ANTI-REFLECTION FILM, OPTICAL COMPONENT, OPTICAL DEVICE, AND METHOD OF PRODUCING ANTI-REFLECTION FILM
20180267210 ยท 2018-09-20
Inventors
Cpc classification
G02B1/118
PHYSICS
G03F7/091
PHYSICS
G03F7/0005
PHYSICS
B32B9/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
G03F7/36
PHYSICS
B32B3/30
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
G03F7/0043
PHYSICS
C23C28/3455
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
International classification
G02B1/118
PHYSICS
G03F7/09
PHYSICS
G03F7/00
PHYSICS
G03F7/36
PHYSICS
Abstract
[Object] To provide an anti-reflection film having a high light resistance and maintaining low reflection within wide wavelength bands, an optical component, an optical device, and a method of producing an anti-reflection film. [Solving Means] The anti-reflection film according to the invention is made of an inorganic material transparent in a visible light region, the inorganic material has a fine concave-convex structure including convex portions and concave portions each having a width equal to or smaller than a wavelength of visible light, and the concave portion has an aspect ratio of 1.5 or more.
Claims
1. An anti-reflection film, the anti-reflection film being made of an inorganic material transparent in a visible light region, the inorganic material having a fine concave-convex structure including convex portions and concave portions each having a width equal to or smaller than a wavelength of visible light, and the concave portion having an aspect ratio of 1.5 or more.
2. The anti-reflection film according to claim 1, wherein the anti-reflection film has a reflectance for visible light and near-infrared rays of less than 0.5%.
3. The anti-reflection film according to claim 1, wherein the concave portions are pores arrayed among the convex portions, and the aspect ratio is a ratio of a diameter of an opening to a depth of each of the pores.
4. The anti-reflection film according to claim 1, wherein the transparent inorganic material is selected from materials capable of being dry-etched.
5. The anti-reflection film according to claim 1, wherein the transparent inorganic material is selected from the group consisting of SiO.sub.2, HfO.sub.2, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, ITO, MgF.sub.2, TiO.sub.2, and CaF.sub.2.
6. An optical component, comprising: a base; and an anti-reflection film laminated on the base, the anti-reflection film being made of an inorganic material transparent in a visible light region, the inorganic material having a fine concave-convex structure including convex portions and concave portions each having a width equal to or smaller than a wavelength of visible light, and the concave portion having an aspect ratio of 1.5 or more.
7. An optical device, comprising: a laser light source; and an optical component disposed in an optical system of the laser light source, the optical component including a base, and an anti-reflection film laminated on the base, the anti-reflection film being made of an inorganic material transparent in a visible light region, the inorganic material having a fine concave-convex structure including convex portions and concave portions each having a width equal to or smaller than a wavelength of visible light, and the concave portion having an aspect ratio of 1.5 or more.
8. A method of producing an anti-reflection film, comprising: laminating, on a base, a transparent material layer made of an inorganic material transparent in a visible light region; laminating, on the transparent inorganic material, a metal material layer made of a metal material; laminating, on the metal material layer, an inorganic material layer made of incomplete oxide of transition metal; irradiating the inorganic material layer with laser to process a part of the inorganic material; developing the inorganic material layer and removing the processed part to form a first etching mask; etching the metal material layer using the first etching mask to form a second etching mask; and etching the transparent material layer using the second etching mask to form a fine concave-convex structure.
9. The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to claim 8, wherein the step of forming the second etching mask includes etching the metal material layer on the condition that an etching selection ratio of the metal material layer to the first etching mask is 0.3 or more.
10. The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to claim 8, wherein the step of forming the second etching mask includes chemically etching the metal material layer using etching gas that selectively reacts with the metal material.
11. The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to claim 8, wherein the step of forming the second etching mask includes selecting the metal material having an atomic weight smaller than an atomic weight of the inorganic material and physically etching the metal material.
12. The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to claim 8, wherein the step of forming the fine concave-convex structure includes etching the transparent material layer on the condition that an etching selection ratio of the transparent material layer to the second etching mask is 15 or more.
13. The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to claim 8, wherein the step of forming the second etching mask includes physically etching the transparent material layer, and the step of forming the fine concave-convex structure includes chemically etching the transparent material layer.
14. The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to claim 8, wherein the step of forming the second etching mask includes reactive ion etching the transparent material layer.
15. The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to claim 8, wherein the inorganic material is transition metallic heat sensitive resist made of incomplete oxide of transition metal.
