CN117681559A

CN117681559A - Liquid ejecting apparatus, control method thereof, substrate processing apparatus, and article manufacturing method

Info

Publication number: CN117681559A
Application number: CN202311152504.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 山本哲也
Original assignee: Canon Inc
Current assignee: Canon Inc
Priority date: 2022-09-12
Filing date: 2023-09-07
Publication date: 2024-03-12
Also published as: JP2024039944A; KR20240036447A

Abstract

The invention provides a liquid ejecting apparatus, a control method thereof, a substrate processing apparatus and a method for manufacturing an article, which are advantageous in reducing the time required for recovering a defective nozzle from ejection and the amount of liquid used. The liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a discharge element for discharging a liquid; a driver that drives the ejection element; and a control unit that controls the driver. The driver is configured to prepare a plurality of data sets having pulse patterns whose frequencies become low stepwise for a predetermined length of time period. Here, the frequencies of the pulse patterns are different from each other among the plurality of data sets. The control unit controls the driver to supply each of the plurality of data sets to the ejection element in order from a data set having a highest frequency of the pulse pattern to perform preliminary ejection.

Description

Liquid ejecting apparatus, control method thereof, substrate processing apparatus, and article manufacturing method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus, a control method of the liquid ejecting apparatus, a substrate processing apparatus, and a method of manufacturing an article.

Background

In recent years, in manufacturing various functional elements, an attempt has been made to apply a material of the functional element to a substrate using an inkjet device to form a pattern or a film (patterning). Patterning using an inkjet device has the following advantages: since patterning as needed is possible, the material is used efficiently, and since it is a non-vacuum process, the manufacturing apparatus becomes relatively small, and a large area can be coated at high speed.

In the inkjet device described above, problems such as ejection failure and quality disturbance may occur during formation or standby of dot patterns due to foreign matter adhering to the inside of the flow path and the vicinity of the nozzle opening, thickening of ink, sedimentation of ink components, electrophoresis, and the like.

Patent document 1 discloses a technique of performing a medium-volume preliminary ejection and a large-volume preliminary ejection from the start of a small-volume preliminary ejection until recovery can be confirmed. Patent document 2 discloses a technique of discharging ink while increasing or decreasing the driving frequency of a recording head in order to remove bubbles in the recording head.

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1: japanese patent application laid-open No. 2012-201076

Patent document 2: japanese patent No. 2659954

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

However, in the recovery method described in patent document 1, recovery is performed only by changing the preliminary ejection amount, and sometimes an unrecoverable nozzle may be generated. In the structure described in patent document 2, since preliminary ejection is performed on all the nozzles while continuously changing the driving frequency, the recovery process takes a long time, and the consumption amount of ink (liquid) increases.

The present invention provides a technique which is advantageous in reducing the time required for recovery treatment of a defective ejection nozzle and the amount of liquid used, for example.

Means for solving the problems

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid ejection device including: a discharge element for discharging a liquid; a driver that drives the ejection element; and a control unit configured to control the driver to prepare a plurality of data groups each having a pulse pattern whose frequency is stepwise reduced in a predetermined length of time period, wherein the frequencies of the pulse patterns are different from each other among the plurality of data groups, and to control the driver to supply each of the plurality of data groups to the ejection element in order from a data group having a highest frequency of the pulse pattern to perform preliminary ejection.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method of a liquid discharge device including a discharge element for discharging a liquid, the control method including: a step of acquiring a plurality of data sets having pulse patterns whose frequencies are gradually reduced in a predetermined length of time period, wherein the frequencies of the pulse patterns are different from each other among the plurality of data sets; and supplying each of the plurality of data sets to the ejection element in order from the data set having the highest frequency of the pulse pattern to perform preliminary ejection.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate, the substrate processing apparatus comprising: a stage holding and moving the substrate; and a liquid ejecting apparatus according to the first aspect that ejects liquid onto the substrate held by the stage.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article manufacturing method comprising: a step of ejecting a liquid onto a substrate by using the substrate processing apparatus according to the third aspect; and a step of processing the substrate from which the liquid is discharged, and manufacturing an article from the processed substrate.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, for example, a technique advantageous in reducing the time required for recovery processing of a defective ejection nozzle and the amount of liquid used can be provided.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a structure of an inkjet device.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a control structure of one ejection head.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a residual signal waveform and a discharge failure state.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating a method of determining a defective ejection state of a nozzle using a residual signal waveform.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating recovery processing based on preliminary ejection.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a pulse pattern supplied to a nozzle.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing examples of various data groups.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation sequence of the ink jet device.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example of coating of a material of a functional element.

