JP2010155278A - Beam machining apparatus, beam machining method, and substrate machined by beam - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve machining accuracy when performing machining by irradiating a layer to be machined which is formed on one side of a substrate with a laser beam from the other side of the surface of the substrate for the substrate during conveyance, where the laser beam transmits. <P>SOLUTION: The beam machining apparatus performs machining by irradiating the layer 2 to be machined, which is formed on the surface on the one side of the substrate 1 with the beam 3 from the other side of the surface of the substrate. The layer 2 to be machined is machined without stopping the conveyance of the substrate 1 by moving a head 10 for emitting the beam 3 in synchronism with the movement of the substrate 1 during conveying the substrate 1. The beam 3 emitted from the head 10 at this time irradiates the substrate at a right angle. Consequently, the substrate 1 is not irradiated with the beam obliquely unlike the case that the beam is scanned with a galvano mirror, and more accurate machining can be performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is suitably used when a thin film constituting a semiconductor element is patterned by a beam (laser or the like) when forming a semiconductor element that becomes a power generation system using a photoelectric effect on a substrate such as a glass substrate. The present invention relates to a beam processing apparatus, a beam processing method, and a beam processing substrate having a layer to be processed (thin film) processed by the beam processing apparatus.

Generally, in the production of the power generation system using a silicon-based amorphous material, a transparent electrode (for example, indium oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, etc.) layer is first formed on a large glass substrate, and then patterned. An amorphous silicon layer (photoelectric conversion layer) is formed on the substrate for patterning, and then a metal electrode is formed on the glass substrate for patterning.
A method of performing each patterning at this time by laser patterning using a laser beam instead of wet has been established.

In this laser patterning, each thin film layer sequentially formed on the glass substrate is sequentially provided with a groove (slit), and the thin film layer is electrically insulated at the groove to divide it into a large number of cells. It is also called a laser scribe.
In such laser scribing, grooves are formed by irradiating a transparent electrode layer formed on a glass substrate with a laser beam from the glass substrate side (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  That is, the laser beam is irradiated not from the surface of the glass substrate on which the layer to be processed is formed, but from the opposite surface. In this case, for example, when the laser beam is irradiated from the upper side of the glass substrate, for example, the glass substrate is placed on a table with the layer to be processed facing down. In this case, since the layer to be processed comes into contact with the upper surface of the table, the layer to be processed may be damaged or may be affected by the table (for example, temperature or laser reflection) during processing.

In view of this, laser irradiation is performed from above with the peripheral portion of the glass substrate supported and the glass substrate suspended.
In this case, the glass substrate is transported in one direction while being hung from the peripheral portion, and the laser irradiation position is moved in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction of the glass substrate, whereby stripes are formed on the work layer on the glass substrate. Grooves are formed in a shape.

JP 2006-54254 A

  By the way, in the case where the thin film layer formed on the glass substrate is subjected to the groove processing in the stripe shape as described above, for example, the glass substrate is glass by the interval between the adjacent groove processing corresponding to the stripe groove processing. The moving step of moving the substrate in the Y-axis direction and the glass substrate moved by the interval are stopped, and the laser is moved while moving the laser irradiation head in the X-axis direction perpendicular to the Y-axis direction with respect to the glass substrate. There is known a method of repeating a processing step of linearly grooving by irradiation.

In this method, since the glass substrate moves only in the Y-axis direction and the head moves only in the X-axis direction, the moving mechanism of the glass substrate and the moving mechanism of the head have a simple structure, and the laser processing apparatus (beam processing) The cost of the apparatus can be reduced.
However, there is a problem that the processing time becomes long because the moving step and the processing step are performed separately, that is, the glass substrate needs to be stopped for each groove processing.

  Therefore, it is conceivable to reduce the processing time by simultaneously irradiating a plurality of lasers. However, when irradiating a plurality of lasers simultaneously, it is difficult to optimize the beam quality of the plurality of lasers. For example, even if the focal positions at the time of irradiation of each laser can be made substantially equal, there are undulations, warpage, etc. on the glass substrate side, so that the focal position shifts with each laser.

Therefore, it is difficult to increase the number of lasers to be irradiated at the same time, and even if a plurality of lasers are irradiated at the same time, there is a limit to the number of lasers to keep the processing quality above a predetermined level, and the number of lasers to be irradiated simultaneously is increased. Therefore, there is a limit to shortening the processing time.
In addition, since the glass substrate is enlarged, the inertial force based on the mass of the glass substrate is also increased, and the rigidity and strength of the driving device and the support member of the glass substrate that repeats moving and stopping the glass substrate are increased. Is required and a large output is required for the driving device, which increases the cost of the beam processing apparatus.

  In addition, it is conceivable that the glass substrate is moved in the X-axis direction and the head that irradiates the laser is moved in the Y-axis direction, but either one is moved in both the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. Since the glass substrate is large, if the glass substrate is moved in both the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, the apparatus for moving in the XY-axis direction becomes extremely large, and the cost increases.

Further, when the head is moved in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, since the glass substrate is large, the cost for the apparatus for precisely moving the head over a wide range is increased.
Therefore, as a method for reducing the processing time at a low cost, without stopping the glass substrate, the movement is continued at a predetermined speed during the processing, and the laser irradiation position is synchronized with the moving speed of the glass substrate. What moves and carries out the groove process orthogonal to a conveyance direction is known.

That is, for example, the laser irradiation position is moved in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction while moving the laser irradiation position in the glass substrate conveyance direction, that is, the laser irradiation position is transferred to the substrate. By irradiating while moving obliquely so as to incline in the direction, groove processing can be performed in a stripe shape on the glass substrate while the glass substrate is conveyed without stopping.
As a method of moving the laser irradiation position along the XY axes, that is, a method of scanning the laser, a galvano scan system is known, which scans the laser in the XY direction with a galvano mirror whose angle can be changed, and fθ The lens is in focus.

By changing the angle of the galvanometer mirror, the irradiation position of the laser is changed and the irradiation position is moved.
For example, the fθ lens not only focuses on the layer to be processed, but also changes the laser's equiangular motion by changing the angle of the galvanometer mirror to constant velocity, and a laser whose irradiation angle to the workpiece is changed by the galvanometer mirror. It has a telecentric characteristic that changes so that the workpiece is irradiated perpendicularly.

However, even if an fθ lens is used, it is difficult to irradiate a large glass substrate with a laser perpendicular to the glass substrate at all laser irradiation positions. In addition, when it becomes possible to irradiate the laser vertically at all laser irradiation positions on a large glass substrate, a large cost is required.
Here, when the laser strikes the glass substrate at an angle and the laser irradiation angle changes depending on the laser irradiation position, the following problem occurs.
First, when the laser is irradiated obliquely and the irradiation angle changes, the irradiation area at the irradiation position changes.

Further, since the laser is incident on the glass substrate from the other surface of the glass substrate and the thin film layer as the processing layer formed on the one surface of the glass substrate is irradiated with the laser, the laser is processed by air. It passes through the interface between the two layers having different refractive indexes. At this time, if the incident angle with respect to the laser interface changes, the reflectivity of the laser at the interface between the two layers having different refractive indexes changes, and the direction of irradiation of the laser after refraction changes.
As a result, the amount of laser irradiation on the layer to be processed changes, and the groove of the thin film layer to be processed may be bent.

Considering these, it may be possible to control the galvano scan system in advance so that the laser irradiation position is linear and the laser irradiation amount does not fluctuate, but the cost of the laser processing apparatus increases. .
In the production of the power generation system, in order to popularize the power generation system, higher efficiency of power generation and further reduction in production cost are required, and reduction in the cost of the laser processing apparatus as the production apparatus is also required. Yes.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a beam processing apparatus, a beam processing method, and a beam processing substrate capable of preventing an increase in manufacturing cost and a decrease in processing accuracy while shortening the manufacturing time. is there.

The beam processing apparatus according to claim 1 is a beam processing apparatus that irradiates and processes a beam on a layer to be processed formed on one surface of a substrate.
A transport mechanism for transporting the substrate in one direction;
From the other surface side of the substrate transported to the transport mechanism, a layer to be processed formed on one surface of the substrate is transmitted through the substrate to irradiate the beam, and at the time of beam irradiation, the substrate is perpendicular to the substrate. Beam irradiation means having a head for irradiating the beam;
Head moving means capable of simultaneously moving the head in two directions crossing each other along a plane parallel to the substrate transported by the transport mechanism;
With
The head moving means moves the head in synchronization with the transport speed of the substrate by the transport mechanism, thereby irradiating a beam perpendicularly to the substrate being transported and moving, thereby processing the substrate. It is characterized by processing the layer.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, when a layer to be processed formed on one surface of the substrate is processed with a beam (for example, a laser beam) that passes through the substrate from the other surface side of the substrate, The head is moved in two directions intersecting each other along a plane parallel to the substrate. Further, a laser is irradiated from the moving head perpendicularly to the substrate. Then, by synchronizing the head with the transport speed of the substrate to be transported, the processed layer of the moving substrate is processed.

Since the beam is irradiated perpendicularly to the substrate being transported and processed, when the beam is irradiated obliquely and the irradiation angle is changed, that is, the interface between the two layers having different refractive indexes. In this case, the irradiation position is not shifted due to refraction and the energy of the irradiated beam is not changed due to reflection, as in the case where the beam is irradiated obliquely and while changing the irradiation angle.
Therefore, the processing time can be shortened by processing without stopping the moving substrate without lowering the processing accuracy or increasing the cost.

