CN111279270B - Exposure apparatus and exposure method - Google Patents
Exposure apparatus and exposure method Download PDFInfo
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- CN111279270B CN111279270B CN201880070461.2A CN201880070461A CN111279270B CN 111279270 B CN111279270 B CN 111279270B CN 201880070461 A CN201880070461 A CN 201880070461A CN 111279270 B CN111279270 B CN 111279270B
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- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
- G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
- G03F7/20—Exposure; Apparatus therefor
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/68—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for positioning, orientation or alignment
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Abstract
The invention provides an exposure device and an exposure method, the exposure device compares the reference pattern data formed on the exposed substrate after shooting the existing reference pattern with the reference position data of the photomask, detects the offset of the photomask in the width direction, calculates the temporary movement amount of the photomask, stores the deflection characteristic data inherent to the device for changing the deflection state of the exposed substrate or the photomask in advance, and controls the correction of the movement amount of the photomask based on the deflection characteristic data.
Description
Technical Field
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus and an exposure method.
Background
The exposure apparatus is used in a wide range of technical fields such as photo-alignment treatment for aligning an alignment film of a liquid crystal panel, and exposure of a photoresist used in a photolithography process. In recent years, FPDs (Flat Panel displays) such as liquid crystal panels and organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) panels have been increased in size and high definition. In the FPD, the larger the photomask used for exposure, the larger the production cost rises. In addition, in a large photomask, there is a problem that the probability of occurrence of deflection, deformation, or the like becomes high. As a countermeasure, for example, an alignment processing apparatus disclosed in patent document 1 is known. In this alignment processing apparatus, a plurality of small-sized photomask sets are used for a substrate that is conveyed at a predetermined speed in a predetermined direction.
In the alignment processing apparatus, the amount of displacement of the photomask relative to the substrate is detected based on the positional relationship between the existing linear pattern formed on the substrate and the reference pattern formed on the photomask. The position at which the shift amount is detected is located upstream in the conveyance direction from the position at which the exposure process is performed later. Then, the substrate portion at the position where the amount of deviation is detected is moved to the position where the exposure process is performed by conveying the substrate to the downstream side. At this time, the photomask is corrected and moved in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction) based on the shift amount, thereby preventing the photomask from shifting with respect to the intended exposure position. Such a method of performing correction control of the position of the photomask in the width direction is called so-called follow-up control.
The photomask is provided with an exposure light transmission unit for performing exposure and an imaging light transmission unit for detecting the linear pattern and the reference pattern. The exposure light transmission part is arranged at the downstream side of the conveying direction, and the shooting light transmission part is arranged at the upstream side of the conveying direction. The reason why the exposure light transmission unit and the imaging light transmission unit are arranged at different positions in the conveying direction is that it takes time for the photomask to follow up to correct the position of the photomask in view of the arrangement and design of the imaging unit and before the substrate portion in which the displacement amount is detected reaches the exposure position. The interval between the exposure light transmission unit and the imaging light transmission unit may need to be about 100 mm.
Documents of the prior art
Patent document
Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2011-164639
Disclosure of Invention
Technical problems to be solved by the invention
When the above-described conventional technique is applied to the manufacture of a liquid crystal panel or the like which is being advanced for higher definition, the following problems occur. That is, the substrate is conveyed along with the deflection (twisting) due to the mechanical state of the substrate conveying guide (substrate conveying shaft) for conveying the substrate. As described above, there is a distance between the position where the amount of shift of the photomask with respect to the substrate is detected and the position where the exposure process is actually performed. Therefore, if the substrate is deflected before the substrate portion where the shift amount of the photomask is detected reaches the position where the exposure process is performed, an exposure position error occurs in the correction of the shift amount in the follow-up control.
In addition, although the number of pixels of a full-high definition television which has been widely used in recent years is 1920 × 1080 horizontal (horizontal pixels) and 2073600 in total, a so-called 4K television is 3840 × 2160 horizontal and 8294400 pixels in total, that is, the number of pixels is 4 times of the full-high definition. In addition, development of 8K television was started. With the progress of such high definition, line and space (Line and space) of source lines, gate lines, black matrices, and the like formed on a substrate becomes narrow. If the deflection affects the substrate being transported, it is expected that even a slight amount of displacement of the photomask with respect to the substrate will have a large effect. As a result, it is more important to prevent the photomask from being displaced from the substrate in the exposure process. In addition to the photo-alignment treatment of the alignment film, the substrate may be similarly subjected to deflection during various light irradiation processes such as exposure treatment of various materials, photo-annealing treatment, and laser treatment.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide an exposure apparatus and an exposure method capable of preventing misalignment of a photomask due to the influence of deflection of a substrate or the like.
