JP2003249440A - Apparatus and method for forming thin film, apparatus and method for manufacturing circuit pattern and electronic equipment, and apparatus and method for manufacturing resist pattern - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a thin-film-forming apparatus and a thin-film-forming method that can easily and efficiently prepare a superfine pattern, a manufacturing apparatus for a circuit pattern and a manufacturing method for a circuit pattern and electronic equipment, and a manufacturing apparatus of a resist pattern and a manufacturing method of a resist pattern. <P>SOLUTION: A thin-film-forming apparatus 1 forms a thin film by coating a substrate SUB with a coating liquid L, and has a movement mechanism 4 for placing the substrate to move the substrate in a first direction and a second direction crossing the first one, a first droplet discharge head 2 for discharging the coating liquid onto the substrate that is moved in the first direction by the movement mechanism, a second droplet discharge head 3 for discharging the coating liquid onto the substrate that is moved in the second direction by the movement mechanism, and a control section C for controlling the movement operation of the movement mechanism and the discharge of the coating liquid in the first and second droplet discharge heads. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin film forming apparatus and a thin film forming method for forming a thin film or a circuit pattern by applying a coating liquid prepared by dissolving or dispersing a film material in a solvent onto a substrate, and further to these. A circuit pattern manufacturing apparatus used, a circuit pattern manufacturing method, an electronic device including a circuit pattern obtained thereby, and a resist pattern manufacturing apparatus and a resist pattern manufacturing method, and particularly, a high-definition pattern easily and efficiently It relates to those suitable for making.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a spin coating method, which is used as a thin film coating method as one of thin film forming techniques, coats the entire surface of the substrate with a centrifugal force after the coating liquid is dropped on the substrate and then rotated. This is a method for forming a thin film by performing the method, and the film thickness is controlled by the viscosity of the material, the number of revolutions, and the rotation holding time. This spin coating method is used, for example, to form a photoresist film used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, an interlayer insulating film such as SOG (spin-on glass), an alignment film in a liquid crystal device manufacturing process, and a protective film in an optical disk manufacturing process. It is widely used for the formation of

In the above spin coating method, since most of the supplied coating liquid is scattered, it is necessary to supply a large amount of coating liquid, and there is a large amount of waste, resulting in a high production cost. Further, since the substrate is rotated, the coating liquid tends to flow from the inner side to the outer side due to the centrifugal force, and the film thickness in the outer peripheral region tends to be thicker than that in the inner region. For these measures, a technique using a so-called inkjet coating method has recently been proposed.

For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-260307, as shown in FIG.
1, the first moving mechanisms 62 and 64 for driving the droplet discharge head 61 in the first direction (for example, the Y-axis direction), and the substrate SU.
By the mounting table 67 on which B is mounted, the second moving mechanisms 63 and 65 for moving the mounting table 67 in the second direction (eg, the X-axis direction) orthogonal to the first direction, and the droplet discharge head 61. Disclosed is a color filter manufacturing apparatus including a control circuit 66 that controls the ejection of ink droplets and the movement of the first movement mechanism and the second movement mechanism, and a heating device 68 that heats ink droplets ejected onto the substrate SUB. ing. The droplet discharge head 61 has a structure in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged in a line.

As described above, in the conventional ink jet coating apparatus, the droplet discharge head is moved along either the X axis or the Y axis, and the stage on which the substrate is placed is moved along the other direction. It is configured to move. Further, as another device, there is known a device in which a droplet discharge head is arranged in a fixed state, and a substrate is configured as a device (XY stage) that can move along the X-axis and Y-axis directions.

[0006]

