← Back to Patent Explorer
US4842633A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Method of manufacturing molds for molding optical glass elements and diffraction gratings

Assignee: Panasonic Holdings Corp
•
Filing: 1988-08-23
•
Granted: 1989-06-27
•
Expires: 2008-08-23
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract A base material excellent in heat resistance and high-temperature strength is processed into a desired configuration. The processed base material is coated with a heat-resistant film having excellent strength at high temperatures and low reactivity with a glass material to be molded. A resist is applied on the heat resistant film and a desired pattern is drawn thereon by means of electron beam, ion beam, hologram exposure, or ordinary photolithography. Or if a mold having deep unevenness of the pressing surface is required, the resist is applied after an intermediate layer which permits selective etching is formed on the heat resistant film, and the required pattern is drawn thereon by means of electron beam, ion beam, hologram exposure, or ordinary photolithography. The intermediate layer is removed by wet etching or dry etching to emphasize unevenness of the mask. The resist film or the resist film and intermediate layer film are completely removed and a part of the heat-resistant film is removed to obtain a mold having the desired configuration of the molding surface.

Inventors

  • 👤 Kiyoshi Kuribayashi
  • 👤 Makoto Umetani
  • 👤 Hideto Monji
  • 👤 Masaki Aoki

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-25 08:24
CPC Classifications
C; C03; C03B; C03B11/00; C03B11/06; C03B11/08; C03B11/084; C03B11/086; B; B22; B22F; B22F5/00; B22F5/007; C03B11/082; C03B2215/00; C03B2215/02; C03B2215/08; C03B2215/10; C03B2215/12; C03B2215/14; C03B2215/16; C03B2215/17; C03B2215/22; C03B2215/30; C03B2215/32; C03B2215/34; C03B2215/40; C03B2215/41; C03B2215/412; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S359/00; Y10S359/90

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim 82 words
A method of manufacturing a diffraction grating characterized by using a pair of molds, a molding surface of at least one of the molds having a relief corresponding to the diffraction grating, heating a glass material to be molded to a temperature higher than its softening point in an inert gas atmosphere, and pressure molding the glass material to transfer the shapes of the molding surfaces of the molds onto the glass material to be molded, thereby to obtain the diffraction grating.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 82 words
A method of manufacturing a diffraction grating characterized by using a pair of molds, a molding surface of at least one of the molds having a relief corresponding to the diffraction grating, heating a glass material to be molded to a temperature higher than its softening point in an inert gas atmosphere, and pressure molding the glass material to transfer the shapes of the molding surfaces of the molds onto the glass material to be molded, thereby to obtain the diffraction grating.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 141 words
A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the molds is obtained by: mirror grinding a base material of a material excellent in heat resistance and high-temperature strength; either coating the base material with a heat-resistant film low in reactivity with the glass material to be molded and excellent in high-temperature strength and forming a desired pattern of a resist on said heat-resistant film, or forming on said heat resistant film an intermediate layer susceptible to etching followed by forming on said intermediate layer a desired pattern of a resist and removing a part of the intermediate layer by wet etching or dry etching; and removing all of the resist and the intermediate layer and a part of the heat resistant film by dry etching thereby to obtain the molding surface having the relief corresponding to the diffraction grating.
Claim 4
Independent Claim 136 words
A method of manufacturing a mold for molding optical glass elements comprising the steps of: processing a base material which is excellent in heat resistance and high-temperature strength into a desired configuration; either coating the base material with a heat-resistant film low in reactivity with a glass material to be molded and forming a desired pattern of a resist on said heat-resistant film, or coating said heat-resistant film with an intermediate layer susceptible to etching followed by forming on said intermediate layer a desired pattern of a resist and removing a part of the intermediate layer by wet etching or dry etching; and removing all of the resist and the intermediate layer and a part of the heat resistant film by dry etching thereby to form a molding surface of the mold into a desired configuration.
Claim 5
Independent Claim 136 words
A method of manufacturing a mold for molding optical glass elements comprising the steps of: processing a base material which is excellent in heat resistance and high-temperature strength into a desired configuration; either coating the base material with a heat-resistant film low in reactivity with a glass material to be molded and forming a desired pattern of a resist on said heat-resistant film, or coating said heat-resistant film with an intermediate layer susceptible to etching followed by forming on said intermediate layer a desired pattern of a resist and removing a part of the intermediate layer by wet etching or dry etching; and removing all of the resist and the intermediate layer and a part of the heat resistant film by dry etching thereby to form a molding surface of the mold into a desired configuration.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 52 words
A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein said base material comprises a cemented carbide mainly comprising tungsten carbide (WC), a cermet mainly comprising titanium nitride (TiN), a cermet mainly comprising titanium carbide (TiC), a cermet mainly comprising chromium carbide, or a cermet mainly comprising aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 24 words
A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein said heat resistant film comprises a platinum group metal or an alloy, nitride, carbide, or boride.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 29 words
A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein said intermediate layer comprises aluminum (Al), an aluminum alloy, copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), silicon (Si), or silicon oxide (SiO 2 ).

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US2272119A Cited
US3530010A Cited
US3743507A Cited
US4227769A Cited
JPS589108A Cited
JPS5997104A Cited
JPS6217702A Cited
US4654119A Cited
US4797316A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1992-06-26 1992-12-26 1993-06-27 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1996-06-26 1996-12-26 1997-06-27 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2000-06-26 2000-12-26 2001-06-27 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag