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US 12,607,779 B2Granted
Seed structures for structured coatings for optical and other devices
AssigneeNIL Technology ApS
InventorsNiklas Hansson, Ulrich Quaade
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Abstract
A method includes providing a coating over a surface of a substrate, a plurality of seed structures being disposed on the surface of the substrate, in which respective heights of the seed structures define local thicknesses of the coating. An optical device includes a substrate, a plurality of seed structures on a surface of the substrate, and a coating on the seed structures and on the surface of the substrate, in which respective heights of the seed structures define local thicknesses of the coating.
Claims14
A method comprising:
- disposing a plurality of seed structures on a surface of a substrate using a replication process;
- and
- providing a coating over a surface of the substrate, wherein the coating entirely fills spaces between adjacent ones of the seed structures,
- wherein providing the coating comprises depositing the coating using a surface growth technique, and wherein the coating is grown at least in part from surfaces of the plurality of seed structures such that the coating extends above a topmost surface of each seed structure by a first thickness, and wherein a spacing between each adjacent seed structure is less than twice the first thickness,
- wherein respective heights of the seed structures define local thicknesses of the coating, wherein the plurality of seed structures and the local thicknesses of the coating together define a diffractive optical element, and wherein the diffractive optical element is a lens,
- wherein at least some of the seed structures have a height that differs from a height of other ones of the seed structures.
3 more elements
An optical device comprising:
- a substrate;
- a plurality of seed structures on a surface of the substrate;
- and
- a coating on the seed structures and on the surface of the substrate,
- wherein the coating is in contact with the topmost and side surfaces of each seed structure, the coating extends above the topmost surface of each seed structure by a first thickness, and a spacing between each adjacent seed structure is less than twice the first thickness
- wherein respective heights of the seed structures define local thicknesses of the coating,
- wherein the plurality of seed structures and the local thicknesses of the coating together define a diffractive optical element, wherein the diffractive optical element is a lens, and
- wherein the coating entirely fills spaces between adjacent ones of the seed structures.
5 more elements
An optical device comprising:
- a substrate;
- and
- a coating on a surface of the substrate,
- wherein a plurality of voids are formed in the coating,
- wherein the coating forms at least one optical element, wherein the at least one optical element comprises a diffractive optical element that is a lens,
- wherein the voids project from a surface of the coating towards the surface of the substrate,
- wherein portions of the coating in which the voids are formed comprise at least two different thicknesses,
- wherein a non-zero thickness of the coating from the substrate to each void is the same, and
- wherein a thickness of the coating between neighboring voids differs in at least two regions.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.