However, although the apparatus according to the above-mentioned prior art is capable of high-speed drawing at an arbitrary discharge interval in the drawing direction, liquid droplets are formed in the line feed direction orthogonal to the drawing direction. Since it is impossible to draw with a discharge interval smaller than the nozzle interval of the discharge head,
It has to be made by repeating many scans,
There was a problem that productivity was remarkably reduced. For example, when the coating liquid is discharged on the substrate at short intervals to form one linear thin film line, dots are formed at high speed in the drawing direction, for example, at intervals of 10 μm or less. Although it is possible to form a thin film line in the shape of a line, in the case where such a linear thin film line is to be formed along the line feed direction, the distance between the heads / the distance between the dots (for example, the distance between the heads) If the distance is 150 μm and the dot interval is 10 μm, it is necessary to repeat the scan 150/10 = 15) times to form a line. As described above, in the apparatus according to the conventional technique, when forming thin film lines extending vertically and horizontally, it is possible to form the line along the drawing direction at a high speed, but the line along the line feed direction should be formed by repeating a large number of scans. I have to
The productivity was extremely low. Therefore, it is difficult to apply the inkjet coating method to formation of a circuit pattern or a resist pattern including lines extending vertically and horizontally, and its application is limited.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a thin film forming apparatus and a thin film forming method capable of easily and efficiently forming a high-definition pattern, a circuit pattern manufacturing apparatus, a circuit pattern manufacturing method, and an electronic device. An object is to provide an apparatus, a resist pattern manufacturing apparatus, and a resist pattern manufacturing method.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a thin film forming apparatus for forming a thin film by applying a coating solution obtained by dissolving or dispersing a film material in a solvent onto a substrate. And a moving mechanism for placing the substrate and moving the substrate in a first direction and a second direction intersecting with the first direction, and moving the first direction by the moving mechanism. A first discharging means for discharging the coating liquid onto the substrate; a second discharging means for discharging the coating liquid onto the substrate which moves in the second direction by the moving mechanism; a moving operation of the moving mechanism and the first, A control unit for controlling the discharge of the coating liquid of the second discharging unit, wherein the control unit discharges the coating liquid from the first discharging unit when the substrate is moved along the first direction by the moving mechanism. , When the substrate moves along the second direction, the coating liquid is discharged from the second discharging means. To control at least that exiting to provide a thin film forming apparatus according to claim.

In the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention, the substrate is moved in the first direction, the coating liquid is discharged along the first direction by the first discharging means to form a thin film, and then the substrate is moved to the second direction.
By moving the coating liquid along the second direction by the second discharging means to form a thin film.
It is possible to solve the problem of poor film forming efficiency in the line feed direction with respect to the drawing direction in a conventional apparatus, and to easily and efficiently form a thin film extending vertically and horizontally on a substrate.

In the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention, the control unit forms a thin film line along the first direction on the substrate by the first discharging means and causes the second discharging means to move the thin film line in the second direction. It is desirable to control the discharge of the coating liquid by the first and second discharge means and the movement of the moving mechanism so that a thin film line along the substrate is formed. In the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention, it is desirable that the second direction be orthogonal to the first direction in which the moving mechanism moves. By controlling in this way, it is possible to easily and efficiently form a circuit pattern and a resist pattern extending vertically and horizontally on the substrate.

In the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention, one or both of the first discharging means and the second discharging means are
It is preferable that a plurality of nozzles be arranged in at least one row and that the arrangement direction of these nozzles be provided so that the angle with respect to the first direction or the second direction can be changed. By changing the nozzle arrangement direction of the ejection means in this way, the nozzle interval can be shortened, and a finer pattern can be formed easily and efficiently.

Further, it is preferable that the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention is provided with a heating device for heating the coating liquid landed on the substrate. By providing this heating device, the thin film can be dried immediately after discharging the coating liquid, and the working efficiency can be improved.

The thin film forming method of the present invention is a thin film forming method for forming a thin film by coating a substrate with a coating liquid in which a film material is dissolved or dispersed in a solvent. Using the moving mechanism, the substrate is moved along the first direction to discharge the coating liquid from the first discharging means, and then the substrate is moved along the second direction to discharge the coating liquid from the second discharging means. It is characterized by forming a thin film. According to the thin film forming method of the present invention, the substrate is moved in the first direction, the coating liquid is discharged along the first direction by the first discharging means to form a thin film, and then the substrate is moved to the second direction.
By moving the coating liquid along the second direction by the second discharging means to form a thin film.
It is possible to solve the problem of poor film forming efficiency in the line feed direction with respect to the drawing direction in a conventional apparatus, and to easily and efficiently form a thin film extending vertically and horizontally on a substrate.

The present invention is also an apparatus for producing a circuit pattern made of a conductor formed on a substrate, comprising the above-mentioned thin film forming apparatus, the thin film forming apparatus comprising a circuit pattern formed on the substrate. Provided is a device for manufacturing a circuit pattern, which is characterized by forming at least a part thereof. According to the circuit pattern manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the substrate is moved in the first direction, and the coating liquid containing the conductive material is discharged along the first direction by the first discharging means to form a thin film. Then, by moving the substrate in the second direction and discharging the coating liquid along the second direction by the second discharging means to form a thin film, the film forming efficiency in the line feed direction with respect to the drawing direction in the conventional apparatus is improved. Solve the problem of bad,
A high-definition circuit pattern extending vertically and horizontally on a substrate can be easily and efficiently formed.

