JP2005067120A - Method and device for forming pattern - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and device for forming a sharp pattern on a surface of a water-repellent work. <P>SOLUTION: Separation patterns 75 each in an extent that liquid droplets are not collected on a work, are formed on the work such that the separation patterns 75 are not overlapped with each other. After the formed materials are dried, post separation patterns 76 are formed on a part of the former separation patterns 75 formed before such that the separation patterns 76 are overlapped therewith to form a first continuous pattern 41 which is continuous in a plain. As a result, it is possible to form the high quality, sharp and continuous patterns without bleeding by utilizing the characteristic of the water-repellent work. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for creating a pattern by applying droplets on a workpiece.

Inkjet technology that uses a piezo or a heating element as an actuator can create a desired pattern by ejecting droplets such as paint such as ink and chemicals such as reagents from a plurality of nozzles. It is used in various fields such as manufacturing imaging devices and semiconductors including DNA chips, or its use is under consideration.
JP-A-8-300639

  When printing ink on a workpiece, the affinity between the workpiece, the ink, and the printing method becomes a problem. When printing by using an ink jet system with paper as a work, water-soluble dye-based ink that easily penetrates into the work is used. The water-soluble ink has a high affinity to the workpiece, so that it is easy to get familiar with and has high wettability, and a uniform pattern can be printed by attaching the droplets at an appropriate pitch. Furthermore, since it is highly permeable to the workpiece and spreads easily, there are advantages such as easy to dry and easy to handle the printed workpiece. On the other hand, in places where it is desired to print darkly due to its high affinity for the work, or in high-density areas where multiple color droplets are printed for color printing, the liquid droplets attached to the work are not dried. Or the edge is deformed to cause deterioration in the accuracy or quality of the pattern. For example, when forming a pattern including a thin line with a dark color or a fine fill, the line width becomes unbalanced or the border of the fill becomes unclear.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-300639 discloses a process for thinning and printing a predetermined dot in a boundary region of an image that is likely to cause blurring, and then printing so as to interpolate the thinned dots. A recording apparatus for preventing ink bleeding is disclosed.

  Water-insoluble pigment ink, on the other hand, has the advantage of preventing bleeding and preventing spreading because it is difficult to soak into the work, and has the advantage of being able to print with high water resistance. Is not spread, color unevenness due to dot imbalance is likely to occur, and it is difficult to dry. In addition, since the pigment is difficult to dissolve in the solvent, adding a hydrophilic additive to make it hydrophilic makes the phenomenon that the pigment does not appear on the surface containing even a small amount of hydrophobic substance and the dots fly off. The time and cost required to develop an ink agent having an appropriate performance for a work, such as the need to add, becomes enormous.

  If the ejected material has low wettability with respect to the workpiece and the droplets attached to the workpiece are likely to become balls, the droplet can be prevented from bleeding or flowing out by being ejected onto the workpiece by the ink jet method. Depending on the object, there is a possibility that a fine pattern having sharp fine lines or sharp boundary portions can be drawn on the workpiece. However, taking the above pigment ink as an example, the pigment is coated with an agent having appropriate hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity to increase the wettability of the paper work and spread easily, thereby causing uneven color and dot skipping. The method of suppressing is employed, and eventually, the mechanism that causes color bleeding cannot be completely overcome.

  In the present specification, the ejected matter such as ink that has low wettability with respect to the workpiece and tends to be a ball is referred to as ejected matter having a low affinity for the workpiece. It is determined by the relative relationship of the discharged material, and can be defined by the contact angle of the discharged material with respect to the workpiece. When the contact angle is about 50 degrees or more, bleeding of the discharged material is prevented, so the combination of the workpiece and the discharged material having a contact angle of about 50 degrees or more is a combination with low affinity. Therefore, it is possible to say that a discharge having a low affinity for a workpiece is a discharge having a contact angle of approximately 50 degrees or more when attached to the workpiece. The affinity is increased or decreased depending on the surface state of the workpiece. If a combination with low affinity is used, bleeding can be prevented, but droplets that have landed on the workpiece tend to become balls. There is a problem that it tends to be uneven. Such a collection of droplets is called a liquid pool or microbulge. FIG. 9 shows how the accuracy of the pattern deteriorates due to the puddle. If the thin line 100 shown in FIG. 9 (a) is to be drawn, as shown in FIG. 9 (b), liquid droplets gather and a pooled ball 101 is generated, and there is a part with a large or narrow line width. The line 102 is poor in quality. Therefore, it is difficult to create a high-definition pattern simply by using a combination with low affinity.

  Next, although partially in common with the above problem, since the wettability is low, the ejected matter adhering to the work in the form of droplets does not spread, and flying and uneven density tend to occur. Increasing the density of the droplets in order to prevent this becomes a factor that causes the above-described liquid pool ball. Therefore, when the affinity between the workpiece and the discharged material is low, it seems that a fine pattern can be easily formed by ink jet. However, due to the above problem, a fine pattern with a uniform concentration can be accurately formed on the workpiece. Difficult to do. In addition, as described above, it is almost impossible to form a fine pattern with the ink jet method because there is a problem of bleeding when the work and the discharged material have high affinity, that is, wettability and permeability are high. It is.

  Therefore, in the present invention, a pattern creation method capable of creating a fine pattern on a workpiece with high accuracy by a discharge having a low affinity for the workpiece, or a combination of a workpiece having a low affinity and a discharge, and The object is to provide a pattern creating apparatus.