Technical solution for solving technical problem
In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, an embodiment of the present invention includes: a photomask in which a reference position portion and an exposure light transmission portion are formed separately in a mask surface, the photomask being relatively moved in a scanning direction with respect to a substrate to be exposed on which an existing reference pattern is formed in the scanning direction; an imaging section that is disposed integrally with the photomask and that images the reference pattern and the reference position section; and a control section that performs control of comparing reference position section data and reference pattern data obtained by imaging the reference pattern of a partially-exposed predetermined region in the reference position section and the substrate to be exposed by the imaging section, and that detects a shift amount of the photomask in a width direction that forms a right angle with the scanning direction of the substrate to be exposed, calculates a temporary movement amount of the photomask, moves the photomask in the width direction based on the temporary movement amount as the partially-exposed predetermined region moves to a position where exposure is performed at the exposure light transmission section, and moves the photomask in the width direction based on the temporary movement amount, and controls the exposure device to continuously or intermittently expose the partially-exposed predetermined region in the scanning direction in the substrate to be exposed, and the control section stores deflection characteristics as deflection characteristic data in advance, which are deflection characteristics of the substrate to be exposed and the mask in the scanning direction, and applies correction to the fixed movement amount based on the deflection characteristic data to move the photomask in the width direction, and changes in a relative deflection state of the substrate to be exposed.
According to the above embodiment, it is preferable that the difference between the positions in the scanning direction of both ends in the width direction of the existing width direction pattern of the substrate to be exposed, which is imaged by the imaging unit and extends in the width direction, is detected, and the change with time of the deflection characteristic is detected, and the deflection characteristic data is updated when the difference between the positions in the scanning direction of both ends in the width direction pattern is larger than an allowable value.
According to the above embodiment, it is preferable that the substrate to be exposed is conveyed in the scanning direction along a substrate conveying rail, and the photomask is provided at a predetermined position in the scanning direction so as to be movable in the width direction perpendicular to the scanning direction.
According to the above embodiment, the reference pattern and the width direction pattern are preferably selected from a black matrix, a gate line, a source line, a column of a pixel electrode, a column of a color filter, and the like formed on the substrate to be exposed.
Another aspect of the present invention is characterized by including the steps of: a step of relatively moving a photomask, in which a reference position portion and an exposure light transmission portion are separately formed in a mask surface of the photomask, with respect to a substrate to be exposed, in which an existing reference pattern is formed along the scanning direction, in the scanning direction; a step of imaging the reference position portion and the reference pattern formed at a position corresponding to a predetermined partial exposure region of the substrate to be exposed; comparing the captured reference pattern position data with reference position portion data, detecting a shift amount of the photomask with respect to the substrate to be exposed in a width direction perpendicular to the scanning direction, and calculating a provisional movement amount of the photomask; a step of, before the partial exposure planned region reaches a position corresponding to the exposure light transmission unit and exposure is performed in accordance with the relative movement of the substrate to be exposed and the photomask in the scanning direction, correcting the temporary movement amount of the photomask on the basis of preset deflection characteristic data inherent to the device, which is a change in the deflection state of the substrate to be exposed or the photomask due to the relative movement of the substrate to be exposed or the photomask, calculating a correction movement amount, and moving the photomask in the width direction on the basis of the correction movement amount; and exposing the predetermined partially exposed region through the light transmitting portion for exposure.
According to the above-described embodiment, it is preferable that the change with time of the deflection characteristic is detected by detecting a difference in position in the scanning direction between both end portions of an existing widthwise pattern extending in the widthwise direction of the substrate to be exposed, the difference being captured by the imaging unit, and the deflection characteristic data is updated when the difference in position in the scanning direction between both end portions of the widthwise pattern is larger than an allowable value.
According to the above embodiment, it is preferable that the substrate to be exposed is conveyed along a substrate conveying rail in a scanning direction, and the photomask is provided so as to be movable in the width direction perpendicular to the scanning direction at a predetermined position in the scanning direction.
According to the above embodiment, it is preferable that the reference pattern and the width direction pattern are selected from a black matrix, a gate line, a source line, a column of a pixel electrode, a column of a color filter, and the like formed on the substrate to be exposed.
Effects of the invention
According to the exposure apparatus and the exposure method of the present invention, it is possible to prevent misalignment between the substrate to be exposed and the photomask due to the influence of deflection of the substrate to be exposed, the photomask, and the like.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a partial perspective view of an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a state in which a color filter substrate is mounted on an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between a photomask and an imaging unit in the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a double focus structure of an image pickup device constituting an image pickup section in the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 6 is a plan view showing a state where a color filter substrate is mounted in the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention and is advanced to the vicinity of an exposure portion.
Fig. 7 is a top explanatory view showing a relationship between the light transmitting portion for image pickup and the light transmitting portion for exposure, which are used for image pickup of the reference pattern and the reference position portion of the color filter substrate in the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 8 is a top explanatory view showing the position of the exposure light transmission unit 17 when correction based on deflection characteristic data is applied to control of the mask movement amount in the exposure apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 9 is a top explanatory view showing the result of photo-alignment processing performed on a color filter substrate by using an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 10 is a top explanatory view showing the result of a comparative example in which the correction of the mask shift amount based on the deflection characteristic data is not performed.
Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing an exposure method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 12 is an explanatory view showing an example in which, in the exposure method according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the alignment position is not shifted when the color filter substrate is mounted on the substrate stage, the color filter substrate is moved to measure the rotation angle of deflection from the positions of both ends of the black matrix formed to extend in the width direction.
Fig. 13 is a view showing the measurement results of the substrate rotation angle at the imaging position of the imaging light transmission part and the position of the substrate passing through the exposure light transmission part in the exposure apparatus in the example shown in fig. 12.
Fig. 14 is an explanatory view showing an example of a rotation angle of deflection measured from positions of both end portions of a black matrix formed to extend in a width direction in a case where a color filter substrate is advanced in a state where an alignment position is shifted when the color filter substrate is mounted on a substrate stage in an exposure method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 15 is a view showing the measurement results of the substrate rotation angle at the imaging position of the imaging light transmission part and the substrate position passing through the exposure light transmission part in the exposure apparatus in the example shown in fig. 14.
Detailed Description
The present invention can be applied to an apparatus and a method for irradiating light, such as exposure treatment, photo-annealing treatment, laser treatment, and exposure treatment of various materials, for an alignment film of a liquid crystal panel. Hereinafter, an embodiment of an exposure apparatus and an exposure method according to the present invention applied to a color filter substrate (counter substrate) on which a color filter array of a liquid crystal panel and a counter electrode are formed, the color filter substrate being subjected to photo-alignment treatment will be described with reference to the drawings.
However, it should be noted that the drawings are schematic, and the size, the scale of size, the number, the shape, and the like of each component are different from those of an actual object. In addition, the drawings also include portions having different dimensional relationships, ratios, numbers, shapes, and the like.
[ Structure of Exposure apparatus ]
Fig. 1 to 3 show an exposure apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the exposure apparatus 1 includes an apparatus main body 2, a substrate transport unit 3, three exposure units 4L, 4R, and 4C (see fig. 3), an imaging unit 5, a photomask driving unit 6, and a control unit 7. As shown in fig. 3, in the exposure apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the three exposure sections 4L, 4R, and 4C are assigned to perform the photo-alignment process on the alignment film, not shown, provided on the surface of the color filter substrate 9 as the substrate to be exposed. As shown in fig. 3, the exposure portions 4L and 4R are disposed on both sides in the width direction W at a position Pm1 in the substrate transport unit 3, and the exposure portion 4C is disposed at a central portion in the width direction W, which is a position Pm2 in the substrate transport unit 3.
The apparatus main body 2 includes a plate-shaped substrate stage 8 on an upper surface of a base portion, not shown. As shown in fig. 1 and 3, the substrate stage 8 has a width dimension and a length dimension which enable the color filter substrate 9, which is a counter substrate of the liquid crystal panel, to be mounted thereon and moved in the scanning direction S.
As shown in fig. 1, the substrate stage 8 is selectively formed with an opening 8A so as not to block illumination light emitted from the position detection illumination 21 from being irradiated to an imaging light transmission portion 18 formed on a photomask 16 described later. The substrate stage 8 is formed of a plate-like porous body, and compressed air is ejected from the upper surface to float the color filter substrate 9, so that the color filter substrate 9 can smoothly travel on the substrate stage 8.
The substrate transport unit 3 includes a pair of parallel linear guides 10 and 11 extending in the scanning direction S on both sides in the width direction W (a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction S) of the substrate table 8. In the present embodiment, a linear block 12 driven to move in the scanning direction S along the linear guide 10 is provided. As shown in fig. 1, the linear block portion 12 connects and fixes the edge portions of the color filter substrate 9 in the width direction. The linear block 12 can be moved forward and backward along the scanning direction S by a linear driving unit, not shown.
The exposure units 4L, 4R, and 4C include an exposure light source 13, a mirror 15 that reflects exposure light 14 emitted from the exposure light source 13 toward the substrate stage 8, and a photomask 16 that irradiates the exposure light 14. The beam of the exposure light 14 irradiated toward the photomask 16 is set to an irradiation area capable of irradiating the entire region of the exposure light transmitting portion 17, which will be described later, of the photomask 16.
As shown in fig. 1, the photomask 16 is driven by the photomask driving section 6 provided on the apparatus main body 2 side. During exposure, the photomask 16 is moved only in the width direction W perpendicular to the scanning direction S.
As shown in fig. 4, a plurality of exposure light transmission portions 17 and imaging light transmission portions 18 are formed in the mask surface of the photomask 16. The photomask 16 has a light-shielding film 19 formed on the surface of a transparent glass substrate. In addition, the light shielding film 19 is not formed in the regions of the plurality of exposure light transmission portions 17 and imaging light transmission portions 18 in the photomask, and light can transmit therethrough.