The beam processing apparatus according to claim 2 is the beam processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The processing layer of the substrate is processed by the beam in a straight line parallel to each other at predetermined intervals,
In the transport mechanism, the substrate is transported at a predetermined transport speed in a direction orthogonal to the linear processing direction,
The head includes a plurality of beam emitting units that emit beams at predetermined intervals along the transport direction of the substrate,
The head is moved with respect to the substrate being transported along the transport direction of the substrate at the same speed as a predetermined transport speed of the substrate, and at the same time from one side edge side of the processed layer of the substrate A forward constant velocity machining control step for performing machining of the number corresponding to the number of the beam emitting portions on the substrate by moving in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction toward the other side edge side;
The forward direction of the substrate being transported by controlling the head to move in the direction opposite to the transport direction of the substrate on the other side edge side of the layer to be processed of the substrate after the forward constant velocity processing control step In the constant speed machining step, the beam emission which is the foremost side in the conveyance direction of the head is located at a position spaced apart from the portion processed by the beam emission part which is the most rear side in the conveyance direction of the head. The other side edge side irradiation position adjustment control step for moving the beam irradiated from the part so as to be able to irradiate,
The head is moved at the same speed as the predetermined transport speed of the substrate along the transport direction of the substrate with respect to the substrate being transported after the other edge side irradiation position alignment control step, and at the same time, Reverse direction constant speed machining, in which the number of the beam emitting portions is processed on the substrate by moving in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction from the other side edge side of the layer to be processed toward one side edge side. Control process;
The reverse direction of the substrate being transferred by controlling the head to move in the direction opposite to the transfer direction of the substrate on one side edge side of the processed layer of the substrate after the reverse direction constant speed processing control step In the constant speed machining step, the beam emission which is the foremost side in the conveyance direction of the head is located at a position spaced apart from the portion processed by the beam emission part which is the most rear side in the conveyance direction of the head. And a head movement control means for controlling the head movement means so as to move the head in a control process comprising a one-side edge irradiation position adjustment control process for moving the beam irradiated from the section so as to be irradiable. To do.

  In the second aspect of the present invention, the processed layer of the substrate is processed in a stripe shape, and at this time, the linear processing direction is orthogonal to the substrate transport direction. And while moving a head at the same speed as the conveyance speed of a board | substrate with respect to a conveyance direction, the process of the direction orthogonal to a movement direction is given to the moving board | substrate by moving to the orthogonal direction simultaneously. . At this time, in order to process into a stripe shape (a state of processing in a straight line parallel to each other at predetermined intervals), the processing is repeated. In this case, after the head is moved obliquely as described above and processed, the head is moved in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction to the next linear processing position, and the next linear processing position after the interval. The head is moved obliquely again with the moving direction orthogonal to the conveying direction as the opposite of the first processing. Further, the head is moved slightly in the opposite direction of the conveyance direction, and the head is moved obliquely in the same direction as the first.

At this time, when moving the head in the direction opposite to the transport direction, the head moves in the transport direction and moves in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction, and moves in the direction perpendicular to the transport direction when the head is moved obliquely. The movement amount of the head in the conveyance direction needs to be zero. That is, it is necessary to return to the origin position.
Here, when the conveyance direction is the Y-axis direction and the linear machining direction is the X-axis direction, when moving obliquely as described above, the predetermined distance is moved from the position of the origin to one machining end position. If so, it is necessary to return to the original position by returning a predetermined distance.

In addition, when the head returns to the position of the origin, the position in the Y-axis direction (next processing position) to be processed next to the substrate being transported is next to the position of the origin, and the next X When starting processing along the axial direction, the position in the Y-axis direction to be processed next to the substrate needs to be the position of the origin. Actually, when moving the head, it is necessary to accelerate and decelerate, and it is necessary to have a period and distance corresponding to those, but here, for the sake of simplicity, ignore acceleration and deceleration. explain.
Here, if the movement speed of the head is relatively slow, the conveyance speed is relatively fast, and the distance between the linear machining parts is relatively short, the head is moved from the position where one machining is completed to the origin. In this case, the next processing position of the substrate has already passed the position of the origin.

That is, the speed at which the head returns needs to be sufficiently faster than the substrate transport speed. Note that the movement in the X-axis direction during machining needs to be sufficiently faster than the conveyance speed.
Therefore, when the transport speed is increased in order to shorten the processing time, for example, it is necessary to extremely increase the moving speed when the head returns. When the above-described conventional galvano scan system is used, since the angle of the galvano mirror is only changed, the laser irradiation position can be immediately returned to the next irradiation position, but the head is actually moved. Then, the moving speed of the head becomes a bottleneck, and there is a limit in shortening the processing time.

In this invention, a plurality of lasers are irradiated simultaneously, and a plurality of processings are performed simultaneously at a plurality of processing positions, so that even if the speed at which the head returns from the processing end position to the origin position is not sufficiently high, a plurality of processing parts can be processed. It is possible to return the head using this time, and it is possible to prevent the next machining position from passing the origin position before the head returns to the origin position.
Thereby, it becomes possible to shorten processing time more.

The beam processing apparatus according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2,
The substrate is transported by the transport mechanism with one surface on which the layer to be processed is formed on the upper side, the head is disposed below the substrate transported by the transport mechanism, A beam is irradiated toward the substrate.

  In the third aspect of the invention, the substrate is transported with one surface on which the layer to be processed is formed facing upward, and the beam is irradiated from the lower side to the upper side of the substrate. Since contact with the mechanism does not affect the layer to be processed, it is possible to use a transport mechanism that contacts the substrate, for example, transport using a roller. Therefore, it is not necessary to transport the substrate while holding it on the left and right side edges, and it can be transported by an inexpensive transport mechanism using rollers, as in the case of transporting the substrate in a suspended state. It is possible to prevent the substrate from being bent. In addition, the processing accuracy can be improved by preventing the substrate from being bent. This improvement in machining accuracy provides a margin in machining accuracy against the reduction in machining accuracy by increasing the number of beams that can be irradiated from the head at the same time, and the machining time can be shortened by increasing the number of beams irradiated at the same time. Can do.

In addition, when the layer to be processed on the upper side of the substrate is processed with a beam, dust is generated on the upper side of the substrate due to sublimation, melting, peeling, or the like of the layer to be processed 2 irradiated with the beam. It is preferable to provide a suction port of a dust collector (suction means) that sucks and collects dust on the upper side of the portion where beam processing is performed on the substrate.
In addition, the beam processing portion of the transport mechanism is in a state where there are no members constituting the transport mechanism due to slits, openings, intervals between the transport devices, and the like. It is preferable that a portion for movably supporting the head of the moving means is disposed.

The beam processing method according to claim 4, wherein a substrate having a layer to be processed to be processed with a beam on one surface is conveyed in a substantially horizontal direction,
Further, the target is formed by a beam that is irradiated perpendicularly to the substrate from a head that irradiates the substrate with a beam that is transmitted from the other surface side of the substrate to a processing layer formed on the one surface of the substrate. When processing the processing layer,
The head can be moved simultaneously in two directions along a plane parallel to the substrate to be transported and intersecting each other,
The head is moved in synchronism with the transport of the substrate to irradiate a beam perpendicularly to the substrate being transported and moved to process the layer to be processed of the substrate.

  In the invention described in claim 4, the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 1 can be obtained.

The beam processing method according to claim 5 is the beam processing method according to claim 4,
The processing layer of the substrate is processed by the beam in a straight line parallel to each other at predetermined intervals,
Transport the substrate at a predetermined transport speed in a direction orthogonal to the direction of linear processing,
The head simultaneously emits a plurality of beams at the predetermined intervals along the transport direction of the substrate,
When processing with a beam by moving the head,
The head is moved with respect to the substrate being transported along the transport direction of the substrate at the same speed as the transport speed of the substrate, and at the same time from one side edge side of the processed layer of the substrate to the other A forward direction constant speed processing step in which the substrate is processed in the number equal to the number of the beams by moving in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction toward the side edge side,
The forward direction of the substrate being transported by controlling the head to move in the opposite direction to the transport direction of the substrate on the other side edge side of the layer to be processed of the substrate after the forward constant speed processing step. In the rapid machining step, the head is moved so as to be able to irradiate the beam that is the foremost side in the transport direction at a position that is a predetermined distance away from the portion that is processed by the beam that is the rearmost in the transport direction of the head. The other side edge irradiation alignment process,
The head is moved at the transport speed of the substrate along the transport direction of the substrate with respect to the substrate being transported after the other edge side irradiation position alignment step, and at the same time, the other of the processed layers of the substrate By moving in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction from one side edge side to the other side edge side, the reverse direction constant speed processing step of processing the number of the number of the beam to the substrate,
After the reverse direction constant speed processing step, the head is controlled to move in the direction opposite to the substrate transport direction on one side edge side of the processed layer of the substrate, and the reverse direction of the substrate being transported, etc. It is possible to irradiate the beam that is the foremost side in the transport direction of the head at a position spaced apart from the portion processed by the beam that is the rearmost side in the transport direction of the head in a rapid processing step. The moving one side edge side irradiation position adjusting step is repeatedly performed.

  In the invention described in claim 5, the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 2 can be obtained.

A beam processing method according to claim 6 is the invention according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the substrate is transported with one surface on which the layer to be processed is formed facing upward,
A beam is irradiated from the lower side of the substrate toward the substrate.

  In the invention described in claim 6, the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 3 can be obtained.

  A beam processing substrate according to a seventh aspect has a layer to be processed processed by the beam processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects.

  In invention of Claim 7, the same effect as the invention of any one of Claims 1 to 3 can be obtained.

  According to the beam processing apparatus, the beam processing method, and the beam processing substrate of the present invention, in order to shorten the processing time by the beam, the beam processing is performed on the substrate moving along the transport direction without stopping. However, the processing time can be sufficiently shortened without causing an increase in cost and a decrease in processing accuracy.

It is a top view which shows the outline of the beam processing apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the outline of the said beam processing apparatus. It is drawing for demonstrating the beam irradiation method. It is the schematic which shows the beam irradiation apparatus and head moving apparatus of the beam processing apparatus which concern on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the head part of the said beam irradiation apparatus. It is the schematic which shows the optical path length adjustment apparatus of the said beam processing apparatus. It is the schematic which shows the beam processing apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the beam processing apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 and 2 show a schematic configuration of a beam processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The beam processing apparatus of this example is suitably used for, for example, the power generation system using the photoelectric effect and the manufacture of a plasma display, and the like, and a thin film layer formed on a transparent substrate such as a glass substrate is used as a beam (here In this case, a laser beam is used for patterning, and a thin film layer (processed layer) on a substrate is irradiated with a laser beam to sublimate, liquefy, and peel to form a groove, and the thin film layer is divided by the groove. By setting the state, the thin film layer is formed into an arbitrary shape. Here, for example, grooves are formed in the thin film so as to have a stripe shape or a matrix shape.