Detailed Description

The embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are not limited to the embodiments described in the claims. Although the embodiments have been described with respect to a plurality of features, the plurality of features are not limited to all the features necessary for the technical means, and may be combined arbitrarily. In the drawings, the same or similar structures are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof is omitted.

The structure and operation principle of the inkjet device 1 (substrate processing apparatus) will be described with reference to fig. 1. The ink jet device 1, which can function as a substrate processing apparatus for processing a panel for a display or a substrate for a semiconductor, forms a pattern or a film by applying a material of a functional element to the substrate. In the specification and drawings, as shown in fig. 1, directions are indicated in an XYZ coordinate system in which a plane parallel to a plane on which the substrate 2 is disposed is an XY plane. The inkjet device 1 has, for example, a substrate stage 3 that holds and moves a substrate 2 of a display panel. The substrate 2 may be appropriately selected from a glass substrate, a plastic substrate, and the like, according to the object product to be manufactured. The substrate 2 is typically a plate-shaped member, but is not limited to a specific shape as long as it can function as a substrate. For example, the substrate 2 may be a deformable film or a circular substrate. The substrate 2 on the substrate stage 3 has a pixel region 201 in which a plurality of display pixels are arranged for applying ink. An evaluation region 202 for experimentally ejecting ink for evaluating the state of the ink is arranged on the substrate stage 3. Alternatively, the evaluation region 202 may be provided in a specific region of the substrate 2. In the present specification, "ink" refers to a liquid for forming a pattern or a film on the substrate 2. In the present specification, the components of the ink are not particularly limited, and for example, a liquid including a solute and a solvent for forming an organic film can be used.

The inkjet device 1 includes: a discharge head 5 (liquid discharge device) capable of discharging ink droplets 4 toward a predetermined position of the substrate 2; and an ink supply system 6 for supplying ink from an ink cartridge 7 storing ink to the ejection head 5. The ejection head 5 includes a plurality of nozzles 19 (ejection elements) for ejecting ink. The ink cartridge 7 may be disposed inside the ink jet device 1 or may be disposed outside the ink jet device 1. The inkjet device 1 may further include a recovery unit 8, and the recovery unit 8 may recover ejection characteristics by performing cleaning treatment or the like on the ejection nozzles of the ejection head 5.

When the substrate 2 is mounted on the substrate stage 3, a placement error may occur. In addition, since the substrate 2 is subjected to various manufacturing processes, shape deformation may occur on the substrate 2 in the XY directions. Therefore, the inkjet device 1 may be provided with an alignment viewer 9 that measures the position of the substrate 2 and the deformation amount of the substrate 2. In order to perform alignment measurement on the entire surface of the substrate 2, the alignment viewer 9 and the substrate stage 3 are driven relatively in the XY direction. I.e. the alignment viewer 9 and/or the substrate stage 3 are driven in XY directions. The substrate mounted on the substrate stage 3 has a thickness variation. Therefore, if the ink is ejected by the ejection head 5 while scanning the substrate stage 3 in the Y direction, there is a possibility that the landing positions of the ink droplets on the substrate 2 may be deviated due to the thickness deviation of the substrate 2. Therefore, the inkjet device 1 may further include a height sensor 10 that measures the position (height) of the substrate 2 in the Z direction. In order to perform height measurement on the entire surface of the substrate 2, the height sensor 10 and the substrate stage 3 are driven relatively in the XY directions. That is, the height sensor 10 and/or the substrate stage 3 are driven in the XY directions.

The main control unit 11 controls the respective units of the inkjet device 1 to collectively pattern onto the substrate 2. The main control unit 11 may be configured by, for example, PLD (abbreviation of Programmable Logic Device) such as FPGA (abbreviation of Field Programmable Gate Array), ASIC (abbreviation of Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a general-purpose computer in which a program is incorporated, or a combination of all or a part of them.

