# US 12,015,045 B2 · Manufacturing method of image pickup apparatus for endoscope, image pickup apparatus for endoscope, and endoscope

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- Number: US 12,015,045 B2
- Document ID: US12015045B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/375,532
- Filed: 2021-07-14
- Published: 2021-11-04
- Granted: 2024-06-18
- Earliest claimed: 2019-01-22
- Assignees: Olympus Corporation
- Applicants: Olympus Corporation
- Inventors: Noriyuki Fujimori
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12015045B2

## CPC

- H10F 39/024: {of coatings or optical elements}
- A61B 1/0011: {Manufacturing of endoscope parts}
- A61B 1/051: {Details of CCD assembly}
- G02B 13/0085: {employing wafer level optics}
- G02B 23/24: Instruments {or systems} for viewing the inside of hollow bodies, e.g. fibrescopes
- G02B 23/243: {Objectives for endoscopes}
- H04N 23/55: Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof
- H10F 39/026: {Wafer-level processing}
- H10F 39/804: {Containers or encapsulations}
- H10F 39/806: {Optical elements or arrangements associated with the image sensors}
- H04N 23/555: {for picking-up images in sites, inaccessible due to their dimensions or hazardous conditions, e.g. endoscopes or borescopes}
- H10F: INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION

## Abstract

A manufacturing method of an image pickup apparatus for endoscope includes: manufacturing two optical wafers each of which has a glass wafer as a base substrate and is a hybrid lens wafer including a plurality of resin lenses, and a spacer wafer including a plurality of spacers and being formed with an inorganic material; manufacturing a bonded wafer in which space in which the plurality of resin lenses are disposed is hermetically sealed by directly bonding the two optical wafers and the spacer wafer at a temperature lower than a softening point of the plurality of resin lenses; disposing a plurality of image pickup members on the bonded wafer; and cutting the bonded wafer on which the plurality of image pickup members are disposed.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of manufacturing a plurality of image pickup apparatuses, each for use with an endoscope, the method comprising:
manufacturing two optical wafers each comprising a glass wafer, at least one of the two optical wafers being a hybrid lens wafer including a plurality of resin lenses formed on the glass wafer, and
providing a spacer wafer including a plurality of spacers formed with an inorganic material between the two optical wafers;
directly bonding the spacer wafer to the two optical wafers to form a plurality of hermetically sealed spaces in which the plurality of resin lenses is respectively disposed, the bonding being at a temperature lower than a softening point of the plurality of resin lenses;
disposing a plurality of image pickup members, each having an image sensor, on the bonded wafer respectively corresponding to the plurality of lenses; and
cutting the two bonded optical wafers with the plurality of image pickup members disposed thereon to form a plurality of the image pickup apparatuses such that each of the plurality of image pickup apparatuses comprise:
an optical member comprising two glass plates respectively formed from the two glass wafers, at least one of which having a resin lens of the plurality of resin lenses; plate and
a spacer of the plurality of spacers disposed between the two glass plates, and an image pickup member of the plurality of image pickup members.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein a thermal expansion coefficient of the spacer wafer is equal to or greater than 50% and equal to or less than 200% of a thermal expansion coefficient of the glass wafer.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the spacer wafer comprises a same type of glass as a type of glass of the glass wafer.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the spacer wafer is manufactured by etching a silicon wafer.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method according to claim 4, wherein the spacer wafer is manufactured by oxidizing a surface of the spacer wafer after the etching.