  In this example, the case where the final product is a power generation system using the photoelectric effect using amorphous silicon will be described. In the power generation system using amorphous silicon, since a large voltage cannot be obtained, for example, a large number of cells are formed in a stripe shape on a transparent substrate such as a glass substrate, and these are connected in series. Thus, the necessary voltage can be output.

  In manufacturing, since sunlight is first taken in from the glass substrate side, a transparent electrode thin film is formed on the glass substrate side. Then, by forming grooves at predetermined intervals in the thin film of the transparent electrode, a striped transparent electrode is formed. Next, a thin film of amorphous silicon is formed as a semiconductor element that performs photoelectric conversion in the form of a transparent electrode. This portion is a semiconductor element having a PN junction or a PIN junction, for example.

  Then, after forming a plurality of amorphous silicon layers as a photoelectric conversion layer on the thin film layer of the transparent electrode patterned in a stripe shape, a groove is formed again by a laser beam. In addition, this groove | channel is formed so that it may adjoin to the groove | channel formed in the thin film layer of the above-mentioned transparent electrode.

  Next, a thin film layer of a metal electrode is formed, and a groove is similarly formed by a laser beam. At this time, the groove formed in the amorphous silicon layer is adjacent to the groove formed in the amorphous silicon layer and the groove formed in the transparent electrode adjacent to the groove formed in the amorphous silicon layer. A groove of the metal electrode is formed so as to be adjacent to each other. That is, the grooves of each layer are formed in the adjacent state in the order of the groove of the transparent electrode layer, the groove of the amorphous silicon layer, and the groove of the metal electrode layer.

And the beam processing apparatus of this invention is used for formation of the groove | channel on each thin film as mentioned above.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the beam processing apparatus processes a substrate 3 by irradiating a processed layer 2 (thin film layer) formed on one surface of the substrate 1 with a beam 3. The substrate 1 passes through the substrate 1 from the other surface side of the substrate 1 being transported to the transport mechanism 4 to the workpiece layer 2 formed on one surface of the substrate 1. A beam irradiation device 11 (beam irradiation means) having a head 10 that irradiates the beam 3 perpendicularly to the substrate 1 at the time of beam irradiation, and a substrate 1 on which the head 10 is conveyed by the conveyance mechanism 4. And a head moving device 20 capable of simultaneously moving in two directions crossing each other.

  The substrate 1 in this example is, for example, a glass substrate for the power generation system described above. The layer 2 to be processed is a thin film layer such as the above-described transparent electrode, amorphous silicon, or metal electrode.

The transport mechanism 4 basically transports in one direction (for example, the Y-axis direction) horizontally with the substrate 1 being horizontal with the layer 2 to be processed formed on one surface of the substrate 1 facing down. To do.
In addition, the conveyance direction of the board | substrate by the conveyance mechanism 4 is a direction orthogonal to the direction of the groove | channel of the to-be-processed layer 2 formed by processing in the stripe form on the board | substrate 1. FIG.
That is, it is necessary to set the substrate 1 on the transport mechanism 4 so that the substrate 1 is transported perpendicular to the direction of the groove to be formed.

  Further, during processing, dust is generated due to sublimation, melting, peeling, etc. of the processing layer 2 irradiated with the laser beam. For example, it is preferable that the lower side of the substrate 1 is opened. It is good also as what uses the conveyance mechanism which conveys in the state which supported and suspended both sides. Moreover, if it is in such a state, a conveyance mechanism will not be damaged by the laser beam in the state focused on the to-be-processed layer 2 of the board | substrate 1. FIG.

In addition, the board | substrate 1 in the state which suspended the right and left both sides has a possibility of bending greatly, and when the head 10 moves to a horizontal direction, the distance of the head 10 and the board | substrate 1 will change with positions. Become. In such a case, it is necessary to provide an autofocus function in the later-described objective optical device 13 of the head 10. That is, a device that measures the distance between the substrate 1 and the head 10 and automatically performs focusing in accordance with the movement of the head 10 by focusing the lens on the objective optical device 13 side by moving the lens or the like. It is preferable to provide it.
Or it is preferable to use the axial condensing optical apparatus which performs axial condensing as the objective optical apparatus 13 as mentioned later. Since the axial condensing optical device has a deep focal depth, even if the distance between the substrate 1 and the head 10 fluctuates, it can be accommodated within the range of the focal depth.

  A member that supports the substrate 1 is provided so that the thin film layer side to be processed 2 of the substrate 1 is not rubbed when using a transport mechanism in which the lower surface of the substrate 1 is in contact. It is preferable to move the substrate 1 and move it, but in this case, the laser hits a member under the substrate 1.

Therefore, in this example, a transport mechanism 4 having a stage 41 that ejects gas and supports the substrate 1 in a slightly floating state is used. Thereby, it can convey to the state which slid the board | substrate 1 in the state which protected the to-be-processed layer 2 of the board | substrate 1. FIG. In this case, since the substrate 1 moves and the portion that supports the substrate 1 below does not move, only a portion through which the laser beam passes can be provided with a space or a groove or a slit so that it does not hit the laser beam. It will be good. In this example, since there are a plurality of laser beams and the laser beam moves slightly in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction, a relatively wide interval is required to avoid the laser beams.
When the predetermined substrate 1 for the power generation system is to be processed, the movement pattern of the laser beam irradiation position, that is, the movement pattern of the head 10 is determined, so that each laser beam is irradiated. It is good also as a structure which provides a narrow slit only in a part.

Moreover, it is good also as what provides the dust suction means which attracts the dust produced by the sublimation of the to-be-processed layer 2, melt | dissolution, peeling, etc. in the said slit (space | interval) by irradiating the to-be-processed layer 2 with a beam. Thereby, scattering of dust can be prevented, the working environment can be kept clean, and maintenance of the beam processing apparatus can be facilitated.
The sucked dust may be separated by a cyclone or the like and discarded or reused.

Further, the gas may be provided with a large number of holes distributed almost uniformly in the plate constituting the upper surface of the stage 41, and compressed air or other compressed gas may be blown from the lower side, or air may be blown to the stage 41. It is good also as what disperse | distributes a some gas ejection board and supplies compressed gas to every back surface of each gas ejection board, and ejects gas. The gas may be air, but for example, various inert gases that do not affect the layer to be processed 2 processed with a laser beam are preferable.
Further, not only gas ejection but also suction may be performed, and the height position at which the substrate floats can be changed in real time by this suction force.

  When the stage 41 that ejects gas is used, not only the side edge portion of the substrate 1 but also the center portion can be supported, and the substrate 1 can be held in a flat state by suppressing the bending of the substrate 1. It is possible to prevent the distance between the substrate 1 and the head 10 from being greatly different depending on the position, and the range of variation in the distance between the substrate 1 and the head 10 can be reduced. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the focal position of the laser beam irradiated from the head 10 from deviating from the processing layer 2.

The beam irradiation device 11 having the head 10 includes a light source device 12 that generates a laser and a beam guiding system that guides the laser from the light source device 12 to the head 10.
For example, the light source device 12 uses at least one of a YAG laser, a CO2 laser, other gas lasers, a solid-state laser, a semiconductor laser, a liquid laser, a fiber laser, a thin film disk laser, and the like as an output laser. it can.

Here, for example, a YAG laser having a wavelength of 532 nm is used as the visible light laser.
In addition, the YAG laser basically has a wavelength of 1064 nm, but there is known a technique for reducing the wavelength to half of 532 nm. By making visible light of 532 nm, the glass substrate can be efficiently transmitted. .

  The light source is not limited to the one for YAG laser, and the wavelength of the laser beam is not limited to 532 nm, but the laser beam is a substrate having the processing layer 2 such as a glass substrate. For example, in a substrate that transmits visible light and hardly transmits electromagnetic waves outside the visible light region, it is preferable to use a visible light beam. Further, in the layer 2 to be processed, it is preferable that the beam is efficiently absorbed and can be efficiently processed by the beam, and the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave that is the beam is transmitted through the substrate 1 (having a low absorption rate). It is necessary to select a wavelength that is easy to be absorbed by the layer 2 to be processed.

Further, when the substrate 1 is transparent and the layer to be processed 2 is a transparent electrode, for example, it is visible light, there is no absorption peak on the substrate side, and there is an absorption peak on the transparent electrode side. The wavelength may be selected, or the visible light region and the peripheral region thereof, for example, the near-infrared region or the near-ultraviolet region may be selected such that the substrate 1 side is easily transmitted and the processed layer 2 side is difficult to transmit. May be.
The laser beam may be a pulse.
Further, the beam irradiation device 11 includes an objective optical device 13 (objective lens) provided with the head 10. The objective optical device 13 focuses the focused or focused image on the processing layer 2 and irradiates the laser beam. It has come to be.

In this example, the head 10 irradiates the workpiece layer 2 with a plurality of laser beams simultaneously, and a plurality of objective optical devices 13, for example, four objective optical devices 13 are provided here. The light source device 12 also outputs four beams corresponding to the number of beams to be irradiated.
In this example, it is preferable to use an axial condensing optical device that performs axial condensing as the objective optical device 13.
In other words, an axicon (axial condensing optical element) for irradiating a Bessel beam as an axial condensing beam is used as the objective optical device 13. Axicon is a general term for optical elements capable of forming a Bessel beam, and in addition to a conical lens, those having a ring-shaped slit and those having a ring-shaped unevenness are known.
In this example, a conical lens is used.

  The axial condensing optical device in the objective optical device 13 is not limited to an axicon, and it is known that an axial condensing can also be performed by a diffractive optical element or a hologram optical element. An optical condensing beam may be output using an optical element.

A Bessel beam, that is, an axial condensing beam, is output in a state where it is condensed axially up to a certain distance from the axicon when it is condensed by an axicon that is an optical element.
Although the depth of focus differs depending on the optical element, the depth of focus in an optical element such as a convex lens used for condensing a laser beam is about several hundred μm, for example, whereas the depth of focus by an axicon is about several mm. Although it depends on the diameter of the beam when the light is condensed, it can be about several tens of millimeters.