Further, the present invention is a method of manufacturing a circuit pattern made of a conductor formed on a substrate, wherein the thin film forming apparatus is used to move the substrate along a first direction by a moving mechanism. The coating liquid containing the conductive material is discharged from the first discharging unit to form a thin film only on the portion of the circuit pattern along the first direction, and then the substrate is moved along the second direction to move the second discharging unit. A method for manufacturing a circuit pattern, characterized in that the coating liquid is discharged from the substrate to form a thin film on a portion of the circuit pattern along the second direction, and then the substrate is fired to form a circuit pattern made of a conductor. provide. According to the circuit pattern manufacturing method of the present invention, the substrate is moved in the first direction, and the coating liquid containing the conductive material is discharged along the first direction by the first discharging means to form a thin film. Then, by moving the substrate in the second direction and discharging the coating liquid along the second direction by the second discharging means to form a thin film, the film forming efficiency in the line feed direction with respect to the drawing direction in the conventional apparatus is improved. Solve the problem of bad,
A high-definition circuit pattern extending vertically and horizontally on a substrate can be easily and efficiently formed.

The present invention also provides an electronic apparatus including a circuit pattern formed by the method of manufacturing a circuit pattern and an electronic device electrically conductively connected to the circuit pattern. Since the electronic device according to the present invention can produce a circuit pattern with high production efficiency, it can be inexpensive while having high quality.

Furthermore, the present invention is a resist pattern manufacturing apparatus for forming a resist pattern thin film on a substrate, comprising the thin film forming apparatus described above, wherein the thin film forming apparatus is a resist formed on the substrate. Provided is a resist pattern manufacturing apparatus, which is characterized by forming at least a part of a pattern. According to the resist pattern manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the substrate is moved in the first direction, and the coating liquid containing the resist material is discharged along the first direction by the first discharging means to form a resist thin film. Then, by moving the substrate in the second direction and discharging the coating liquid along the second direction by the second discharging means to form a resist thin film, the film forming efficiency in the line feed direction with respect to the drawing direction in the conventional apparatus is improved. It is possible to solve the problem of poor quality, and to easily and efficiently form a high-definition resist pattern extending vertically and horizontally on a substrate. Therefore, according to the present invention, since direct patterning of various resists can be realized, the resist process can be simplified, and waste of the resist material can be omitted to reduce the manufacturing cost.

The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing a resist pattern, which comprises forming a resist pattern thin film on a substrate,
Using the thin film forming apparatus, the substrate is moved along the first direction by the moving mechanism to discharge the coating liquid containing the resist material from the first discharging means, and only the portion of the resist pattern along the first direction. Forming a resist thin film on the substrate, then moving the substrate along the second direction and discharging the coating liquid from the second discharging means, and forming the resist thin film on the portion of the resist pattern along the second direction. A method for manufacturing a resist pattern is provided. According to the method of manufacturing a resist pattern of the present invention, the substrate is moved in the first direction, and the coating liquid containing the resist material is discharged along the first direction by the first discharging means to form a resist thin film. Then, by moving the substrate in the second direction and discharging the coating liquid along the second direction by the second discharging means to form a resist thin film, the film forming efficiency in the line feed direction with respect to the drawing direction in the conventional apparatus is improved. It is possible to solve the problem of poor quality, and to easily and efficiently form a high-definition resist pattern extending vertically and horizontally on a substrate. Therefore, according to the present invention, since direct patterning of various resists can be realized, the resist process can be simplified, and waste of the resist material can be omitted to reduce the manufacturing cost.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
A description will be given with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 illustrate an embodiment of a thin film forming apparatus according to the present invention, which is for applying a coating liquid L to form a circuit pattern or a resist pattern on an appropriate substrate SUB. The thin film forming apparatus 1 is shown. This thin film forming apparatus 1 is
A moving mechanism 4 for placing the substrate SUB and moving the substrate SUB in a first direction (hereinafter, referred to as X-axis direction) and a second direction (hereinafter, referred to as Y-axis direction) orthogonal thereto.
And a substrate SUB that moves in the X-axis direction by the moving mechanism 4.
A first liquid droplet ejection head 2 as a first ejection device that ejects the coating liquid L on the top, and a second ejection device that ejects the coating liquid L on the substrate SUB that moves in the Y-axis direction by the moving mechanism 4. The second droplet discharge head 3 is provided with a control unit C for controlling the movement operation of the moving mechanism 4 and the discharge of the coating liquid by the first and second droplet discharge heads 2, 3.