  For this reason, in the present invention, instead of changing the physical properties of the ejected matter having a low affinity for the workpiece, that is, the ejected matter having low wettability and water repellency, on the contrary, the physical properties of such ejected matter Can be used to form a fine pattern with a clear and uniform concentration on the workpiece. For this reason, in the present invention, separation patterns of units that do not cause liquid droplets to flow and gather or connect are discretely formed so as not to overlap each other, and in the next process in which the formation is dried, A desired pattern is created by forming a part of the subsequent separation pattern on the separation pattern. That is, according to the pattern creating method of the present invention, one or a plurality of droplets are used to form a plurality of separation patterns that do not collect droplets on a workpiece so that the respective separation patterns do not overlap two-dimensionally or two-dimensionally. It has a separation pattern formation process to be formed on the workpiece, and when this separation pattern formation process is repeated, it is formed by the previous separation pattern formation process and the previous separation pattern formation process. A first continuous pattern forming step of forming a first continuous pattern that is planarly or two-dimensionally continuous with an overlap with a subsequent separation pattern.

  This pattern creation method can be provided as a program or a program product having instructions capable of executing the separation pattern formation step and the first continuous pattern formation step, and is mounted on the same substrate as a CD-ROM or CPU. The program can be provided by being recorded on a suitable recording medium such as a ROM or via a computer network. A pattern generating apparatus that operates according to such a program prevents a plurality of separation patterns that do not collect droplets on a work by one or a plurality of droplets so that the separation patterns do not overlap in a plane. Separation pattern forming means to be formed on the workpiece, and the separation pattern is repeatedly created. In this case, the previous separation pattern previously formed and the separation pattern to be created next are allowed to overlap in a plane. The first continuous pattern forming means for forming the first continuous pattern, and the pattern can be manufactured on the workpiece by the pattern creating method of the present invention. A program or program product capable of executing the separation pattern formation step and the first continuous pattern formation step by a computer or CPU acquires an appropriate separation pattern based on the pattern data after obtaining pattern data to be formed on the workpiece. If the system is divided into a personal computer that serves as a host and a printer that prints on paper, such as a printer, the pattern data acquired from the host side on the printer side is controlled. An appropriate separation pattern may be generated and printed, and data of an appropriate separation pattern may be generated by a printer driver installed on the host side and sent to the printer side so that the pattern can be formed by the pattern creation method of the present invention. Anyway.

  According to the pattern creation method of the present invention, the separation pattern is a unit pattern in which droplets do not flow, and in the separation pattern forming step, a plurality of separation patterns are created so as not to overlap two-dimensionally, that is, two-dimensionally. . For this reason, even if a discharge having a low affinity for the work, that is, a water repellency is discharged onto the work by the ink jet method to form liquid droplets, a liquid pool ball does not occur in the separation pattern. Therefore, each separation pattern makes good use of the water repellency between the workpiece and the discharged material, and it is accurately formed without bleeding even in a fine pattern, and the discharged material on the workpiece does not exhibit fluidity in that state. Dried.

  Next, in the first continuous pattern forming step, basically, the above-described separation pattern forming step is repeated, so that no liquid pool ball is generated in each separation pattern. Furthermore, even if the previous separation pattern previously formed and a part of the subsequent separation pattern that is formed next are partially overlapped to generate continuity of the pattern, the previous separation pattern will flow to a certain extent. Since the properties are lost, liquid pool balls are not generated in the subsequent separation pattern due to the influence of the previous separation pattern.

  On the other hand, since the previous separation pattern is formed of the same ejected material, it has affinity for the next separation pattern, that is, wettability, unlike the workpiece. Therefore, the previous separation pattern functions as an anchor on the water-repellent workpiece with respect to the subsequent separation pattern, and the continuity of the pattern formed on the workpiece can be ensured to prevent the occurrence of color skipping. Even if the ejected material flows and spreads from the previous separation pattern to the previous separation pattern, it shows water repellency with the workpiece, so it does not spread on the workpiece and the pattern edge is sharp. It is not a factor to reduce. Conversely, by spreading thinly over the previous separation pattern with wettability, if there is uneven density in the previous separation pattern, it shows the effect of reducing it and making the concentration uniform. It also shows the effect of reducing the occurrence of a clear boundary with the separation pattern.

  When the separation pattern formation process is repeated in the first continuous pattern formation process, the subsequent separation pattern does not necessarily overlap with the previous separation pattern in all the separation pattern formation processes. The separation pattern formed in the separation pattern formation process that is first performed to form a certain pattern cannot overlap, and the subsequent separation pattern is not overlapped with the previous separation pattern in the subsequent separation pattern formation process. It is possible to form However, in order to form a continuous pattern, it is necessary to execute a separation pattern forming process for forming a subsequent separation pattern so that a part of the separation pattern is separated from the previous separation pattern. In the above, the above-described operation can be obtained.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, it becomes possible to draw a pattern such as a continuous thin line, a design or a pattern sharply without a liquid pool ball by an ink jet method using a combination of a work and a droplet having low affinity, A high-resolution or high-definition pattern can be accurately formed on the workpiece. The pattern creating method and the pattern creating apparatus of the present invention not only enable a fine pattern to be accurately formed on a workpiece by a paint such as ink or a reagent such as a reagent by an inkjet method, but also an imaging device such as a liquid crystal In other technical fields such as a semiconductor device for DNA analysis, it is possible to perform highly accurate fine patterning by an ink jet method, and the applicable range of the present invention is very wide.