  Therefore, if the Bessel beam is irradiated using an axicon, the workpiece formed on the substrate 1 is formed even when the substrate 1 supported on the left and right side edges is bent by its own weight as described above. A shift in the vertical position due to the difference in the horizontal position of the layer 2 can be kept within the depth of focus of the Bessel beam.

  Each laser beam is caused by a shift in the focal position of each objective optical device 13 (here, the axial condensing optical device) or a shift in the vertical position of the layer to be processed due to a difference in the horizontal position on the substrate side. However, when the Bessel beam is used, since the depth of focus is deep, it is possible to prevent the processing accuracy from being deteriorated.

In other words, the depth of focus is so deep that the deviation of the focal position of each Bessel beam can be accommodated within the focal depth of the Bessel beam, so the deviation of the focal position does not lead to a reduction in machining accuracy and maintains the machining accuracy. can do.
Therefore, even if the layer to be processed is processed with a plurality of beams at the same time, it is possible to prevent the processing accuracy from being lowered, and to prevent the performance of a product manufactured using the beam processing from being deteriorated. it can. For example, when the product is a power generation system using a photoelectric effect, it is possible to prevent a decrease in power generation efficiency due to simultaneous processing with a plurality of beams.
Further, the axicon of the Bessel beam can be made smaller in diameter than a convex lens as a normal objective lens.

  Furthermore, since the conical lens has a deep focal depth as described above and does not require autofocus, for example, it is necessary to increase the focal length so that the above-mentioned substrate bending can be handled by autofocus. In addition, it is not necessary to increase the lens diameter in order to increase the focal length as in a normal lens.

  In addition, because the processing layer on the back side of the substrate is irradiated with a Bessel beam from the surface of the substrate through the substrate, the workpiece that is sublimated and liquefied after processing the processing layer has a conical shape. Since it is on the opposite side (the other side) of the substrate with respect to the lens, it is not necessary to separate the conical lens from the work layer so that the workpiece to be resolidified does not adhere to the conical lens, and the conical lens is bent. It can be close to the extent that it does not touch the substrate. Therefore, it is not necessary to increase the diameter of the conical lens that irradiates the Bessel beam, and it is possible to use a conical lens having a considerably small diameter with respect to a normal optical lens.

Thereby, when arranging a plurality of axicons and simultaneously irradiating a plurality of Bessel beams, it is possible to narrow the interval between the Bessel beams as compared with a laser beam by an ordinary optical lens. As a result, the degree of freedom in design of the spacing between the Bessel beams is increased.
In addition, the head portion (objective optical device) including a plurality of objective optical elements can be significantly reduced in size, and the head moving mechanism and the like can be simplified as the head is reduced in size and weight, and the moving accuracy is improved and the response is improved. It becomes easy to improve.
The beam guiding system for guiding the laser from the light source device 12 to the head 10 is constituted by a plurality of mirrors 15, 16, and 17 in this example.

The beam guiding system of the beam irradiation device 11 is provided with an optical path length adjusting device 14 that keeps the optical path length of the head 10 from the light source device 12 almost constant regardless of the moving position of the head 10.
In this example, the head 10 moves a distance of about the width of the substrate 1 along the X-axis direction as the width direction of the substrate 1 orthogonal to the Y-axis direction as the transport direction of the substrate 1. When the substrate 1 is a large glass substrate, the distance from the light source device 12 to the head 10 varies greatly due to the movement of the head 10.

  Here, the laser beam output from the light source device 12 is converted into parallel light by, for example, a collimator lens, but does not become completely parallel light. Become. Therefore, when the laser beam is guided to the head 10 using a mirror, if the head 10 has a structure in which the head 10 is greatly separated from or approached the light source device 12, the laser beam is incident on the objective optical device 13 in both cases. There is a clear difference in the beam diameter of the laser beam. For example, this causes fluctuations in the focal position and fluctuations in the beam intensity, thereby hindering precise processing.

Therefore, in this example, the laser beam is guided to the optical path length adjusting device 14 by detouring.
The beam guiding system basically moves in the X-axis direction integrally with the first mirror 15 for guiding the laser beam output from the light source device 12 in the X-axis direction, and the head 10, and Y A second mirror that is provided on an X-axis slider 22 to be described later as a portion that does not move in the axial direction, and further guides the laser beam from the first mirror 15 to the head 10 by bending it by 90 degrees along the Y-axis direction. However, in this example, an optical path length adjusting device 14 is provided in the optical path of the laser beam between the first mirror 15 and the second mirror 16.

In this example, an optical path length adjusting device 14 is provided next to the light source device 12 arranged along the Y-axis direction in order to adjust the optical path length with respect to the movement of the head 10 in the X-axis direction. However, the direction of the laser beam incident on the optical path length adjusting device 14 and the direction of the laser beam emitted from the optical path length adjusting device 14 are not the X-axis direction but the Y-axis direction. Further, the optical path length adjusting device 14 is provided not at a position between the first mirror 15 and the second mirror 16 but at a position outside the first mirror 15 and the first mirror 15 side. Therefore, the first mirror 15 reflects the laser beam along the X-axis direction from the first mirror 15 toward the second mirror 16 toward the opposite side rather than the second mirror 16 side. ing.
In addition, the laser beam reflected from the first mirror 15 is emitted from the optical path length adjusting device 14, and a fourth mirror 29 for turning the laser beam 90 degrees from the X-axis direction to the Y-axis direction and entering the optical path length adjusting device 14. A third mirror 28 is provided that bends the laser beam along the Y-axis direction in the X-axis direction and reflects it to the second mirror 16.

  The optical path length adjusting device 14 is provided with mirrors 17 and 17 for reflecting and outputting the laser beam in a direction parallel to the direction of the laser beam guided and incident. For example, two mirrors 17 and 17 are provided, and the mirror 17 that reflects and reflects the incident laser beam by 90 degrees and the bent laser beam is further rotated by 90 degrees and combined with the aforementioned mirror 17 to 180 degrees. It is designed to bend. Thus, the incident laser beam can be reflected back in a direction parallel to the incident laser beam. There is a difference between the position of the incident laser beam and the position of the laser beam reflected and emitted in parallel with the incident laser beam, and the incident laser beam is the first mirror 15 and the fourth mirror on the light source device 12 side. The reflected laser beam is directed to the second mirror 16 of the X-axis slider 22 that supports the head 10 via the third mirror 28.

  Further, here, the two mirrors that reflect the laser beam in the optical path length adjusting device 14 are aligned along the optical axes of the incident laser beam and the outgoing laser beam in the optical path length adjusting device 14, respectively. It is movable along the direction parallel to these laser beams, that is, along the optical axis direction.

  That is, the optical path length adjusting device 14 includes a slider portion 18 on which the two mirrors are mounted, a rail portion 19 that guides the slider portion 18 movably in the optical axis direction (Y-axis direction), and the slider. And a drive source (not shown) for moving the portion 18 along the rail portion 19. The drive source may be anything that can reciprocate the slider portion 18 in the linear direction, such as a rotary motor having a transmission mechanism that can convert the rotational motion of a belt, a wire, a ball screw, etc. into a linear motion, or a linear motor. .

  The beam guiding system having the optical path length adjusting device 14 guides the laser beam output from the light source device 12 in the X-axis direction and one of the two mirrors 17 and 17 of the optical path length adjusting device 14. And a second mirror 16 and a third mirror 28 for directing the laser beam output from the optical path length adjusting device 14 to the objective optical device 13. If the laser beam incident on the optical path length adjusting device 14 and the laser beam emitted from the optical path length adjusting device 14 are along the X-axis direction, the laser beam is directed to the optical path length adjusting device 14 in the Y-axis direction. The third mirror 28 and the fourth mirror 29 that convert between the X axis direction and the X axis direction are not necessary.

In practice, the light reflected by the second mirror 16 is reflected in the Z-axis direction by, for example, a mirror (not shown) provided in the objective optical device 13 described above, and is reflected on the objective lens of the objective optical device 13. It will be incident.
In FIG. 1, only the optical path of one laser is shown. Here, a plurality of, for example, four lasers are spaced from the light source device 12 through the same optical path at intervals in the Z-axis direction. It is guided to the device 13 and is converted in the X-axis direction by the four objective optical devices 13 respectively. Of the light reflected by the second mirror 16, the laser beam at the lowest position in the Z-axis direction (height direction) is incident on the objective optical device 13 closest to the second mirror 16, and then the laser beam. In this order, the incident light enters the objective optical device 13 that is far from the second mirror 16.

  The head moving device 20 also has an X-axis moving mechanism 23 that allows the head 10 to move over a range slightly wider than the width along the X-axis direction, which is the direction of grooving of the work layer 2 of the substrate 1. And a Y-axis moving mechanism 24 provided on an X-axis slider 22 provided in the X-axis moving mechanism 23 and capable of moving the head 10 along the Y-axis direction.

In this example, the X-axis moving mechanism 23 and the Y-axis moving mechanism 24 are each composed of a linear motor. For example, by using a linear servo motor or a linear stepping motor, the movement of the head 10 can be precisely controlled. ing.
The X-axis moving mechanism 23 includes an X-axis guide portion 25 having a linear motor stator extending along the X-axis direction, and an X-axis slider 22 having a mover moving along the stator. Have.

The X-axis guide unit 25 guides the X-axis slider 22 in the X-axis direction, and the stator drives the mover in the X-axis direction.
The Y-axis moving mechanism 24 provided on the X-axis slider 22 includes a guide portion 27 having a linear motor stator extending along the Y-axis direction, and a head having a mover moving along the stator. 10 and.

  With the configuration as described above, the head 10 can move in the X-axis direction within a range including the width of the layer 2 to be processed formed on the substrate 1. Further, the movable distance of the head 10 in the Y-axis direction is such that the distance between the beam emitting portions in the head 10 is equal to the distance between the grooves formed in the processed layer 2 of the substrate 1. The distance is about the product of the number of exit parts (objective optical device 13) multiplied by the groove interval.

