JP2000292942A - Exposure device and exposure method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to effectively utilize the space of a substrate to be exposed and to make printable mask information to the outer peripheral part of the substrate to be exposed by subjecting the outer peripheral part of a printed circuit board to proper light shielding and exposing. SOLUTION: A light shielding device 2 is disposed between a light source device 6 and a glass mask 1. The light shielding device 2 may be constituted as part of the light source device 6 or as an independent device and is composed of light shielding plates 20 to 23 and air cylinders 25 to 28 for advancing and retreating these plates onto the mask outer peripheral part FM of the glass mask 1. The respective light shielding plates 20 to 23 are capable of selectively covering substrate information 10 to 13 so as to prohibit the exposure of these portions. While the mask outer peripheral part FM of the glass mask 1 is properly shielded of light, the part is exposed, thereby, the prevention of the occurrence of the useless space at the contact boundaries of the respective regions A to D is made possible. Even more, all of the substrate information 10 to 13 in the mask outer peripheral part FM of the glass mask 1 are printed to the outer peripheral part FW of the substrate W.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus for exposing a circuit pattern or the like of an original onto a wiring substrate when a printed wiring board or the like is formed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to form a conductor pattern on a printed wiring board or the like, a photolithography method used for manufacturing ICs and the like has recently been used.
This method is a method in which the same pattern as the original is drawn on a printed wiring board by projecting and exposing light using an original on which a pattern to be formed is drawn. In general, a glass mask or a film mask is used as an original plate, and exposure is performed in a state where the mask is in close contact with or close to a printed wiring board. Before the mask and the substrate to be wired are brought into close contact or in close proximity to each other, mutual alignment is necessary. After the mask side or the substrate side is moved in the XYθ direction to perform alignment, the two are brought into close contact with each other and exposed. I have. On the other hand, in recent years, the size of circuit wiring substrates has been reduced, and attempts have been made to divide a large-sized substrate into a plurality of regions to perform exposure in order to increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process. In other words, the mask and the substrate are relatively moved in steps, exposure is performed for each of the divided regions, the pattern of the mask is printed a plurality of times, and the substrate is cut and used for each pattern, thereby improving the efficiency of the manufacturing process. Attempts have been made by the present applicant.

[0003]

However, it is usually necessary to expose information necessary for manufacturing to the outer peripheral portion of the effective area of the substrate. For example, exposure board number, resolution chart,
A serial number, a manufacturer's name, a pattern required in the manufacturing process, and the like (hereinafter referred to as substrate information) are exposed on the outer periphery as necessary. If such an outer peripheral portion is exposed each time a divided region is exposed, information is printed between the regions, so that an effective area on which a pattern is to be printed is narrowed. There is a problem that it is wasteful because it is printed twice. An object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional disadvantage.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, an exposure apparatus according to the present invention comprises a base device for mounting a substrate to be exposed, and a predetermined pattern projected onto the substrate to be exposed on the base. A mask positioned so as to be able to contact or approach the substrate to be exposed, a moving device that moves at least one of the mask and the base, and changes and sets a relative positional relationship between the two, and the exposure substrate An alignment device that divides the mask into arbitrary regions corresponding to the mask, and controls the moving device to perform alignment between the mask and the substrate to be exposed for each of the regions; And a light exposure device for projecting an arbitrary position on the mask. With the above configuration, it becomes possible to selectively and appropriately not expose substrate information and the like on the outer peripheral portion of the mask. As a configuration for exposing an arbitrary position on the mask, various modes can be adopted. For example, a light-shielding device that can shield an arbitrary position on the mask from light can be provided. With this light shielding device, it is possible to shield all or part of the substrate information on the outer peripheral portion of the mask as necessary. Further, the light source device may have a function of exposing an arbitrary position. With the above configuration, a large-sized substrate can be exposed a plurality of times with the same mask, and information on the outer peripheral portion of the mask such as substrate information can be arbitrarily exposed. It is desirable that the movement between the respective regions is controlled so as to be stepped at a high speed, and then to perform the alignment. Further, the mask and the exposure substrate are positioned substantially in parallel, the moving device translates at least one of the mask and the exposure substrate in the X and Y directions and the rotation direction, and moves the mask and the exposure substrate close to or close to or apart from each other. It is desirable to work. Further, the mask and the device to be exposed are usually arranged in the vertical direction, and the mask is arranged so as to be positioned above the substrate to be exposed in the vertical direction. It is also possible to arrange them so as to be located substantially horizontally apart.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, an alignment stage 50 is provided substantially at the center of the exposure apparatus. The alignment stage 50 is movable in the plane direction of the stage, that is, in the X direction and the Y direction, and is rotatable in the rotation direction (θ direction) around the center point thereof. The alignment stage 50 is also configured to be movable in the Z direction, so that the printed wiring board W can be brought close to, in contact with, or closely attached to the mask 1.

