WO2016195192A1 - Optical filtering unit and spectrometer including same - Google Patents

Abstract

An optical filtering unit comprises: a flexible substrate having flexibility; and transparent patterns arranged on the flexible substrate, and variably and selectively transmitting light of a specific wavelength according to the flexing of the flexible substrate. Therefore, light of a specific wavelength can be variably and selectively transmitted according to the flexing of the flexible substrate.

Description

Optical filtering unit and spectroscopic device comprising the same

The present invention relates to an optical filtering unit and a spectroscopic apparatus including the same, and more particularly, to an optical filtering unit for selectively transmitting light having a specific wavelength among incident incident light and a spectroscopic apparatus including the optical filtering unit. .

Spectroscopy is used as a key instrument across a wide range of industries, including optics, chemicals and marine engineering. Spectroscopic devices measure the intensity of various wavelengths coming from an object and present the information in graphical or spectral form. The degree to which spectroscopic devices accurately and accurately represent information about an object is called resolution. The resolution is evaluated as an important factor in evaluating the performance of the spectrometer.

Among the spectrometers, the miniature spectroscopy device uses a filter device as a part for reducing manufacturing costs, and can be conveniently used. The filter device can be produced by arranging the filters in one place.

The filter device technology using nano process can reduce the size of the spectrometer to a very small size and, accordingly, can greatly reduce the production cost. The compact spectrometer produced by this process is a great help in measuring the properties of materials on industrial sites outside the laboratory. In addition, it can be easily combined with a computer or other electronic device. In addition, the spectrometer based filter device has an advantage of measuring the spectrum information of the light source in a short time.

However, since the limit of resolution that the spectrometer can reach may be determined by the number of filters included in the optical filtering unit, it is possible to consider increasing the number of filters to increase the resolution. However, increasing the number of filters to be provided in the optical filtering unit due to physical constraints and distortion of the spectrum is a difficult problem in reality.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical filtering unit capable of selectively filtering light of a specific wavelength and changing the specific wavelength.

An object of the present invention is to provide a spectroscopic device which can achieve miniaturization by applying the optical filtering unit to significantly reduce the number of filters included in the optical filtering unit.

The optical filtering unit according to the embodiments of the present invention includes a stretchable substrate having a stretchable and transparent patterns disposed on the stretchable substrate and selectively transmitting light having a specific wavelength in accordance with the stretch of the stretchable substrate. .

In one embodiment of the present invention, the stretchable substrate may be made of PDMS or polyurethane material.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the light transmission patterns may be buried in the upper portion of the substrate.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the light transmission patterns include a high refractive dielectric material such as Si, TiO ₂ , Si ₃ N ₄ , ZrO ₂ , Ge, AZO, ITO or the like or a metal material such as Au, Ag, Cu, Al, etc. can do.

A spectroscopic device according to embodiments of the present invention filters incident incident light, is disposed on a stretchable stretchable substrate and the stretchable substrate, and selectively transmits light having a specific wavelength depending on the stretch of the stretchable substrate. An optical filtering unit having light transmission patterns, an optical sensing unit which is provided to face the optical filtering unit, converts filtered light into electric charges to generate an output signal, and receives the output signal from the light sensing unit and outputs the output signal And a digital signal processing unit for signal processing the digital signal to recover the spectral information of the incident light.

In the optical filtering unit and the spectroscopic apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention, the optical filtering unit including the flexible substrate may replace the filter array including the plurality of filters. As a result, the resonant wavelength of the optical filtering unit is changed by adjusting the interval between the light transmission patterns according to the stretch of the stretchable substrate. Stretching of the flexible substrate may be used to implement optical filtering of various wavelengths using a single optical filtering unit.

On the other hand, the number of filters included in the optical filtering unit is reduced and thus the number of light sensing units is reduced, thereby miniaturizing the spectrometer.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating characteristics of an optical filtering unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a method of forming an optical filtering unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a method of forming an optical filtering unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a block diagram illustrating a spectroscopic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating analysis of light using the spectrometer of FIG. 4.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. As the inventive concept allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the text. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to the specific disclosed form, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In the accompanying drawings, the size and amount of the objects are shown to be enlarged or reduced than actual for clarity of the invention.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "include" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, step, function, component, or combination thereof described on the specification, and other features, steps, functions, components Or it does not exclude in advance the possibility of the presence or addition of them in combination.

On the other hand, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined in this application. Do not.

The optical filtering unit according to the embodiments of the present invention includes a stretchable substrate having a stretchable and transparent patterns disposed on the stretchable substrate and selectively transmitting light having a specific wavelength in accordance with the stretch of the stretchable substrate. .

optics Filter  unit

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating characteristics of an optical filtering unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an optical filtering unit according to an exemplary embodiment includes a stretchable substrate 110 and light transmitting patterns 120.