  In the pattern creating method or the pattern creating apparatus of the present invention, a small pattern formed by one or a plurality of droplets is overlapped on the first continuous pattern and the first continuous pattern is dried in the next process. It is desirable to provide a second continuous pattern forming step or means for forming the second continuous pattern by continuously forming the small pattern so as to overlap a part of the adjacent small pattern before drying. In the first continuous pattern forming process, the first continuous pattern having high affinity with the ejected material made of the same material is formed on the work having low affinity. By forming the pattern so that the liquid droplets are continuous on the first continuous pattern having high properties, a second continuous pattern free from liquid puddles and free from uneven density can be formed. In addition, since the droplets applied in the second continuous pattern forming process are also water-repellent to the workpiece, even if they are applied repeatedly, they do not ooze out to the workpiece side, and a desired edge can be maintained. Therefore, it is possible to form a fine pattern that is sharp and has a uniform concentration or adhesion amount. That is, by performing the first continuous pattern forming step and the second continuous pattern forming step, the wettability is high in addition to the merit of the combination of the work and the ejected matter having high wettability (low affinity) without bleeding or running out. The merit of the combination of a low (high affinity) workpiece and discharged material is also obtained.

  Thus, the pattern creation method of the present invention makes it possible to form a sharp and fine pattern by utilizing the water repellency of a workpiece. In this specification, water repellency indicates the relative physical properties of a workpiece and droplets applied to the workpiece, and in order to obtain a state without bleeding or running out, the contact angle with respect to the workpiece is in the range of 50 to 150 degrees. It is desirable to use a liquid droplet having a contact angle with respect to the workpiece of 70 to 150 degrees. Therefore, even if the workpiece surface is generally said to be hydrophilic, the effects of the present invention can be sufficiently obtained by combining droplets with high surface tension. When the contact angle is 50 degrees or less, the wettability becomes strong and the pattern tends to spread. When the contact angle is 70 degrees or more, there is almost no possibility of the dropped droplets flowing out, and the combination of the workpiece and the droplets to which the present invention is applied becomes an optimum range. On the other hand, if the contact angle exceeds 150 degrees, the droplets become granular on the workpiece, so that the contact area becomes too small and the pattern becomes unstable, making it difficult to form a desired pattern.

  If the original work itself exhibits water repellency with respect to the droplets forming the pattern, it is a preferable combination for applying the pattern creating method of the present invention. On the other hand, even if the original work itself does not exhibit water repellency to the droplets to be applied, the work is made water repellent so that it is suitable for applying the pattern creation method of the present invention. can do. One method is a method of coating a fluorine-based or silicon-based water repellent. There are a method of applying a water repellent and a method of plasma irradiation. Another method is to roughen the surface of the workpiece. Therefore, when the workpiece and the droplet forming the pattern are given, the step of water-repellent treatment of the surface of the workpiece with respect to the droplet is performed prior to the separation pattern forming step or the first continuous pattern creating step. This is also included in the present invention.

  When forming a filled pattern, the first continuous pattern forming step first forms the contour of the target pattern with the first continuous pattern, and after drying, the third continuous pattern forming step A small pattern formed by one or a plurality of droplets is formed inside the contour so as to overlap a part of the adjacent small pattern, thereby forming a third continuous pattern. A sharp outline can be formed by the first continuous pattern forming step. At the same time, the contour has affinity for the ejected matter (droplet), so that the droplet spreads wet and the density unevenness with the inside is eliminated. On the other hand, since the water repellency is maintained between the contour and the workpiece, the third continuous pattern forming process does not cause the droplets to ooze out from the workpiece. In addition, even if a liquid puddle is generated inside the contour, the shape of the pattern is not affected. Therefore, in the third continuous pattern forming process, droplets can be continuously attached, and the time for forming the pattern can be reduced. Can be shortened.

  In the separation pattern forming step, it is desirable to discharge the droplets onto the workpiece in a state where the curing or drying of the droplets on the workpiece is promoted. The droplets can be dried at the stage where the droplets are attached to the workpiece, and the fluidity of the liquid (discharged material) constituting the separation pattern can be eliminated quickly and reliably. Can be repeated in a short time so as to overlap the previous separation pattern. Methods for promoting hardening or drying of droplets on the workpiece include a method of heating the workpiece from the back surface with a heater, a method of supplying warm air to the surface of the workpiece, and a discharge (droplet or liquid) that is UV curable. In this case, there is a method of providing a UV irradiation lamp for irradiating the surface of the work with UV, and a method of providing an electron beam irradiation device for irradiating the surface of the work with an electron beam when the discharged material is electron beam curable.