On the alignment stage 50, the above-mentioned printed wiring board W, which is a substrate to be exposed on which wiring is to be printed, is mounted and fixed by a fixing device such as a suction device. Printed wiring board W
Is transported from a previous line by a conveyor, is placed on an alignment stage 50, is subjected to pattern printing, and is sent to the next step by the conveyor.

As described above, the mask 1 is located on the alignment stage 50, and the light source device 6 is further placed thereon. The mask 1 is configured so that the pattern drawn thereon is projected on the printed wiring board W by light from the light source device 6 and printed. In addition to the pattern to be drawn, a glass peripheral portion FM
, Substrate information 10, 11, 12, and 13 are drawn. The substrate information is generally a number of an exposure substrate, a resolution chart, a serial number, a manufacturer name, a pattern, or the like, but may be any other information or symbol. Further, in this embodiment, the glass mask 1 is provided on all four sides, but may be provided on any of the four sides, or may be provided on a part of the sides. The irradiation area of the light source device 6 is substantially the same as the size of the mask 1 including the mask outer peripheral portion FM.

A CCD camera (not shown) is provided above both sides of the mask 1 so that the position of the mask 1 and the position of the printed wiring board W on the alignment stage 50 can be detected and aligned. ing.

Although the alignment stage 50, the printed wiring board W, the mask 1, and the light source device 6 are arranged in the vertical direction in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to arrange them in In this case, the alignment stage 50 and the printed wiring board W are erected, and there is an advantage in terms of countermeasures against clin such that dust and the like do not fall on the printed wiring board W.

The printed wiring board W can be divided into an arbitrary number of areas, and in this embodiment, is divided into four areas of ABCD. A circuit pattern to be printed on each region is drawn on the mask 1, and the circuit pattern drawn on the mask 1 is sequentially printed on each region.

The moving device 9 includes an alignment stage 50
Is moved at high speed, and each time the exposure of each area is completed, the printed wiring board W is moved stepwise so that the mask 1 overlaps the next area.

An alignment mark (not shown) is provided at an appropriate position of the mask 1 and the printed wiring board W, and the alignment stage 50 is moved by the moving device 9 in the X, Y or θ direction in each area of ABCD. The alignment marks are made to coincide with each other by moving the mask 1 to align the mask 1 with the printed wiring board W. The mask 1 and the printed wiring board W are moved by the moving device 9 in the Z direction.
Can be brought close to or close to each other. These controls are configured to be performed by a control device also serving as a positioning device.

At the time of the above-mentioned step movement and positioning,
The alignment stage 50 and the mask 1 may be moved relatively, and only the alignment stage 50 may be moved as in the illustrated embodiment, or only the mask 1 may be moved. It is also possible to move both the mask 1 and the alignment stage 50. Further, for example, the moving direction such as the alignment stage 50 moving in the X direction and the Y direction and the mask 1 moving in the θ direction and the Z direction can be set. A configuration such as sorting is also possible. The alignment stage 50
As described above, the fine movement of the step movement and the alignment is performed. However, it is also possible to provide a configuration in which the step movement and the alignment are performed by providing different stages.

The light shielding device 2 is provided between the light source device 6 and the glass mask 1. The light shielding device 2 may be configured as a part of the light source device 6, or may be realized as an independent device as in this embodiment. The light-shielding device 2 includes light-shielding plates 20, 21, 22, 23 and air cylinders 25, 2 for moving the light-shielding plates 20, 21, 23 on the mask outer peripheral portion FM of the glass mask 1.
6, 27, and 28. Each light shielding plate 20, 2
1, 22, and 23 are board information 10, 11, 12,
13 is selectively covered, so that the portion can be prevented from being exposed. In this embodiment, the area A
Is exposed, the substrate information 11 is covered with a light-shielding plate 21,
Exposure is performed by covering the substrate information 12 with a light shielding plate 22. Similarly, when exposing the area B, the substrate information 12
Is covered with a light-shielding plate 22 and the substrate information 13 is covered with a light-shielding plate 23 for exposure. When exposing the area C, the substrate information 10 is covered with the light shielding plate 20 and the substrate information 13 is covered with the light shielding plate 23 for exposure. Further, when exposing the region D, the substrate information 10 is covered with a light shielding plate 20 and the substrate information 11 is covered with a light shielding plate 21 for exposure.

