Method of bonding optical members together
AssigneeHughes Danbury Optical Systems, Inc.
InventorsCharles F. Robbert, Steven M. Daigneault
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention involves a method for bonding together molecularly homogeneous objects including optical and semiconductor members. In particular, such method involves forming micro-thin grooves using high precision laser ablation in one of two surfaces to be bonded together. An adhesive is then flowed into such a groove to form chemical bonding of the members. Such bonding essentially eliminates the formation of an adhesive layer in the interface between the bonding surfaces allowing optical contacting in addition to the chemical bonding.
Claims12
A method of bonding two optical members together while minimizing optical distortion during bonding comprising:
- forming a mounting surface on a first member and a registration surface on a second member;
- forming a groove in the registration surface of uniform depth with defined groove sides and groove ends;
- mounting the first member on the second member such that the mounting surface makes contact with the registration surface and is retained by molecular forces and covers the groove leaving an end of the groove exposed;
- and
- filling the groove with an optically transparent adhesive by contacting the exposed end of the groove with the adhesive and allowing the adhesive to flow into the groove by capillary action, whereby, as the adhesive sets, the members are bonded together to function as a single operative unit.
A method of bonding two or more optical members together comprising:
- optically polishing surfaces of a first and a second optical members, so that, when the two polished surfaces of the optical members are joined at a 90.degree. angle, they are within a few arc-seconds of each other;
- forming a groove across the flat surface of the second optical member by a laser ablation;
- forming an optical contact between the two flat surfaces in which the surfaces are held together by molecular forces leaving an end of the groove exposed;
- and
- bonding the two flat surfaces together to function as a single operative unit by filling the groove with an optically clear adhesive by contacting an exposed end of the groove with the adhesive and allowing the adhesive to flow into the groove by capillary action and set.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.