JP2001025887A - Device and method for laser beam machining and device and method for laser beam machining of transparent electrode in plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device machining the transparent base plate of a plasma display panel in a shorter time. SOLUTION: The machining device of a transparent electrode in a plasma display panel is equipped with a laser beam optical system and an X-Y moving mechanism. The laser beam optical system has a laser beam oscillator 24, a laser beam expander 30 expanding the spot diameter of a laser beam emitted from the laser beam oscillator 24 and a mask 34 which has plural opening parts 32 and allows the laser beam expanded of the laser beam expander 30 to pass through the plural opening parts 32 so that the expanded laser beam is devided into plural laser beams and guided to a work 18 to be machined (a thin film for the transparent electrode).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a laser processing apparatus and method for processing a large number of transparent electrodes on a transparent substrate in a plasma display panel in parallel.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Processing using laser light can rapidly process a workpiece with extremely high precision, and therefore, laser processing apparatuses are used in various processing fields. For example, in the field of thin film precision processing, a laser processing apparatus is employed in a trimming process of a color filter or a substrate thereof used for a liquid crystal display device, a transparent electrode of a display device, etc. Effects such as simplification of the manufacturing process and cost reduction of manufacturing equipment are obtained.

Therefore, the present inventors have proposed a laser processing apparatus 2 as shown in FIG. The laser processing apparatus 2 includes a laser oscillator, an optical system that shapes a laser beam oscillated by the laser oscillator to have a required beam shape and energy density, and irradiates the workpiece with a laser beam. An XY table is provided for moving the workpiece in a predetermined direction and a direction orthogonal to the workpiece along a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the system.

Specifically, in the laser processing apparatus 2, a plurality of X-axis guides 6 extending in the X-axis direction are provided on a surface plate 4 fixed to a base (not shown). The X-axis guide 6 supports the X-axis table 8. X axis table 8
Is driven and connected to an X-axis drive mechanism 10 provided on the surface plate 4, and reciprocates along the X-axis based on the drive of the X-axis drive mechanism 10.

The X-axis table 8 supports a plurality of Y-axis guides 12 extending in a Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis. The Y-axis guide 12 is a Y-axis table, that is, the work table 1
4 is supported. The work table 14 is drivingly connected to a Y-axis drive mechanism 16, and reciprocates along the Y-axis based on the drive of the Y-axis drive mechanism 16.

A workpiece (a plate-shaped work 18, for example, a transparent substrate of a plasma display panel) is arranged on the work table 14.

The platen 4 surrounds the X-axis table 8, the Y-axis table (work table 14) and the like.
2 is fixedly supported. The upper part of the gate-shaped column 22 includes four laser oscillators 24. The laser beams oscillated from the respective laser oscillators 24 are condensed and shaped, and the laser beam is applied to the work 18 placed on the work table 14. An optical system 26 for irradiating from directly above is arranged.

The laser processing apparatus 2 having the above configuration is
While moving the work 18 in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis drive mechanism 16, laser beams are emitted from the respective optical systems 26, and these laser beams are continuously irradiated on the surface of the work 18 vertically and in parallel with respect to the Y-axis. . When the laser irradiation for a predetermined distance in the Y-axis direction is completed, the X-axis drive mechanism 10 is driven to move the work 18 by a predetermined pitch feed amount in the X-axis direction, and the Y-axis drive mechanism 16 is again turned on. When activated, the work 18 is irradiated with a laser beam while moving in the Y-axis direction. By repeating the above operation, the work 1
8 along a number of lines extending in the Y-axis direction.
Laser processing is performed at predetermined intervals in the axial direction.

[0009]

