JP2005081392A - Laser beam machining method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To machine a secondary patterning line at high speed by accurately emitting a laser beam on the basis of a primary patterning line formed on a substrate. <P>SOLUTION: With a workpiece arranged on an image pickup processing stage 10, the image of a surface to be machined is picked up with an image unit 11. On the basis of the image pickup signal, an image processing unit 31 calculates the positional coordinate values of a plurality of points on the primary patterning line that is already formed on the surface to be machined. Subsequently, with the workpiece arranged on a machining stage 20, a position on the primary patterning line corresponding to part of the extracted position of the above positional coordinate values is picked up in image with image units 21, 22 to determine the coordinates. Then, a laser beam scanning position is corrected in accordance with the difference from the positional coordinate values, and the workpiece is irradiated by the laser beam by controlling the operation of a galvano scanning mirror 25 or the like. Thus, the secondary patterning line is formed on the surface to be machined. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  In the present invention, a workpiece supplied in-line is scanned with a laser beam using a galvano scan mirror, and a secondary patterning is performed at a position based on a primary patterning line formed on the workpiece. More particularly, the present invention relates to a laser processing method and a laser processing apparatus suitable for forming a thin film pattern for a solar cell.

  In a thin film solar cell, a photoelectric conversion element (or solar cell element) in which three layers of a first electrode, a thin film semiconductor layer, and a second electrode are stacked in a single region is a flexible insulating substrate. A plurality of structures are formed on the top. And by electrically connecting the first electrode of a certain photoelectric conversion element and the second electrode of the adjacent photoelectric conversion element, such a series connection is made between all the adjacent photoelectric conversion elements, A necessary voltage can be output to the first electrode of the photoelectric conversion element at one end and the second electrode of the photoelectric conversion element at the other end. For example, in order to obtain AC 100V as a commercial power source by AC conversion using an inverter, it is desirable that the output DC voltage is 100V or more. Elements are connected in series.

  The photoelectric conversion elements connected in series in this way are formed by film formation of the electrode layer and photoelectric conversion layer, patterning of each layer, and a combination procedure thereof. In this patterning, it is necessary to process the secondary patterning line by superimposing it on the primary patterning line processed in the previous step. For such processing, laser processing with high positioning accuracy and capable of forming a fine patterning line is suitable.

The conventional laser processing method will be described below. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conventional laser processing apparatus.
The laser processing apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is an apparatus for removing the thin film by laser irradiation on the primary patterning line formed on the thin film on the film substrate 1 and processing by superimposing the secondary patterning line.

  In this laser processing apparatus, the film substrate 1 is conveyed by the unwinding roll 2 and the winding roll 3, and a processing stage 40 is provided between them. The processing stage 40 is a region for processing the secondary patterning line by irradiating the film substrate 1 with laser light. Further, the transported film substrate 1 is positioned and stopped at the processing stage 40 by the position of the marker hole provided on the film substrate 1 by the positioning sensor 4 so as to be sucked and fixed. It has become.

  A processing optical unit 41 is provided below the processing stage 40, and the processing optical unit 41 is mounted on an XY stage 42. Further, laser light emitted from the laser oscillator 43 is incident on the processing optical unit 41 through a fiber optical system 44 made of an optical fiber. The incident laser light is incident on the half mirror 41 b that reflects only a specific wavelength through the incident optical system 41 a in the processing optical unit 41 and is reflected in the direction of the processing stage 40. Then, the film is adjusted to be focused on the thin film on the film substrate 1 by the emission optical system 41 c and is irradiated on the film substrate 1. At this time, the processing optical unit 41 is moved in the XY direction parallel to the film substrate 1 by the operation of the XY stage 42, so that the laser light is scanned on the film substrate 1.

  An imaging unit 41d made of a CCD (Charge-Coupled Devices) or the like is provided below the half mirror 41b so that the laser beam and the optical axis coincide. This imaging part 41d images the area | region on the film substrate 1 irradiated with the laser beam via the half mirror 41b.