The stretchable substrate 110 has a property of being easily stretchable by external pressure or stretching force. The stretchable substrate 110 may include, for example, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) material or a polyurethane material.

The light transmission patterns 120 are formed on the stretchable substrate 110. The light transmission patterns 120 may be provided to be buried in the concave portion of the stretchable substrate 110.

Depending on the interval between the light transmission patterns 120, the wavelength of the selective transmission of the incident light incident on the optical filtering unit may be changed. That is, when the distance between the light transmission patterns 120 is relatively narrow, the size of the transmitted wavelength is small, while when the distance between the light transmission patterns 120 is relatively large, the wavelength of the transmission wavelength Increases in size

The light transmission patterns 120 may be made of a high refractive dielectric material such as Si, TiO ₂ , Si ₃ N ₄ , ZrO ₂ , Ge, AZO, ITO, or the like. Alternatively, the light transmission patterns 120 may be made of a metal material such as Au, Ag, Cu, Al, and the like.

Meanwhile, each of the light transmission patterns 120 may have a multilayer structure in which a dielectric layer pattern and a metal layer pattern are sequentially stacked.

Each of the light transmission patterns 120 may have various shapes such as a circular plate shape, a square plate shape, and a polygonal plate shape.

According to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, transmissive patterns 120 formed on the stretchable substrate 110 are provided. Therefore, as the stretchable substrate 110 is stretched, the distance between the light transmission patterns 120 may be variably changed. As a result, the light of the wavelength band selectively transmitted by the optical filtering unit may be changed.

That is, when the stretchable substrate 110 is compressed, the light transmission patterns 120 are spaced apart from each other at relatively narrow intervals. Therefore, light of a relatively small wavelength band, for example, a blue wavelength band, is transmitted. Meanwhile, when the stretchable substrate 110 is extended, the light transmission patterns 120 are spaced apart at relatively wide intervals. Therefore, light of a relatively large wavelength band, for example, a red wavelength band, is transmitted.

As a result, the optical filtering unit may implement multi-sensing that can correspond to a plurality of wavelengths. As a result, although the conventional optical filtering unit is provided with a filter array consisting of a plurality of filters, the optical filtering unit according to the present invention can replace the existing filter array with one filter.

Method of Forming Optical Filtering Unit

2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a method of forming an optical filtering unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a material layer 125 for forming a light transmissive pattern is formed on the stretchable substrate 110. Subsequently, mask patterns 10 are formed on the material layer 125. Transmissive patterns 120 are formed on the stretchable substrate 110 through an etching process of partially etching the material layer 125 using the mask patterns 10. Subsequently, the optical filtering unit is formed by removing the mask patterns 10 from the stretchable substrate 110.

Meanwhile, examples of the etching process may include an electron beam lithography process, a photolithography process, a laser interference lithography process, and the like.

Alternatively, mask patterns 10 are first formed on the stretchable substrate 110. Transmissive patterns 120 are formed in an exposed area where the upper surface of the stretchable substrate 110 is exposed between the mask patterns 10. Subsequently, the optical filter unit is formed by removing the mask patterns 10 from the stretchable substrate 110 through a lift-off process.

Meanwhile, the light transmitting patterns 120 may be formed on the stretchable substrate through a nano transfer process, a nano imprinting process, and an inkjet printing process.

3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a method of forming an optical filtering unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the sacrificial layer 40 is formed on the substrate 30. The sacrificial layer 40 may be removed together with the substrate 30 in a subsequent process.

Thereafter, the light-transmitting pattern forming material layer 225 is formed on the sacrificial layer 40. Subsequently, mask patterns 20 are formed on the material layer 225. Transmitting patterns 220 are formed on the sacrificial layer 40 by partially etching the material layer 225 using the mask patterns 20.

After removing the mask patterns 20 from the material layer 225, the stretchable substrate 210 is formed on the sacrificial layer 40 to cover the light transmission patterns 220. The stretchable substrate 210 may be formed through a coating process.

Next, the optical filtering unit is formed by removing the sacrificial layer 40 from the stretchable substrate 210.

Alternatively, mask patterns 20 are first formed on the sacrificial layer 40. Transmissive patterns 220 are formed in an exposed area where the top surface of the sacrificial layer 40 is exposed between the mask patterns 20. Subsequently, the mask patterns 20 are removed from the sacrificial layer 40 through a lift-off process, whereby light transmission patterns 220 are formed on the sacrificial layer 40. Subsequently, the stretchable substrate 210 is formed on the sacrificial layer 40 to cover the light transmitting patterns 220. The stretchable substrate 210 may be formed through a coating process.

Thereafter, the sacrificial layer 40 is removed from the stretchable substrate 210 to form an optical filtering unit.

Spectroscopy device

 4 is a block diagram illustrating a spectroscopic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating analysis of light using the spectrometer of FIG. 4.