The exposure light transmission portions 17 are formed in a rectangular slit shape elongated along the scanning direction S, and are formed in parallel with each other at a predetermined pitch along a width direction W perpendicular to the scanning direction S. The light transmission section 18 for imaging has a slit shape elongated in the width direction W. In addition, a reference position portion 19A is formed in a shape crossing the slit in the light shielding film 19 in the center portion in the width direction W of the imaging light transmission portion 18. As shown in fig. 4, in the photomask 16, the imaging light transmission section 18 including the reference position section 19A and the exposure light transmission section 17 are arranged with a distance D therebetween along the scanning direction S.
The imaging unit 5 is specifically constituted by a linear CCD camera. The imaging unit 5 is configured by a plurality of columns of imaging elements 5C1 to 5Cn in a width direction W perpendicular to the scanning direction S. As shown in fig. 4, the length of the imaging unit 5 is set to be able to take an image over the entire length of the imaging light transmission unit 18 in the width direction W. In order to maintain the positional relationship shown in fig. 4, the imaging unit 5 is fixed in position with respect to the photomask 16 and follows the movement of the photomask 16. The imaging unit 5 may be fixed to the photomask 16. Further, as shown in fig. 1, in the present embodiment, the imaging unit 5 is disposed above the substrate stage 8 and the position detection illumination 21 is disposed below the substrate stage 8, but the position detection illumination 21 may be disposed above the substrate stage 8 and the imaging unit 5 may be disposed below the substrate stage 8.
As shown in fig. 5, the imaging device 5C is configured to be able to simultaneously image the reference position portion 19A of the photomask 16 and the black matrix 20, which is an existing reference pattern in the color filter substrate 9. As shown in fig. 1, a position detection illumination 21 is disposed below the photomask 16 and the substrate stage 8. The position detection illumination 21 may be set to follow the photomask 16 in synchronization therewith.
As shown in fig. 2, the control unit 7 includes a main control unit 22, a light source power supply unit 23, an image processing unit 24, a mask drive unit controller 25, a substrate transfer unit controller 26, a storage unit 27, and a calculation unit 28. As shown in fig. 3, the control corresponding to the exposure units 4L, 4R, and 4C is controlled by one control unit 7.
The following description of the control unit 7 will be made focusing on a control system corresponding to the exposure unit 4L. The light source power supply unit 23 turns on the power supply of the exposure light source 13 of the exposure unit 4L in response to the start of the operation of the exposure apparatus 1, and emits the exposure light 14 from the exposure light source 13. The image processing unit 24 detects data (reference pattern data) of the reference pattern of the predetermined black matrix 20 along the scanning direction S in the color filter substrate 9 and data (reference position portion data) of the reference position portion 19A of the photomask 16, which are obtained by the line CCD camera of the imaging unit 5.
The mask drive unit controller 25 operates the photomask drive unit 6 based on the control signal from the main control unit 22, and adjusts the photomask 16 to a position in the width direction W perpendicular to the scanning direction S. Therefore, the exposure light transmitting portion 17 of the photomask 16 and the predetermined exposure position on the color filter substrate 9 are brought into a state of mask alignment by the mask driving portion controller 25.
The substrate transfer unit controller 26 controls the traveling speed of the linear block unit 12 and the color filter substrate 9 moving in the scanning direction S with respect to the linear guide 10 based on a control signal from the main control unit 22.
The storage unit 27 stores position data of the black matrix 20 serving as a reference pattern in the color filter substrate 9, an operation program of the entire apparatus, and a position alignment control program of the photomask 16.
The storage unit 27 includes a deflection characteristic data storage unit 27A. The deflection characteristic data storage unit 27A stores deflection characteristic data unique to the apparatus. The deflection characteristic data unique to the apparatus is a characteristic determined by mechanical adjustment, for example, by the substrate stage 8, the linear guides 10 and 11, the linear block portion 12, and the like. According to such deflection characteristics, the color filter substrate 9 changes its deflection state under the influence of the deflection characteristics corresponding to the position relative to the substrate stage 8.
The deflection means a state in which the color filter substrate 9 is rotated around the axis in the vertical direction while being held on the substrate stage 8 in a horizontal plane. Therefore, the exposure light transmission section 17 (exposure position) is in a state in which the shift amount due to the deflection characteristics is further synthesized with respect to the reference pattern on the color filter substrate 9 side observed through the imaging light transmission section 18 and the shift amount of the photomask 16 obtained from the imaging data of the reference position section 19A.
In addition, the deflection characteristics inherent to the device can be obtained by the following method. First, the color filter substrate 9 (test substrate) correctly positioned on the substrate stage 8 is advanced as usual. At this time, as shown in fig. 8, the difference d in the position in the scanning direction S of the longitudinal direction both end portions 20x and 20y of the black matrix 20A orthogonal to the black matrix 20 in the scanning direction S by the light transmission part for photographing 18 may be detected for each of the regions to be exposed to light of the color filter substrate 9 passing through the photomask 16.