  Further, the laser processing apparatus includes an image processing unit 51 and a controller 52 as processing function blocks for controlling each of the above mechanisms. The image processing unit 51 receives image signals picked up by the image pickup unit 41d, performs image processing, detects the reference position coordinates of the primary patterning line formed on the thin film of the film substrate 1, and outputs position information. To the controller 52. Based on the position information from the image processing unit 51, the controller 52 controls the operations of the XY stage 42 and the laser oscillator 43 while correcting a positional shift described later, and executes the processing of the secondary patterning line.

  By the way, in the actual formation of the photoelectric conversion element, since the heat treatment process is performed between the primary patterning process and the secondary patterning process, the patterning area may be shifted due to the thermal effect on the film substrate 1. The coordinate system of the XY stage 42 based on an instruction from the controller 52 and the primary actually formed on the film substrate 1 due to the influence of the meandering of the film substrate 1 and the positioning accuracy error at the time of conveyance. There may be a deviation from the coordinate system of the patterning area. For this reason, the controller 52 calculates position information in which such positional deviation is corrected in accordance with the position information from the image processing unit 51 and designates it to the XY stage 42.

  An alignment procedure for correcting such a positional deviation is performed as follows, for example. First, an intersection of primary patterning lines is designated as a reference position in, for example, the vicinity of the front end and the end of the primary patterning area on the film substrate 1. Then, the XY stage 42 is driven, and these areas are imaged by the imaging unit 41d. The image processing unit 51 detects the coordinates of each reference position from the captured image and outputs them to the controller 52. Based on these reference position coordinates, the controller 52 corrects the position and angle with respect to the positional deviation between the coordinate system of the XY stage 42 and the coordinate system of the primary patterning area.

  Next, when processing the secondary patterning line so as to overlap with the primary patterning line, the intersection on the primary patterning line to be processed is imaged by the imaging unit 41d between the above reference positions. The coordinates of the intersection are acquired by image processing. Then, the controller 52 controls the XY stage 42 and the laser oscillator 43 based on these coordinates to process the secondary patterning line. Similarly, a secondary patterning line is formed over the entire patterning area by repeating the acquisition of the intersection to be processed and the processing.

  However, in the patterning process using such a laser processing apparatus, the processing optical unit 41 is moved on the XY stage 42 for processing. In this structure, the laser oscillator 43 and the processing optical unit 41 are connected by the fiber optical system 44, and the inertial load of the moving body such as the processing optical unit 41 becomes large. The problem was that speeding up was difficult and productivity was low.

  On the other hand, a galvano scanning method is known as a method capable of irradiating a laser beam at a high speed by reducing an inertia load without using an XY stage for scanning the laser beam. In the galvano scanning method, a galvano scan mirror having a structure in which two reflecting mirrors are rotated by a rotary drive mechanism such as a motor is used to reflect light emitted from a laser oscillator and XY direction on a film substrate. Can be scanned at high speed.

  As a conventional laser positioning processing method using such a galvano scanning method, a specific pattern provided in advance on a continuous sheet-like material that is a workpiece to be fixed or stopped is imaged with an imaging camera, and a continuous sheet is obtained. There is a method of correcting the detected shift amount when detecting the shift amount of the object from the reference position and scanning the laser beam using the XY galvanometer mirror and the scan lens (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

As a related art, there has been a fluorescence microscope in which optical path alignment is performed using a galvano-type scanning mirror and image processing for a captured image. As a general fluorescence microscope, a light source that emits excitation light, a plurality of dichroic mirrors that transmit fluorescence from a sample, and can be switched for each fluorescent dye in an optical path, and the dichroic mirror and the sample It is equipped with an objective lens arranged in between and an observation device that observes the fluorescence that has passed through the dichroic mirror, switches the dichroic mirror for each fluorescent dye, acquires the sample image, and superimposes the acquired images Some of them acquire multiple fluorescent images. For such a fluorescence microscope, an XY scanner composed of a galvano-type scanning mirror for two-dimensionally scanning the excitation light on the sample is arranged between the dichroic mirror that branches the optical paths of the excitation light and the fluorescence and the objective lens. For example, by using a graphic pattern arranged on the optical path on the sample side, image shift information obtained when the dichroic mirror is changed is acquired in advance by image processing, so that an XY scanner can be used on the multiple fluorescence image. The image shift for each fluorescent dye can be corrected (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP-A-8-71780 (paragraph numbers [0010] to [0027], FIG. 1) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-52252 (paragraph numbers [0029] to [0085], FIG. 1)

