Wire Grid Polarizer with Silane Protective Coating

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016291209-A1
Application number	US-201615078695-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 23, 2016
Priority date	Apr 3, 2015
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A wire grid polarizer (WGP) can have a conformal-coating to protect the WGP from at least one of the following: corrosion, dust, and damage due to tensile forces in a liquid on the WGP. The conformal-coating can include a silane conformal-coating with chemical formula (1), chemical formula (2), or combinations thereof:

A method of applying a conformal-coating over a WGP can include exposing the WGP to Si(R 1 ) d (R 2 ) e (R 3 ) g .
In the above WGP and method, X can be a bond to the ribs; each R 1 can be a hydrophobic group; each R 3 , if any, can be any chemical element or group; d can be 1, 2, or 3, e can be 1, 2, or 3, g can be 0, 1, or 2, and d+e+g=4; R 2 can be a silane-reactive-group; and each R 6 can be an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A wire grid polarizer (WGP) comprising:
a. ribs located over a surface of a transparent substrate, wherein the ribs are elongated and arranged in a substantially parallel array; b. gaps between at least a portion of the ribs; and c. a silane conformal-coating and a phosphonate conformal-coating located over the ribs, wherein the silane conformal-coating includes chemical formula (1), chemical formula (2), or combinations thereof, and the phosphonate conformal-coating includes chemical formula (3):

where:
i. is a positive integer;
ii. each R 1 independently is a hydrophobic group;
iii. each X and Z is a bond to the ribs;

iv. each R 3 and R 5 are independently a chemical element or a group.

2 . The WGP of claim 1 , wherein:
a. each R 3 is independently selected from the group consisting of: a silane-reactive-group, —H, R 1 , R 6 , and X; b. each silane-reactive-group is independently selected from the group consisting of: —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , —N(R 6 ) 2 , and —OH; c. R 5 is a phosphonate-reactive-group, R 1 , R 6 , or Z; d. the phosphonate-reactive-group is —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , or —OH; e. each R 6 is independently an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof.

3 . The WGP of claim 1 , wherein:
a. each of the ribs includes a rod and a wire; b. the wire is reflective; c. the rod is absorptive; d. X is a bond to the rod; and e. Z is a bond to the wire.

4 . The WGP of claim 1 , wherein:
a. X is —O—Si; and b. Z is —O-Metal, where Metal is a metal atom.

5 . The WGP of claim 1 , wherein R 3 is —OCH 3 .

6 . The WGP of claim 1 , wherein the hydrophobic group includes a carbon chain.

7 . The WGP of claim 1 , wherein each hydrophobic group is independently CF 3 (CF 2 ) n (CH 2 ) m , where n and m are integers within the boundaries of: 0≦n≦20 and 0≦m≦5.

8 . The WGP of claim 1 , wherein each hydrophobic group is independently CF 3 (CF 2 ) n (CH 2 ) m , where n and m are integers within the boundaries of: 4≦n≦10 and 2≦m≦5.

9 . A ire grid polarizer (WGP) comprising:
a. ribs located over a surface of a transparent substrate, wherein the ribs are elongated and arranged in a substantially parallel array; b. gaps between at least a portion of the ribs; and c. a silane conformal-coating located over the ribs, wherein the silane conformal-coating includes chemical formula (1), chemical formula (2), or combinations thereof:

where:
i. is a positive integer;
i. each R 1 independently is a hydrophobic group;
ii. X is a bond to the ribs;
iii. each R 3 is independently a chemical element or a group.

10 . The WGP of claim 9 , wherein:
a. each R 3 is independently selected from the group consisting of: a silane-reactive-group, —H, R 1 , R 6 , X, and combinations thereof; b. each silane-reactive-group is independently selected from the group consisting of: —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , —N(R 6 ) 2 , —OH, and combinations thereof; and c. each R 6 is independently an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof.

11 . The WGP of claim 9 , further comprising a silicon dioxide conformal-coating, wherein the silicon dioxide conformal-coating:
a. is located between the silane conformal-coating and the ribs; and b. has a thickness of between 0.1 nanometers and 5 nanometers.

12 . The WGP of claim 9 , wherein each hydrophobic group is independently CF 3 (CF 2 ) n CH 2 ) m , where n and m are integers within the boundaries of: 4≦n≦10 and 2≦m≦5.

13 . A method of making a wire grid polarizerr (WGP) with a protective coating, the method comprising:
a. providing a WGP with ribs located over a surface of a transparent substrate, wherein the ribs are elongated and arranged in a substantially parallel array; b. exposing the WGP to a silane chemical, the silane chemical including Si(R 1 ) d (R 2 ) e (R 3 ) g where:
i. d is 1, 2, or 3, e is 1, 2, or 3, g is 0, 1, or 2, and d+e+g=4;
iv. each R 1 is independently a hydrophobic group;
ii. R 2 is a silane-reactive-group;
iii. each silane-reactive-group is independently selected from: —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , —N(R 6 ) 2 , and —OH;
iv. each R 6 is independently an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof; and
v. each R 3 , if any, is independently any chemical element or group.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising exposing the WGP to a phosphonate chemical, the phosphonate chemical including (R 1 ) i PO(R 4 ) j (R 5 ) k , where:
a. i is 1 or 2, j is 1 or 2, k is 0 or 1, and i+j+k=3; b. R 4 is a phosphonate-reactive-group; c. each phosphonate-reactive-group is independently selected from: —Cl, —OR 6 , —OCOR 6 , and —OH; and d. each R 5 , if any, is independently any chemical element or group.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein each of the ribs includes a rod and a wire, the wire is reflective, and the rod is absorptive.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein:
a. each R 3 , if any, is independently hydrogen, an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof; b. each R 5 , if any, is independently an alkyl group, an aryl group, or combinations thereof.

17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein exposing the WGP to the silane chemical is done by vapor-deposition.

18 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising exposing the WGP to a gas before exposing the WGP to the chemical, wherein the gas includes water vapor and the water vapor has a pressure of less than 100 Torr.

19 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising baking the WGP after the step of exposing the WGP to the silane chemical, wherein baking the WGP occurs at a temperature between 100° C. and 320° C. for between 5 and 90 minutes.

20 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising at least one of the following before applying the conformal-coating:
a. plasma cleaning the WGP, wherein the plasma cleaning is performed at a temperature between 140° C. and 200° C.; b. exposing the WGP to ultraviolet light; and c. exposing the WGP to ozone.

Assignees

• Univ Brigham Young
• Moxtek Inc

Inventors

• Diwan Anubhav
• Linford Matt
• Lane Fred

Classifications

• C23C16/403

  of aluminium, magnesium or beryllium · CPC title

• G02B1/04

  made of organic materials, e.g. plastics (G02B1/08 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C23C16/405

  of refractory metals or yttrium · CPC title

• G02B5/3058 Primary

  comprising electrically conductive elements, e.g. wire grids, conductive particles · CPC title

• C23C16/45555

  applied in non-semiconductor technology · CPC title