In this manner, deflection characteristic data for each predetermined exposure position accompanying the progress of the color filter substrate 9 can be obtained. The deflection characteristic data is detected by the position of the light transmission part 18 for photographing at a predetermined conveyance position of the color filter substrate 9, and is stored as deflection characteristic data of a partial exposure planned region located at a position facing the light transmission part 17 for exposure. Such a difference d can be detected by imaging the light transmitting portion 18 for imaging of the photomask 16 and the black matrix 20A of the color filter substrate 9 by the existing imaging portion 5, and therefore, the apparatus cost does not increase.
The deflection characteristic data storage section 27A stores the deflection characteristic data thus obtained in advance. The controller 7 can correct the amount of movement of the photomask by applying compensation based on the deflection characteristic data.
The calculation unit 28 compares the reference pattern data with the reference position portion data to calculate the shift amount of the photomask 16 with respect to the predetermined exposure position of the color filter substrate 9. The calculation unit 28 performs calculation for correcting the amount of mask movement based on the deflection characteristic data stored in the deflection characteristic data storage unit 27A.
The main control unit 22 is connected to a light source power supply unit 23, an image processing unit 24, a mask driving unit controller 25, a substrate transfer unit controller 26, a storage unit 27, and a calculation unit 28. The main control unit 22 outputs control signals to the light source power supply unit 23, the image processing unit 24, the mask driving unit controller 25, the substrate transfer unit controller 26, the storage unit 27, and the arithmetic unit 28 according to a control program, and collectively controls the operations thereof.
[ operation of Exposure apparatus ]
The operation of the exposure apparatus 1 will be described below. First, as shown in fig. 3, the color filter substrate 9 is disposed on the substrate stage 8. The color filter substrate 9 is positioned with respect to the substrate stage 8 using the alignment marks 29 formed at the four corners of the color filter substrate 9, and the color filter substrate 9 is fixed by suction or the like by the linear block portion 12.
Next, compressed air is ejected from the surface of the porous body of the substrate stage 8 to float the color filter substrate 9. Then, the linear block section 12 is driven in accordance with a control signal from the substrate carrying section controller 26 of the control section 7, and the conveyance of the color filter substrate 9 in the scanning direction S is started at a predetermined speed.
As shown in fig. 6, when the color filter substrate 9 approaches the exposure sections 4L, 4R, and 4C, the imaging section 5 starts imaging the reference pattern and the reference position section 19A of the specific black matrix 20 on the color filter substrate 9 through the imaging light transmission section 18 and the reference position section 19A of the photomask 16.
As shown in fig. 7, when the color filter substrate 9 approaches the exposure sections 4L, 4R, and 4C and the partial exposure planned region, which is first exposed in the color filter substrate 9, reaches the position Ps viewed through the imaging light transmission section 18, the image is captured by the imaging section 5. The main control unit 22 calculates the amount of shift between the color filter substrate 9 and the photomask 16 in the width direction W based on the reference pattern data and the reference position portion data of the predetermined black matrix 20 on the color filter substrate 9 detected by the image processing unit 24, and stores the amount of shift (temporary amount of shift) of the photomask 16 in the storage unit 27.
(case where deflection characteristics inherent in the device do not change with age)
Next, a case where the color filter substrate 9 at the position P0 shown in FIG. 7 advances to the position P1 shown in FIG. 8, and the deflection characteristic (the rotation element shown by the arrow R1: the occurrence of the θ tilt) inherent in the device exists will be described.
In this case, the controller 7 controls the movement of the photomask 16 by taking the deflection characteristic data stored in the deflection characteristic data storage unit 27A of the storage unit 27 and adding correction (setting compensation) based on the deflection characteristic data to the above-described temporary movement amount to determine the final mask movement amount. As a result, as shown in fig. 8, in the region indicated by the hatching exposed by the exposure light transmission part 17, the alignment film (not shown) in the region between two adjacent black matrices 20 extending in the scanning direction S (color filter formation region) can be subjected to the photo-alignment treatment.
(the deflection characteristics inherent in the device may change over time)
Next, as shown in fig. 8, when the deflection characteristic data corresponding to the difference d in the position in the scanning direction S of the two end portions 20x, 20y of the black matrix 20A at the position of the photographing light transmissive section 18 is changed from the deflection characteristic data stored in the deflection characteristic data storage section 27A, the deflection characteristic data is updated. The update criterion of the deflection characteristic data may be determined by judging whether or not the value of the difference d between the positions is equal to or less than a predetermined allowable value.