As described above, a laser processing apparatus using an XY stage for laser beam scanning has a problem that it is difficult to increase the scanning speed due to a large inertial load on the moving body.
In addition, in a laser processing apparatus using a galvano scanning method that facilitates speeding up, it is difficult to perform image processing on the processed surface in a state where the laser optical system and the optical axis are exactly aligned. There was a problem that it was difficult to perform processing while aligning with high accuracy. For this reason, in particular, in a galvano-scanning laser processing apparatus that does not use an Fθ lens for processing on a large area, a method of scanning laser light based on numerical data programmed in advance is generally employed. Yes.

  Further, in the laser positioning processing method disclosed in Patent Document 1, a specific pattern provided in advance on the workpiece is used for detection of the amount of misalignment by image processing. If a position shift due to a thermal effect or the like occurs in an arbitrary primary patterning line formed on an object, this position shift cannot be corrected. Therefore, the correction accuracy is low and the application range is narrow.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and can accurately process a secondary patterning line by irradiating a laser beam accurately based on a primary patterning line formed on a substrate. An object of the present invention is to provide a simple laser processing method.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a laser processing method capable of processing a secondary patterning line at high speed by accurately irradiating laser light based on a primary patterning line formed on a substrate. It is to be.

  In the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problem, a workpiece supplied in-line is scanned with a laser beam using a galvano scan mirror, and a primary patterning line formed on the workpiece is used as a reference. In the laser processing method for forming the secondary patterning line at the position, the primary patterning line is arranged on the imaging position for position measurement and images the processing surface of the workpiece, and the imaging signal is used as the primary patterning line. A position measuring step of calculating position coordinate values of a plurality of points above; and the workpiece is disposed at a processing position for laser irradiation, and the laser is based on the position coordinate values calculated by the position measuring step. A laser irradiation step of correcting the scanning position of the light and irradiating the workpiece with the laser light to form the secondary patterning line. The law is provided.

  In such a laser processing method, the workpiece is arranged at an imaging position for position measurement in the position measurement step. Then, the processing surface is imaged, and the position coordinate values of a plurality of points on the primary patterning line already formed on the processing surface are calculated based on the imaging signal. Thereafter, in the laser irradiation step, the workpiece whose position coordinate value is calculated is arranged at a processing position for laser irradiation. Then, the scanning position of the laser beam is corrected based on the calculated position coordinate value, the operation of the galvano scan mirror or the like is controlled according to the corrected scanning position, and the workpiece is irradiated with the laser beam. Thereby, a secondary patterning line is formed on the surface to be processed.

  Further, in the present invention, a laser beam is scanned on the workpiece supplied in-line, and a secondary patterning line is formed at a position based on the primary patterning line formed on the workpiece. In a laser processing apparatus, a conveying means for conveying the workpiece from an imaging position for position measurement to a machining position for laser irradiation, and a workpiece surface of the workpiece arranged at the imaging position An imaging unit for imaging, a position calculation unit for calculating position coordinate values of a plurality of points on the primary patterning line based on an imaging signal by the imaging unit, and a workpiece of the workpiece placed at the machining position A laser optical system that scans the surface with a galvano scan mirror using the galvano scan mirror, and the laser optical system based on the position coordinate value calculated by the position calculating means. The laser processing apparatus is provided, characterized in that it comprises a position correcting means for correcting the scanning position of the laser beam.