4 and 5, a spectrometer according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an optical filtering unit 310, a light sensing unit 320, and a digital signal processing unit 340.

The optical filtering unit 310 filters incident incident light. The optical filtering unit 310 includes a stretchable stretchable substrate and light transmitting patterns (see FIG. 1).

The light transmission patterns are disposed on the substrate. The light transmission patterns may selectively transmit light having a specific wavelength in accordance with the stretching of the substrate.

In the conventional case, a total wavelength band of spectral is 400 nm to 800 nm, and if one filter selectively transmits light in the 4 nm wavelength range, a total of 200 color filters are required. Therefore, a color filter array having the plurality of color filters is required.

However, according to embodiments of the present invention, the distance between the light transmission patterns may vary variably according to the stretch of the stretchable substrate. The optical filtering unit can selectively vary the wavelength of the transmitted light. Therefore, after the formation of one optical filtering unit, by stretching the stretchable substrate included in the optical filtering unit, the interval between the light transmission patterns formed on the stretchable substrate is varied so that the wavelength of the light selectively transmitted through the optical filtering unit Can be changed. As a result, the optical filtering unit may implement multi-sensing that can correspond to a plurality of wavelengths. As a result, although the conventional optical filtering unit is provided with a filter array consisting of a plurality of filters, the optical filtering unit according to the present invention can replace the existing filter array with one filter.

In order to stretch the stretchable substrate, the stretchable substrate may be connected to the piezoelectric XY stage and precisely controlled.

The light sensing unit 320 is provided to face the optical filtering unit. The light sensing unit 320 converts the filtered light into a charge to generate an output signal. The light sensing unit 320 may include, for example, a CMOS image sensor (CIS).

The digital signal processing unit 340 receives the output signal from the light sensing unit 310 and processes the output signal into a digital signal to recover spectral information of the incident light. The recovered waveform can be analyzed and used to analyze various diseases, environments, colors, and health.

In the optical filtering unit and the spectroscopic apparatus according to the embodiments of the present invention, the optical filtering unit including the flexible substrate may replace the filter array including the plurality of filters. As a result, the resonant wavelength of the optical filtering unit is changed by adjusting the interval between the light transmission patterns according to the stretch of the stretchable substrate. Stretching of the flexible substrate may be used to implement optical filtering of various wavelengths using a single optical filtering unit.

On the other hand, the number of filters included in the optical filtering unit is reduced and thus the number of light sensing units is reduced, thereby miniaturizing the spectrometer.

Although described above with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those of ordinary skill in the art various modifications and variations of the present invention within the scope and spirit of the present invention described in the claims below It will be appreciated that it can be changed.

Claims (11)

1. An elastic substrate having elasticity; And

   An optical filtering unit disposed on the stretchable substrate, the transmissive patterns selectively transmitting light having a specific wavelength in accordance with the stretch of the stretchable substrate.
2. The optical filtering unit of claim 1, wherein the stretchable substrate is made of PDMS or polyurethane material.
3. The optical filtering unit of claim 1, wherein the light transmission patterns are embedded in the substrate.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the light transmitting patterns are at least one high refractive dielectric material selected from the group consisting of Si, TiO ₂ , Si ₃ N ₄ , ZrO ₂ , Ge, AZO and ITO or a group consisting of Au, Ag, Cu and Al. Optical filtering unit, characterized in that it comprises at least one metal selected from.
5. The optical filtering unit of claim 1, wherein the light transmitting patterns may be spaced apart from each other at intervals that vary according to the stretching of the stretchable substrate.
6. Preparing a stretchable substrate having a stretchability; And

   Forming transmission patterns on the flexible substrate, the transmission patterns selectively transmitting light having a specific wavelength in accordance with the stretching of the flexible substrate.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the forming of the light transmission pattern,

   Forming a material layer for forming a transparent pattern on the stretchable substrate; And

   Patterning the material layer through a patterning process to form light transmission patterns on the stretchable substrate.
8. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the patterning process comprises an electron beam lithography process, a photolithography process, and a laser interference lithography process.
9. An optical filtering unit for filtering incident incident light and having a stretchable stretchable substrate and transmissive patterns disposed on the stretchable substrate and selectively transmitting light having a specific wavelength in accordance with the stretch of the stretchable substrate;

   An optical sensing unit provided to face the optical filtering unit and converting the filtered light into electric charges to generate an output signal; And

   And a digital signal processing unit receiving the output signal from the light sensing unit and processing the output signal into a digital signal to recover spectral information of the incident light.
10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the stretchable substrate is made of PDMS or polyurethane material, and the light transmission patterns are at least one high refractive index selected from the group consisting of Si, TiO ₂ , Si ₃ N ₄ , ZrO ₂ , Ge, AZO and ITO. A dielectric device or spectrometer comprising at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Au, Ag, Cu and Al.
11. The spectrometer of claim 9, wherein the light transmission patterns are embedded in the substrate.

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