IP Library Granted Patent US 12710337
Granted Patent B2
US 12710337 · App. 18/667,513 · Granted Aug 18, 2026

Illumination system for AR metrology tool

Inventors: Yangyang Sun (San Jose, CA); Jinxin Fu (Fremont, CA); Kazuya Daito (Milpitas, CA); Ludovic Godet (Sunnyvale, CA)
Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
G01M11/0264G02B19/0047G02B27/30G06T7/0002H04N23/56G06T2207/10152G06T2207/30168G06T2207/30204
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12710337
App. No.
18/667,513
Granted
Aug 18, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Embodiments described herein provide for light engines of a measurement system and methods of using the light engines. The measurement system includes a light engine operable to illuminate a first grating of an optical device. The light engine projects a pattern with a light from a light engine. The light engine projects a pattern to the first grating such that a metrology metric may be extracted from one or more images captured by a detector of the measurement system. The metrology metrics are extracted by processing the image. The metrology metrics determine if the optical device meets image quality standards.

Claims (40)

1 . A measurement system, comprising:

a stage operable to retain an optical device or an optical device substrate having at least one optical device disposed thereon;

a light engine disposed above the stage, the light engine including:

one or more light sources operable to project a light to the optical device at a range of wavelengths;

a reticle tray disposed below the one or more light sources, the reticle tray having a plurality of reticles disposed thereon, each reticle of the plurality of reticles having a different pattern to be projected when the light is directed to each reticle of the plurality of reticles;

an alignment camera adjacent to the light engine, the alignment camera positioned to capture one or more images of one or more alignment markers on the optical device or the optical device substrate; and

a reflection detector adjacent to the light engine, the reflection detector positioned to detect outcoupled beams projected from the at least one optical device.

2 . The measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the light engine further includes a second lens operable to receive a pattern, the second lens operable to project the pattern to an input coupling grating of the optical device.

3 . The measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the patterns may each correspond to red, green, and blue channels.

4 . The measurement system of claim 1 , wherein is a micro LED module, a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) module, digital light processing (DLP) module, or laser projection module operable to project the one or more patterns.

5 . The measurement system of claim 1 , wherein a field of view of the light engine is between about 10 degrees and about 100 degrees.

6 . The measurement system of claim 1 , wherein the stage is transparent.

7 . A measurement system, comprising:

a stage operable to retain an optical device or an optical device substrate having at least one optical device disposed thereon; and

a light engine disposed above the stage, the light engine including:

a plurality of light sources, the plurality of light sources operable to project a light to the optical device at a range of wavelengths;

a first lens operable to collimate the light from each of the plurality of light sources;

a reticle tray disposed below the plurality of light sources, the reticle tray having a plurality of reticles disposed thereon, each reticle of the plurality of reticles having a different pattern to be projected when the light is directed to each reticle of the plurality of reticles, each reticle pattern corresponding to a different metrology metric, the reticle tray movable such that each of the plurality of reticles is positionable below the first lens; and

a second lens disposed below the reticle tray, the second lens operable to receive the pattern projected from each of the plurality of reticles and operable to project the different pattern to an input coupling grating of the optical device.

8 . The measurement system of claim 7 , wherein the light engine is coupled to a rotation stage, the rotation stage operable to rotate or tilt the light engine.

9 . The measurement system of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of light sources includes a first light source operable to project a first range of wavelengths of 620 nm to 750 nm, a second light source operable to project a second range of wavelengths of 495 nm to 570 nm, and a third light source operable to project a third range of wavelengths of 450 nm to 495 nm.

10 . The measurement system of claim 7 , further comprising an alignment camera adjacent to the light engine, the alignment camera operable to capture one or more images of one or more alignment markers on the optical device or the optical device substrate.

11 . The measurement system of claim 7 , wherein the light engine includes a plurality of mirrors, the plurality of mirrors operable to direct the light from the plurality of light sources to the first lens.

12 . The measurement system of claim 7 , further comprising a reflection detector adjacent to the light engine, the reflection detector positioned to detect the different pattern projected from each of the plurality of reticles.

13 . The measurement system of claim 7 , further comprising a transmission detector positioned on an opposite side of the stage than the light engine, the transmission detector operable to detect the pattern projected from each of the plurality of reticles.

14 . A method, comprising:

projecting a first pattern with a light from a light engine, the light engine having a light source that projects the light at a range of wavelengths to a first reticle of a reticle tray disposed below the light source, the reticle tray having the first pattern that is projected to an optical device, the light engine disposed in a measurement system, the measurement system having:

a stage disposed under the light engine;

a tray disposed on the stage, the tray having the optical device or an optical device substrate having the optical device disposed thereon, the optical device receives the first pattern; and

a reflection detector oriented toward the stage;

detecting one or more images of the first pattern, the image detected when the pattern undergoing total internal reflection through the optical device is outcoupled to the reflection detector;

processing the image to extract a first metrology metric;

projecting a second pattern by projecting light from the light source to a second reticle having the second pattern different than the first pattern to the optical device;

detecting one or more images of the second pattern; and

processing the image to extract a second metrology metric.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein a light width of the light is substantially equal to a width of an input coupling grating of the optical device.

16 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising rotating or tilting the light engine when projecting the light.

17 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising utilizing an alignment camera of the measurement system to correct misalignments of the optical device relative to the light engine.

18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the first metric and the second metrology metric include one or more of an angular uniformity metric, a contrast metric, a efficiency metric, a color uniformity metric, a modulation transfer function (MTF) metric, a field of view (FOV) metric, a ghost image metric, an eye box metric.

19 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising repeating the method for subsequent patterns.