  In such a laser processing apparatus, an imaging position for position measurement and a processing position for laser irradiation are provided, and the workpiece is transported from the imaging position to the processing position by transport means. When the workpiece is placed at the imaging position, the imaging means images the workpiece surface of the workpiece. The position calculation means calculates position coordinate values of a plurality of points on the primary patterning line already formed on the processing surface based on the imaging signal. When the workpiece is subsequently placed at the processing position, the processing surface is irradiated with laser light from the laser optical system, and this laser light scans the processing surface with a galvano scan mirror. The position correcting unit corrects the scanning position of the laser beam with respect to the workpiece based on the position coordinate value calculated by the position calculating unit when the workpiece is placed at the imaging position. Thereby, the operation of the galvano scan mirror or the like is controlled according to the corrected scanning position.

  In the laser processing method of the present invention, in the position measurement step, the position coordinate values of a plurality of points on the primary patterning line already formed on the processing surface are calculated, and the laser irradiation step is performed based on the position coordinate values. The scanning position of the laser beam is corrected at. This corrects misalignment of the workpiece on the processing position due to the influence of meandering and positioning accuracy during conveyance of the workpiece, as well as misalignment of the primary patterning line on the workpiece due to thermal effects, etc. Is possible. Therefore, the secondary patterning line can be formed at high speed and accurately by the galvano scanning method.

  In the laser processing apparatus of the present invention, the position coordinate values of a plurality of points on the primary patterning line already formed on the processing surface are calculated, and the scanning position of the laser beam is corrected based on the position coordinate values. To do. As a result, the position of the primary patterning line on the workpiece due to thermal influences as well as the position shift of the workpiece on the processing position due to the influence of the meandering and positioning accuracy when the workpiece is conveyed by the conveying means. It becomes possible to correct. Therefore, the secondary patterning line can be formed at high speed and accurately by the galvano scanning method.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a laser processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The laser processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is an apparatus for forming a predetermined pattern by irradiating a thin film on a film substrate 1 with a laser and removing the thin film as an example. In particular, this laser processing apparatus is intended to accurately process a secondary patterning line on the primary patterning line formed on the thin film on the film substrate 1 in the previous step.

  In this laser processing apparatus, the film substrate 1 is transported by an unwinding roll 2 and a winding roll 3, and an imaging processing stage 10 and a processing stage 20 are provided therebetween. The imaging processing stage 10 is an area for detecting reference position coordinates for alignment when forming the secondary patterning line based on the primary patterning line formed on the film substrate 1. The processing stage 20 is a region for processing the secondary patterning line by irradiating the film substrate 1 with laser light.

  In addition, the conveyed film substrate 1 is positioned and stopped at the imaging processing stage 10 and the processing stage 20 by detecting the position of the marker hole provided on the film substrate 1 by the positioning sensor 4. Adsorption is fixed.

  An imaging unit 11 made of a CCD or the like and an XY stage 12 are arranged below the imaging processing stage 10. The imaging unit 11 is provided on the XY stage 12 so as to be movable in the XY direction parallel to the film substrate 1 and images the film substrate 1 arranged on the imaging processing stage 10.

  In addition, at the lower part of the processing stage 20, two imaging units 21 and 22 made of a CCD or the like are arranged. Each of the imaging units 21 and 22 images the top and rear ends of the film substrate 1 disposed on the processing stage 20.

  Furthermore, an optical system for irradiating the film substrate 1 with a laser is provided below the processing stage 20. This optical system includes a laser oscillator 23, a focus adjustment unit 24, and a galvano scan mirror 25. The laser oscillator 23 is a laser light source for processing a thin film on the film substrate 1. The focus adjustment unit 24 adjusts so that the light emitted from the laser oscillator 23 forms an image on the film substrate 1. The galvano scan mirror 25 reflects the light emitted from the laser oscillator 23 by rotating two reflecting mirrors by a rotation drive mechanism such as a motor, and X on the film substrate 1 arranged on the processing stage 20. -Scan in the Y direction at high speed.

In addition, this laser processing apparatus includes an image processing unit 31 and a controller 32 as processing function blocks for controlling each mechanism described above.
The image processing unit 31 receives image signals picked up by the image pickup units 11, 21 and 22, performs image processing, and outputs position information indicating a target coordinate position to the control controller 32. Specifically, the reference position coordinates for forming the secondary patterning line are detected based on the image signal imaged by the imaging unit 11, and the coordinate value is output to the controller 32. Further, based on the image signals captured by the imaging units 21 and 22, the reference position coordinates of the primary patterning line on the film substrate 1 in the processing stage 20 are detected, and the coordinate values are output to the controller 32.