However, in the processing apparatus having the above-described structure, XY is required to improve the processing efficiency.
It is necessary to operate the table at high speed, which causes a problem that the apparatus becomes very expensive.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for processing a work (for example, a transparent substrate of a plasma display panel) in a shorter time.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser processing apparatus which irradiates a thin film for an electrode provided on a transparent substrate of a plasma display panel with a laser beam to form a transparent film. A laser processing apparatus for forming electrodes in parallel, comprising: a laser optical system that irradiates a laser beam to the electrode thin film; and an X-axis direction along the plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the laser optical system. And an XY moving mechanism for relatively moving in a Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction, wherein the laser optical system enlarges a laser oscillator and a spot diameter of laser light emitted from the laser oscillator. A laser expander that has a plurality of openings, and divides the laser light expanded by the laser expander into a plurality of laser lights by passing the laser light through the plurality of openings. A mask which leads to the electrode film on X-Y moving mechanism, is characterized in that it has a.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser processing method for irradiating a thin film for an electrode provided on a transparent substrate of a plasma display panel with laser light to form transparent electrodes in parallel. A laser optical system that irradiates a laser beam to the thin film for use, and the thin film for an electrode along a plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the laser optical system in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction. Using a XY moving mechanism to move, the thin film for the electrode, in the process of forming a transparent electrode by irradiating a laser beam in the Y-axis direction at a predetermined interval in the X-axis direction, (A) a step of emitting laser light from a laser oscillator; (b) a step of enlarging the spot diameter of the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator by a laser expander; Passing the increased laser beam through a mask having a plurality of openings to divide the laser beam into a plurality of laser beams and leading the laser beam to the electrode thin film on the XY moving mechanism. It is assumed that.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser processing apparatus for irradiating a thin film for an electrode with laser light to form electrodes in parallel, and a laser optical system for irradiating the thin film for an electrode with laser light. An XY moving mechanism for relatively moving the electrode thin film along an X-axis direction and a Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction along a plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the laser optical system, The laser optical system has a laser oscillator, a laser expander that expands the spot diameter of the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator, and a plurality of openings, and transmits the laser light expanded by the laser expander. A mask that divides the laser beam into a plurality of laser beams by passing through a plurality of openings and guides the laser beam to the electrode thin film on the XY moving mechanism.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser processing method for irradiating a thin film for an electrode with a laser beam to form electrodes in parallel, comprising: a laser optical system for irradiating the thin film for an electrode with a laser beam; Using an XY moving mechanism that relatively moves the electrode thin film along an X-axis direction and a Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction along a plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the laser optical system, Forming a transparent substrate by irradiating the electrode thin film with laser light in the Y-axis direction at a predetermined interval in the X-axis direction to form the transparent substrate; (a) emitting laser light from a laser oscillator; (B) expanding the spot diameter of the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator by a laser expander, and (c) passing the laser light expanded by the laser expander through a mask having a plurality of openings. Let Into a plurality of laser light by and it is characterized in that and a step leading to a thin film for the electrode on the X-Y moving mechanism.

[0015]

FIG. 1 shows a laser processing apparatus 2 'according to the present invention. This apparatus 2 'is similar to the laser processing apparatus 2 of FIG. Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to the same parts and members, and only different points will be described here.

The laser processing apparatus 2 ′ includes a laser oscillator 24
And a laser beam expanding mirror 30 that expands the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator 24 into an elliptical shape as a beam expander. The laser processing apparatus 2 ′ also has a mask 34 provided with a plurality (four in the present embodiment) of openings 32 arranged in parallel with the Y-axis direction and at equal intervals in the X-axis direction. The laser beam that has passed through the beam expander 30 is divided into a plurality (four in this embodiment) of laser beams and the work 1
8. In this embodiment, the laser beam magnifying mirror 30 is used as the beam expander 30. However, as is well known, a configuration in which the spot diameter of the laser beam is enlarged by passing through two cylindrical lenses may be used.

Further, in the laser processing apparatus 2 ′ of the present embodiment, four laser beams are simultaneously emitted from the beam expander 30 and irradiated on the work 18. It should be noted that the number of laser beams divided for each beam expander 30 and the number of laser oscillators 24 provided in the laser processing device 2 'do not limit the present invention.

In the above-mentioned laser processing apparatus 2 ′, the processing area of the work 18 is divided into four parts corresponding to the four openings 32 of the mask 34, and each of the divided areas is separated by the laser beam through the mask 34. Are simultaneously irradiated in a line. At this time, the laser beam is scanned in the Y-axis direction by moving the work 18 in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis drive mechanism 16. When one laser scanning in the Y-axis direction is completed, the X-axis driving mechanism 10 is driven to move the workpiece 18 with respect to the mask 34 in the X-axis direction by a predetermined pitch, and the Y-axis driving mechanism 16 is activated again. By moving the work 18 in the Y-axis direction, laser scanning in the Y-axis direction is performed. By repeating the above operation, the laser processing is performed on the work 18 along the many lines extending in the Y-axis direction at predetermined intervals in the X-axis direction. In addition,
Although the X-axis drive mechanism 10 and the Y-axis drive mechanism 16 adopt a linear motor (linear drive motor) in the present embodiment,
As another configuration, for example, a motor and a mechanism (for example, a ball screw mechanism, a belt mechanism) that converts the rotation of the motor into movement in the X-axis and Y-axis directions may be used.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when laser processing is performed on a work 18 comprising a transparent substrate 40 for a plasma display and an ITO thin film 42 for a transparent electrode formed on the surface of the transparent substrate 40, This ITO thin film 42
Is exposed to a laser beam, the thin film portion of the irradiated portion is removed, and another thin film portion (transparent electrode 44) remains at equal intervals between the removed thin film portions.

