy and an efficient process to remove the SSD from ground surface directly for aspheric surfaces with tens or hundreds microns departure from bestfit- sphere (BFS). An efficient fabrication procedure for large aspheric departure on glass materials must be considered. We propose 3-step fabrication procedures for aspheric surface with larger departure. 1st step is to generate a specific aspheric surface with depth less than 10 μm of SSD residual. 2nd step is to remove SSD and keep the aspheric form by using Zeeko polisher with higher MRR pad. Final step is to figure and finish the aspheric surface by using QED MRF machine. In this study, we focus on the 1st step to investigate the residual depth of SSD after grinding process on different abrasion materials. The materials of tested part are fused silica, S-NPH2, and S-PHM52. The cross grinding would be configured and depth of SSD/surface roughness would be evaluated in this study. The characteristic of SSD could be observed after etching by confocal microscope. The experimental results show the depth of SSD below 31.1 μm with #400 grinding wheel. And the near 10 μm depth of SSD would be achieved with #1,000 grinding wheel. It means the aspherization polishing on large parts with large departure from best fit sphere would be replaced. The fabrication of large aspheric part would be efficient.
The poker chip assembly with high precision lens barrels is widely applied to ultra-high performance optical system. ITRC applies the poker chip assembly technology to the high numerical aperture objective lenses and lithography projection lenses because of its high efficiency assembly process. In order to achieve high precision lens cell for poker chip assembly, an alignment turning system (ATS) is developed. The ATS includes measurement, alignment and turning modules. The measurement module is equipped with a non-contact displacement sensor (NCDS) and an autocollimator (ACM). The NCDS and ACM are used to measure centration errors of the top and the bottom surface of a lens respectively; then the amount of adjustment of displacement and tilt with respect to the rotational axis of the turning machine for the alignment module can be determined. After measurement, alignment and turning processes on the ATS, the centration error of a lens cell with 200 mm in diameter can be controlled within 10 arcsec. Furthermore, a poker chip assembly lens cell with three sub-cells is demonstrated, each sub-cells are measured and accomplished with alignment and turning processes. The lens assembly test for five times by each three technicians; the average transmission centration error of assembly lens is 12.45 arcsec. The results show that ATS can achieve high assembly efficiency for precision optical systems.
In general, the drop-in and cell-mounted assembly are used for standard and high performance optical system respectively. The optical performance is limited by the residual centration error and position accuracy of the conventional assembly. Recently, the poker chip assembly with high precision lens barrels that can overcome the limitation of conventional assembly is widely applied to ultra-high performance optical system. ITRC also develops the poker chip assembly solution for high numerical aperture objective lenses and lithography projection lenses. In order to achieve high precision lens cell for poker chip assembly, an alignment turning system (ATS) is developed. The ATS includes measurement, alignment and turning modules. The measurement module including a non-contact displacement sensor and an autocollimator can measure centration errors of the top and the bottom surface of a lens respectively. The alignment module comprising tilt and translation stages can align the optical axis of the lens to the rotating axis of the vertical lathe. The key specifications of the ATS are maximum lens diameter, 400mm, and radial and axial runout of the rotary table < 2 μm. The cutting performances of the ATS are surface roughness Ra < 1 μm, flatness < 2 μm, and parallelism < 5 μm. After measurement, alignment and turning processes on our ATS, the centration error of a lens cell with 200mm in diameter can be controlled in 10 arcsec. This paper also presents the thermal expansion of the hydrostatic rotating table. A poker chip assembly lens cell with three sub-cells is accomplished with average transmission centration error in 12.45 arcsec by fresh technicians. The results show that ATS can achieve high assembly efficiency for precision optical systems.
The advantage of 3D printing technique is flexible in design and fabrication. Using 3D printing technique, the traditional manufacturing limitations are not considered. The optical lens is the key component in an optical system. The traditional process to manufacture optical plastic lens is injection molding. However injection molding is only suitable for plastics lens, it cannot fabricate optical and mechanical components at same time. The assembly error of optical system can be reduced effectively with fabricating optical and mechanical components at same time. The process of printing optical and mechanical components simultaneously is proposed in previous papers, but the optical surface of printing components is not transparent. If we increase the transmittance of the optical surface, the printing components which fabricated by 3D printing process could be high transmission. Therefore, precise diamond turning technique has been used to turning the surface of 3D printing optical lens in this paper. The precise diamond turning techniques could process surfaces of components to meet the requirements of optical system. A 3D printing machine, Stratasys Connex 500, and a precise diamond turning machine, Precitech Freeform705XG, have been used in this paper, respectively. The dimension, roughness, transmission and printing types of 3D printing components have been discussed in this paper. After turning and polishing process, the roughness of 3D printing component is below 0.05 μm and the transmittance increase above 80 %. This optical module can be used in hand-held telescope and other system which need lens and special mechanical structure fabricated simultaneously.