  The controller 32 controls the operation of the XY stage 12 and causes the imaging unit 11 to image the entire primary patterning line formation region (primary patterning area) on the film substrate 1 in the imaging processing stage 10. Further, the coordinate values output from the image processing unit 31 are stored, and based on these coordinate values, the position of the reference position of the primary patterning line on the film substrate 1 in each of the imaging processing stage 10 and the processing stage 20 is stored. The amount of deviation is calculated. Then, the operations of the laser oscillator 23, the focus adjustment unit 24, and the galvano scan mirror 25 are controlled to irradiate the film substrate 1 on the processing stage 20 with laser light so that the positional deviation is corrected.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of a secondary patterning line processing step in the laser processing apparatus. Hereinafter, the outline of the operation in the laser processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

  The flowchart of FIG. 2 shows steps from detection of the reference position coordinates to processing of the secondary patterning line for one primary patterning area. This process is mainly divided into processes at the imaging processing stage 10 (steps S201 to S203) and processes at the processing stage 20 (steps S204 to S207). That is, the primary patterning area to be processed is first placed on the imaging processing stage 10 and processed, and then transferred to the processing stage 20, where the secondary patterning line is processed.

  In step S <b> 201, the unwinding roll 2 and the winding roll 3 are rotated, and the primary patterning area to be processed is arranged on the imaging processing stage 10 in accordance with the detection signal from the positioning sensor 4. The film substrate 1 is attracted to the imaging processing stage 10. Note that the operation of winding and sucking the film substrate 1 is controlled by the controller 32 or another control circuit (not shown).

  In steps S202 and S203, the XY stage 12 is operated under the control of the controller 32, and the primary patterning area arranged on the imaging processing stage 10 is imaged by the imaging unit 11.

  In step S <b> 202, for example, the vicinity regions of the front end portion and the rear end portion on the primary patterning area are imaged, and the imaging signal is supplied to the image processing unit 31. The image processing unit 31 extracts a pattern intersection from the image pickup signal, and calculates a reference position coordinate with respect to a positional deviation of the primary patterning area. Hereinafter, the reference position coordinates are referred to as correction reference coordinates. Note that the position of the intersection extracted at this time corresponds to the imaging positions of the imaging units 21 and 22. The calculated value of the correction reference coordinate is delivered to the controller 32 and held.

  In step S <b> 203, the primary patterning area is sequentially imaged and an imaging signal is supplied to the image processing unit 31. The image processing unit 31 extracts a reference position necessary for forming the secondary patterning line from the primary patterning line, and calculates the position coordinates. Hereinafter, the position coordinates are referred to as pattern reference coordinates. The calculated pattern reference coordinate value is held in the controller 32.

  Thereafter, in step S204, the suction process by the imaging processing stage 10 is canceled, the unwinding roll 2 and the winding roll 3 are rotated, the primary patterning area is moved to the processing stage 20, and the film substrate 1 is moved. Adsorb and fix.

  In step S205, the image capturing units 21 and 22 capture the region in the primary patterning area imaged in step S202, that is, the vicinity region of, for example, the front end portion and the rear end portion of the primary patterning area. Supply to the processing unit 31. The image processing unit 31 extracts a pattern intersection corresponding to the position of the correction reference coordinate from the imaging signal, calculates a coordinate value, and outputs the coordinate value to the controller 32.

  In step S206, the controller 32 calculates a correction value for misregistration from the difference between the coordinate value received from the image processing unit 31 in step S205 and the correction reference coordinate held in step S202. Then, the pattern reference coordinates held in step S203 are corrected with the calculated correction value.

  In step S207, the controller 32 controls the laser oscillator 23, the focus adjustment unit 24, and the galvano scan mirror 25 to irradiate the film substrate 1 with laser light. At this time, the scanning position of the laser beam is instructed according to the pattern reference coordinates corrected in step S206. Thereby, the displacement of the scanning position is corrected, and a secondary patterning line is formed at an accurate position.