In one example, a plurality of ejection heads 5 are arranged in the X-direction and the Y-direction, and by controlling the ejection of ink droplets from each of the ejection heads, a desired distribution of ink can be applied to the pixel region 201 on the substrate 2. Fig. 2 shows an example of a control structure of the ejection head 5. The ejection head 5 may be provided with a plurality of nozzles 19. The plurality of nozzles 19 each constitute a discharge element including a piezoelectric element (discharge energy generating element). The plurality of nozzles 19 are connected to a driver D that drives the piezoelectric element via flexible cables F, respectively. The driver D is connected to the ejection control unit C (control unit). The ejection controller C sends an instruction (recovery processing instruction) for recovering an abnormal nozzle out of the plurality of nozzles 19 to the driver D. The driver D applies a drive signal to the piezoelectric element of the abnormal nozzle in accordance with the received instruction, and executes recovery processing. The function of the ejection control unit C may be realized by the main control unit 11.

In the formation or standby of the dot pattern using the plurality of nozzles 19, problems such as ejection failure and quality disturbance may occur due to foreign matters adhering to the inside of the flow path or the vicinity of the nozzle opening, thickening of ink, sedimentation of ink components, electrophoresis, and the like. This problem arises from the combined effects of various factors such as ejection time, flow path shape, distance from the electrode, standby time without ejection, and the like. The extent of the problem may vary from nozzle to nozzle.

The recovery unit 8 is used for recovery processing from ejection of foam or nozzle clogging of a strong level that cannot be recovered by preliminary ejection. However, the recovery process using the recovery unit 8 takes a long time, and the amount of ink used in the recovery process becomes very large. Therefore, the recovery process using the recovery unit 8 is performed only at the timing set as the regular maintenance. In normal operation, preliminary ejection from the plurality of nozzles 19 is appropriately performed in the preliminary ejection area 20, and the ejection failure nozzle is returned to a normal state.

The defective ejection state of each nozzle can be confirmed using a correlation signal (residual signal waveform) measured after the generation of a specific pressure wave. Specifically, the ejection control unit C applies a specific pulse signal to the piezoelectric element via the driver D, and operates the piezoelectric element. A specific pressure wave is generated in the piezoelectric element in response to the operation of the piezoelectric element. If the piezoelectric element is normal, ink is dropped from the nozzle by the pressure wave. At this time, the piezoelectric element is deformed by the pressure wave generated by the piezoelectric element, and an electric signal corresponding to the deformation is generated. The electrical signal is referred to as the "residual signal". The ejection control unit C detects the electric signal, and determines the ejection failure state of the piezoelectric element based on the detected electric signal.

Fig. 3 (a) shows an example of a residual signal waveform. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents potential. The residual signal waveform shown in fig. 3 (a) is a signal waveform indicating a reference of the state of the nozzle capable of stable ejection, and if a signal waveform equivalent to the signal waveform is obtained, it is determined that the nozzle is in a normal state. When the defective ejection state of the nozzle continues, the waveform changes as described below.

When the defective ejection state of the nozzle continues, as shown in fig. 3 (b), the residual signal waveform changes from the solid state to the state shown by the broken line. Specifically, the initial peak position is from T ₀ To T ₁ 、T ₂ And moves and the period of the signal also becomes longer. As the ejection failure state progresses, the residual signal waveform transitions from the broken line 1 to the broken line 2. When the nozzle in the defective ejection state is preliminary ejected at an appropriate frequency and returns to the normal state, the residual signal waveform returns to the original reference waveform (solid line waveform) in fig. 3 a.

Recovery processing by preliminary ejection will be described with reference to fig. 4 (a) to (d). Fig. 4 (a) shows a residual signal waveform representing a defective ejection state of each of the five nozzles a to E. The ejection failure state is different for each nozzle, and as shown in fig. 4 (a), the residual signal waveform is also different. The process for recovering from the discharge failure state different for each nozzle as shown in fig. 4 (a) to the normal state (reference waveform) as shown in fig. 3 (a) by the preliminary discharge is performed according to the following procedure.

(1) A preliminary ejection frequency suitable for a defective state of a nozzle is determined, and a pulse signal of the frequency is applied to the nozzle.

(2) The preliminary ejection frequency suitable for the nozzle with the worst nozzle failure state is applied sequentially.