(Effect)
In the exposure apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, compensation is set to eliminate an exposure position error based on a fixed value unique to the apparatus, that is, a shift amount of the photomask 16 due to the deflection characteristic, and an appropriate mask movement amount can be determined. Fig. 9 shows the result of the photo-alignment process performed between the black matrices 20 of the high-definition color filter substrate 9 by using the exposure apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 9, the light alignment processing part 30 shown by hatching is processed so as not to deviate from the region between the black matrices 20. Fig. 10 shows the result of photo-alignment processing (comparative example) in the case where the processing for correcting the mask shift amount by taking the deflection characteristic data is not performed. In the comparative example shown in fig. 10, the photo-alignment treatment section 30 is greatly deviated from the region between the black matrices 20.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, misalignment of the color filter substrate 9 and the photomask 16 due to the deflection characteristic inherent to the device can be prevented. The present embodiment has an effect that the FPD can be further refined and enlarged.
[ Exposure method ]
Fig. 11 is a flowchart of the exposure method according to the present embodiment. The exposure method of the present embodiment will be described below. The exposure method is applied to a case where the color filter substrate 9 is subjected to photo-alignment treatment using the exposure apparatus 1 shown in fig. 1 and 2.
First, as shown in fig. 3, the color filter substrate 9 is positioned on the substrate stage 8 of the exposure apparatus 1. Then, the substrate carrying unit 3 is activated to carry the color filter substrate 9 at a predetermined speed along the scanning direction S (step S1).
The black matrix 20 as a reference pattern extending in the scanning direction S in the first planned exposure region (planned partial exposure region) of the color filter substrate 9 and the reference position portion 19A formed on the photomask 16 are imaged using the imaging unit 5 and the photomask 16 shown in fig. 1 (step S2).
The reference pattern data imaged by the imaging unit 5 is compared with the reference position portion data, and the amount of shift of the photomask 16 with respect to the color filter substrate 9 in the width direction W perpendicular to the scanning direction S of the color filter substrate 9 is detected, and the provisional movement amount of the photomask 16 is calculated. Then, a correction movement amount of the photomask 16 is calculated by taking the compensation set for eliminating the exposure position error into the provisional movement amount based on the shift amount of the photomask 16 due to the device-specific deflection characteristics of the color filter substrate 9 set in advance, and the photomask 16 is moved based on the correction movement amount (step S3).
At this time, as shown in fig. 8, a difference d in position in the scanning direction S between both end portions 20x and 20y of the existing black matrix 20A (width direction pattern) extending in the width direction W of the color filter substrate 9 imaged by the imaging unit 5 is detected. Then, it is determined whether or not the amount of change in the deflection characteristic is larger than an allowable value (step S4). Here, as the amount of change in the deflection characteristic, specifically, it is sufficient to determine whether or not the difference d between the positions of the two end portions of the black matrix 20A in the scanning direction S is larger than an allowable value (length), but it may be determined using another parameter.
In step S4, when the amount of change in the deflection characteristic is smaller than the allowable value, the exposure process is performed (step S5). In step S4, if the amount of change in the yaw characteristics is greater than the allowable value, compensation based on the new yaw characteristics is set to update the yaw characteristic data (step S6).
After the exposure processing in step S5 is completed, it is determined whether or not a next region to be exposed (region to be partially exposed) exists in the color filter substrate 9 (step S7). In the case where there is no next exposure scheduled region, since the photo-alignment process has been completed to the end of the color filter substrate 9, the control is ended. When the next planned exposure region exists in step S7, the process returns to step S2, and the imaging unit 5 images the reference pattern and the reference position in the next planned exposure region to obtain an image.
In the exposure method, the reference pattern and the existing width direction pattern may use not only the black matrices 20 and 20A formed on the color filter substrate 9 but also a gate line, a source line, a column of a pixel electrode, a column of a color filter, and the like.
(method of preventing erroneous detection of change in deflection characteristics)
Fig. 12 shows a state in which the alignment position is not shifted when the color filter substrate 9 is mounted on the substrate stage 8. In addition, when the substrate is transported without positional deviation in this manner, the process of measuring the rotation angle of the deflection from the two points of the two ends 20x1 and 20y1 of the black matrix 20A formed to extend in the width direction W of the color filter substrate 9 is shown.
By repeating the measurement of two points (20 x1, 20y 1) for each region to be exposed at the position Ps observed by the imaging light transmission unit 18 in this manner, the relationship between the position of the substrate and the rotation angle θ shown in fig. 13 can be detected.
Next, fig. 14 shows a state in which the alignment position is shifted when the color filter substrate 9 is mounted on the substrate stage 8. And shows the following procedure: when the substrate is transported in a state where the positional deviation exists, first, the rotation angle of the deflection is measured from the two-point positions of the two end portions 20x1 and 20y1 of the black matrix 20A formed to extend in the width direction W of the color filter substrate 9.