  Next, the state of the patterning line on the film substrate 1 will be exemplified to specifically describe the above process. In the following description, correspondence with the processing of each step in the flowchart of FIG. 2 is shown as necessary.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a patterning line formed in a thin film on the film substrate 1.
FIG. 3 shows a case where a lattice-shaped primary patterning line 110 is formed in one primary patterning area 100 on the film substrate 1. A marker hole 1a is formed in advance on the film substrate 1 at a position between the primary patterning areas. By detecting the position of the marker hole 1a by the positioning sensor 4, the imaging processing stage 10 and the processing are performed. The alignment of the film substrate 1 in the processing stage 20 is performed.

  When the primary patterning area 100 of FIG. 3 is arranged on the imaging processing stage 10 (corresponding to step S201), first, correction reference coordinates for correcting the positional deviation of the coordinate system are calculated (corresponding to step S202). . This coordinate value is obtained from, for example, intersections located in the vicinity of the front end portion and the rear end portion of the primary patterning area 100. When the lattice-shaped primary patterning line 101 is formed as shown in FIG. 3, the front end portion and the rear end portion of the intersection points on the line (for example, the center line 111) along the transport direction (x direction). The coordinates of the intersections As and Ae may be used.

  Accordingly, the XY stage 12 is driven to move the imaging unit 11 to the vicinity of the intersection As, and the coordinate value of the intersection As is obtained from the captured image by the processing of the image processing unit 31. The obtained coordinate values are stored in the controller 32.

  Next, pattern reference coordinates necessary for forming the secondary patterning line are calculated (corresponding to step S203). Here, as an example, it is assumed that the secondary patterning line is formed so as to completely overlap the primary patterning line 110. For example, all the intersections existing on the line between the above-mentioned intersections As and Ae are used as the formation position reference of the secondary patterning line.

  That is, the XY stage 12 is driven, the imaging unit 11 is moved in the vicinity of the first intersection A1 adjacent to the intersection As, the coordinate value of the intersection A1 is obtained from the imaging signal by image processing, and the controller 32 Remember me. Then, the imaging unit 11 is moved in the vicinity of the next intersection A2, the coordinate value of the intersection A2 is obtained by image processing, and is stored in the controller 32. Similarly, the coordinates of all intersection points on the line 111 are calculated and stored.

  Next, when this primary patterning area 100 is placed on the processing stage 20 (corresponding to step S204), the vicinity of the intersections As and Ae is imaged by the imaging units 21 and 22, respectively. The image processing unit 31 calculates the coordinates of the intersections As and Ae from the captured image at this time, and outputs them to the controller 32 (corresponding to step S205).

  Here, between the imaging processing stage 10 and the processing stage 20, when a positional deviation occurs due to meandering of the film substrate 1 at the time of conveyance or an error in positioning accuracy, the intersections As and Ae calculated at this time There is a difference between the coordinate values and the coordinate values of the intersections As and Ae calculated in the process at the imaging processing stage 10. Accordingly, the controller 32 calculates a difference between these coordinate values and sets it as a correction value for the positional deviation.

  Next, using the calculated correction value, the pattern reference coordinates calculated in the process at the imaging processing stage 10 are corrected (corresponding to step S206). In the case of FIG. 3, the coordinate values of all the intersections (intersection points As, A1, A2,... Ae) on the imaging processing line 111 held by the controller 32 are corrected by the correction value. Then, the laser beam scanning position is obtained based on the corrected coordinate values, and the focus adjustment unit 24 and the galvano scan mirror 25 are controlled to form a secondary patterning line at a position that coincides with the primary patterning line 110 (step). Corresponding to S207).