By performing the above two steps, the nozzle having a defective ejection can be recovered. In one example, as shown in fig. 4 (a), when there are a plurality of nozzles in different ejection failure states, the ejection controller C classifies the ejection failure states into a plurality of (three) groups as shown in fig. 4 (b), (C), and (d). Then, the ejection control unit C performs preliminary ejection by the driver D at a frequency suitable for each set of ejection failure states. For example, as shown in FIG. 4 (d), the peak is initially located at a position including T ₂ In the region I of (2), the ejection control unit C determines that the nozzle E is in a heavy ejection failure state. As shown in FIG. 4 (c), the peak is initially located at a position including T ₁ In the region II of (C), the ejection control unit C determines that the nozzle D is in a moderate ejection failure state. As shown in fig. 4 (b), the peak is located at the initial position including T ₀ In the region III of (C), the discharge control unit C determines that the nozzle A, B, C is in a slight defective discharge state. Further, since the nozzle a is in a normal state, the waveform of the nozzle a in fig. 4 (b) is the same as the reference waveform of fig. 4 (a).

As described above, the ejection control section C determines the ejection failure state based on the position of the first peak of the residual signal waveform, and controls the driver D to perform preliminary ejection by supplying a pulse signal of a frequency suitable for the ejection failure state to the nozzle. The preliminary ejection at high frequency is suitable for a severe ejection failure nozzle in which the first peak of the residual signal waveform is located in the region I. The preliminary ejection at the intermediate frequency is suitable for the ejection failure nozzles in which the initial peak of the residual signal waveform is located at the middle of the region II. The low frequency preliminary ejection is suitable for a slight ejection failure nozzle in which the initial peak of the residual signal waveform is located in the region III. In one example, the high frequency refers to a frequency in the range of 10kHz to 50 kHz. The intermediate frequency is a frequency in the range of 1kHz to 10 kHz. The low frequency means a frequency in the range of 100Hz to 1 kHz.

The procedure for recovering the nozzle E in the heavy defective ejection state shown in fig. 4 (d) will be described with reference to fig. 5 (a) to (d). Fig. 5 (a) shows the same signal waveform as fig. 4 (d). As shown in fig. 5 (a), since the first peak position of the signal waveform indicating the defective state of the nozzle E is located in the region I, the high-frequency preliminary ejection is first performed. By performing the high-frequency preliminary ejection, as shown in fig. 5 (b), the signal period of the residual signal waveform becomes short, and the initial peak position advances, and the waveform moves to the region II. Intermediate-frequency preliminary ejection is performed by moving the initial peak position to the region II. By performing this intermediate frequency preliminary ejection, as shown in fig. 5 (c), the signal period of the residual signal waveform becomes shorter, and the initial peak position is further advanced, moving to the region III. The low-frequency preliminary ejection is performed based on the initial peak position moving to the region III. By performing the low-frequency preliminary ejection, the residual signal waveform returns to the reference waveform as shown in fig. 5 (d), and the recovery process is completed.

According to the recovery processing described above as shown in fig. 5 (a) to (d), the degree of recovery by each recovery processing can be expected even if the residual signal waveform is not confirmed. For example, the driver D may perform preliminary ejection using a data set (a combination of high-frequency, intermediate-frequency, and low-frequency ejection frequencies) having a pulse pattern whose frequency is stepwise low in a predetermined length of time period as shown in fig. 6. In the example of fig. 6, the pulse pattern may include the following pulse trains.

(1) A first pulse train of high frequency (e.g. 50 kHz) corresponding to a severe ejection failure of the nozzle in a first period,

(2) A second pulse train of a medium frequency (e.g., 5 kHz) corresponding to a medium ejection failure of the nozzle in a second period of the first period,

(3) A third pulse train of a low frequency (e.g., 500 Hz) corresponding to a slight ejection failure of the nozzle in a third period of the second period follows.

However, when the same data set shown in fig. 6 is applied to a plurality of nozzles having different ejection failure states, the recovery capability is low particularly for nozzles having different ejection failure states and preliminary ejection frequencies. In order to obtain the same recovery effect even for a plurality of nozzles having different ejection failure states, as shown in fig. 7, the driver D prepares a plurality of data sets having different frequencies in advance. That is, the frequencies of the pulse patterns are different from one data set to another. Each data group may be stored in a memory inside or outside the drive D, and used after being read out, or may be generated at any time. The ejection control unit C controls the driver D to supply each of the plurality of data sets to the nozzle in order from the data set having the highest frequency of the pulse pattern, thereby performing preliminary ejection. In the example of fig. 7, group 1 includes a 50kHz pulse train in the first period, a 5kHz pulse train in the second period, and a 500Hz pulse train in the third period. Group 2 includes a 30kHz pulse train in the first period, a 3kHz pulse train in the second period, and a 300Hz pulse train in the third period. Group 3 includes a 10kHz pulse train in the first period, a 1kHz pulse train in the second period, and a 100Hz pulse train in the third period. By supplying the preliminary ejection to the nozzles in order from the group with the highest frequency of the pulse pattern, that is, in order of group 1, group 2, and group 3, the nozzles can be reliably recovered in a short time.

