Miniature mounting device and method
AssigneeCambridge Consultants Limited
InventorsRoger Mark Bostock, Peter Gravesen, Robert Jones, David Frank Moore, Kasper Mayntz Paasch
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A miniature mounting device on which elements such as optical filters can be accurately held. The device includes a substrate having a machined groove with an enlarged opening for receiving the element, and an overlayer extends at least partially over the groove to clamp the element.
Claims29
A miniature device for mounting one or more elongate elements and comprising a crystalline substrate having a groove formed therein along one surface thereof, the groove having at least one enlarged opening portion leading into the groove for coarse positioning of an element when it is initially inserted into the groove, and an overlayer extending at least partially over said groove and adapted to clamp said element when said element has been inserted into the groove, and wherein a pattern of openings is defined in said overlayer;
- and wherein a profile of the groove in a plane of said one surface is defined by said pattern, said groove having been anisotropically etched through the openings of said pattern with the anisotropic etch having self terminated at the limits of said pattern.
A component comprising a miniature device for mounting one or more elements and comprising a crystalline substrate having a groove formed therein, the groove having at least one enlarged opening portion leading into the groove for coarse positioning of an element when said element is initially inserted into the groove, and an overlayer extending at least partially over said groove and adapted to clamp said element when said element has been inserted into the groove, and wherein the overlayer is provided with a slit extending above said groove so as to define resilient lips which overhang the groove, and wherein the element mounted in the groove is an optical fibre and the portions of the overlayer which clamp the fibre are manufactured so that the stress on the fibre exerted thereby varies in the presence of a measurand so that the component can be used as a sensor for the measurand.
A miniature device for mounting one or more elements and comprising a crystalline substrate having a groove formed therein, the groove having at least one enlarged opening portion leading into the groove for coarse positioning of an element when it is initially inserted into the groove, and an overlayer extending at least partially over said groove and adapted to clamp said element when said element has been inserted into the groove, and wherein the overlayer is provided with a slit extending above said groove so as to define resilient lips which overhang the groove, and wherein said lips are pre-stressed so as to extend above the plane of the overlayer, so that on release of the pre-stressing they return to clamp an element within the groove therebelow.
A miniature mounting device for mounting an optical fibre, the device comprising:
- a) a crystalline substrate;
- b) an overlayer provided on one surface of said substrate;
- c) a pattern of openings defined in said substrate, said pattern comprising a widened portion at one end thereof progressively narrowing to a central slit;
- and
- d) a groove located in the substrate beneath the pattern, a profile of the groove on a plane of said surface conforming to the profile of said pattern, said groove having been anisotropically etched through the openings of said pattern with the anisotropic etch having self terminated at the limits of said pattern.
A method of manufacturing a miniature mounting device for an elongate element, the device comprising a crystalline substrate having a groove formed therein, the groove having at least one enlarged opening portion leading into the groove for coarse positioning an element when it is initially inserted into the groove, and an overlayer extending at least partially over said groove and adapted to clamp said element when said element has been inserted into the groove, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing the substrate with an overlayer material extending over a region to be occupied by the groove and its opening portion or portions;
- forming a photoresist layer over said overlayer material;
- forming a photolithographic pattern in the photoresist layer defining the extent of the groove and of the enlarged opening;
- anisotropically etching the substrate through the pattern of the photoresist layer and overlayer material so as to generate said groove and opening portion with the anisotropic etch being self-terminating at the limits of the pattern;
- and
- removing the photoresist layer so that the remaining overlayer material extends over said groove and said at least one enlarged opening to provide means for clamping an element when said element is inserted into the groove via the enlarged opening.
A method of manufacturing a miniature mounting device comprising:
- providing an overlayer on a crystalline substrate;
- applying a layer of photoresist to the overlayer;
- forming a photolithographic pattern on the photo resist layer;
- anisotropically etching the substrate through the pattern to generate a groove having an enlarged opening at at least one end of the groove, and wherein the pattern is such that a slit is provided in the overlayer above the groove so as to form lips which overhang the groove and wherein the lips are pre-stressed so as after manufacture of the device to extend above the plane of the overlayer.
A method of manufacturing a miniature mounting device comprising:
- providing an overlayer on a crystalline substrate;
- forming a photolithographic pattern on the photo resist layer;
- anisotropically etching the substrate through the pattern to generate a groove having an enlarged opening at at least one end of the groove, wherein the pattern is such that a slit is provided in the overlayer above the groove so as to form lips which overhand the groove;
- and including the step of inserting an optical plane into the groove so that the optical fibre is mounted within the device, and wherein the substrate is formed with a mirror surface which cooperates with the optical fibre inserted into the groove.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.