  As described above, in the present invention, a plurality of previous separation patterns are formed so as to prevent droplets from collecting on a water-repellent workpiece, and then the subsequent separation patterns are integrated with the previous separation patterns. A part is formed so that a part may overlap and a continuous pattern is formed. Therefore, when forming a pattern with a combination of the work and the discharged material having a low affinity, such as depositing the discharged material on the water-repellent work by an ink jet method, the liquid pool ball is generated. In addition, it is possible to manufacture a high-accuracy pattern without continuous density unevenness by connecting the previous separation pattern as an anchor and the subsequent separation pattern. For this reason, by repeatedly forming the separation pattern, a continuous sharp pattern without bleeding can be formed with high accuracy by a combination of a work with low affinity and a discharged material.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a pattern creating apparatus according to the present invention. The pattern creating apparatus 1 includes a discharge head 10 having a nozzle array 5 composed of one or a plurality of nozzles. By ejecting a discharge material 9 from the nozzle array 5 into droplets and discharging it toward the workpiece 2, This is an ink jet pattern creating apparatus capable of creating a desired pattern 4 on a workpiece. A pattern formed by the pattern creation device 1 is designated from the host device 3 capable of data communication with the pattern creation device 1 via the communication interface 7 such as USB or RS232C.

  The pattern creating apparatus 1 includes a discharge head 10 having a nozzle array 5, and the discharge head 10 mounted on a carriage 15, and a scan direction on a workpiece 2 along a shaft 21 fixed on a base or chassis 14. A horizontal movement in which a moving mechanism 11 that moves to A and a horizontal moving stage 12 on which the workpiece 2 is placed move in a sub-scanning direction B (a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction A) along a shaft 19 fixed to the base 14. A stage moving mechanism 13 and a heater 24 capable of heating the workpiece 2 mounted on the horizontal moving stage 12 from the back surface are provided. The pattern creating apparatus 1 has a controller 20 composed of a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like. The controller 20 controls the motor 22 of the head moving mechanism 11 and the motor 23 of the stage moving mechanism 13. Further, the controller 20 controls the entire pattern creating apparatus 1 including the timing at which droplets are ejected from the ejection head 10.

  The controller 20 controls each of the motors 22 and 23 according to the pattern 4 created on the workpiece 2 to control the position of the ejection head 10 with respect to the workpiece 2, and the ejected material 9 is made into droplets from the ejection head 10. A mechanical control unit 25 that also controls the discharge timing and the like, and a pattern generation control unit 26 that controls the mechanical control unit 25 to form the pattern 4 on the workpiece 2 are provided. The pattern generation control unit 26 forms a separation pattern on the workpiece 2 by one or a plurality of droplets so that the liquid does not gather on the workpiece 2 so that the respective separation patterns do not overlap in plane. A separation pattern forming function 30 is provided as a basic function, and further, a first continuous pattern forming function 31 for forming a continuous pattern by repeating the formation of the separation pattern by the separation pattern forming function 30 is provided. The first continuous pattern forming function 31 allows the overlap between the previously formed separation pattern and the later formed separation pattern when the separation pattern forming function 30 repeatedly forms the separation pattern. A first continuous pattern that is continuous is formed. Further, the pattern generation control unit 26 forms a small pattern formed by one or a plurality of droplets so as to overlap with a part of the adjacent small pattern, overlaid on the first continuous pattern, and the second continuous pattern. A second continuous pattern forming function 32 for forming a pattern, and a small pattern formed by one or a plurality of droplets inside a contour formed by the first continuous pattern, and a part of the adjacent small pattern A third continuous pattern forming function 33 for forming a third continuous pattern is provided.

  Hereinafter, an example in which the pattern generation control unit 26 of the pattern creating apparatus 1 performs control so as to form a separation pattern in order to form the original pattern supplied from the host 3 on the workpiece 2 will be described. The function as the generation control unit 26 can be installed in the host device 3 as the driver program 36. In this case, the driver program 36 includes a separation pattern forming function 30, a first continuous pattern forming function 31, a second continuous pattern forming function 32, and a third continuous pattern forming function 33. The function converts the original pattern given from the application program running on the host 3 into data that forms a separation pattern or a continuous pattern as described below, and sends it to the pattern creating apparatus 1 as needed. To do.

  FIG. 2 shows how the pattern generation control unit 26 creates a desired pattern. As shown in FIG. 2A, the separation pattern forming function 30 discretely forms a pattern 75 in which four droplets 28 are continuous in the scanning direction A as a separation pattern in which liquid does not gather. The data to be formed is generated and the ejection head 10 and the like are controlled. Therefore, when the pattern generating apparatus 1 is controlled by the separation pattern forming function 30 and the ejection head 10 is rotated once in the scanning direction A and one separation pattern forming process is executed, the plurality of separation patterns 75 are transferred to the workpiece 2. Discretely formed on the top. The separation pattern 75 is a pattern in which four droplets are made continuous. In this example, the separation pattern 75 is shown as a pattern in which a liquid pool ball is not formed. The size of the separation pattern 75 or the number of droplets that can be struck continuously depends on the relationship between the type of ejected material 9 serving as the droplet 28, the size of the droplet, the surface of the workpiece 2, and the environment (temperature) covering the workpiece 2. , Humidity, atmosphere, etc.). For example, if the water repellency of the workpiece 2 with respect to the droplets 28 is high, the fluidity of the droplets 28 is high and a liquid pool ball is easily formed. Therefore, the size of the separation pattern 75 may have to be small. Further, if the water repellency of the workpiece 2 is low, the area of the pattern 75 or the number of continuous droplets may be increased.