As described above, the laser processing of the work 18 is performed in the laser processing apparatus 2 'having one laser oscillator 24 and dividing the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator 24 into four laser lights by the mask 34. Is the same as the processing time when using the laser processing apparatus 2 (FIG. 3) that emits laser light from each of the four laser oscillators 24 (that is, the processing efficiency increases). Furthermore, if the number of openings 32 provided in the mask 34 is further increased to, for example, eight, the processing time of the laser processing apparatus 2 ′ according to the present invention can be reduced to half of the processing time of the laser processing apparatus 2. .

The laser processing apparatus and method according to the present invention are not limited to processing a transparent substrate of a plasma display panel.

[0022]

As described above, in the laser processing apparatus and method according to the present invention, since the laser beam emitted from each laser oscillator is divided into a plurality of parts and irradiated onto the work, the processing efficiency can be improved. .

The laser processing apparatus and method according to the present invention are particularly advantageous for a plasma display panel using a transparent electrode thin film having a relatively large area.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a laser processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a plasma display panel using a laser processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional laser processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

2: laser processing apparatus, 10: X-axis drive mechanism, 16: Y-axis drive mechanism, 18: work (workpiece), 24: laser oscillator, 30: beam expander, 34: mask.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Toshiyuki Okada 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Koji Funami 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Kadoma City Osaka Pref. 4E068 AC00 CD08 CD10 CD11 CE04 CF00 DA11 5C027 AA01 5C040 GC06 GC19 JA31 JA32 JA34 MA25 MA26

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A laser processing apparatus for irradiating a thin film for an electrode provided on a transparent substrate of a plasma display panel with a laser beam to form transparent electrodes in parallel, wherein the thin film for an electrode is irradiated with the laser beam. And an XY moving mechanism for relatively moving the electrode thin film along an X-axis direction and a Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction along a plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the laser optical system. The laser optical system includes: a laser oscillator; a laser expander for expanding a spot diameter of laser light emitted from the laser oscillator; and a plurality of openings, which are expanded by the laser expander. A mask that guides the laser light to the thin film for electrodes on the XY moving mechanism by dividing the laser light into a plurality of laser lights by passing through the plurality of openings. Laser processing equipment. 2. A processing method for irradiating a thin film for electrodes provided on a transparent substrate of a plasma display panel with laser light to form transparent electrodes in parallel, wherein the thin film for electrodes is irradiated with laser light. Laser optics,
Using an XY moving mechanism that relatively moves the electrode thin film along an X-axis direction and a Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction along a plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the laser optical system, The thin film for an electrode is provided with a predetermined interval in the X-axis direction and
(A) emitting a laser beam from a laser oscillator; and (b) determining a spot diameter of the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator in the process of forming the transparent electrode by irradiating the laser beam with a line in the axial direction. (C) dividing the laser light expanded by the laser expander into a plurality of laser lights by passing the laser light through a mask having a plurality of openings;
A step of leading the thin film for an electrode on the Y moving mechanism to a transparent electrode in a plasma display panel. 3. A laser processing apparatus for irradiating a thin film for an electrode with laser light to form electrodes in parallel, comprising: a laser optical system for irradiating the thin film for an electrode with laser light; and an optical axis of the laser optical system. X along the plane perpendicular to
An XY moving mechanism for relatively moving in an axial direction and a Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction, wherein the laser optical system comprises: a laser oscillator; and a spot diameter of laser light emitted from the laser oscillator. A laser expander for enlarging the laser beam, and having a plurality of openings, dividing the laser light expanded by the laser expander into a plurality of laser lights by passing the laser light through the plurality of openings. A mask for guiding the electrode thin film on the Y moving mechanism. 4. A processing method for irradiating a thin film for an electrode with laser light to form electrodes in parallel, comprising: a laser optical system for irradiating the thin film for an electrode with laser light;
Using an XY moving mechanism that relatively moves the electrode thin film along an X-axis direction and a Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction along a plane orthogonal to the optical axis of the laser optical system, The thin film for an electrode is provided with a predetermined interval in the X-axis direction and
(A) emitting a laser beam from a laser oscillator; and (b) determining a spot diameter of the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator in the process of forming the transparent substrate by irradiating the laser beam with a line in the axial direction. (C) dividing the laser light expanded by the laser expander into a plurality of laser lights by passing the laser light through a mask having a plurality of openings;
Guiding the electrode thin film on the Y-movement mechanism.