Description
ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION
[0041] As described above, according to the present technology, there are provided an anti-reflection film having a high light resistance and maintaining low reflection within wide wavelength bands, an optical component, an optical device, and a method of producing the anti-reflection film of Drawings
[0042]
[0043]
[0044]
[0045]
[0046]
[0047]
[0048]
[0049]
[0050]
[0051]
[0052]
MODE(S) FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[0053] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present technology will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0054] [Configuration of Anti-Reflection Structure]
[0055]
[0056] As shown in
[0057] The base 20 supports the anti-reflection film 30. As shown in
[0058] The base 20 is made of a light transmissive material, for example, a transparent material such as bulk synthetic quartz, SiO.sub.2, and an crystalline material. Further, the base 20 may not be necessarily made of the light transmissive material.
[0059] In addition, the base 20 may be an optical component such as a lens, a half mirror, a prism, a light guide, a film, and a diffraction grating.
[0060] As shown in
[0061] Further, as shown in
[0062] As shown in
[0063] As shown in
[0064] The arragement of the openings of the concave portions 31 formed on the front surface 30a is not limited to the arrangement shown in
[0065] As shown in
[0066]
[0067] The anti-reflection film 30 is made of a material transparent in a visible light region. The material of the anti-reflection film 30 is desirably has a high light resistance to laser light. Examples include SiO.sub.2, HfO.sub.2, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, ITO, MgF.sub.2, TiO.sub.2, CaF.sub.2, Na.sub.2OB.sub.2O.sub.3SiO.sub.2, and the like.
[0068] [Method of Producing Anti-Reflection Film]
[0069] A method of producing the anti-reflection film 30 according to this embodiment will be described. It should be noted that the following production method is described by way of example.
[0070] It is also possible to produce the anti-reflection film 30 by a method different from the following method.
[0071]
[0072] Next, as shown in
[0073] The material of the metal material layer 50 is pure metal such as Cu, Ni, Cr, Ag, Pd, Fe, Sn, Pb, Pt, Ir, Rh, Ru, Al, and Ti, or an alloy thereof, and is not especially limited.
[0074] Furthermore, as shown in
[0075] The inorganic material layer 60 is made of an inorganic material of incomplete oxide of transition metal. Examples of the inorganic material include transition metallic heat sensitive resist. In addition, as the transition metal, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Nb, Cu, Ni, Co, Mo, Ta, W, Zr, Ru, Ag, or the like may be used. It should be noted that the inorganic material is not especially limited as long as the inorganic material is photosensitive, so-called thermally recordable, with a heat reaction caused by laser light irradiation.
[0076] Next, as shown in
[0077] Next, the exposed workpiece 70 is developed with the alkaline developing solution. As a result, only the processed parts S are dissolved in the alkaline developing solution, and, as shown in
[0078] Next, the metal material layer 50 is etched by using the first etching mask 61. Thus, as shown in
[0079] Next, the transparent material layer 40 is etched by using the second etching mask 51. Thus, as shown in
[0080] The anti-reflection film 30 is produced in the above-mentioned manner.
[0081] [Formation of Second Etching Mask]
[0082] The second etching mask 51 is formed by chemical etching or physical etching. As the chemical etching, RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) may be employed, which uses a type of gas that is easily reacted with the metal material layer 50 and is difficult to react with the first etching mask 61. For example, in a case where the metal material layer 50 is made of Al and the first etching mask 61 is made of a W material (incomplete oxide of W), the RIE is performed by using chlorine gas (Cl.sub.2) as the type of gas. Since the etching selection ratio to the metal material layer 50 is improved, the metal material layer 50 can be etched more deeply.
[0083] As the chemical etching, not only the above-described RIE but also a dry etching method such as reactive gas etching, reactive ion beam etching, and reactive laser beam etching may be employed, for example.
[0084] The physical etching may be performed by using inactive gas in a case where an atomic weight of the metal material layer 50 is smaller than an atomic weight of the inorganic material layer 60. Thus, at the time of etching the metal material layer 50 by using the first etching mask 61 formed of the inorganic material layer 60, a sputtering rate of the metal material layer 50 obtainable by ion bombardment exceeds the rate of the inorganic material layer 60. This ensures the etching selection ratio to the metal material layer 50.
[0085] As the physical etching, an ion milling method using Ar gas as the inert gas may be employed, for example. This allows the selection ratio of the metal material layer 50 to the first etching mask 61 to be 0.3 or more. It should be noted that the above-described physical etching is not limited to the ion milling method.