For example, when four grooves are simultaneously formed by four beams, before the substrate 1 is transported by a distance obtained by multiplying 4 as the number of beams simultaneously irradiated in the Y-axis direction at the interval between the grooves. The movement of the head 10 along the X-axis direction of the layer to be processed needs to be finished, and the processing of the four grooves needs to be finished.
Therefore, basically, the moving distance of the head 10 in the Y-axis direction need not be longer than the length obtained by multiplying the number of beams emitted from the head 10 by the interval between grooves to be processed. Become.

  As will be described later, the movement speed in the Y-axis direction of the head 10 and the movement speed in the Y-axis direction of the substrate 1 are controlled to be equal, but the head 10 forms a groove with respect to the substrate 1 that continues to move. After returning to the opposite direction for each operation and stopping, the movement starts again in the Y-axis direction (forward direction), so that the acceleration for accelerating the moving speed of the head 10 in the Y-axis direction to the moving speed of the substrate 1 is performed. Need a distance.

  Further, if the substrate 1 advances from the groove produced by the operation for producing a single groove by the head 10 by the interval between the grooves, the next groove production by the head 10 will not be in time, so the head 10 The movement distance in the Y-axis direction is sufficient if it is the above distance at most.

Therefore, the moving distance of the head 10 in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis moving mechanism 24 is extremely short compared to the size of the substrate 1.
A beam processing method involving the movement of the head 10 by the head moving device 20 having the X-axis moving mechanism 23 and the Y-axis moving mechanism 24 will be described.
The head movement control is performed by a movement control device (movement control means) (not shown).

The movement control device controls the X-axis movement mechanism 23 and the Y-axis movement mechanism 24 that are linear motors, and is basically controlled as well-known servo motor control or stepping motor control.
In the beam processing method, first, the substrate 1 is moved by the transport mechanism 4 at a predetermined speed SK. Further, on the substrate 1, a beam irradiation start position is set for each number of grooves corresponding to the number of beam irradiations in the head 10. The beam irradiation start position is alternately set on the left edge side and the right edge side of the layer 2 to be processed.
Then, when the beam irradiation start position becomes, for example, the beam irradiation position of the beam irradiation section which is the rearmost in the transport direction of the substrate 1 in the beam irradiation section of the head, the beam irradiation on the head is started. It will be. The laser beam is irradiated only when processing the layer 2 to be processed, and when the head 10 is moved other than processing, the irradiation may be stopped, but the layer 2 to be processed is processed. The laser beam may be kept in a stable state by keeping the laser beam output even when the laser beam is not.

At this time, the movement speed along the Y-axis direction of the head 10 and the movement speed along the Y-axis direction of the substrate 1 need to be the same and synchronized.
Therefore, in the movement control, first, the head 10 is on the left side of the substrate 1 moving in the transport direction, for example, and the beam irradiation start position where the beam should be irradiated next to the transported substrate 1 is on the left side. And The head is assumed to be at the origin position in the Y-axis direction, basically the rearmost side in the transport direction. The head 10 is assumed to be at the origin position on either the left or right side in the X-axis direction. As for the X-axis direction, there is an origin position that is the leftmost when moving the head 10 and an origin position that is the rightmost.

Further, the origin position does not have to be the end of the structurally movable range of the head 10, and may be the end within the moving range in the groove processing. At this time, the structural movable range of the head 10 is assumed to be larger than the moving range in which the head 10 moves during groove processing.
The head 10 is moved in the Y-axis direction when the beam irradiation start position of the substrate 1 is a predetermined distance before the beam irradiation position of the beam emitting portion on the rearmost side in the transport direction of the head 10. In the beginning, the moving speed of the head 10 is accelerated until it becomes equal to the conveyance speed of the substrate 1, and when it becomes equal, the speed is kept constant.
Further, when the speed becomes constant, the beam irradiation start position of the substrate 1 and the beam irradiation position of the head need to be equal.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the beam irradiation position from the head 10 is accelerated and moved along the arrow Y1 in the Y-axis direction. When the moving speed of the head 10 becomes equal to the transport speed of the substrate 1 and when the beam irradiation start position becomes equal to the beam irradiation position, beam irradiation starts and the head 10 moves along the X-axis direction. To do. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 3A, the irradiation positions of the four beams irradiated from the head 10 are in a state of moving diagonally forward to the right along the arrow Y2. In addition, since an acceleration period is also required for movement in the X-axis direction, actually, it is necessary to start movement of the head 10 in the X-axis direction before the beam irradiation start position becomes equal to the beam irradiation position. There is.

The movement in the X-axis direction at this time is basically a constant speed movement, but the acceleration is required first as described above, and the deceleration is finally required. In particular, when laser beam machining is affected by the difference in speed due to acceleration or deceleration, the X-axis movement start position and stop position are located outside the left and right edges of the layer 2 to be processed. The head 10 starts moving while accelerating in the X-axis direction at the start position, and the moving speed in the X-axis direction reaches a predetermined speed SX when reaching the side edge from the outside of the side edge of the layer 2 to be processed. After that, while the beam is irradiated onto the work layer 2, it moves at a predetermined speed and at a constant speed.
It is assumed that acceleration in the Y-axis direction is performed simultaneously with acceleration outside the workpiece layer 2 in the X-axis direction.

Here, the stage in which the head 10 is accelerating in the Y-axis direction and the X-axis direction is the one side edge side acceleration process (left side edge acceleration process).
Then, as described above, the stage in which the head 10 moves at a constant speed in the Y-axis direction at the transport speed SK of the substrate 1 and moves at the constant speed SX in the X-axis direction is a forward constant-speed machining process. .
Then, when the irradiation position of the laser beam reaches the opposite side edge of the layer 2 to be processed, the speed in the movement of the head 10 in the X-axis direction may be reduced and stopped.

Then, at the stage where the constant speed movement in the X-axis direction is completed, that is, at the stage where the constant speed movement in the Y-axis direction is also finished, the head 10 is moved in the Y-axis direction in the reverse direction in the transport direction of the substrate 1. At this time, in the movement in the Y-axis direction, the head 10 decelerates and then stops and moves in the opposite direction. At this time, the movement in the X-axis direction is also decelerated and stopped. The process of returning to the origin position of the head 10 is the other edge side origin return process.
At this time, on the substrate 1, the beam irradiation start position next to the beam irradiation start position where the laser beam irradiation is performed as described above is moved at the above-described predetermined transport speed SK.

On the other hand, the head 10 is moved in the reverse direction of the transport direction along the Y-axis direction to return to the origin position. In the X-axis direction, there are origin positions on the left and right, and the head 10 is stopped at the right origin position that is the opposite of the left origin position.
At this time, as indicated by an arrow Y3 in FIG. 3A, the head 10 is returned to the origin position in the Y-axis direction described above along the Y-axis direction. The beam irradiation start position needs to be still behind the beam irradiation position of the head 10, and when the head 10 starts moving and reaches a predetermined speed as described above, the substrate is placed at the beam irradiation position of the head 10. 1 beam irradiation start position needs to be caught up.

If acceleration and deceleration are not taken into consideration, the next beam irradiation start position of the substrate 1 is set to the beam irradiation position of the head 10 in this state. The beam irradiation start position is adjusted to the beam irradiation position of the head 10 through the other edge side acceleration step of starting and accelerating the movement of the head 10 along the head. And this other side edge side irradiation position alignment process combines this other side edge side origin return process and the other side edge side acceleration process. In the other side edge acceleration step, the same processing as the above-described position side edge side acceleration step is performed except that the left and right positions are basically reversed.
That is, as shown by an arrow Y4 in FIG. 3B, acceleration is performed in the Y-axis direction.

Also in the X-axis direction, acceleration is similarly performed except moving from the right-side origin position to the left-side origin position at which the movement in the X-axis direction described above starts, from the right to the left in the opposite case. become.
In the other edge side acceleration step, the movement speed in the Y-axis direction becomes the transport speed SK of the substrate 1, the movement speed in the X-axis direction also becomes a predetermined speed, and the beam irradiation start position of the substrate 1 is the head 10. When the irradiation start position is reached, as the reverse direction constant speed machining step, the X direction moves in the reverse direction at the same speed as in the forward direction constant speed step, and moves at the constant speed in the Y axis direction. Processing with a laser beam. That is, it moves in the direction of arrow Y5 in FIG.

Then, the constant velocity movement in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction is finished as in the case described above, and the head 10 is moved along the Y-axis direction after decelerating and stopping in the X-axis direction and decelerating and stopping in the Y-axis direction. Then, as shown by the arrow Y6, a one-side edge-side origin returning step for returning to the origin position is performed.
Then, after returning the head to the reverse direction of the transport direction in the Y-axis direction to the origin position, the process returns to the first step.
The one side edge origin returning step and the first one side edge acceleration step are the one side edge irradiation position adjusting step for matching the beam irradiation position of the head 10 with the beam irradiation start position of the substrate 1.

In the beam processing method as described above, the movement of the head 10 is a bow-tie movement as schematically shown in FIG. That is, after moving diagonally from the left side to the front right side, it returns straight to the rear side, and after moving diagonally from the right side to the left front side and then returns straight to the rear side, the moving shape becomes a bow tie shape.
In such a movement, the front side in the movement from the left side to the right front side, that is, the speed in the Y axis direction coincides with the transport speed of the substrate 1, and the front side in the movement from the right side to the left front side, that is, the Y axis direction. Since the movement speed coincides with the conveyance speed of the substrate 1, the processed shape of the processed layer 2 of the substrate 1 is such that the grooves are arranged in stripes at equal intervals.
In FIG. 3, the solid line indicates processing in the forward direction (here, left to right), and the broken line indicates processing in the reverse direction (here, right to left).

The movement control of the head for performing such a beam processing method is performed by the movement control device in the Y-axis direction and the X-axis direction at the same time, and is controlled by the following schematic steps. become.
Let the head position be the Y-axis origin position and the X-axis left origin position (or the right origin position is acceptable). In the servo control, the X-axis moving mechanism 23 and the Y-axis moving mechanism 24 are provided with a sensor for measuring the position of the moving element on the stator side, and the Y-axis moving mechanism 24 and the X-axis moving mechanism 23 use the sensors. The position of the head can be measured by measuring the position of the moving element.

