JP2002091010A - Contact aligner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To satisfactorily perform the close contact between a glass mask and a substrate without making the whole of a device large-sized. SOLUTION: In this contact aligner, the glass mask M fixed on an upper frame 20 and a photosensitive agent layer R of the surface of the substrate B which is mounted and fixed on a supporting base 10 are brought into close contact with each other by suction force. Therein, a mechanism 15 which pushes the substrate B from the lower surface is disposed on the supporting base 10, the substrate B is made projected by the mechanism and the photosensitive agent layer R of the substrate B and the glass mask M are brought into close contact from the central part of surface. By bringing the glass mask and the substrate closely into contact with each other, a close contact all over the whole surface can be obtained without generating the remainder of air. In addition, an evacuating time is made to be shorter as compared with the conventional close contact method, the efficiency of operation is improved and the close contact all over the whole surface can be obtained even for a large-sized glass mask. Further, this contact exposure device has no mechanism pressing from above and, therefore, is not made to be large-sized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention belongs to the technical field of a contact exposure apparatus used in a process of manufacturing a shadow mask for a CRT of a color television, a color filter for a liquid crystal display, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the manufacturing process of a shadow mask, a color filter and the like as described above, a so-called photolithography process for patterning a photosensitive layer laminated on a substrate by exposure through a mask and subsequent development is usually performed. Will be As an exposure apparatus used in the photolithography process, an apparatus of a type in which a glass mask is brought into close contact with a substrate to perform exposure in order to accurately and precisely map a fine pattern is used. .

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are schematic structural views of a conventional contact exposure apparatus, FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state where a substrate is installed, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the entire apparatus at the time of exposure. As shown, the contact exposure apparatus includes a support 10 for mounting and fixing the substrate B, an upper frame 20 for adsorbing and fixing the glass mask M, and a light source for irradiating light from above. And a light source 30.

[0004] Annular packings 11 and 21 are integrally provided on the support base 10 and the upper frame 20 along the outer edges of the upper and lower surfaces, respectively. It is possible. As shown in the plan view of FIG. 3, an annular vacuum suction groove 12 smaller than the size of the substrate to be mounted is formed on the upper surface of the support base 10 in a double shape. The vacuum suction holes 13 are connected to the respective portions. Further, a hole 14 for vacuum is formed in the support 10 so as to be located outside the substrate to be mounted. Note that a plurality of holes may be used instead of the vacuum suction grooves 12.

In this apparatus, exposure is performed in the following procedure.
First, the substrate B having the photosensitive agent layer R formed on its surface is
After the upper frame 20 is lowered after being placed on the
As shown in (2), the packing 11 of the support base 10 and the packing 21 of the upper frame 20 are brought into contact with each other. Then, the substrate B is sucked and fixed in the vacuum suction groove 12 by evacuating from the vacuum suction hole 13. Next, the glass mask M
The space between the substrate and the substrate B is evacuated from the vacuum hole 14 to a vacuum,
As shown in FIG. 5, the glass mask M is brought into close contact with the photosensitive agent layer R of the substrate B. At this time, the packings 11 and 21 are crushed,
The glass mask M and the photosensitive agent layer of the substrate B are in close contact with each other. After the contact, the mask pattern is mapped on the substrate B by irradiating light from the upper light source 30.

[0006]

In the above-described apparatus, accurate patterns cannot be reproduced unless the glass mask and the substrate are in close contact with each other at the time of exposure.
However, when evacuation is started, the glass mask and the photosensitive agent layer of the substrate come into close contact with each other from the periphery of the surface. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, a gap is generated between the glass mask M and the center of the surface of the substrate B, and the air A
The phenomenon that remains remains. In particular, a large glass mask is difficult to adhere to because a gap is easily generated between the glass mask and the substrate. Since the glass mask and the substrate are unlikely to be in close contact with each other, it takes a long time to evacuate until the entire surface is in close contact with the glass mask, and the working time is prolonged.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the glass mask M is bent and pressed against the substrate B by pressing the center of the surface of the glass mask M from above using a push rod 22 having a rubber tip or the like at its tip. The evacuation is started in this pressed state. However, if the apparatus is configured to mechanically press the glass mask in this manner, a mechanism for moving the light from the light source so as not to hinder the exposure is required, and there is a problem that the entire apparatus becomes large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a contact exposure capable of achieving good contact between a glass mask and a substrate without increasing the size of the entire apparatus. It is to provide a device.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a contact exposure apparatus according to the present invention comprises a glass mask fixed to an upper frame and a photosensitive agent layer on the surface of a substrate mounted and fixed on a support. In a contact exposure apparatus which is adapted to be brought into close contact with each other, a mechanism for pressing the substrate from the lower surface is provided on the support base, the substrate is made convex by the mechanism, and the photosensitive agent layer of the substrate and the glass mask are brought into close contact from the center of the surface. It is characterized by:

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic structure of a contact exposure apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a plan view of a support base in the contact exposure apparatus shown in FIG. Since the described device and base have the same configuration,
The same parts as those shown in FIGS. 4 and 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the illustrated contact exposure apparatus, a push rod 15 is built in the center of a support table 10 so as to be able to move up and down, and mechanically pushes a substrate B from a lower surface (particularly, the center of the surface). Thereby, prior to the start of evacuation, the glass mask M and the photosensitive agent layer R of the substrate B can be brought into close contact with each other from the center of the surface, and the two can be brought into close contact with each other without generating a gap.