The moving mechanism 4 is provided with a driving mechanism such as a linear motor that can move and position along the X-axis and Y-axis directions at an arbitrary moving speed, and uses a well-known moving mechanism device called an XY stage. be able to. This moving mechanism 4
The size, driving method, control method, positioning accuracy, etc. are not particularly limited, and can be appropriately selected and used according to the dimensions of the circuit pattern or resist pattern to be manufactured, required dimensional accuracy, and the like.

The first and second droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 are fixed to a support member with their nozzles facing downward at predetermined positions within the X-axis movement range and the Y-axis movement range of the movement mechanism 4, respectively. It is attached in a suspended state. These first and second droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 rotate the droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 about a vertical central axis to set an arbitrary angle (θ) with respect to the lower substrate SUB. It is equipped with a mechanism such as a motor.

The droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 have conduits 5 and 5, respectively.
A tank T for storing the coating liquid L supplied to each of the droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 via 6 is provided. The coating liquid L is sent from the respective tanks T to the droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 via the conduit 6, is discharged from the droplet discharge heads 2 and 3, and is applied onto the substrate SUB. The droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 are, for example, those that compress a liquid chamber by a piezo element and discharge the liquid by the pressure wave, and have a plurality of nozzles (nozzle holes) arranged in one row or in a plurality of rows. is doing.

An example of the structure of the droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 will be described. The droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 are shown in FIG.
As shown in, for example, a nozzle plate 12 made of stainless steel
And a vibration plate 13, both of which are joined via a partition member (reservoir plate) 14. A plurality of spaces 15 and a liquid pool 16 are formed by the partition member 14 between the nozzle plate 12 and the vibration plate 13. The interior of each space 15 and the liquid pool 16 is filled with the coating liquid L, and each space 15 and the liquid pool 16 are communicated with each other via a supply port 17. In addition, the nozzle plate 1
A nozzle 18 for ejecting the coating liquid L from the space 15 is formed in the space 2. On the other hand, the diaphragm 13 is provided with a hole 19 for supplying the coating liquid L to the liquid reservoir 16.

A piezoelectric element (piezo element) 20 is bonded to the surface of the diaphragm 13 opposite to the surface facing the space 15 as shown in FIG. 3 (b). This piezoelectric element 2
0 is located between the pair of electrodes 21 and is configured to bend so as to project outward when energized. Then, based on such a configuration, the piezoelectric element 20
The vibrating plate 13 to which is joined is integrally bent with the piezoelectric element 20 and is flexed outward at the same time, whereby the volume of the space 15 is increased. Therefore, the coating liquid L corresponding to the increased volume in the space 15 flows from the liquid pool 16 through the supply port 17. When the energization of the piezoelectric element 20 is released from such a state, both the piezoelectric element 20 and the diaphragm 13 return to their original shapes. Therefore, since the space 15 also returns to the original volume, the pressure of the coating liquid L inside the space 15 rises, and the droplets 22 of the coating liquid L are ejected from the nozzle 18 toward the substrate. Here, each of the first and second ejection means is composed of one droplet ejection head, but the invention is not limited to this, and it may be composed of a plurality of droplet ejection heads. The system of the droplet discharge head 2 may be a system other than the piezo jet type using the piezoelectric element 20, and for example, a system using an electrothermal converter as an energy generating element may be adopted. Further, a dispenser may be adopted as the ejection means as long as the ejection amount of the coating liquid can be controlled.

The control section C is composed of a CPU such as a microprocessor for controlling the entire apparatus, a computer having an input / output function of various signals, and the like.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first and second droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 are electrically connected to the first and second droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 and the moving mechanism 4, respectively. In this example, at least one of the discharging operation by the moving mechanism 4 and the moving operation by the moving mechanism 4 is controlled. With such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, the coating liquid is applied from at least one nozzle of the first droplet discharge head 2 onto the substrate SUB that moves along the X-axis direction by the moving mechanism 4. L is discharged to form a desired drawing line, and the coating liquid L is discharged from at least one nozzle of the second droplet discharge head 3 onto the substrate SUB that is moved along the Y-axis direction by the moving mechanism 4. However, it is possible to control execution of either one of forming a desired drawing line.

