Granted Patent B2

US 12,305,983 · App. 17/920,528 · Granted May 20, 2025

Inventors: Earle William Gillis (Elmira, NY); Aaron Russell Greenbaum (Pittsford, NY)

Assignee: CORNING INCORPORATED

G01B9/02098G01B11/02G01B11/24

Abstract

Claims (39)

1. An apparatus comprising:

an illumination source positioned in a first region and at least one wave front sensor positioned in the first region;

a reflector positioned in a second region;

a measurement plane positioned between the first region and the second region, wherein the illumination source is configured to emit light that impinges on the measurement plane, the reflector is configured to reflect the light from the illumination source, and the at least one wave front sensor is configured to detect the light reflected by the reflector;

a beam splitter configured to split the light into a plurality of beams; and

the at least one wave front sensor comprises a first wave front sensor configured to detect a first beam of the plurality of beams and a second wave front sensor configured to detect a second beam of the plurality of beams.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a path distance between the illumination source and the measurement plane is adjustable.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a detection distance between the at least one wave front sensor and the measurement plane is adjustable.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the illumination source is configured to emit light comprising coherent light.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the illumination source is configured to emit light comprising a pulse.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the illumination source comprises a laser.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an optical device configured to change a magnification of the first beam.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an optical camera configured to detect the first beam of the plurality of beams.

9. A method of measuring a feature of a glass-based substrate comprising:

transmitting light through a thickness of the glass-based substrate towards a first major surface of the glass-based substrate and through a target location of the first major surface of the glass-based substrate, the thickness defined between the first major surface and a second major surface;

detecting the light transmitted through the target location using at least one wave front sensor;

generating a first signal with the at least one wave front sensor based on the detected light;

moving the glass-based substrate in a direction transverse to the thickness of the glass-based substrate before the transmitting the light through the thickness;

moving the glass-based substrate in the direction transverse to the thickness of the glass-based substrate after the detecting the light transmitted through the target location using the at least one wave front sensor;

splitting the light transmitted through the target location into a plurality of beams comprising a first beam and a second beam; and

changing a magnification of the first beam,

wherein detecting the transmitted light using the at least one wave front sensor comprises:

detecting the first beam with a first wave front sensor of the at least one wave front sensor; and

detecting the second beam with a second wave front sensor of the at least one wave front sensor, and

wherein a measurement time defined between an end of the moving the glass-based substrate before the transmitting the light through the thickness and a beginning of the moving the glass-based substrate after the detecting the light transmitted through the target location using the at least one wave front sensor is about 100 milliseconds or less.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

impinging light on a measurement plane of the glass-based substrate, the measurement plane extending transverse to a thickness of the glass-based substrate, the thickness defined between a first major surface of the glass-based substrate and a second major surface of the glass-based substrate; and

reflecting the light towards the glass-based substrate before transmitting the light through the thickness.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining a height and/or width of a feature of the glass-based substrate based on the generated first signal.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the determining the height and/or width of the feature of the glass-based substrate is further based on an index of refraction of the glass-based substrate.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising detecting the first beam with an optical camera.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the light comprises a first pulse, the method further comprising:

adjusting a detection distance between the first major surface and the at least one wave front sensor;

impinging the measurement plane with a second pulse;

reflecting the second pulse towards the glass-based substrate and through the thickness of the glass-based substrate;

transmitting the reflected second pulse towards the first major surface of the glass-based substrate and through the target location of the first major surface of the glass-based substrate;

detecting the second pulse transmitted through the target location using the at least one wave front sensor; and

generating a second signal with the at least one wave front sensor based on the detected second pulse.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising measuring the feature using the first signal and the second signal.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (28)