[0086] [Etching of Transparent Material Layer]
[0087] The transparent material layer 40 may be etched by chemical etching that is reacted with the transparent material layer 40 and is difficult to react with the second etching mask 51. Specifically, RIE may be performed by using fluorine gas such as CF.sub.4, C.sub.4F.sub.8, and CHF.sub.3 as etching gas. This allows the selection ratio of the transparent material layer 40 to the second etching mask 51 to be improved.
[0088] In a case where the transparent material layer 40 is made of SiO.sub.2 and the second etching mask 51 is made of Ni, the transparent material layer 40 is etched by using CHF.sub.3 gas as the type of gas, which results in the selection ratio of the transparent material layer 40 to the second etching mask 51 of 30 or more. Since the transparent material layer 40 is thus etched more deeply, the aspect ratio of the concave portion 31 may be increased. In addition, since the transparent material layer 40 is made of SiO.sub.2, it is possible to provide the anti-reflection film 30 having an excellent light resistance and a small reflectance.
[0089] Further, since the second etching mask 51 formed by physical etching or chemical etching is used, the selection ratio may be increased by using the difference in the etching rates of the metal material layer 50 and the transparent material layer 40.
[0090] [Laser Exposure Apparatus]
[0091]
[0092] The laser exposure unit D1 receives signals fed from the signal generator D2 and generates laser. The signal generator D2 receives information about the slide D4 and the rotor D5 fed from the controller D3, generates signals at a predetermined timing, and feeds the laser exposure unit D1 with the signals.
[0093] The controller D3 controls driving of the slide D4 and rotor D5 and feeds the signal generator D2 with the information about the driving statuses (such as a slide position and a rotation angle). By the control of the controller D3, the slide D4 slides the rotor D5. The rotor D5 supports the workpiece 70 and rotates the workpiece 70 by the control of the controller D3.
[0094] The laser exposure apparatus 80 processes the workpiece 70 by a PTM (Phase Transition Mastering) method. Specifically, the laser exposure apparatus 80 performs exposure by collecting collimated light from a light source via an objective lens, fixing a focal position on a surface or inside of an object to be exposed, and rotating or sliding the object.
[0095] In this manner, the anti-reflection film 30 may be mass-produced by a simple process without the need for an expensive apparatus that performs electron beam exposure or the like. As a result, facilities costs can be significantly reduced. In addition, as the light source of the laser exposure apparatus 80, an inexpensive laser diode may be employed. It should be noted that the laser exposure apparatus 80 of this embodiment is not limited to the configuration shown in
[0096] It should be noted that in a case where the laser exposure apparatus 80 exposes the object to be exposed while the object to be exposed is rotated, a feed pitch in a radial direction corresponds to the interval L2 between the centers of the concave portions 31 in the Y direction, and a feed pitch in a rotation direction corresponds to the interval L1 between the centers of the concave portions 31 in the X direction (see
[0097] [Optical Device]
[0098] The anti-reflection structure 10 of this embodiment can be mounted to a variety of optical devices such as a microscope, a camera, and a telescope. In particular, since the anti-reflection structure 10 has a high resistance to laser light, the anti-reflection structure 10 can be desirably used for the optical device including the laser light source. It should be noted that the optical devices, to which the anti-reflection structure 10 can be mounted, are not limited to the above.
Modification Embodiments
[0099] In the anti-reflection film 30 of this embodiment, in a case where adhesion between the base 20 and the transparent material layer 40 is low, an adhesion layer may be provided between the base 20 and the transparent material layer 40. In this case, the adhesion layer desirably has a thickness of 100 nm or less. Examples of the material of the adhesion layer include Al.sub.2O.sub.3, Y.sub.2O.sub.3, Ti.sub.2O.sub.3, TiO, TiO.sub.2, and the like. Furthermore, the anti-reflection film 30 has a configuration that includes the convex portions among the plurality of concave portions independent of each other, but is not limited thereto. The anti-reflection film 30 may have a configuration that includes concave portions among a plurality of convex portions independent of each other.
EXAMPLE
[0100] Hereinafter, an example of the present technology will be described.
[0101] The anti-reflection structure described in the embodiment was produced and evaluated.
[0102] First, a transparent material layer having a thickness of 1.5 m was laminated on a base by electron beam vapor deposition (see
[0103] Next, the workpiece was exposed as described below using the laser exposure apparatus described in the above embodiment.
[0104]
[0105] As shown in
[0106] Next, the exposed workpiece was developed with the alkaline developing solution as described in the embodiment, and the first etching mask was formed. Next, the metal material layer was etched by using the first etching mask to form the second etching mask, and the transparent material layer was etched by using the second etching mask to provide the anti-reflection structure.