Further, the control section C has a control function of changing a discharge interval of the coating liquid L on the substrate SUB and a control function of changing a discharge amount of the coating liquid L per dot as a function of controlling the film thickness. A control function of changing the angle θ between the arrangement direction of the nozzles 18 and the moving direction of the moving mechanism 4, a control function of setting a coating condition for each repeated coating when repeatedly coating the same position on the substrate SUB, and a substrate SUB. A control function for dividing the upper part into a plurality of areas and setting the coating condition for each area can be provided. For example, by rotating the droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 as shown in FIG. 2 and narrowing the angle θ between the arrangement direction of the nozzles 18 and the moving direction (for example, the X-axis direction) as shown in FIG. The apparent nozzle pitch E can be made narrower than the nozzle pitch D to increase the coating amount per unit moving distance, and thus the film thickness can be increased.

Further, the control section C has a control function of changing the ejection interval, which is the substrate SUB and the droplet ejection heads 2 and 3.
A control function for changing the ejection interval by changing the relative movement speed with respect to the nozzle, a control function for changing the ejection interval by changing the ejection time interval during movement, and a nozzle for ejecting the coating liquid L at the same time among the plurality of nozzles. It is also possible to provide a function of changing the discharge interval by arbitrarily setting. Further, a heating means (not shown) for heating and drying the coating liquid L applied on the substrate SUB may be provided at an appropriate place of the thin film forming apparatus, and the heating state may be controlled by the control unit C. As a heating means for this, a warm air heater, an infrared lamp, or the like can be applied.

Next, as an embodiment of the method for manufacturing a circuit pattern according to the present invention, the above-described thin film forming apparatus 1 having the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is used to form a square spiral circuit pattern 31 shown in FIG. The case of forming will be described with reference to FIGS. In the production of this circuit pattern, the coating liquid L used is a liquid that can be ejected from the nozzles by the droplet ejection heads 2 and 3, and the coating film formed on the substrate is dried and heated to produce an electric charge. It is sufficient that a circuit conductor having conductivity that can be sufficiently used as a wiring can be obtained, and a fine metal powder dispersion liquid in which fine metal particles such as gold and silver are uniformly and stably dispersed in an organic solvent is used. . Commercially available products of the coating liquid suitable in the present invention include, but are not limited to, Perfect Gold (trade name) and Perfect Silver (trade name) manufactured by Vacuum Metallurgy Co., Ltd., for example.

The substrate may be any one that can withstand the firing temperature required to form a circuit conductor by applying a coating film of the above-mentioned coating solution at a desired position and then firing it. Although the size and the like are not particularly limited, it is preferable to use various substrates such as a glass substrate, a metal substrate such as a silicon wafer having at least a part of its surface subjected to an insulation treatment, or a heat-resistant synthetic resin substrate such as a polyimide resin. You can Furthermore, as the substrate, unfinished products of various electronic devices such as liquid crystal display devices and organic EL display devices can be used. In particular, in the method of the present invention, since the coating liquid containing the metal fine particles is applied to a desired position on the substrate by using the droplet discharge heads 2 and 3, the circuit conductor is formed by drying and heating, so that the liquid may be formed if necessary. By appropriately setting the ejection conditions of the droplet ejection heads 2 and 3, a coating film can be formed even if there are some irregularities on the surface of the substrate.

Using the coating liquid L and the thin film forming apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in order to form a circuit pattern made of a circuit conductor on an appropriate substrate SUB, the moving mechanism 4 is provided with the substrate SUB. It should be placed, the substrate SUB should be moved in the X-axis direction, and the coating liquid L should be discharged from the first droplet discharge heads 2 arranged so as to draw in the X-axis direction, and should be formed as shown in FIG. Of the circuit pattern, only the portion extending along the X-axis direction is drawn to form the thin film line 30. In the drawing of this thin film line 30, dots are formed continuously along the X-axis direction from the nozzles of the first droplet discharge head 2 on the substrate SUB at dot intervals of, for example, 20 μm, so that substantially one dot is formed. A linear thin film line 30 can be formed.

The drawing in the X-axis direction is executed along the drawing direction of the first droplet discharge head 2, and when a plurality of parallel thin film lines 30 are formed as shown in FIG. 5, they are arranged in a line. By simultaneously ejecting the coating liquid L from the nozzle corresponding to the position of the thin film line 30 among the large number of nozzles, it is possible to form a plurality of thin film lines 30 with a small number of scans, preferably once. Therefore, it is possible to draw efficiently. As shown in FIG. 4, by tilting the direction of the head, the apparent nozzle pitch E can be made narrower than the actual nozzle pitch D, and the nozzle pitch E can be adjusted by appropriately adjusting the angle θ of the head. Can be adjusted.