If it is not at the predetermined head position, the head 10 is moved. Further, during the operation of the head 10, feedback control is performed based on the position obtained by the sensor.
The substrate 1 is transported in conjunction with the transport mechanism, the substrate 1 is accelerated to the predetermined speed SK, and is transported at the predetermined speed SK.

When the above-described beam irradiation start position of the layer to be processed of the substrate 1 reaches a predetermined position, that is, from the beam irradiation start position to the beam start position of the head 10 at the origin position, the beam is positioned by a predetermined distance L1. When the position is reached, the following processing is performed.
That is, the Y-axis moving mechanism 24 accelerates the moving element from the speed 0 to the predetermined speed SK, and the acceleration at this time is set to an acceleration that reaches the predetermined speed SK in a predetermined period during which the moving element moves by a predetermined distance.

Here, the predetermined speed SK is the same speed as the transport speed SK in the transport mechanism. At this time, in addition to the predetermined distance, the substrate 1 moves by the distance that the substrate 1 is transported at a predetermined speed SK during the predetermined period. At this time, the beam start position becomes the beam irradiation position of the head. Is set to
Further, the moving element is accelerated from the speed 0 to a predetermined speed SX in the X-axis moving mechanism 23. At this time, the beam irradiation position of the head reaches the above-described beam irradiation start position on the side edge of the processing layer 2 from the outside of the processing layer 2.

In this state, the speed of the mover of the Y-axis moving mechanism 24 becomes the predetermined speed SK, the speed of the mover of the X-axis moving mechanism 23 becomes the predetermined speed SX, and the position of the head 10 is the beam irradiation position of the substrate 1. This is the beam irradiation start position. This control process is the one side edge acceleration control process.
In this state, the mover of the X-axis moving mechanism 23 and the mover of the Y-axis moving mechanism 24 continue to move in the above-described state until the processing end position of the other side edge of the layer 2 to be processed is reached. This is the forward direction constant speed machining control step.
When the machining end position is reached, the mover in the Y-axis moving mechanism 24 suddenly decelerates, and after stopping, suddenly accelerates in the reverse direction to return to the Y-axis origin position, and again near the Y-axis origin position. Decelerate suddenly and stop at the Y-axis origin position.
Similarly, in the X-axis moving mechanism 23, the moving element decelerates rapidly, stops, and stops at the X-axis right origin position. This is the other side edge origin return control step.

Next, the moving element acceleration process in the Y-axis moving mechanism 24 and the moving element acceleration process in the X-axis moving mechanism 23 are performed again. That is, the other side edge side acceleration control process is performed. It should be noted that the process of combining the above-mentioned other side edge origin return control process and the other side edge side acceleration control process is performed in the direction opposite to the transport direction of the substrate 1 on the other side edge side of the work layer 2 of the substrate 1. At a predetermined interval from the portion processed by the beam emitting portion (objective optical device 13) which is the rearmost in the transport direction of the head 10 in the forward constant velocity processing control step of the substrate 1 being transported. This is the other side edge side irradiation position alignment control step of moving the beam irradiated from the beam emitting unit which is the farthest side in the transport direction of the head 10 to a distant position.
In addition, the advancing direction in the X-axis moving mechanism 23 is opposite to the above-described acceleration process.
The moving speed of the moving element in the Y-axis moving mechanism 24 becomes the predetermined speed SK, and the moving speed of the movement in the X-axis moving mechanism 23 becomes the predetermined speed SX. Further, the beam irradiation position of the head 10 moved by the head moving device 20 becomes the next beam irradiation start position of the substrate 1.

At this stage, similar to the above-described forward direction constant speed machining control process, processing in the reverse direction constant speed machining control process in which only the traveling direction in the X-axis direction is reversed is performed. That is, the head 10 moves at a predetermined speed SK in the Y-axis direction while irradiating a laser beam, and moves at a predetermined speed SX in the X-axis direction.
Then, when the beam irradiation position of the head 10 reaches the beam irradiation end position on one side edge of the layer 2 to be processed of the substrate 1, one side edge origin return similar to the other edge side origin return control step described above is performed. A control process is performed. In the X axis movement mechanism 23, the origin is on the left and right, and the origin returns to the origin at the left and right positions opposite to the previous other edge side origin return control step.
Here, the position returns to the left origin position of the first X-axis moving mechanism 23.
And while returning to the above-mentioned first state, by repeating the above-mentioned process, groove processing can be continued further. In addition, the process which combined this one side edge origin return control process and the first one side edge acceleration control process becomes the one side edge irradiation position alignment control process similar to the above-mentioned other side edge irradiation position alignment control process. . The left and right positions in the X-axis direction are reversed between the other side edge irradiation position alignment control step and the one side edge irradiation position alignment control step.

According to the beam processing method using the beam processing apparatus as described above, by moving the head as described above, it is possible to form grooves in stripes in the processing layer without stopping the conveyance of the substrate 1. In the production of the power generation system and the like, the work period can be greatly shortened.
Further, since the substrate 1 transport mechanism does not repeatedly accelerate, decelerate, and stop frequently, even if the substrate 1 being transported is large and heavy, the transport mechanism is required to have high strength. Therefore, the cost of the transport mechanism can be reduced.

  Further, since the laser beam can be irradiated perpendicularly to the substrate 1 while moving the head along the shape shown on the outer periphery of the bow tie, the substrate 1 can be irradiated from the other surface side to the one surface side. Refraction at the interface between the substrate 1 and, for example, ambient air or other gas, as compared with the case where the processing layer is irradiated with a laser beam and processed obliquely and the irradiation angle changes. There is no change in reflectivity or irradiation angle due to the rate, and precise and substantially constant processing is possible, which can improve power generation efficiency in the production of the power generation system.

At this time, if a gas floating transport mechanism that supports the transport mechanism in a state where the substrate 1 is floated by jetting gas is used, the deflection of the substrate 1 can be suppressed, and the head of the head can be controlled by autofocus. Since it is not necessary to control the focal position of the objective optical device 13 corresponding to the movement, the cost can be reduced. Further, even if an autofocus mechanism is not provided for cost reduction, there is no shift in the Z-axis direction of the workpiece layer due to the bending of the substrate 1.
Further, by using an axial condensing lens as the objective lens of the objective optical device 13, the depth of focus becomes deeper, and even if there is a slight shift in the Z-axis direction of the layer to be processed, it can be kept within the depth of focus. This also makes it possible to improve processing accuracy in processing without an autofocus mechanism.

  In addition, when the configuration is such that a plurality of beams are irradiated at the same time, the focus shift of the objective optical device 13 for each beam and the shift in the Z-axis direction on the processing layer side due to the difference in the beam irradiation position. Regardless of, etc., each irradiation position on the work layer of multiple beams can be kept within the depth of focus, and even when multiple beams are irradiated simultaneously, processing accuracy can be prevented from being lowered and processing quality can be prevented. It is possible to increase the number of laser beams that can be irradiated simultaneously while maintaining.

In addition, the processing time can be further shortened.
In addition, when the configuration is such that many linear processes can be repeated in narrow stripes, the moving speed of the head in the X-axis direction, the above-mentioned deceleration in the Y-axis direction, and the moving speed during the origin return process are as follows. Although it is necessary to be sufficiently fast with respect to the conveyance speed of the substrate 1, by processing a plurality of grooves using a plurality of laser beams at a time, for example, when the conveyance speed of the substrate 1 is constant, the head X The moving speed in the axial direction can be reduced, and the period required for deceleration, stop, and acceleration in the Y-axis direction can be prolonged, and thereby the cost of the head moving device 20 can be reduced.

Conversely, the processing speed of the substrate 1 can be increased to further shorten the processing time.
Further, in the beam processing substrate manufactured by the beam processing method in such a beam processing apparatus, it is possible to reduce the cost of manufacturing equipment by reducing the cost of the above-mentioned beam processing apparatus and the cost by shortening the manufacturing time. it can. Thus, even if the cost is reduced, precise and stable beam processing results in a high-quality beam processing substrate. For example, when applied to a panel of a power generation system using the photoelectric effect, the power generation efficiency is high. be able to.

Next, a beam processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. FIG.
The beam processing apparatus according to the second embodiment differs from the beam processing apparatus according to the first embodiment in a part of the configuration, but the basic structure is the same as the basic structure. The usage is similar. Further, the beam processing apparatus according to the second embodiment is basically the same as the beam processing apparatus according to the first embodiment, except that the illustration and description of the first embodiment are omitted. .

As in the first embodiment, the beam processing apparatus according to the second embodiment performs processing by irradiating a beam 3 onto a processing layer 2 (thin film layer) formed on one surface of a substrate 1. The transport mechanism 4 transports the substrate 1 in one direction, and the layer to be processed formed on one surface of the substrate 1 from the other surface side of the substrate 1 transported to the transport mechanism 4 2 irradiates the beam 1 through the substrate 1 and irradiates the beam 1 perpendicularly to the substrate 1 at the time of beam irradiation, and a beam irradiation device 11 (beam irradiation means) having the head 10 and the transport of the head 10 A head moving device 20 is provided that can be moved simultaneously in two directions crossing each other along a plane parallel to the substrate 1 conveyed by the mechanism 4.
4, 5, and 6, the transport mechanism 4 and the substrate 1 are not shown, and the beam irradiation device 11 and the head moving device 20 are illustrated.

The transport mechanism 4 and the substrate 1 in this example are the same as those in the first embodiment.
The beam irradiation device 11 having the head 10 includes a light source device 12 that generates a laser and a beam guiding system that guides the laser from the light source device 12 to the head 10. The beam guiding system will be described later.
The light source device 12 is the same as that in the first embodiment.

Further, the beam irradiation device 11 includes an objective optical device 13 (objective lens) provided with the head 10. The objective optical device 13 focuses the focused or focused image on the processing layer 2 and irradiates the laser beam. It has come to be.
In this example, an axial condensing optical device that performs axial condensing is used as the objective optical device 13, and a conical lens is used as the axicon.