In the examples of fig. 6 and 7, the frequencies of the signals constituting each group are 3, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The frequency of the signals constituting each group may be 2 or 4 or more. In the case where the recovery state of the nozzles is confirmed and a plurality of unrecovered nozzles are generated, the types of the frequencies of the signals constituting the respective groups may be increased.

The operation sequence of the inkjet device 1 will be described with reference to fig. 8. In S801, the main control unit 11 controls a substrate transport device, not shown, to transport the substrate 2 into the inkjet device 1. In S802, the ejection control unit C determines recovery of the plurality of nozzles 19 of the ejection head 5. The restoration determination is performed by determining whether or not the initial peak position of the residual signal waveform is the same as the initial peak position of the reference waveform. Specifically, the ejection control unit C supplies a specific pulse signal to the nozzle via the driver D to operate the nozzle, and detects an electrical signal corresponding to deformation of the nozzle due to a pressure wave generated by the operation of the nozzle as a residual signal. Then, the ejection control unit C determines the ejection failure state of the nozzle based on the comparison between the first peak position of the residual signal waveform and the peak position of the reference waveform. The recovery determination of the plurality of nozzles 19 may be performed before the ink is ejected. If there is a nozzle determined to be defective in ejection in the recovery determination, the ejection controller C executes the above-described nozzle recovery process for the nozzle in S803. That is, in the nozzle recovery process, the ejection control unit C acquires a plurality of data sets each having a pulse pattern whose frequency is gradually reduced for a predetermined length of time. Here, the frequencies of the pulse patterns are different from one another among the plurality of data sets. Then, the ejection control unit C supplies each of the plurality of data sets to the nozzle in order from the data set having the highest frequency of the pulse pattern, and performs preliminary ejection. The above-described recovery determination and recovery processing of the nozzle may be performed by the main control unit 11.

In S804, the main control unit 11 controls the substrate stage 3 and the alignment viewer 9 to perform alignment measurement of the substrate 2. In S805, the main controller 11 controls the substrate stage 3 and the height sensor 10 to measure the height of the substrate 2. In addition, the order of the alignment measurement in S804 and the height measurement in S805 may be reversed. Information on the position, the deformation amount, and the height of the substrate 2 obtained by the alignment measurement and the height measurement is stored in a memory within the main controller 11, for example. The main control unit 11 obtains ejection control information from pixel data including information such as pixel arrangement and pixel size formed on the substrate 2. The ejection control information includes information indicating target application distribution of ink in the pixel region 201 and the evaluation region 202 on the substrate 2.

In S806, the ejection control unit C determines recovery of the plurality of nozzles 19 of the ejection head 5. As described above, the restoration determination is performed by determining whether or not the first peak position of the residual signal waveform is the same as the first peak position of the reference waveform. If there is a nozzle determined to be defective in ejection in the recovery determination, the ejection control unit C executes the above-described nozzle recovery process for the nozzle in S807.

In S808, the main control unit 11 synchronously drives the ejection head 5 and the substrate stage 3, and performs ejection control of ink droplets by the ejection head 5 according to the target application distribution via the ejection control unit C. In order to form a plurality of functional elements on a substrate using the inkjet device 1, a coating region to which ink is applied and the ejection head 5 are scanned relatively, and a material of the functional elements is applied. Fig. 9 shows a schematic view illustrating the application of the material of such a functional element. In fig. 9, a substrate surface 101 is a surface of the substrate 2 on which the functional elements 102 are formed. Arrow lines 103, 104, 105, 106 indicate the scanning direction. Since fig. 9 is a schematic diagram, only 7×5 functional elements 102 are shown, but in practice a very large number of functional elements can be formed.

In S809, the main control unit 11 determines whether or not ejection to the target application distribution is completed based on the ejection control information. If the ejection is not completed, the process returns to S806, and if the ejection is completed, the process proceeds to S810. In S810, the main control unit 11 controls a substrate transport device, not shown, to transport the substrate 2 out of the inkjet device 1.