  Further, the distance between adjacent separation patterns 75 formed in one separation pattern forming step, or the pitch of the separation patterns 75 includes the spread of droplets on the workpiece 2 and the tolerance of the position where the droplets land. The distance is set such that the separation pattern 75 is not likely to come into contact. Therefore, it is desirable to print by separating a plurality of dots between separation patterns, instead of printing one dot as in a printing method that simply lowers the dot density, for example, alternately printing every dot. In this example, a distance of approximately the same length as the separation pattern 75 in which the four droplets are continuous, that is, a distance that is filled with the next separation pattern constituted by the four droplets is secured, and the separation pattern 75 is in the scanning direction A. Is formed. The method of forming the separation pattern 75 with a plurality of droplets is efficient in that a sufficient distance for isolating the separation pattern 75 is secured, and the pattern is formed in a short time by reducing the number of times the separation pattern forming process is repeated. It is.

  The workpiece 2 is heated by the heater 24, promotes drying of the droplets 28 adhering to the workpiece 2 to reduce fluidity at an early stage, and an unintended liquid pool ball is generated due to an inadvertent impact or the like. To prevent it. In addition, by reducing the fluidity of the droplets 28 at an early stage, the process of forming the separation pattern of the next cycle can be started at an early stage, and the time for forming a desired pattern can be shortened. It is not preferable to steadily raise the temperature of the work 2, and if the heat transfer of the work 2 is good, the heater 24 is operated in conjunction with the timing of ejecting droplets onto the work 2 and the movement of the ejection head 10. It is also effective to make it. Instead of the heater 24, drying of the droplets may be promoted by supplying warm air to the surface on which the pattern of the workpiece 2 is formed. In addition, if the pattern is formed by the UV curable ejected material 9, it is possible to irradiate the surface of the work 2 with ultraviolet rays by the UV irradiation lamp to promote the curing of the droplets and to reduce the fluidity early. It is. Moreover, if it is an electron beam curable discharge material, it is also effective to irradiate the surface of a workpiece with an electron beam.

  When forming a continuous pattern such as a thin line, first, the first continuous pattern forming function 31 of the pattern generation control unit 26 is activated. The first continuous pattern forming function 31 repeatedly performs the separation pattern forming process by the separation pattern forming function 30. At this time, the first continuous pattern 41 continuous in a plane is formed by allowing the separation pattern 75 created in the previous cycle to overlap with the separation pattern 76 formed in the next or subsequent cycle. In this example, as shown in FIG. 2B, after the next cycle, that is, the cycle of FIG. 2A is completed, a separation pattern is formed while moving the ejection head 10 in the scanning direction A again. In the cycle, the subsequent separation pattern 76 is discretely formed on the surface of the work 2 so that the subsequent separation patterns do not overlap with each other, and partially overlaps with the separation pattern 75 formed in the previous cycle. Form. As a result, a continuous linear pattern (first continuous pattern) 41 is formed by the plurality of separation patterns 75 and 76.

  Similarly to the previous separation pattern 75, the separation pattern 76 formed in the later cycle is a pattern in which four droplets 28 are continuous in the scanning direction A. It is a pattern. Further, the subsequent cycle is performed in a state where the preceding separation pattern 75 is dried to some extent and does not contribute to forming a liquid pool ball on the subsequent separation pattern 76. For this reason, even in the subsequent separation pattern 76, no liquid pool ball is generated even if the liquid droplets flow. On the contrary, since the droplet 28 shows water repellency with respect to the work 2 and does not spread out, the previous separation pattern 75 is formed by the same ejected material 9 and therefore does not show water repellency. The droplets 28 that form the subsequent separation pattern 76 spread wet. Further, the ejected material 9 supplied by the droplets 28 does not spread from the previous separation pattern 75 to the work 2.

  Therefore, the subsequent separation pattern 76 is formed as a continuous pattern without interruption with respect to the previous separation pattern 75 using the previous separation pattern 75 as an anchor, and a pattern without any breaks is surely formed on the surface of the water-repellent workpiece 2. Can be formed. Further, even if the ejected matter 9 wets and spreads on the previous separating pattern 75 due to the subsequent separating pattern 76, the surface of the preceding separating pattern 75 may become smooth due to the ejected matter 9 in a highly fluid state, The sharp shape of the previous separation pattern 75 is not destroyed. Therefore, by repeating the step of forming the separation pattern by the first continuous pattern forming function 31, the first continuous pattern 41 having a continuous sharp shape can be formed, and the water repellency of the workpiece 2 is utilized. Thus, a sharp and unbroken thin line (first continuous pattern) 41 can be formed on the work 2.

  The second continuous pattern forming function 32 continuously forms a small pattern 77 formed by one droplet 28 on the first continuous pattern 41 while moving the ejection head 10 in the scanning direction A. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2C, the second continuous pattern forming function 32 continuously forms a plurality of small patterns 37 on the first continuous pattern 41 so as to overlap each other in one cycle. The second continuous pattern 42 is formed so as to overlap.

  Since the first continuous pattern 41 serving as the base of the second continuous pattern 42 is formed by the same ejected material 9, the wettability of the droplets 28 is high, and ejection is performed to form the second continuous pattern 42. The liquid droplets spread on the first continuous pattern 41. On the other hand, since the work 2 exhibits water repellency, the work 2 does not spread out. Therefore, the pattern 71 formed by overlapping the second continuous pattern 42 is made uniform by the second continuous pattern 42 in a state where the shape as a fine line by the first continuous pattern 41 is maintained, and the surface As a result, a fine pattern with no unevenness of density is formed.