After the drawing in the X-axis direction is completed, the substrate SU
B along the Y-axis direction to move the second droplet discharge head 3
Of the circuit pattern to be formed is drawn by using, and as shown in FIG. 6, as shown in FIG.
Square spiral thin film line 31 along the circuit pattern
To form.

For drawing along the Y-axis direction using the second droplet discharge head 3, X using the first droplet discharge head 2 is drawn.
It can be performed in the same manner as the drawing in the axial direction. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the ends of a plurality of parallel thin film lines 30 provided along the X-axis direction are connected to form a thin film line 31 for a rectangular spiral circuit pattern as shown in FIG. Therefore, in the case of forming a plurality of thin film lines along the Y-axis direction, among a large number of nozzles arranged in a line in the second droplet discharge head 3, the nozzles corresponding to the lines along the Y-axis direction are simultaneously formed. By discharging the coating liquid L,
It is possible to form a plurality of thin film lines with a small number of scans, preferably in one scan, and thus it is possible to draw efficiently. Also, as shown in FIG.
By tilting the direction of the second droplet discharge head, the apparent nozzle pitch E can be made narrower than the actual nozzle pitch D, and the nozzle pitch E can be adjusted by appropriately adjusting the angle θ of the head. It is possible.

By drawing the thin film lines along the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction by separate droplet discharge heads 2 and 3 as described above, a circuit pattern extending vertically and horizontally on the substrate can be easily and efficiently formed. Will be able to.

After coating the coating liquid L containing fine metal particles on the substrate along the circuit pattern, the substrate is dried, and at a temperature higher than the temperature at which the fine metal particles contained in the coating liquid are sintered on the substrate. By firing at, the metal fine particles are bonded to each other on the substrate, and the circuit pattern 31 made of a conductor having sufficient conductivity is formed. This drying temperature is set to a temperature at which the solvent used for dispersing the metal fine particles in the coating liquid L can be completely distilled off, and usually 5
The temperature is about 0 to 150 ° C, preferably about 90 to 120 ° C, and the drying time is about 1 to 60 minutes, preferably 2 to
It can be about 5 minutes. The firing temperature is
It is appropriately changed depending on the metal fine particles contained in the coating liquid L,
When a coating solution containing ultrafine particles having an average particle size of 0.1 μm or less is used as the metal fine particles, the baking temperature can be markedly lower than the melting point of the metal itself. For example, in the coating liquid L containing ultrafine particles of gold or silver (average particle diameter of about 0.01 μm), 200 to 400 ° C.
The firing can be performed at a low temperature of about 250 to 300 ° C.

The board on which the circuit pattern 31 is formed after firing is cut as required, and various electronic parts such as IC and LSI are attached to the board to make it similar to a conventional circuit board such as a printed wiring board. Can be used. For example, the substrate on which the rectangular spiral circuit pattern 31 is formed as illustrated in FIG. 6 can be used as a tag used in a non-contact type data carrier system using microwaves. In this tag, an IC chip is attached to the end of the circuit pattern 31, and the circuit pattern 31 functions as an antenna. By combining such a tag with a scanner (reader / writer) to perform non-contact data communication between the tag and the scanner, various items can be distributed and managed.

Next, an embodiment of a method of manufacturing a resist pattern according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 7 shows a transmissive TFT type (Thin Film Transistor type) liquid crystal device 4.
It is an exploded perspective view which showed the composition of 0 typically. A liquid crystal display device as a final product is configured by mounting auxiliary elements such as a liquid crystal driving IC and a support on the liquid crystal device 40.

The liquid crystal device 40 includes a color filter 47 and a glass substrate 50 which are arranged to face each other.
A liquid crystal layer (not shown) sandwiched between them, a polarizing plate 45 attached to the upper surface side (observer side) of the color filter 47, and a polarized light layer (not shown) attached to the lower surface side of the glass substrate 50. Mainly composed of a plate. The color filter 47 includes a substrate 42 made of transparent glass, which is a front substrate provided facing the observer side here.