  The head moving device 20 also has an X-axis moving mechanism 23 that allows the head 10 to move over a range slightly wider than the width along the X-axis direction, which is the direction of grooving of the work layer 2 of the substrate 1. And a Y-axis moving mechanism 24 provided on an X-axis slider 22 provided in the X-axis moving mechanism 23 and capable of moving the head 10 along the Y-axis direction.

In this example, the X-axis moving mechanism 23 and the Y-axis moving mechanism 24 have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment and are each composed of a linear motor. For example, a linear servo motor or a linear stepping motor is used. Thus, the movement of the head 10 can be precisely controlled.
The X-axis moving mechanism 23 includes an X-axis guide portion 25 having a linear motor stator extending along the X-axis direction, and an X-axis slider 22 having a mover moving along the stator. Have.

The X-axis guide unit 25 guides the X-axis slider 22 in the X-axis direction, and the stator drives the mover in the X-axis direction.
The Y-axis moving mechanism 24 provided on the X-axis slider 22 includes a guide portion 27 having a linear motor stator extending along the Y-axis direction, and a head having a mover moving along the stator. 10 and. The head moving device 20 basically has the same structure as that of the first embodiment. In FIG. 4, the position of a mirror 56 to be described later is configured not to move in the Y-axis direction.

The beam guiding system includes an optical path length adjusting device 14 as in the first embodiment.
The beam guiding system will be described from the light source device 12 side. On the front side of the light source device 12, a shutter 51, an attenuator 52, and a mirror 53 are arranged in this order from the light source device 12 side. In addition, the mirror 53 bends the beam 3 by 90 degrees. A mirror 54 that further bends the beam 3 by 90 degrees is disposed at the destination of the beam 3 bent by the mirror 53.

In addition, an optical path length adjusting device 14 is disposed at the destination of the beam 3 bent by the mirror 54. The optical path length adjusting device 14 is arranged on the side adjacent to the light source device 12, and the direction of the beam 3 emitted from the light source device 12 and the direction of the beam 3 incident on the optical path length adjusting device 14 are parallel to each other. ing.
A mirror 55 that changes the direction of the beam 3 reflected from the optical path length adjusting device 14 is provided at a position beyond the optical path length adjusting device 14 beyond the mirror 54, and the beam 3 from the optical path length adjusting device 14 is moved to the X axis. It is directed in the direction along the direction. The beam 3 from the optical path length adjusting device 14 passes through the mirror 54.

The beam 3 reflected by the mirror 55 reaches the X-axis slider 22 along the X-axis guide portion 25 of the X-axis moving mechanism 23. The X-axis slider 22 is provided with a mirror 56 that bends the beam 3 along the X-axis direction by 90 degrees in the Y-axis direction and reaches the head 10.
The mirror 55 can change the angle up, down, left and right for adjusting the position of the beam 3, and transmits a part of the incident beam 3 as a beam splitter and directs it toward the beam position detection sensor 57. It has become. The light source device 12, the shutter 51, the attenuator 52, the mirrors 53, 54, 55 and the optical path length adjusting device 14 are arranged on one end side of the X-axis moving mechanism 23, and the beam position detection sensor 57 is It is arranged at the other end of the X-axis moving mechanism 23.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the head 10 is provided with a mirror 58 that directs the direction of the beam 3 reflected by the mirror 56 in the vertical direction, and the beam 3 reflected by the mirror 58 is provided at the end of the head 10. The objective optical device 13 is a conical lens.
Further, between the mirror 58 and the objective optical device 13, two collimating lenses are arranged along the vertically oriented beam 3, and the beam incident on the objective optical device 13 is made into parallel light. The beam diameter is appropriate.

  In the beam guiding system as described above, the beam 3 irradiated from the light source device 12 passes through the shutter 51 and the attenuator 52. The shutter 51 switches between a state in which the laser beam is allowed to pass and a state in which the laser beam is blocked. In the beam processing method described above, the other side edge side irradiation alignment process including the other side edge side origin return step and the other side edge side acceleration step The beam 3 does not need to be irradiated in the one-side edge side irradiation position adjusting step including the one-side edge side origin returning step and the one-side edge side acceleration step, but when the light source device 12 is turned off at this time, Since it takes time until the light source device 12 becomes stable when the light source device 12 is turned on, the shutter 51 blocks the beam. That is, the shutter 51 is for turning on and off the beam 3 while keeping the light source device 12 on.

The attenuator 52 is for adjusting the light amount of the laser beam to the attenuation side, and for attenuating the light amount so that the beam intensity is suitable for laser processing.
The beam 3 that has passed through the attenuator 52 is incident on the optical path length adjusting device 14 via the mirrors 53 and 54.
Similar to the first embodiment, the optical path length adjusting device 14 includes a rail portion 19 and a slider portion 18 that moves along the rail portion 19, but instead of the mirrors 17 and 17 on the slider portion 18, A reflector 61 is used.

In the retroreflector 61, the reflected light is parallel to the incident light, and the beam 3 incident from the mirror 54 is reflected toward the mirror 55 in the same direction as the mirror 54. Therefore, the optical path length adjusting device 14 functions in the same manner as in the first embodiment.
The beam 3 directed toward the mirror 55 hits the mirror 56 of the X-axis slider 22 along the X-axis direction. A part of the beam 3 is directed to the beam position detection sensor 57 from the mirror 56 which is also a beam splitter.

The beam position detection sensor 57 is a PSD (Position) that detects a known beam position.
Sensitive Detector), which outputs the position of the irradiated laser beam. Here, the current position of the laser beam with respect to a preset reference point is measured, and based on the deviation from the reference point. Thus, the angle of the mirror 56 is changed. That is, the angle of the mirror 56 is feedback controlled based on the output from the beam position detection sensor 57.
This control is performed by, for example, an optical path control device (optical path control means) (not shown).

Note that some PSDs are not compatible with pulsed lasers. For example, depending on the manufacturer, as a PSD signal processing circuit, a DC type PSD including a DC signal processing circuit and an AC type processing circuit including an AC signal processing circuit are available. In some cases, the DC type cannot measure the pulse laser, and the AC type may be able to measure the pulse laser.
In this example, since a pulse laser is used, a PSD (PSD signal processing circuit) corresponding to the pulse laser is used.
The beam processing apparatus of the second embodiment as described above can also be used in the same beam processing method as that of the first embodiment, and the same operational effects can be obtained.
Although only one objective optical device is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 and the like, the second embodiment also includes a plurality of objective optical devices and a plurality of beams as in the first embodiment. Are preferably capable of being irradiated simultaneously.

Next, a beam processing apparatus according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 (a), 7 (b) and FIG.
In the first and second embodiments, the laser beam is irradiated from the upper side of the substrate 1 with the processed layer 2 side of the substrate 1 facing down, whereas in the third embodiment, the processed layer of the substrate 1 is processed. The laser irradiation is performed from the lower side of the substrate 1 with the layer 2 side as the upper side.

In the third embodiment, the structure of the transport mechanism 104 is different from that of the first and second embodiments, and the head 110 of the beam irradiation means is disposed below the substrate 1 on the transport mechanism 104. The moving mechanism of the head 110 and the beam guiding system for guiding the laser beam to the head 110 are different from those of the first and second embodiments in that they are arranged below the substrate 1 on the transport mechanism 104. Other than the positional relationship with respect to the substrate 1, the same beam irradiation means (beam irradiation apparatus 111) as in the first embodiment or the second embodiment can be used.
The beam processing apparatus according to the third embodiment can be used in the same applications as those in the first and second embodiments and can perform the same processing. Similarly, a power generation system using the photoelectric effect can be manufactured.

  The transport mechanism 104 of the third embodiment does not include a gas floating transport mechanism (stage 41) but includes a roller 103 as a support unit. The rollers 103 are rotatably supported by roller support members 105, respectively. The rotation center of the roller 103 is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the substrate 1 by the transport mechanism 104, and supports the substrate 1 movably along the transport direction.

The rollers 103 are arranged in a plurality of rows along the conveyance direction, and are arranged in a plurality of rows along the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, so that the substrate 1 does not bend from the lower side. I support it.
That is, the transport mechanism 104 supports the substrate 1 so as to be flat. Instead of arranging a plurality of rollers 103 in the width direction of the substrate 1 (a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the substrate 1), the rollers 103 are set to the same length as the substrate 1, and the substrate 1 is bent. It is good also as a structure which prevents.

  The roller 103 comes into contact with the lower surface of the substrate 1, but the substrate 1 is arranged in the transport mechanism 104 with the work layer 2 facing upward, so that the work layer 2 does not come into contact with the roller 103. The layer 2 to be processed is not damaged by the contact with the roller 103. In addition, all the upper ends of these rollers 103 are arranged in a substantially horizontal plane, and the roller 103 is in a state of being flatly supported with almost no bending.

Further, the roller 103 basically supports the substrate 1 so as to be movable in the transport direction, and the substrate 1 is moved by, for example, holding a side edge portion of the substrate 1 with a linearly moving device such as a linear motor. Thus, the substrate 1 is moved.
Further, the transport mechanism 104 is divided into two and includes a slit portion 101 that is a gap between them. The slit portion 101 is orthogonal to the transport direction and has a length equal to or greater than the width of the substrate 1.

Under the slit portion 101, the head 110 is movable in the Y-axis direction, which is the conveyance direction of the substrate 1, and in the X-axis direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, as will be described later.
In addition, a suction unit 107 that sucks and removes dust generated by the laser beam processing described above is provided above the slit portion 101.

  The suction means 107 is the same as the dust suction means of the first embodiment, but performs suction near the work layer 2 of the substrate 1 not from the lower side of the substrate 1 but from the upper side of the substrate 1. It has become a thing. The suction means 107 is disposed on the upper side of the slit portion 101. Moreover, it arrange | positions so that the whole part processed with the beam of the to-be-processed layer 2 may be covered with the slit part 101 by the laser beam irradiation from the lower side. Thereby, since the powder (dust) generated as described above is sucked and removed by the laser beam irradiation, the dust is reattached to the processing layer 2 of the substrate 1 or the processing layer 2 is soiled. Can be prevented. The suction means 107 is fixedly provided so that the powder can be sucked over the entire moving range of the head 110 (the range in which the substrate 1 is subjected to laser irradiation in the transport mechanism 104). The suction means 107 may be moved corresponding to the movement.