  In the processing described above, the correction value is obtained from the difference between the coordinate values of the intersections As and Ae calculated in the imaging processing stage 10 and the processing stage 20, respectively, and the meandering and positioning accuracy errors of the film substrate 1 at the time of conveyance are obtained. It is possible to correct misalignment caused by the above. Further, in the imaging processing stage 10, based on the primary patterning line 110 actually formed on the film substrate 1, the coordinates of the intersection point used as a reference for forming the secondary patterning line are calculated, and these coordinates are calculated. When the pattern is distorted due to the influence of heat treatment or the like in the previous process when it is transferred to the imaging processing stage 10 by correcting with the correction value, primary patterning is performed according to such distortion. The secondary patterning line can be accurately superimposed on the line 110 for processing.

  Therefore, irradiation with laser light using the galvano scan mirror 25 makes it possible to form the secondary patterning line in a short time, while improving the accuracy of the formation position.

  In the above example, the case where the primary patterning line is formed at the same position as the primary patterning line 110 has been described. For example, the secondary patterning line is formed so as to overlap a part of the primary patterning line. In this case, or when the secondary patterning line is formed at predetermined intervals from a predetermined position on the primary patterning line 110, accurate and high-speed processing is possible.

  By the way, when the primary patterning line 110 is distorted due to a thermal effect or the like, in order to further improve the formation position accuracy of the secondary patterning line, for example, the extraction position of the pattern reference coordinates in the imaging processing stage 10 is more increased. You can do more. For example, not only the intersection points arranged in the transport direction but also the coordinates of a plurality of intersection points existing along the direction (y direction) orthogonal to the transport direction are extracted. In this case, by using a line image sensor in which a large number of imaging elements are arranged in the y direction as the imaging unit 11, these intersections can be efficiently imaged and coordinates can be calculated.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a situation where an intersection is imaged using a line image sensor.
FIG. 4 shows a state on the film substrate 1 when the same primary patterning line as that shown in FIG. 3 is formed. In this case, after calculating the coordinates of the intersections As and Ae as the correction reference coordinates, in addition to the intersection A1 on the line 111 as the extraction position of the pattern reference coordinates, on the line 112 orthogonal to the line 111 at the intersection A1 Therefore, the other intersection points AL1 and AR1 are applied. Similarly, for the next intersection A2 on the line 111, the coordinates of the other intersections AL2 and AR2 existing in the y direction are calculated and repeated until the rear end of the primary patterning area.

  As described above, when extracting the coordinates of a plurality of intersections existing along the y direction, the line image sensor 11a indicated by the dotted line in the figure is used to simultaneously detect all the intersections existing in the y direction at a time. The coordinates may be calculated by taking an image and extracting each intersection by image processing. Then, by moving the line image sensor 11a in the transport direction of the film substrate 1 and capturing all necessary intersections in the primary patterning area 100, these captured images are acquired at high speed and coordinates are calculated. It becomes possible.

  As described above, the pattern reference coordinates are acquired from a large number of intersections, and these coordinates are corrected and used at the time of laser irradiation on the processing stage 20, so that the primary effects can be obtained due to thermal effects. For example, when the patterning line is partially curved, the secondary patterning line can be formed at a more accurate position.

  In the above laser processing apparatus, since the imaging processing stage 10 and the processing stage 20 are provided at individual positions, it is possible to perform processing at each stage in parallel. Here, FIG. 5 shows a flowchart when parallel processing is performed in the imaging processing stage 10 and the processing stage 20.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the nth (where n is a natural number) primary patterning area arranged on the imaging processing stage 10 is moved to the processing stage 20, the (n + 1) th primary patterning area is transferred. Are arranged on the imaging processing stage 10 (step S501).

  The processing stage 20 performs laser irradiation while correcting the position of the n-th primary patterning area (step S502), and the imaging process stage 10 starts the correction reference coordinates from the (n + 1) -th primary patterning area. The pattern reference coordinates are calculated in parallel (step S503). After the processing at each stage is completed, the film substrate 1 is further transported, the (n + 1) th primary patterning area is transported to the processing stage 20, and the next primary patterning area is imaged on the imaging processing stage 10. And repeat the above process.

  In order to realize such parallel processing, for example, the controller 32 has two reference coordinate storage areas, and after storing the correction reference coordinates and the pattern reference coordinates in one storage area, the film substrate 1 Then, the correction value of the displacement of the laser irradiation position is calculated using the storage data of this storage area. At this time, the correction reference coordinates and the pattern reference coordinates based on the image pickup signal from the image pickup unit 11 are stored in the other storage area. Then, after the next film substrate 1 is conveyed, the correction amount is calculated using the storage data of the other storage area.