[0107] An image of the anti-reflection structure produced as described above was captured by a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
[0108] As shown in
[0109] Next, reflectance properties of the anti-reflection film of the anti-reflection structure were determined.
[0110] As shown in
[0111] As above, while the embodiment of the present technology has been described, the present technology is not limited thereto. Various alternations can be made on the basis of the technical ideas of the present technology.
[0112] The present technology may also employ the following configurations.
[0113] (1) An anti-reflection film,
[0114] the anti-reflection film being made of an inorganic material transparent in a visible light region, the inorganic material having a fine concave-convex structure including convex portions and concave portions each having a width equal to or smaller than a wavelength of visible light, and the concave portion having an aspect ratio of 1.5 or more.
[0115] (2) The anti-reflection film according to (1), in which
[0116] the anti-reflection film has a reflectance for visible light and near-infrared rays of less than 0.5%.
[0117] (3) The anti-reflection film according to (1) or (2), in which
[0118] the concave portions are pores arrayed among the convex portions, and
[0119] the aspect ratio is a ratio of a diameter of an opening to a depth of each of the pores.
[0120] (4) The anti-reflection film according to any one of (1) to (3), in which
[0121] the transparent inorganic material is selected from materials capable of being dry-etched.
[0122] (5) The anti-reflection film according to any one of (1) to (4), in which
[0123] the transparent inorganic material is selected from the group consisting of SiO.sub.2, HfO.sub.2, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, ITO, MgF.sub.2, TiO.sub.2, and CaF.sub.2.
[0124] (6) An optical component, including:
[0125] a base; and
[0126] an anti-reflection film laminated on the base, the anti-reflection film being made of an inorganic material transparent in a visible light region, the inorganic material having a fine concave-convex structure including convex portions and concave portions each having a width equal to or smaller than a wavelength of visible light, and the concave portion having an aspect ratio of 1.5 or more.
[0127] (7) An optical device, including:
[0128] a laser light source; and
[0129] an optical component disposed in an optical system of the laser light source, the optical component including
[0130] a base, and
[0131] an anti-reflection film laminated on the base, the anti-reflection film being made of an inorganic material transparent in a visible light region, the inorganic material having a fine concave-convex structure including convex portions and concave portions each having a width equal to or smaller than a wavelength of visible light, and the concave portion having an aspect ratio of 1.5 or more.
[0132] (8) A method of producing an anti-reflection film, including:
[0133] laminating, on a base, a transparent material layer made of an inorganic material transparent in a visible light region;
[0134] laminating, on the transparent inorganic material, a metal material layer made of a metal material;
[0135] laminating, on the metal material layer, an inorganic material layer made of incomplete oxide of transition metal;
[0136] irradiating the inorganic material layer with laser to process a part of the inorganic material;
[0137] developing the inorganic material layer and removing the processed part to form a first etching mask;
[0138] etching the metal material layer using the first etching mask to form a second etching mask; and
[0139] etching the transparent material layer using the second etching mask to form a fine concave-convex structure.
[0140] (9) The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to (8), in which
[0141] the step of forming the second etching mask includes etching the metal material layer on the condition that an etching selection ratio of the metal material layer to the first etching mask is 0.3 or more.
[0142] (10) The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to (8) or (9), in which
[0143] the step of forming the second etching mask includes chemically etching the metal material layer using etching gas that selectively reacts with the metal material.
[0144] (11) The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to any one of (8) to (10), in which
[0145] the step of forming the second etching mask includes selecting the metal material having an atomic weight smaller than an atomic weight of the inorganic material and physically etching the metal material.
[0146] (12) The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to any one of (8) to (11), in which
[0147] the step of forming the fine concave-convex structure includes etching the transparent material layer on the condition that an etching selection ratio of the transparent material layer to the second etching mask is 15 or more.
[0148] (13) The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to any one of (8) to (12), in which
[0149] the step of forming the second etching mask includes physically etching the transparent material layer, and
[0150] the step of forming the fine concave-convex structure includes chemically etching the transparent material layer.
[0151] (14) The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to any one of (8) to (13), in which the step of forming the second etching mask includes reactive ion etching the transparent material layer.
[0152] (15) The method of producing an anti-reflection film according to any one of (8) to (14), in which
[0153] the inorganic material is transition metallic heat sensitive resist made of incomplete oxide of transition metal.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0154] 10 anti-reflection structure [0155] 20 base [0156] 30 anti-reflection film [0157] 31 concave portion [0158] 32 convex portion [0159] 40 transparent material layer [0160] 50 metal material layer [0161] 51 second etching mask [0162] 60 inorganic material layer [0163] 61 first etching mask