  The droplets 28 attached on the water-repellent workpiece 2 can form a sharp pattern without being wetted and spread, but the state of the individual droplets 28 remains, and the surface is uneven, thereby reflecting light. A phenomenon such as a change of direction may occur and may be recognized as uneven density. On the other hand, by forming the second continuous pattern 42 so as to be superimposed on the first continuous pattern 41 by the second continuous pattern forming means, the thickness of the pattern and the surface of the surface can be prevented without causing the liquid to spread or flow out. The state can be made uniform, and the apparent shading can be eliminated. For this reason, the fine wire 71 of higher quality can be formed.

  FIG. 3 shows an example in which the thin line 71 is formed using the separation pattern 75 composed of one droplet 28. As shown in FIG. 3A, the separation pattern forming function 30 discretely forms the separation pattern 75 at a distance that is filled by hitting two droplets. The first continuous pattern forming function 31 repeats the process of forming the separation pattern shown in FIG. 3A. At that time, as shown in FIG. Thus, the next separation pattern 76a is formed. Since a continuous pattern is not formed even in this cycle, the process of forming the separation pattern is repeated as shown in FIG. 3C. At this time, the subsequent separation pattern 76b is replaced with the previous separation patterns 75 and 76a. Form. Thereby, the first continuous pattern 41 is formed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3D, the second continuous pattern forming function 32 forms the second continuous pattern 42 by continuously forming the small pattern 77 on the continuous pattern 41, and sharpens it. Thus, a high-quality thin wire 71 having a substantially constant surface shape is formed. With the first continuous pattern forming function 31, the separation pattern forming process by the separation pattern forming function 30 may be repeated any number of times, or the first continuous pattern 41 may be formed three or more times.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the separation pattern 75 is not limited to a limited number of droplets 28 continuously formed in a line in the scanning direction, and a plurality of liquids are two-dimensionally arranged in one cycle. The droplets 28 may be formed so as to overlap to form a separation pattern 75 having a two-dimensional spread. Whether or not a puddle is formed depends greatly on the area formed by the continuous droplets 28, and the same behavior as the separation pattern formed by the continuous droplets in a row is a continuous liquid in a two-dimensional direction. It also appears in the separation pattern formed by the drops. As shown in FIG. 4A, the separation pattern forming function 30 forms a square separation pattern 78a so as not to overlap in the scanning direction by four droplets 28 formed continuously in the vertical and horizontal directions. As shown in (b), the first continuous pattern forming function 31 forms a single sharp pattern 79 by forming a similar square separation pattern 78b in the next cycle. The second continuous pattern forming function 32 may repeat the cycle of discharging the droplets 28 in a line in the scanning direction A twice, or may continuously form the same shape as the separation pattern.

  FIG. 5 shows how the pattern generation control unit 26 forms the painted surface 72. When the pattern creating apparatus 1 creates the painted surface 72 on the surface of the work 2, first, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the first continuous pattern forming function 31 has a separation pattern forming function. 30 is used to form the contour or boundary 73 of the painted surface 72 in the same manner as the thin line. That is, first, the separation pattern 75 is discretely formed as shown in FIG. 5A, and the subsequent separation pattern 76 is changed to the previous separation pattern 75 in the next cycle as shown in FIG. 5B. The contours of the painted surface 72 are formed as the first continuous pattern 41 so as to overlap each other. Thereby, a sharp outline 73 is drawn on the surface of the water-repellent workpiece 2. By forming the second continuous pattern 42 by the second continuous pattern forming function 32 also on the contour portion 73, a higher quality contour 73 can be formed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, the third continuous pattern forming function 33 forms a small pattern 38 composed of one droplet 28 inside the contour 73 so that the contour 73 A third continuous pattern 43 is formed inside, and the inside of the contour 73 is filled. Thereby, a filled pattern 72 is formed. Inside the contour 73, even if a small pattern 38 is continuously formed and a liquid puddle is generated, it only wets and spreads on the contour 73 and does not spread on the surface of the water-repellent workpiece 2. Accordingly, it is possible to form a filled pattern having a sharp outline utilizing the properties of the water-repellent workpiece 2.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process of forming a desired pattern on the work 2 by the pattern generation control unit 26 of this example. First, in step 51, the first continuous pattern forming function 31 forms a first continuous pattern that forms a thin line or contour. At this time, if the surface of the workpiece 2 does not exhibit water repellency with respect to the droplets 28 used for forming the pattern, in step 59, the surface of the workpiece 2 is subjected to water repellency treatment in advance.

  In step 51 of forming the first continuous pattern, in step 52, the step of forming the separation pattern 75 discretely by the separation pattern forming function 30 is performed, and in step 53, the desired first continuous pattern 41 is formed. Repeat until. Next, when it is necessary to further improve the quality of the continuous pattern in step 54, the second continuous pattern 42 is superimposed on the first continuous pattern 41 by the second continuous pattern forming function 32 in step 55. Form. Furthermore, when the pattern 4 to be drawn is a painted surface in step 56 and the inside of the contour 73 needs to be painted, in step 57, the third continuous pattern forming function 33 causes the third continuous pattern to be placed inside the contour 73. A pattern 43 is formed to form a painted surface 72.