The procedure for performing exposure with this apparatus is as follows. First, as in the prior art, the substrate B having the photosensitive agent layer R formed on the surface thereof is placed on the support 10 and then the upper frame 20 is lowered, as shown in FIG. 11 and the packing 21 of the upper frame 20 are brought into contact with each other.
Then, the substrate B is sucked and fixed in the vacuum suction groove 12 by evacuating from the vacuum suction hole 13.

Next, as shown in FIG. 10 (A), the lower surface of the substrate B is vacuum-adsorbed by the upper attachment 16 of the push rod 15, and the push rod 15 is pushed out of the support base 10 to hold the substrate B. Push up. Then, the substrate B becomes convex as shown in the figure, and the glass mask M and the central portion of the photosensitive agent layer R of the substrate B abut. Next, when the space between the glass mask M and the substrate B is evacuated from the vacuum hole 14, the center of the surface is brought into close contact with the vacuum pressure. This vacuum pressure varies depending on the sizes of the substrate B and the glass mask M. The distance between the glass mask M and the substrate B is determined by the vacuum pressure. Then, when the vacuum pressure is gradually reduced, the periphery of the center of the surface also comes into close contact.

At this point, as shown in FIG. 10B, while a vacuum is drawn from the vacuum suction hole 13 and the space between the support table 10 and the substrate B is evacuated from the vacuum suction groove 12, a push rod is used. 15 is retracted downward. Then, the substrate B and the glass mask M are pulled downward by the sucked push rod 15 and vacuum suction, and the substrate B becomes flat,
Is vacuum-adsorbed and fixed.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 10C, the glass mask M and the photosensitive agent layer R of the substrate B are brought into close contact with each other by pulling at a vacuum pressure of 760 mmHg. At this time, the packings 11 and 21 are crushed. After the contact, the mask pattern is mapped onto the substrate B by irradiating light from an upper light source.

In the above procedure, the push rod 15
When the substrate is retracted, the lower surface of the substrate B is attached to the upper attachment 1.
6, the substrate B can be returned to a flat state only by evacuating the space between the support table 10 and the substrate B without suction. Further, the substrate B can be returned to a flat state only by retracting the push rod 15 in a state where the lower surface of the substrate B is vacuum-sucked by the upper attachment 16 without performing the evacuation.

In the contact exposure apparatus described above, the substrate is pushed from the lower surface by the push rod built in the support, but the mechanism for pushing the substrate from the lower surface is not limited to this. For example, a mechanism may be used in which the support base is divided, a part of the blocks is raised, and the substrate is pushed upward from the lower surface. Further, it is preferable that a means for vacuum-sucking the substrate be provided at the tip of the pushing mechanism as described in the above example. And
The pressing mechanism determines the ground contact area with the substrate according to the substrate size and thickness so as not to break the substrate (particularly, the glass substrate). Further, in order to prevent the mask from being scratched or stained, it is preferable to attach a highly clean material such as rubber or synthetic resin, which does not become a source of foreign matter, to the tip of the pushing mechanism as necessary.

Further, the contact exposure apparatus of the present invention may be installed in the horizontal or vertical direction as a whole, or may be installed with an inclination. Further, it is advantageous to fix the substrate by suction or mechanically. However, if the substrate becomes convex when pushed up, it is not necessary to fix it by force. In addition, the support base is preferably a surface plate having high flatness (iron, aluminum, stone, ceramic, or the like).

[0020]

As described above, in the contact exposure apparatus of the present invention, the glass mask fixed to the upper frame and the photosensitive agent layer on the surface of the substrate mounted and fixed on the support are brought into close contact with each other by vacuuming. In the contact exposure apparatus, a mechanism for pressing the substrate from the lower surface is provided on the support base, the substrate is made convex by the mechanism, and the photosensitive agent layer of the substrate and the glass mask are brought into close contact from the center of the surface. Since the glass mask and the substrate are in close contact with each other without any gap, they can be in close contact with each other without generating air residue. In addition, the evacuation time is shorter than that of a normal contact method, the work efficiency is improved, and even a large glass mask can be adhered over the entire surface. Further, since there is no mechanism for pushing from above, the apparatus does not increase in size.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventionally used contact exposure apparatus, and is a perspective view showing a state where a substrate is installed.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the entire apparatus during exposure.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a support in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state where a substrate is set in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the same contact state.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state of remaining air during the contact.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a glass mask is pressed from above using a push rod.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a contact exposure apparatus of the present invention.

9 is a plan view of a support base in the contact exposure apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a procedure for performing exposure by the contact exposure apparatus shown in FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 B Substrate M Glass mask R Photosensitizer layer 10 Support base 11 Packing 12 Vacuum suction groove 13 Vacuum suction hole 14 Vacuum hole 15 Push rod 16 Upper attachment 20 Upper frame 21 Packing 22 Push rod 30 Light source

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Hideaki Fujisaki 1-1-1 Ichigaya-Kagacho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Dai-Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2H097 BA10 GA27 LA20 5C027 HH09

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a contact exposure apparatus in which a glass mask fixed to an upper frame and a photosensitive agent layer on a surface of a substrate placed and fixed on a support are brought into close contact with each other by vacuum evacuation, a mechanism for pressing the substrate from the lower surface is provided. Wherein the substrate is made convex by the mechanism, and the photosensitive agent layer of the substrate and the glass mask are brought into close contact from the center of the surface.