  Thus, the processing time can be further shortened by performing the processes in the imaging processing stage 10 and the processing stage 20 in parallel and continuously processing the primary patterning area on the film substrate 1. it can.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the laser processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the manufacturing process of the secondary patterning line in the laser processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically the example of the patterning line formed in the thin film on a film substrate. It is a figure for demonstrating a mode that an intersection is imaged using a line image sensor. The flowchart at the time of performing a parallel process in an imaging process stage and a process stage is shown. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the conventional laser processing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Film substrate 2 Unwinding roll 3 Take-up roll 10 Imaging process stage 11 Imaging part 12 XY stage 20 Processing stage 21, 22 Imaging part 23 Laser oscillator 24 Focus adjustment unit 25 Galvano scan mirror 31 Image processing unit 32 Control controller

Claims (10)

A workpiece to be supplied in-line is scanned with a laser beam using a galvano scan mirror to form a secondary patterning line at a position based on the primary patterning line formed on the workpiece. In the laser processing method,
A position measurement step of imaging a work surface of the work piece arranged at an image pickup position for position measurement, and calculating position coordinate values of a plurality of points on the primary patterning line based on the image pickup signal;
The workpiece is arranged at a processing position for laser irradiation, the scanning position of the laser beam is corrected based on the position coordinate value calculated by the position measuring step, and the laser beam is converted into the workpiece. A laser irradiation step for forming the secondary patterning line;
A laser processing method comprising:   In the laser irradiation step, a position on the primary patterning line corresponding to a part of the extracted position coordinate values calculated in the position measurement step is imaged, and the coordinate value is calculated and corresponding. The laser processing method according to claim 1, wherein the scanning position of the laser beam is corrected using a difference from the position coordinate value as a correction amount.   2. The laser processing method according to claim 1, wherein the position measuring step for the next workpiece is processed in parallel during the processing of the laser irradiation step.   The laser processing method according to claim 1, wherein coordinate values of a plurality of intersection positions where the primary patterning lines intersect are calculated as the position coordinate values. As the position coordinate value, the coordinate value of the first reference position extracted from the vicinity of both ends of the region where the primary patterning line is formed, and the first value arbitrarily extracted from the entire formation region of the primary patterning line. Calculate the coordinate value of the reference position of 2,
In the laser irradiation step, a positional deviation amount of the formation area of the primary patterning line is calculated based on the coordinate value of the first reference position, and the coordinate value of the second reference position is calculated according to the positional deviation amount. The laser processing method according to claim 1, wherein the laser beam is scanned according to a value obtained by correcting the above.   2. The laser processing method according to claim 1, wherein in the position measuring step, the workpiece is scanned and imaged by a line image sensor, and the position coordinate value is calculated.   The laser processing method according to claim 6, wherein the position coordinate values are calculated for a plurality of points on the workpiece along a parallel direction of pixels in the line image sensor.   The laser processing method according to claim 1, wherein the secondary patterning line is formed at the same position as the primary patterning line.   The laser processing method according to claim 1, wherein the secondary patterning line is formed at a predetermined interval from a predetermined position on the primary patterning line. In a laser processing apparatus that scans a laser beam on a workpiece supplied in-line and forms a secondary patterning line at a position based on the primary patterning line formed on the workpiece,
Conveying means for conveying the workpiece from an imaging position for position measurement to a processing position for laser irradiation;
Imaging means for imaging the workpiece surface of the workpiece placed at the imaging position;
Position calculating means for calculating position coordinate values of a plurality of points on the primary patterning line on the basis of an imaging signal from the imaging means;
A laser optical system that scans the laser beam using a galvano scan mirror with respect to a processing surface of the workpiece disposed at the processing position;
Position correcting means for correcting the scanning position of the laser beam by the laser optical system based on the position coordinate value calculated by the position calculating means;
A laser processing apparatus comprising:

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