3D printing is a high freedom fabrication technique. Any components, which designed by 3D design software or scanned from real parts, can be printed. The printing materials include metals, plastics and biocompatible materials etc. Especially for those high transmission components used in optical system or biomedical field can be printed, too. High transmission lens increases the performances of optical system. And high transmission cover or shell using in biomedical field helps observers to see the structures inside, such as brain, bone, and vessels. But the surface of printed components is not transparent, even the inside layer is transparent. If we increase the transmittance of surface, the components which fabricated by 3D printing process could have high transmission. In this paper, we using illuminating and polishing methods to improve the transmittance of printing surface. The illuminating time is the experiment parameters in illuminating method. The roughness and transmission of printing components are the evaluating targets. A 3D printing machine, Stratasys Connex 500, has been used to print high transmittance components in this paper. The surface transmittance of printing components is increasing above 80 % by polishing method.
This paper presents the validation of the design of a 6-in. f/2.2 dual-wavelength transmission sphere (TS) based on the Fizeau interferometer. The TS was verified at a wavelength of 632.8 nm and is compatible for measuring the transmitted wavefront error of an i-line lithography lens. The achromatic design is imperative for a dual wavelength TS and requires more lenses for correcting the chromatic focal shift. Because the overall weight of the TS should be controlled within the load range of the piezoelectric transducers of the interferometer, the fabrication and mounting of lenses with high aspect ratios are challengeable. The mounting of the reference surface based on three-point mounting was successful for the residual reference wavefront error under peak-to-valley (PV) λ/10. Furthermore, the reference wavefront is typically restricted within PV 5λ to avoid distorted interference fringes. Therefore, we built a double-pass interferometer model for tolerance analysis, and the error budget facilitated decision-making regarding the suitable specifications of lens manufacturing and assembly for cost efficiency. The test results demonstrated that the deformation of the reference wavefront and the residual reference wavefront error met the critical specification at 632.8 nm and that the achromatic TS is compatible for measuring i-line lithography lenses.
The mounting design of a reference surface for a 6-in transmission sphere is presented in this paper. To achieve highprecision measurement in interferometry, the reference wavefront error should be controlled within peak-to-valley (PV) 0.1 λ (λ=0.6328 um) for subtraction in calibration. The reference wavefront error includes the system aberration error and the irregularity of the reference surface. When a transmission sphere is well aligned, the reference wavefront error is dominated by the reference surface. The mounting of the reference surface is imperative because the surface deformation of the reference surface after mounting needs to be lower than 0.1 λ. Besides the mounting deformation, self-weight deformation is also considerable for large optics, such as 6-in reference surface in our study. Consequently, a semikinematic mounting is applied using three small contact areas to avoid over constraint. The transmission sphere in our study is vertically tested on QED aspheric stitching interferometer (ASI), and then the trefoil aberration is occurred. There are two methods to decrease surface deformation after mounting, including deformation correction using computer control optical surfacing (CCOS) and adding soft supporting between hard mounting. In this study, three soft supports are used to share the loads of three rigid supports and then to minimize surface deformation due to gravity. Mounting design and experiments are described in this paper. Finally, the reference wavefront error of the prototype is successfully restrained within 0.1 λ in measurement.
Several mounting configurations could be applied to opto-mechanical design for achieving high precise optical system. The retaining ring mounting is simple and cost effective. However, it would deform the optics due to its unpredictable over-constraint forces. The retaining ring can be modified to three small contact areas becoming a semi-kinematic mounting. The semi-kinematic mounting can give a fully constrained in lens assembly and avoid the unpredictable surface deformation. However, there would be still a deformation due to self-weight in large optics especially in vertical setup applications. The self-weight deformation with a semi-kinematic mounting is a stable, repeatable and predictable combination of power and trefoil aberrations. This predictable deformation can be pre-compensated onto the design surface and be corrected by using CNC polisher. Thus it is a freeform surface before mounting to the lens cell. In this study, the freeform correction polishing is demonstrated in a Φ150 lens with semi-kinematic mounting. The clear aperture of the lens is Φ143 mm. We utilize ANSYS simulation software to analyze the lens deformation due to selfweight deformation with semi-kinematic mounting. The simulation results of the self-weight deformation are compared with the measurement results of the assembled lens cell using QED aspheric stitching interferometer (ASI). Then, a freeform surface of a lens with semi-kinematic mounting due to self-weight deformation is verified. This deformation would be corrected by using QED Magnetorheological Finishing (MRF® ) Q-flex 300 polishing machine. The final surface form error of the assembled lens cell after MRF figuring is 0.042 λ in peak to valley (PV).