  The beam irradiation device 111 in the third embodiment is basically the same as the beam irradiation device 11 in the second embodiment, and a light source device 112 that generates a laser beam and a head from the light source device 112. A beam guiding system for guiding a laser beam to 110 is provided.

  7 and FIG. 8, the beam guiding system will be described. The laser beam emitted from the light source device 112 along the X-axis direction is directed by the mirror 115 in the Y-axis direction. The optical path length adjusting device 114 is the same as the optical path length adjusting device 14 of the second embodiment. The direction of the laser beam introduced into the optical path length adjusting device 114 is changed from the Y-axis direction to the X-axis direction by the mirror 116. A retro-reflector 117 of the optical path length adjusting device 114 is disposed on the front side of the mirror 116 in the X-axis direction so as to be movable in the X-axis direction. The retro reflector 117 is supported on the optical path length adjustment stage 113 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction.

  Note that the optical path length adjusting device 114 is basically the same as the optical path length adjusting device 14 of the second embodiment. The retroreflector 117 is the same as the retroreflector 61 of the second embodiment, and the laser beam is irradiated from the mirror 116 to the retroreflector 117 and the retroreflector 117 is moved to move the laser beam. The optical path is kept substantially constant.

The light emitted from the retro-reflector 117 is applied to the mirror 119 via the mirror 118, and the mirror 119 applies light to the head 110 along the X-axis direction.
The head 110 is supported so as to be movable along the X-axis direction on an X-axis stage 109 provided on the lower side of the slit portion 101 of the transport mechanism 104.
The head 110 moves below the slit portion 101 of the transport mechanism 104 along the X-axis direction, but the state where the laser beam is irradiated from the mirror 119 is held on the head 110.
Further, the beam irradiation device 111 composed of these components is in a state of being placed on the base 120 and housed in the transport mechanism 104, and the head 110 is moved in the X-axis direction as described above. The X-axis stage 109 to be moved is arranged directly below the slit portion 101 of the transport mechanism 104.

The head 110 moves in the Y-axis direction by a slight distance as in the second embodiment described above, but the configuration for moving in the Y-axis direction is omitted in FIGS. 7 and 8. is doing. Further, the head 110 may irradiate a plurality of laser beams at the same time. At this time, the laser beams are aligned in the Y-axis direction.
The beam processing method in the beam processing apparatus of this example is such that the substrate 1 faces the layer 2 to be processed and the head 110 is disposed below the substrate 1 so that Except for the point that the laser beam is irradiated toward, the same operation as in the first embodiment or the second embodiment is performed.

That is, as in the first embodiment, the position of the laser beam irradiated by the head 110 as described above in synchronization with the transfer of the substrate 1 while the substrate 1 is being transferred by the transfer mechanism 104 at a constant speed. Is configured to move in the shape of a bow tie.
In this example, by arranging the substrate 1 with the processing layer 2 on the upper side, the substrate 1 can be supported from the lower side without damaging the processing layer 2, and the bending of the substrate 1 can be prevented. Further, by irradiating the laser beam from the lower side of the substrate 1, the layer 2 to be processed can be processed with the laser beam that has passed through the substrate 1.

Therefore, by supporting the substrate 1 from the lower side, laser processing can be performed while the substrate 1 is held flat, so that the substrate 1 is not bent and the processing accuracy can be improved, and the roller Therefore, the transport mechanism 104 can be made inexpensive. Further, when the workpiece layer 2 is turned up, there is a risk that the powder generated by the processing of the workpiece layer 2 may adhere to the substrate 1, but by sucking and removing the powder from the upper side of the substrate 1, It is possible to prevent the adhesion of powder generated by processing the layer 2 to be processed to the substrate 1.
Thereby, even if it processes the to-be-processed layer 2 of the upper surface side of the board | substrate 1 from the lower side of the board | substrate 1, a problem does not arise, but the to-be-processed layer 2 can be processed.
Further, by using the same beam processing method as in the first and second embodiments, the same operational effects as those in the first and second embodiments can be achieved.
The member that supports the lower side of the substrate 1 may be any member as long as it can prevent the substrate 1 from being bent and can move smoothly in the transport direction without damaging the substrate 1. Further, the structure may be such that it is conveyed by a belt.

1 Substrate 2 Work layer 3 Laser beam (beam)
4 Transport mechanism 10 Head 11 Beam irradiation device (beam irradiation means)
13 Objective optical device (beam emission part)
20 Head moving device (head moving means)
110 heads

Claims (7)

A beam processing apparatus for irradiating and processing a beam to a processing layer formed on one surface of a substrate,
A transport mechanism for transporting the substrate in one direction;
From the other surface side of the substrate transported to the transport mechanism, a layer to be processed formed on one surface of the substrate is transmitted through the substrate to irradiate the beam, and at the time of beam irradiation, the substrate is perpendicular to the substrate. Beam irradiation means having a head for irradiating the beam;
Head moving means capable of simultaneously moving the head in two directions crossing each other along a plane parallel to the substrate transported by the transport mechanism;
With
The head moving means moves the head in synchronization with the transport speed of the substrate by the transport mechanism, thereby irradiating a beam perpendicularly to the substrate being transported and moving, thereby processing the substrate. A beam processing apparatus for processing a layer. The processing layer of the substrate is processed by the beam in a straight line parallel to each other at predetermined intervals,
In the transport mechanism, the substrate is transported at a predetermined transport speed in a direction orthogonal to the linear processing direction,
The head includes a plurality of beam emitting units that emit beams at predetermined intervals along the transport direction of the substrate,
The head is moved with respect to the substrate being transported along the transport direction of the substrate at the same speed as a predetermined transport speed of the substrate, and at the same time from one side edge side of the processed layer of the substrate A forward constant velocity machining control step for performing machining of the number corresponding to the number of the beam emitting portions on the substrate by moving in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction toward the other side edge side;
The forward direction of the substrate being transported by controlling the head to move in the direction opposite to the transport direction of the substrate on the other side edge side of the layer to be processed of the substrate after the forward constant velocity processing control step In the constant speed machining control step, the beam that is the foremost side of the head in the carrying direction at a position that is a predetermined distance away from the portion that is machined by the beam emitting portion that is the foremost side of the head in the carrying direction. The other edge side irradiation position adjustment control step of moving so that the beam irradiated from the emitting unit can be irradiated, and
The head is moved at the same speed as the predetermined transport speed of the substrate along the transport direction of the substrate with respect to the substrate being transported after the other edge side irradiation position alignment control step, and at the same time, Reverse direction constant speed machining, in which the number of the beam emitting portions is processed on the substrate by moving in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction from the other side edge side of the layer to be processed toward one side edge side. Control process;
The reverse direction of the substrate being transferred by controlling the head to move in the direction opposite to the transfer direction of the substrate on one side edge side of the processed layer of the substrate after the reverse direction constant speed processing control step In the constant speed machining step, the beam emission which is the foremost side in the conveyance direction of the head is located at a position spaced apart from the portion processed by the beam emission part which is the most rear side in the conveyance direction of the head. And a head movement control means for controlling the head movement means so as to move the head in a control process comprising a one-side edge irradiation position adjustment control process for moving the beam irradiated from the section so as to be irradiable. The beam processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The substrate is transported by the transport mechanism with one surface on which the layer to be processed is formed on the upper side, the head is disposed below the substrate transported by the transport mechanism, The beam processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a beam is irradiated toward the substrate. A substrate having a layer to be processed with a beam on one side is transported in a substantially horizontal direction,
Further, the target is formed by a beam that is irradiated perpendicularly to the substrate from a head that irradiates the substrate with a beam that is transmitted from the other surface side of the substrate to a processing layer formed on the one surface of the substrate. When processing the processing layer,
The head can be moved simultaneously in two directions along a plane parallel to the substrate to be transported and intersecting each other,
Beam processing characterized by processing the layer to be processed of the substrate by moving the head in synchronization with the transport of the substrate to irradiate a beam perpendicularly to the substrate being transported and moving. Method. The processing layer of the substrate is processed by the beam in a straight line parallel to each other at predetermined intervals,
Transport the substrate at a predetermined transport speed in a direction orthogonal to the direction of linear processing,
The head simultaneously emits a plurality of beams at the predetermined intervals along the transport direction of the substrate,
When processing with a beam by moving the head,
The head is moved with respect to the substrate being transported along the transport direction of the substrate at the same speed as the transport speed of the substrate, and at the same time from one side edge side of the processed layer of the substrate to the other A forward direction constant speed processing step in which the substrate is processed in the number equal to the number of the beams by moving in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction toward the side edge side,
The forward direction of the substrate being transported by controlling the head to move in the opposite direction to the transport direction of the substrate on the other side edge side of the layer to be processed of the substrate after the forward constant speed processing step. In the rapid machining step, the head is moved so as to be able to irradiate the beam that is the foremost side in the transport direction at a position that is a predetermined distance away from the portion that is processed by the beam that is the rearmost in the transport direction of the head. The other side edge irradiation alignment process,
The head is moved at the transport speed of the substrate along the transport direction of the substrate with respect to the substrate being transported after the other edge side irradiation position alignment step, and at the same time, the other of the processed layers of the substrate By moving in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction from one side edge side to the other side edge side, the reverse direction constant speed processing step of processing the number of the number of the beam to the substrate,
After the reverse direction constant speed processing step, the head is controlled to move in the direction opposite to the substrate transport direction on one side edge side of the processed layer of the substrate, and the reverse direction of the substrate being transported, etc. It is possible to irradiate the beam that is the foremost side in the transport direction of the head at a position spaced apart from the portion processed by the beam that is the rearmost side in the transport direction of the head in a rapid processing step. The beam processing method according to claim 4, wherein the moving one side edge side irradiation position adjusting step is repeatedly performed. The substrate is transported with one surface on which the work layer is formed facing upward,
The beam processing method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein a beam is irradiated toward the substrate from a lower side of the substrate.   A beam processing substrate comprising a layer to be processed processed by the beam processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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