The color filter 47 comprises a substrate 42, a liquid repellent layer 43 made of a black photosensitive resin film formed on the lower surface of the substrate 42, a colored portion 41 and an overcoat layer 44. The electrode 46 for driving the liquid crystal formed on the liquid crystal layer side of the color filter 47 is made of ITO (Indium Tin).
A transparent electrode material (hereinafter abbreviated as ITO) such as Oxide) is formed on the entire surface of the overcoat layer 44.

An insulating layer 53 is formed on the glass substrate 50, and a thin film transistor 55 as a TFT type switching element and a pixel electrode 54 are formed on the insulating layer 53. Insulating layer 5 formed on glass substrate 50
3, scanning lines 51 and signal lines 52 are formed in a matrix, pixel electrodes 54 are provided in each region surrounded by the scanning lines 51 and signal lines 52, and corner portions of each pixel electrode 54 are provided. A thin film transistor 55 is incorporated in a portion between the scanning line 51 and the signal line 52, and the thin film transistor 55 is turned on / off by applying a signal to the scanning line 51 and the signal line 52 to control the energization of the pixel electrode 54. It is configured to be able to do. Further, the electrode 46 formed on the side of the color filter 47 on the opposite side is a full-surface electrode that covers the entire pixel electrode formation region in this embodiment.

Each of the scanning line 51 and the signal line 52 in the liquid crystal device 40 can be efficiently manufactured by using the resist pattern manufacturing method according to the present invention.
That is, IT is formed on the glass substrate 50 by the sputtering method.
After forming a film of O, a resist is formed by using the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in a portion where the ITO is left, that is, a portion where the pixel electrode 54, the scanning line 51 and the signal line 52 are formed. The material is applied to form a resist thin film. Next, an etching process for removing ITO is performed, and then the resist thin film is removed, whereby the scanning lines 51 and the signal lines 52 made of ITO are formed.

As the resist material, a resist material well known in the art can be used, and it can be appropriately selected from various commercially available products and used. Further, when used, it is diluted by adding an appropriate solvent. Can be used. Examples of commercially available products commonly used as resist materials include THR-H (trade name, novolac type) manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd., and this resist material is diluted with an applicable solvent and applied. It is preferable to use it as the liquid L. The viscosity of the coating liquid L at this time is 4
It is about 8 to 8 mPa · s, preferably about 5 to 7 mPa · s.

[0043]

As described above, according to the thin film forming apparatus and the thin film forming method of the present invention, the substrate is moved in the first direction, and the first droplet discharge head moves along the first direction. The coating liquid is discharged to form a thin film, and then the substrate is second
By moving the coating liquid along the second direction by the second droplet discharge head to form a thin film, the problem that the film forming efficiency in the line feed direction with respect to the drawing direction in the conventional apparatus is poor. Therefore, a thin film extending vertically and horizontally can be easily and efficiently formed on the substrate.

Further, according to the circuit pattern manufacturing apparatus, the circuit pattern manufacturing method, and the electronic apparatus of the present invention, the substrate is moved in the first direction, and the first droplet discharge head moves along the first direction. A coating solution containing a conductive material is discharged to form a thin film, and then the substrate is moved in the second direction to
By forming the thin film by discharging the coating liquid along the second direction by the droplet discharge head, the problem that the film forming efficiency in the line feed direction with respect to the drawing direction in the conventional apparatus is poor is solved, and the thin film is formed vertically and horizontally on the substrate. It is possible to easily and efficiently form a stretched high-definition circuit pattern.

According to the resist pattern manufacturing apparatus and the resist pattern manufacturing method of the present invention, the substrate
In the direction of the first droplet discharge head
The coating liquid containing the resist material is ejected along the direction to form a resist thin film, then the substrate is moved in the second direction, and the coating liquid is ejected along the second direction by the second droplet ejection head. By forming a resist thin film,
It is possible to solve the problem of poor film forming efficiency in the line feed direction with respect to the drawing direction in the conventional apparatus, and to easily and efficiently form a highly precise resist pattern extending vertically and horizontally on a substrate. Therefore, according to the present invention, since direct patterning of various resists can be realized, the resist process can be simplified, and waste of the resist material can be omitted to reduce the manufacturing cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of essential parts showing an embodiment of a thin film forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the same device.