The transmission sphere (TS) provides a high-quality reference wavefront which is common path with a test wavefront to generate interference fringes in a Fizeau interferometer. The optical path difference (OPD) of the reference wavefront should be controlled within peak-to-valley (PV) 5 λ (λ=0.6328 um), because too large OPD makes interference fringes distorted. Therefore, the tolerance analysis of the reference wavefront is very critical. Because the surface irregularity of lens can change the phase of a wavefront, surface deformation after mounting highly impacts on the wavefront error. For large optics, such as φ 6-inch in this study, surface deformation dominates the quality of the reference wavefront. For minimizing surface deformation after mounting, semi-kinematic mounting technology is used in sub-cells design to avoid over-constraint forces and unpredictable deformation. Then, the deformation due to gravity force of each surface can be constrained around PV 0.3 λ with Zernike trefoil in vertical setup TS; however, the superposition of the distorted wavefront may deteriorate the optical performance. A method of optimizing orientation of each lens around optical axis is presented in this paper. Sub-cells are designed to be rotational around optical axis respectively. The wavefront error of the reference beam of the worst case is improved significantly after optimization. Consequently, the method can effectively reduce the difficulty of lenses fabrication and mounting, and then the specification of the surface irregularity can be lower for cost saving. Based on the optimization in our study, a good reference wavefront can be acquired without any tight tolerance or complicated assembly.
The design of a 6-in, f/2.2 transmission sphere for Fizeau interferometry is presented in this paper. To predict the actual performance during design phase, we build an interferometer model combined with tolerance analysis in Zemax. Evaluating focus imaging is not enough for a double pass optical system. Thus, we study the interferometer model that includes system error, wavefronts reflected from reference surface and tested surface. Firstly, we generate a deformation map of the tested surface. Because of multiple configurations in Zemax, we can get the test wavefront and the reference wavefront reflected from the tested surface and the reference surface of transmission sphere respectively. According to the theory of interferometry, we subtract both wavefronts to acquire the phase of tested surface. Zernike polynomial is applied to transfer the map from phase to sag and to remove piston, tilt and power. The restored map is the same as original map; because of no system error exists. Secondly, perturbed tolerances including fabrication of lenses and assembly are considered. The system error occurs because the test and reference beam are no longer common path perfectly. The restored map is inaccurate while the system error is added. Although the system error can be subtracted by calibration, it should be still controlled within a small range to avoid calibration error. Generally the reference wavefront error including the system error and the irregularity of the reference surface of 6-in transmission sphere is measured within peak-to-valley (PV) 0.1 λ (λ=0.6328 um), which is not easy to approach. Consequently, it is necessary to predict the value of system error before manufacture. Finally, a prototype is developed and tested by a reference surface with PV 0.1 λ irregularity.
A novel concept of confocal sensor based on focal lens is proposed to measure the displacement. The light source is a stabilized fiber coupled LED. A 1x2 graded-index multimode fiber optic coupler is used in this sensor. One port is a LED input port via SMA connector, another port is a LED output port connected to a reflective collimator and the other port is a reflective sensor port connected to a photo detector. The focusing sensor head is the cascade of a focal lens and a 20X objective lens. In this confocal displacement sensor, LED passes through a focal lens and an objective lens so that the LED beam focuses at a fixed focal point. A test target is placed after the objective lens. The displacement between the sensor head and a target can be measured quickly by detecting the reflective power according to the confocal principle. The long-term stability of LED is under 0.5%. The effective back focal length is varied from 5.67mm to 6.57mm by 0-290mA current driving so that the measuring range is about 0.9mm. The FWHM resolution of displacement is about 50μm. This sensor has the features of low cost, high stability, high precision and compact.