As described above, by exposing the outer peripheral portion FM of the glass mask 1 while appropriately shielding light, it is possible to prevent a useless space from being generated at the boundary where each area ABCD contacts. Moreover, the outer peripheral portion F of the substrate W
W is printed with all of the substrate information 10, 11, 12, and 13 in the mask outer peripheral portion FM of the glass mask 1. FIG. 2 shows a comparison of a printed state with and without light shielding. In FIG. 2A, with light shielding performed, each of the regions A, B, C, and D can be exposed in close contact. . In the case (B) in which light shielding is not performed, the mask outer peripheral portion FM is entirely printed on each area ABCD, and each area ABCD on the substrate W is printed.
Useless space G is generated at the boundary of.

In the above configuration, first, the moving device 9 moves the alignment stage 50 at a high speed, and
Is located below the area A. Next, the CCD camera is moved to the position of the alignment mark, and the alignment of the area A is executed. Thereby, even if the mask 1 and the printed wiring board W expand and contract, the alignment accuracy in the region A is improved.

When the alignment of the area A is completed, the board information 11 is covered with the light shielding plate 21 and the board information 12 is
And exposure in the area A is performed. That is, the alignment stage 50 is raised, and the printed wiring board W is brought into contact with the mask 1 to be in close contact therewith. In this state, the light source device 6 irradiates light from the upper surface of the glass plate 2 to print the pattern of the mask 1 and the uncovered substrate information on the printed wiring board W. When the exposure of the region A is completed, the alignment stage 50 is moved down by the moving device 9, and the alignment stage 50 is further step-operated to position the region B under the mask 1, and the alignment is similarly performed. Exposure is performed by covering 12 with a light shielding plate 22 and covering the substrate information 13 with a light shielding plate 23. The above operation is repeated so that the area ABCD is sequentially aligned and then exposed, and the exposure of the entire area is completed. When the exposure of the entire area is completed, the printed wiring board W is taken out and sent to the next step.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, the peripheral portion of the printed wiring board is exposed while appropriately shielding the light, so that the space of the substrate to be exposed can be effectively used. In addition, it is possible to print the information of the mask on the outer peripheral portion of the substrate to be exposed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an effect of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: glass mask, 2: light shielding device, 6: light source device, 9:
Moving device, 10: substrate information, 11: substrate information, 12: substrate information, 13: substrate information, 20: light shielding plate, 21: light shielding plate, 22: light shielding plate, 23: light shielding plate, 25: air cylinder, 26: Air cylinder, 27: Air cylinder, 28:
Air cylinder, 50: alignment stage, FM: outer periphery of mask, FW: outer periphery of substrate, W: substrate.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A base device for mounting a substrate to be exposed, a mask provided with a predetermined pattern projected onto the substrate to be exposed on the base, and positioned so as to be able to contact or approach the substrate to be exposed, A moving device that moves at least one of the mask and the base and changes and sets a relative positional relationship between the two; and divides the exposure substrate into an arbitrary region corresponding to the mask, and controls the moving device. An alignment device that aligns the mask and the substrate to be exposed for each of the regions, a light source device that projects a pattern of the mask onto a substrate to be exposed on a base device, and exposes an arbitrary position of the mask. An exposure adjusting device, comprising: 2. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exposure adjustment device has a light shielding device capable of shielding an arbitrary position of the mask. 3. The exposure apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the mask has information to be exposed on an outer peripheral portion thereof, and the light shielding device shields all or a part of the information as necessary. 4. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exposure adjustment device controls the light source device to expose an arbitrary position on the mask. 5. An exposure method for performing a plurality of exposures on different regions on the same substrate by moving a mask having a pattern to be exposed and information to be exposed in a peripheral portion relative to a substrate to be exposed, An exposure method, wherein the pattern is exposed at a boundary between the different areas so as not to expose the information.