[ embodiment of article manufacturing method ]

The method for manufacturing an article according to the embodiment of the present invention is suitable for manufacturing an article such as a display panel such as an organic EL, a micro device such as a semiconductor device, or an element having a fine structure. The method for manufacturing an article according to the present embodiment includes: forming a liquid film by ejecting a liquid onto a substrate using the inkjet device; drying the substrate on which the liquid film is formed to obtain a substrate on which a dried film is formed; and a step of manufacturing an article from the substrate on which the dry film is formed. The method for producing the article includes other well-known steps (firing, cooling, cleaning, oxidation, film formation, vapor deposition, doping, planarization, etching, resist stripping, dicing, bonding, packaging, and the like). The method for manufacturing an article according to the present embodiment is advantageous in at least one of performance, quality, productivity, and production cost of the article, as compared with the conventional method.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, to disclose the scope of the present invention, the following claims are appended.

Description of the reference numerals

1: inkjet device (substrate processing device), 2: substrate, 3: substrate stage, 5: ejection head (liquid ejection device), 9: alignment viewer, 10: height sensor, 11: main control unit, 19: nozzles (ejection elements).

Claims

1. A liquid ejecting apparatus is characterized in that,

the liquid ejecting apparatus includes:

a discharge element for discharging a liquid;

a driver that drives the ejection element; and

a control unit for controlling the driver,

the driver is configured to prepare a plurality of data sets having pulse patterns whose frequencies are stepwise reduced in a predetermined length of time period, wherein the frequencies of the pulse patterns are different from each other among the plurality of data sets,

the control unit controls the driver to supply each of the plurality of data sets to the ejection element in order from a data set having a highest frequency of the pulse pattern to perform preliminary ejection.

2. The liquid ejection device of claim 1, wherein,

the plurality of data sets includes:

a first data group having a pulse pattern whose frequency is stepwise low for the predetermined length of time period;

a second data group having a pulse pattern whose frequency is stepwise lower for each of the predetermined length of time periods, and whose frequency is lower than that of the first data group for each of the time periods; and

and a third data group having a pulse pattern whose frequency is stepwise lower for each of the predetermined length of time periods, and whose frequency is lower than that of the second data group for each of the time periods.

3. The liquid ejection device of claim 1, wherein,

the pulse pattern includes:

a first pulse train of a high frequency corresponding to a severe ejection failure of the ejection element in a first period;

a second pulse train of a medium frequency corresponding to a medium ejection failure of the ejection element in a second period of the first period; and

and a third pulse train of a low frequency corresponding to a slight ejection failure of the ejection element in a third period of the second period.

4. The liquid ejection device of claim 3, wherein,

the high frequency is a frequency in the range of 10kHz to 50kHz, the medium frequency is a frequency in the range of 1kHz to 10kHz, and the low frequency is a frequency in the range of 100Hz to 1 kHz.

5. The liquid ejection device of claim 1, wherein,

the ejection element comprises a piezoelectric element,

the control part

The piezoelectric element is operated by supplying a specific pulse signal to the piezoelectric element via the driver, an electric signal corresponding to deformation of the piezoelectric element caused by a pressure wave generated by the operation of the piezoelectric element is detected,

when it is determined that the ejection element is defective in ejection based on the detected electric signal, the driver is controlled to perform preliminary ejection using the plurality of data sets.

6. A control method of a liquid discharge device having a discharge element for discharging a liquid, characterized by,

the control method comprises the following steps:

a step of acquiring a plurality of data sets having pulse patterns whose frequencies are gradually reduced in a predetermined length of time period, wherein the frequencies of the pulse patterns are different from each other among the plurality of data sets; and

and supplying each of the plurality of data sets to the ejection element in order from the data set having the highest frequency of the pulse pattern, thereby performing preliminary ejection.

7. A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate, characterized in that,

the substrate processing apparatus includes:

a stage holding and moving the substrate; and

the liquid ejection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a liquid is ejected onto the substrate held by the stage.

8. A method for manufacturing an article, characterized in that,

the method for manufacturing the article comprises the following steps:

a step of ejecting a liquid onto a substrate using the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 7; and

a step of processing the substrate from which the liquid is discharged,

an article is manufactured from the processed substrate.