An efficient and uniform illumination system with a freeform mirror for a color-sequential LCOS pico projector based on LED is proposed in this paper. The novel homogenizer is composed of a micro lens array and a freeform mirror. A freeform mirror with XY polynomial profile is adopted for the reshaping of light pattern, the correction of keystone distortion and the folding mirror for the reduction of volume. Typically, the design of micro lens array, the aspect ratio of the lenslet is corresponding with that of the panel. However, the crosstalk phenomenon occurs due to each lenslet with different collecting angle in horizontal and vertical direction, especially when the aspect ratio of the panel in our study is 16:9. The crosstalk phenomenon not only reduces efficiency but also generates stray light on the panel. Therefore, we use a micro lens array with square lenslet to eliminate it. Subsequently, the square light pattern on the panel needs to be reshaped to fit the aspect ratio of the panel. A cylindrical mirror with a fixed power is used to compress the light pattern first. However, for the requirement of different focal distances from the cylindrical mirror to the panel on entire surface, it generates severe keystone distortion. A freeform mirror with progressive power variation is employed for the correction of keystone distortion with high overfilled efficiency and the reshaping of the light pattern fitting the ratio of the panel. In the results of optical simulation, JBMA uniformity on the panel is 98 % and the coupling efficiency from LED to the plane of the panel is 85 %. Furthermore, the alignment tolerance of the freeform mirror has also been discussed. Finally, the freeform mirror is fabricated by ultra-precision diamond milling process. The form accuracy and surface roughness of the freeform mirror are less than 0.5 um and 5 nm, respectively.
In this research, ultra-precision slow tool servo (STS) diamond turning technique has been adopted to generate a
freeform surface. In the previous studied, we have developed a model of three-dimensional (3-D) tool shape
compensation for generating 3-D tool path in STS diamond turning of asymmetrically freeform surface. However, the
form error is not acceptable when the surface sagitta or tangential slope variation too large. Therefore, the surface form
error compensation method has been developed in this studied. The surface form error has been compensated from 3μm
to less than 1μm by the compensation method.
The applications of AMLA (aspheric micro lens array) have been frequently required in opto-electro industries, such as optical communication, contact image sensor (CIS) module of scanner, wafer level optics, etc. In addition to the typical requirements of aspheric lens, for instance form accuracy and surface roughness, the pitch error of each micro lens has been highly required. Three ultra-precision freeform machining methods have been widely applied for the manufacturing of AMLA, namely fast tool servo, slow tool servo and diamond milling. UPDM (Ultra-precision diamond milling) have the advantage with no tool interference problem in comparison with tool servo machining techniques. In this paper, the tool setting error compensation method and the tool path of UPDM has been developed for the fabrication of a 5 by 5 AMLA model. The form accuracy and surface roughness of each lenses of the AMLA was less than 0.2μm and 5nm, respectively. And the pitch error of each micro lens was less than 2μm in 25 micro lenses.
This research develops a precise hybrid optical micro-component (PHOMC) that includes polymer and glass materials.
Although glass offers better anti-thermal, anti-environmental, anti-scraped, anti-corrosive, and optical properties than
polymer materials do, glass materials are difficult to fabricate for microstructures. This research describes the fabrication
of a PHOMC, which retains the advantages of glass materials; in addition, the cost of microstructure polymers is lower
than for glass. In this study, polymers with micro sine waves can change the spot light intensity from a Gaussian
distribution to a line with uniform distribution. The glass base can protect the PHOMC to avoid damage from the
environment. First, the sine wave was designed using optical design software to change the light profile. A precise
diamond-turning technique was used to fabricate a mold with a sine-wave profile. A glass plate was used for the base of
the PHOMC. During the heating process, a thermosetting polymer was formed to match the sine-wave profile, and
covered the glass base. The PHOMC is 10 mm in diameter, and a sine wave with 100 μm in amplitude and 6.283 in
angular frequency was obtained. The surface profile of the PHOMC was evaluated using an ultra-precise laser confocal
microscope. Processing parameters, such as the forming temperature, are discussed in this paper. The PHOMC with the
sine wave that was developed in this study can generate a reference straight line for use in alignment, machine vision
systems, construction, and process control.
The concept of the remote phosphor is proven to be one of the effective solutions for improving luminous efficacy of pc-WLEDs by solving the problem of phosphor thermal and scattering loss. However, most of them need to use larger packaging design to enhance their performance. Such development is adverse to market trends, which also resulted in higher manufacturing costs and the difficulties in luminaire design. In this paper, we present the analysis of pc-WLEDs as the function of the packaging size and figure out its limitation, so that we can apply to reduce the device size but keep the luminous efficacy as high as possible.
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