By repeating the measurement of two points (20 x1, 20y 1) for each region to be exposed at the position Ps observed by the imaging light transmission unit 18 in this manner, the relationship between the position of the substrate and the rotation angle θ shown in fig. 15 can be detected. Here, as shown in fig. 14, for example, if the result of fig. 15 is obtained by focusing only two points of the two end portions 20x1 and 20y1 shown in fig. 1, it is impossible to grasp whether or not the deflection characteristic in fig. 1 obtained the result of fig. 13 has changed.
Therefore, if two points, for example, two ends 20x2 and 20y2 shown in (2), are also observed in addition to the ends 20x1 and 20y1 of the black matrix 20 for obtaining the angle data of (1) in fig. 15, it can be determined that the initial arrangement position of the color filter substrate 9 is shifted. That is, in the example shown in fig. 15, it can be determined that an angle of, for example, 3 degrees is added to each position of the substrate.
As a result, it can be judged that there is no change in the deflection characteristic. Further, based on the result, it can be determined whether or not the alignment adjustment of the color filter substrate 9 is completed. In this manner, by observing the positions of at least four points at the positions of (1) and (2) in fig. 14, it is possible to determine whether or not a change in the yaw characteristics has occurred. Further, by observing at least four points of (1) and (2) in this manner, it is possible to detect that there is a positional deviation in the initial arrangement of the color filter substrate 9, and therefore it is also possible to provide an alarm such as a warning display for notifying the exposure apparatus 1 of misalignment adjustment failure.
(other embodiments)
While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should not be understood that the description and drawings constituting a part of the disclosure of the embodiments limit the present invention. Various alternative embodiments, examples, and techniques of use will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art in light of this disclosure.
For example, although the present invention has been described as being applied to the exposure apparatus 1 that performs the photo-alignment process on the color filter substrate 9 in the above embodiments, the photo-alignment process may be performed on the alignment film on the TFT substrate side. As another embodiment of the present invention, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to exposure processing to various materials by a photo annealing process, a laser process, a photolithography technique, or the like.
In the above embodiment, the color filter substrate 9 is moved in the scanning direction S with respect to the exposure sections 4L, 4R, and 4C, but the color filter substrate 9 may be fixed to the substrate stage 8 and the exposure sections 4L, 4R, and 4C may be moved in the scanning direction S. The scanning direction S in which the exposure portions 4L, 4R, and 4C travel with respect to the color filter substrate 9 is opposite to the scanning direction S in which the color filter substrate 9 travels.
Description of the reference numerals
Distance D
S scanning direction
W width direction
1. Exposure device
4L, 4R, 4C exposure part
5. Image pickup unit
7. Control unit
8. Substrate table
9. Color filter substrate (substrate to be exposed)
10. 11 linear guide rail
12. Straight line block part
16. Photomask and method of manufacturing the same
17. Light transmission part for exposure
18. Light transmission unit for photographing
19A reference position unit
20. Black matrix
27. Storage unit
27A deflection characteristic data storage unit
Claims (6)
1. An exposure apparatus includes:
a photomask in which a reference position portion and an exposure light transmission portion are formed separately in a mask surface, the photomask being relatively moved in a scanning direction with respect to a substrate to be exposed on which an existing reference pattern is formed in the scanning direction;
an imaging section that is disposed integrally with the photomask and that images the reference pattern and the reference position section; and
a control section that performs control of comparing reference position section data and reference pattern data obtained by the imaging section imaging the reference pattern of a partially exposure predetermined region in the reference position section and the substrate to be exposed, and that detects a shift amount of the photomask in a width direction forming a right angle with the scanning direction of the substrate to be exposed to calculate a temporary shift amount of the photomask, and that shifts the photomask in the width direction based on the temporary shift amount as the partially exposure predetermined region is shifted to a position where exposure is performed at the exposure light transmission section,
the exposure device continuously or intermittently exposes the partially exposed predetermined region in the substrate to be exposed in the scanning direction,
the control unit stores in advance deflection characteristics inherent to a device that changes a state of deflection of the substrate or the photomask caused by relative movement of the substrate and the photomask in the scanning direction as deflection characteristic data, and moves the photomask in the width direction by correcting the provisional movement amount based on the deflection characteristic data,
the exposure device detects a difference in mutual positions in the scanning direction between both end portions in the width direction in an existing width direction pattern of the substrate to be exposed extending in the width direction, the difference being captured by the imaging unit, and detects a change in the deflection characteristic with time, and updates the deflection characteristic data when the difference in mutual positions in the scanning direction between both end portions in the width direction pattern is greater than an allowable value.
2. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1,
the substrate to be exposed is conveyed along a substrate conveying guide rail in the scanning direction,
the photomask is provided so as to be movable in the width direction at a predetermined position in the scanning direction, the width direction being perpendicular to the scanning direction.
3. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1,
the reference pattern and the width direction pattern are selected from a black matrix, a gate line, a source line, a column of pixel electrodes, a column of color filters, and the like formed on the substrate to be exposed.