  The pattern creation method of this example shown in FIG. 6 can be provided as a program having an instruction to execute each step, and is recorded in a suitable ROM or the like as firmware executed by the CPU of the pattern creation apparatus 1. I can keep it. It can also be provided as a device driver 36 that is executed by the personal computer 3 as a host, provided by being recorded on a suitable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, or provided via a computer network such as the Internet. Is possible.

  As described above, in the pattern creation method of this example, a liquid pool ball is generated on the water-repellent workpiece 2 by repeating the process of discretely forming the separation pattern 75 having an area that does not allow liquid droplets to gather. To prevent. Further, the separation pattern 76 formed later is formed so as to partially overlap the separation pattern 75 formed earlier, thereby interrupting a continuous pattern such as lines and contours on the surface of the water-repellent workpiece 2. It can be formed without. For this reason, using the characteristics of the surface of the water-repellent work 2 that has little affinity with the ejected material 9 and does not spread wet, the droplets ejected by the ink jet method have a sharp pattern without bleeding. Thus, there is no break and a pattern having a stable surface can be formed.

  Also, even if the pattern has a large area, the outline is first formed using the separation pattern, and the inner side is used as a painted surface, so that the pattern having a large area on the surface of the water-repellent workpiece 2 is sharpened. Can be formed in a short time.

  As described above, the water repellency in this specification is a relative concept in the combination of the workpiece 2 and the droplets 28. Therefore, even if the surface of the workpiece 2 is relatively hydrophilic, it is possible to obtain water repellency by using the droplets 28 having a high surface tension. When the contact angle of the liquid droplet 28 with respect to the workpiece 2 is 50 degrees or more, the liquid droplets flow out and bleed almost disappear, and when the contact angle exceeds 70 degrees, the liquid droplets flow out and bleed almost disappear. On the other hand, when the contact angle is 150 degrees or more, the droplets 28 are completely repelled on the surface of the work 2 and the stability is reduced, and it becomes difficult to maintain the pattern with the applied droplets. Therefore, in the present example, it is desirable that the combination of the workpiece 2 and the droplet 28 forming the pattern has a contact angle in the range of 50 to 150 degrees, and more preferably in the range of 70 to 150 degrees.

  There may be a case where the droplet 28 does not exhibit water repellency on the surface of the workpiece 2 when the workpiece 2 and the droplet 28 for which a pattern is to be formed are given. In such a case, in order to obtain a sharp pattern, it is required that the surface of the workpiece 2 be subjected to water repellent treatment in advance in step 59 as described above. There are roughly three methods for water repellent treatment of the workpiece surface that can be employed in step 59. One is a method of applying a water repellent treatment material to the surface of the workpiece, and the other is a method of irradiating the surface of the workpiece with plasma. Furthermore, water repellency can be imparted by forming fine irregularities on the surface of the workpiece or, conversely, improving the smoothness of the surface of the workpiece.

  An example of a method of applying the water repellent treatment material to the surface of the work is to apply a fluoropolymer water repellent material or a silicon water repellent material to the surface of the work 2 by spin coating or dipping.

  An example of a method of irradiating the workpiece surface with plasma is to fluorinate the surface of the workpiece 2 using plasma, or to form a surface coating of a water repellent compound on the workpiece surface by plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposit) method. is there. It is also possible to form a water-repellent thin film on the surface of the workpiece by plasma polymerization.

  An example of a method for forming fine irregularities on the surface of the workpiece or, on the contrary, improving the smoothness of the surface of the workpiece is to roughen the surface of the workpiece by plasma etching. It is also possible to apply a water repellent material to the surface after roughening the surface using plasma. It is also possible to roughen the surface of the workpiece by blasting or the like. It is also possible to fix the member powder on the surface, or to form irregularities on the surface by forming a finely processed resist on the surface of the workpiece.

  As shown in FIG. 7, a pattern 74 having a large area can be formed by repeating the process of forming the separation pattern. In this example, by repeating the process of forming the rectangular separation pattern 78 shown in FIG. 4, a pattern having a two-dimensional expansion is formed.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of forming a nanobiochip for DNA analysis using the pattern creating apparatus 1. The nanobiochip 60 includes a microchamber 61 for PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) into which a DNA solution 64 is injected, and a microchannel or liquid flow path 62 for analyzing a gene taken out in the microchamber 61. And a micro-structure 63 formed on the micro-channel 62 for separating genes, and irradiating the micro-channel 62 with a laser beam 65 and photographing gene information with an imaging device such as a CCD. Can analyze DNA. Such a nano biochip 60 requires a very fine patterning technique. However, by using the pattern creation method of this example, the pattern creation apparatus 1 using an ink jet method can be used to form a microchamber 61, a microchannel 62, A fine microstructure 63 can be formed with high accuracy. Furthermore, in the pattern creation method of this example, not only the shape of the fine pattern in the two-dimensional direction but also the shape of the surface of the pattern, that is, the shape in the three-dimensional direction, by forming the second continuous pattern. It can be controlled with high accuracy and is suitable for manufacturing a high-performance nanochip.

  Such a pattern creation apparatus and pattern creation method of the present invention employs a combination of a droplet having a low affinity and a workpiece, and prevents sharpness of the droplet in a state where a sharp and clear high-quality pattern is prevented. It is necessary to make fine patterning such as printing, manufacturing of imaging devices, manufacturing of semiconductors including DNA chips, etc., from applications such as applying paints such as ink and reagents such as reagents to desired patterns. High-quality patterns can be created by applying it to patterning technologies in various fields.