3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining a schematic configuration of a droplet discharge head, FIG. 3A is a perspective view of a main part, and FIG. 3B is a side sectional view of the main part.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the nozzle pitch when the angle of the droplet discharge head is changed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the circuit pattern manufacturing method according to the present invention, and is a plan view showing a state in which only the X-axis direction of the circuit pattern is drawn.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a state in which the circuit pattern is also drawn in the Y-axis direction.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a liquid crystal device for explaining an example of a method of manufacturing a resist pattern according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Thin film forming equipment 2 First droplet discharge head 3 Second droplet discharge head 4 moving mechanism 30 thin film line 31 circuit pattern 40 Liquid crystal device C control unit L coating liquid SUB board

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G03F 7/16 501 H01L 21/30 564Z F term (reference) 2H025 AA00 AB14 AB16 AB17 EA04 4D075 AC08 AC09 AC73 AC84 AC88 AC93 CA47 DA06 DB01 DB13 DB14 DB53 DC24 EA07 EA10 EA45 4F041 AA02 AA05 AB02 BA05 BA13 BA22 BA38 4F042 AA02 AA10 BA08 CB08 DF24 DF26 5F046 JA01 JA02

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A thin film forming apparatus for forming a thin film by coating a substrate with a coating liquid in which a film material is dissolved or dispersed in a solvent, wherein the substrate is placed and the first substrate is placed. Direction, and a moving mechanism that moves in a second direction that intersects the first direction, a first discharging unit that discharges the coating liquid onto the substrate that moves in the first direction by the moving mechanism, and the moving mechanism. A second discharging unit that discharges the coating liquid onto the substrate that moves in the second direction by a mechanism; and a control unit that controls the movement operation of the moving mechanism and the discharging of the coating liquid by the first and second discharging units. The control unit discharges the coating liquid from the first discharging unit when the substrate moves along the first direction by the moving mechanism, and controls the second discharge when the substrate moves along the second direction. At least controlling discharging of the coating liquid from the discharging means is characterized. Film forming apparatus. 2. The control unit forms a thin film line along a first direction on the substrate by the first discharging means, and a thin film line along a second direction by the second discharging means on the substrate. As described above, the first and second
The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discharge of the coating liquid of the discharging unit and the movement of the moving mechanism are controlled. 3. The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second direction is orthogonal to the first direction in which the moving mechanism moves. 4. One or both of the first discharge means and the second discharge means have a plurality of nozzles arranged in at least one row, and the arrangement direction of these nozzles is the first direction or the second direction. The thin film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the thin film forming apparatus is provided so that an angle with respect to the direction can be changed. 5. The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a heating device that heats the coating liquid that has landed on the substrate. 6. A thin film forming method for forming a thin film by applying a coating liquid, which comprises a film material dissolved or dispersed in a solvent, onto a substrate, and the method according to claim 1. Using the thin film forming apparatus, the moving mechanism moves the substrate along the first direction to discharge the coating liquid from the first discharging means to form a thin film,
Then, the substrate is moved along the second direction, and the coating liquid is discharged from the second discharging means to form a thin film. 7. A device for manufacturing a circuit pattern made of a conductor formed on a substrate, comprising the thin film forming device according to claim 1. The thin film forming device comprises: An apparatus for manufacturing a circuit pattern, which is for forming at least a part of a circuit pattern formed on the circuit pattern. 8. A method for manufacturing a circuit pattern made of a conductor formed on a substrate, wherein the thin film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is used to move in a first direction by a moving mechanism. The substrate is moved along and the coating liquid containing the conductive material is discharged from the first discharging means to form a thin film only on a portion of the circuit pattern along the first direction, and then along the second direction. Is moved to discharge the coating liquid from the second discharging means to form a thin film on a portion of the circuit pattern along the second direction, and then the substrate is baked to form a circuit pattern made of a conductor. And a method for manufacturing a circuit pattern. 9. An electronic apparatus comprising a circuit pattern formed by the method for manufacturing a circuit pattern according to claim 8 and an electronic device conductively connected to the circuit pattern. 10. A resist pattern manufacturing apparatus for forming a resist pattern thin film on a substrate, comprising the thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thin film forming apparatus is the substrate. A resist pattern manufacturing apparatus, which forms at least a part of a resist pattern formed on the resist pattern. 11. A method of manufacturing a resist pattern, which comprises forming a resist pattern thin film on a substrate, wherein the thin film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is used to move in a first direction by a moving mechanism. The substrate is moved along and the coating liquid containing the resist material is discharged from the first discharging means to form the resist thin film only on the portion of the resist pattern along the first direction, and then on the substrate along the second direction. Is moved to discharge the coating liquid from the second discharging means to form a resist thin film on a portion of the resist pattern along the second direction.