4. An exposure method includes the steps of:
a step of relatively moving a photomask, in which a reference position portion and an exposure light transmission portion are separately formed in a mask surface of the photomask, in a scanning direction with respect to a substrate to be exposed, in which an existing reference pattern is formed along the scanning direction;
a step of imaging the reference position portion and the reference pattern formed at a position of the substrate to be exposed corresponding to a predetermined partial exposure region;
comparing the captured reference pattern position data with reference position portion data, detecting a shift amount of the photomask with respect to the substrate to be exposed in a width direction perpendicular to the scanning direction, and calculating a provisional movement amount of the photomask;
a step of, before the partial exposure planned region reaches a position corresponding to the exposure light transmission unit and exposure is performed in accordance with the relative movement of the substrate to be exposed and the photomask in the scanning direction, correcting the temporary movement amount of the photomask on the basis of preset deflection characteristic data inherent to the apparatus, which is caused by the relative movement of the substrate to be exposed or the photomask and changes the deflection state of the substrate to be exposed or the photomask, calculating a correction movement amount, and moving the photomask in the width direction on the basis of the correction movement amount; and
exposing the predetermined region to light through the light transmitting part for exposure,
the change with time of the deflection characteristic is detected by detecting the difference of the positions in the scanning direction of both end portions of the existing width direction pattern extending in the width direction of the substrate to be exposed, which is imaged by an imaging section, and the deflection characteristic data is updated when the difference of the positions in the scanning direction of both end portions of the width direction pattern is larger than an allowable value.
5. The exposure method according to claim 4,
the substrate to be exposed is conveyed along a substrate conveying guide rail in the scanning direction,
the photomask is provided so as to be movable in the width direction at a predetermined position in the scanning direction, the predetermined position being orthogonal to the scanning direction.
6. The exposure method according to claim 4,
the reference pattern and the width direction pattern are selected from a black matrix, a gate line, a source line, a column of pixel electrodes, a column of color filters, and the like formed on the substrate to be exposed.
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2017-236490 | 2017-12-08 | ||
| JP2017236490A JP6940873B2 (en) | 2017-12-08 | 2017-12-08 | Exposure equipment and exposure method |
| PCT/JP2018/043223 WO2019111732A1 (en) | 2017-12-08 | 2018-11-22 | Exposure device and exposure method |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CN111279270A CN111279270A (en) | 2020-06-12 |
| CN111279270B true CN111279270B (en) | 2023-04-04 |
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| CN201880070461.2A Active CN111279270B (en) | 2017-12-08 | 2018-11-22 | Exposure apparatus and exposure method |
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|---|---|
| JP (1) | JP6940873B2 (en) |
| CN (1) | CN111279270B (en) |
| TW (1) | TWI784097B (en) |
| WO (1) | WO2019111732A1 (en) |
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| CN112328513B (en) * | 2020-10-14 | 2024-02-02 | 合肥芯碁微电子装备股份有限公司 | Scanning exposure system and data caching and scheduling method and device thereof |
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| JP4255997B2 (en) * | 1998-06-27 | 2009-04-22 | 株式会社安川電機 | Semiconductor wafer appearance inspection system |
| JP4362847B2 (en) * | 2004-04-09 | 2009-11-11 | 株式会社オーク製作所 | Drawing device |
| JP5133239B2 (en) * | 2006-04-05 | 2013-01-30 | シャープ株式会社 | Exposure method and exposure apparatus |
| JP2008076709A (en) * | 2006-09-21 | 2008-04-03 | V Technology Co Ltd | Exposure device |
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| JP5804511B2 (en) * | 2011-10-12 | 2015-11-04 | 株式会社ブイ・テクノロジー | Exposure equipment |
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- 2017-12-08 JP JP2017236490A patent/JP6940873B2/en active Active
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2018
- 2018-11-22 CN CN201880070461.2A patent/CN111279270B/en active Active
- 2018-11-22 WO PCT/JP2018/043223 patent/WO2019111732A1/en active Application Filing
- 2018-11-30 TW TW107142861A patent/TWI784097B/en active
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| JPH10144598A (en) * | 1996-11-06 | 1998-05-29 | Canon Inc | Step-and-scan aligner and fabrication of device employing it |
| JP2006017895A (en) * | 2004-06-30 | 2006-01-19 | Integrated Solutions:Kk | Aligner |
| CN101273302A (en) * | 2005-10-07 | 2008-09-24 | 株式会社V技术 | Photomask and exposure method using same |
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Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| WO2019111732A1 (en) | 2019-06-13 |
| JP6940873B2 (en) | 2021-09-29 |
| JP2019105675A (en) | 2019-06-27 |
| CN111279270A (en) | 2020-06-12 |
| TWI784097B (en) | 2022-11-21 |
| TW201925926A (en) | 2019-07-01 |
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