It is a figure which shows the outline of the pattern production apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a state in which fine lines are formed by the pattern creating apparatus, FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a state in which separation patterns are formed discretely, and FIG. 2B is a diagram in which separation patterns are repeatedly formed and thin lines are formed. FIG. 2C is a diagram showing a state in which droplets are overlaid. It is a figure which shows a mode that a thin line is formed with the different separation pattern from FIG. FIG. 4A is a diagram showing how a pattern is created with a two-dimensionally spread separation pattern. FIG. 4A is a diagram showing how the separation pattern is formed discretely, and FIG. 4B is a diagram showing repeated separation patterns. It is a figure which shows a mode that it forms. It is a figure which shows a mode that the painting surface is formed with a pattern production apparatus, FIG. 5 (a) is a figure which shows a mode that a separation pattern is discretely formed in an outline part, FIG.5 (b) is a figure which shows a separation pattern. FIG. 5C is a diagram showing how the contour is formed by being repeatedly formed, and FIG. 5C is a diagram showing how the inside of the contour is painted. It is a flowchart which shows the process at the time of creating a desired pattern with a pattern production apparatus. This is an example of creating a desired pattern with different separation patterns. It is a figure which shows the bionanochip formed with the pattern production apparatus. FIG. 9A shows the originally intended pattern, and FIG. 9B shows how the pattern deteriorates due to the puddle ball.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pattern production apparatus 4 Workpiece 28 Droplet 30 Separation pattern formation function 31 1st continuous pattern formation function 32 2nd continuous pattern formation function 33 3rd continuous pattern formation function 38, 77 Small pattern 75, 76, 78 Separation pattern

Claims (13)

A separation pattern forming step of forming a plurality of separation patterns on the workpiece such that the droplets do not collect on the workpiece by one or a plurality of droplets so that the respective separation patterns do not overlap in a plane;
This separation pattern formation process is repeated, and in this case, the previous separation pattern formed in the previous separation pattern formation process is allowed to overlap with the subsequent separation pattern formed in the next separation pattern formation process. And a first continuous pattern forming step of forming a first continuous pattern that is continuously continuous.   2. The second continuous pattern according to claim 1, wherein a small pattern formed by one or a plurality of droplets is overlapped with the first continuous pattern so as to overlap a part of an adjacent small pattern. A pattern forming method including a second continuous pattern forming step.   2. The first continuous pattern according to claim 1, wherein a contour of a target pattern is formed, and a small pattern formed by one or a plurality of droplets is formed inside the contour, and a part of the adjacent small pattern. The pattern creation method which has a 3rd continuous pattern formation process which forms so that it may overlap with and forms a 3rd continuous pattern.   2. The pattern creation method according to claim 1, wherein, in the separation pattern forming step, droplets are ejected onto the workpiece in a state where curing or drying of the droplets on the workpiece is promoted.   5. The pattern creating method according to claim 1, wherein a droplet having a contact angle with respect to the workpiece in a range of 50 degrees to 150 degrees is used.   5. The pattern creating method according to claim 1, wherein a droplet having a contact angle with respect to the work in a range of 70 degrees to 150 degrees is used.   5. The contact angle according to claim 1, wherein a contact angle of the surface of the workpiece with respect to the droplet is 50 degrees to 150 degrees before the separation pattern forming step and the first continuous pattern forming step. The pattern creation method which has a process of water-repellent finishing. A separation pattern forming means for forming a plurality of separation patterns on the workpiece such that the droplets do not collect on the workpiece by one or a plurality of droplets so that the respective separation patterns do not overlap in a plane;
The separation pattern is repeatedly created, and in this case, a first continuous pattern that is planarly continuous is formed by allowing an overlap between a previously formed separation pattern and a next created separation pattern. A pattern creating apparatus having one continuous pattern forming means.   9. The second continuous pattern according to claim 8, wherein a small pattern formed by one or a plurality of droplets is formed so as to overlap with a part of an adjacent small pattern so as to overlap the first continuous pattern. A pattern creating apparatus having second continuous pattern forming means.   9. The first continuous pattern according to claim 8, wherein a contour of a target pattern is formed, and a small pattern formed by one or a plurality of droplets is formed inside the contour, and a part of an adjacent small pattern is formed. Forming a pattern having a third continuous pattern forming means for forming a third continuous pattern.   9. The pattern creating apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising means for promoting hardening or drying of the droplets on the workpiece.   The means for accelerating the curing or drying according to claim 11 is a heater for heating the workpiece from the back surface, a means for supplying warm air to the surface of the workpiece, a UV irradiation lamp for irradiating UV on the surface of the workpiece, or A pattern creating apparatus that is an electron beam irradiation apparatus that irradiates an electron beam onto the surface of the workpiece. A separation pattern forming step of forming a plurality of separation patterns on the workpiece such that the droplets do not collect on the workpiece by one or a plurality of droplets so that the respective separation patterns do not overlap in a plane;
This separation pattern formation process is repeated, and in this case, the previous separation pattern formed in the previous separation pattern formation process is allowed to overlap with the subsequent separation pattern formed in the next separation pattern formation process. And a first continuous pattern forming step for forming a first continuous pattern which is continuously continuous.

Images