JP2005089819A - Etching device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for etching an article with an improved etching factor. <P>SOLUTION: The etching device has a supplying unit 45 for supplying an etchant for etching a material to be etched; a plurality of nozzles N formed in the supplying unit 45 for spraying the etchant to the perimeter and center of the material 50 to be etched; and a configuration for etching the material while changing the relative positions of the nozzles N with respect to the material 50. There are two configurations of changing the relative positions of the nozzles N with respect to the material 50 to be etched. The first is the configuration of moving the nozzles N and the second is the configuration of moving the material to be etched. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an etching apparatus having an improved etching factor.

  A conventional etching method will be described with reference to FIG. 17 (see Patent Document 1).

  Referring to FIG. 17A, conductive foil 101 is planarly formed on the surface of substrate 102. Then, an etching resist 100 is applied so as to cover the surface of the conductive foil 101.

  Referring to FIG. 17B, the resist 100 is selectively exposed through an exposure mask (not shown). Here, the resist 100 is a negative resist, and the light beam 103 is selectively applied to the resist 100 corresponding to the region that is to remain as a conductive pattern.

  Referring to FIG. 17C, the resist 100 in the region other than the portion irradiated with the light beam 103 in the previous step is selectively peeled by melting using a chemical. Then, referring to FIG. 17D, etching is performed using remaining resist 100 as a mask. As a result, the conductive foil 101 is selectively removed to form the conductive pattern 103. Here, since wet etching in which etching proceeds in a substantially isotropic manner is employed, the cross section of the conductive pattern 103 has a tapered shape.

The etching factor will be described with reference to FIG. Here, it is assumed that the distance between the portion where the side surface of the conductive pattern 103 is eroded to the innermost side and the upper end portion of the resist is a1. Further, a depth at which the conductive foil 101 is eroded in the vertical direction (that is, the thickness of the conductive pattern 103 here) is assumed to be t. Under this condition, the etching factor Ef is expressed by [Ef = t / a1]. That is, when the value of this etching factor is large, the amount of side etching of the material to be etched is small, indicating that the possibility of fine processing is high. Such an etching method is applied to a method for manufacturing a printed circuit board or a circuit device.
JP-A-6-118661

  However, the above-described etching method has a problem that the value of the etching factor becomes small. That is, erosion in the side direction due to etching is large, so that the cross-section of the conductive pattern becomes a flared shape. This has hindered miniaturization of the conductive pattern. In addition, this may reduce the cross-section of the conductive pattern and may not ensure a desired current capacity.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and a main object of the present invention is to provide an etching apparatus having an improved etching factor.

  The etching apparatus of the present invention is an etching apparatus that etches a material to be etched with an etchant supplied from a supply apparatus, and the supply apparatus includes a nozzle that blows out the etchant from a peripheral part to a center part of the material to be etched. A plurality are formed, and etching is performed while changing a relative position between the nozzle and the material to be etched.

  According to the present invention, etching with higher uniformity can be performed by performing etching while changing the relative position between the supply device for supplying the etchant and the material to be etched.

<First embodiment for explaining etching method>
The etching method of the present embodiment uses a step of forming a resist 10 on the surface of a mask material 9 laminated on a conductive foil 11 that is an etching target material, a step of patterning the resist 10, and the resist 10 as a mask. It includes a step of etching the mask material 9, a step of removing the resist 10, and a step of etching the conductive foil 11 that is the material to be etched through the mask material 9. Details of each of these steps will be described below.

  First, the outline of the etching method of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S1, a material to be etched (material to be etched) is received. As the material received here, a conductive foil made of metal, a laminated sheet in which the conductive foil is laminated through an insulating layer, a substrate having a conductive foil attached to the surface, and the like are employed. Further, here, as pretreatment, dust and oil components adhering to the surface of the material to be etched are removed.

  In step S2, a mask material is laminated on the material to be etched. Here, a metal film having a thickness of several microns to several tens of microns is employed as a material for the mask material. However, as a material for the mask material, any material can be generally used as long as it does not chemically react with the etchant for etching the material to be etched and has resistance to an alkaline solution for stripping the resist. . Furthermore, as the material of the mask material, a material having excellent adhesion to the conductive foil 11 is suitable. Specifically, silver, gold, palladium or the like can be used as the material of the mask material 9. As a specific method for laminating the mask material on the surface of the material to be etched, the mask material can be laminated by electrolytic plating or by rolling joining. Here, the mask material 9 is preferably formed to be thinner than the resist 10.

  In step S <b> 3, a resist 10 for etching is formed on the surface of the mask material 9. The resist can be formed by applying a liquid resist or laminating a sheet-like resist (DFR). Either a positive type resist or a negative type resist can be employed.

  Referring to FIG. 2A, here, conductive foil 11 as a material to be etched is formed on the surface of substrate 12, and mask material 9 is formed on the surface of conductive foil 11. A resist 10 is formed on the surface of the mask material 9.

  In step S4, the applied resist is selectively exposed. Referring to FIG. 2B, the resist 10 is selectively exposed using the exposure mask 14. Specifically, since a negative resist is employed here, the resist 10 corresponding to the region remaining as the conductive pattern is exposed and the other regions are shielded from light. When a positive resist is employed, the exposure area and the non-exposure area are reversed. Here, the exposed region 10B of the resist 10 remains, and the non-exposed region 10A is removed in the development process. A specific method for removing the non-exposed area 10A is to first swell the non-exposed area 10A by immersing the resist 10 in a developer. Then, the swollen non-exposed region 10A is removed using water pressure.

  The exposure mask 14 has glass as a base material and an exposure pattern 15 formed on the lower surface of the glass. Here, a film-like sheet made of a resin or the like may be employed as the base material. That is, the exposure pattern 15 is formed so as to correspond to the selectively peeled area, and this area is shielded from light. Therefore, the exposure mask 14 having such a configuration is interposed above the resist 10 and irradiated with the light beam 13 from above, so that only the resist 10 in the region to be the conductive pattern is selectively irradiated with the light beam 13. Can do. Here, the distance at which the exposure patterns are separated from each other is L1.

  In step S5, referring to FIG. 3A, the resist is selectively removed using a solution, and the resist is further cured. Here, it is possible to configure the present application by omitting curing of the resist.

  In step S6, referring to FIG. 3B, the mask material 9 is patterned by etching. As an etchant used here for etching, an etchant that reacts with the mask material 9 but does not react with the conductive foil 11 is employed. For example, when silver is used as the material of the mask material 9 and copper is used as the material of the conductive foil 11, the mask material 9 can be etched using an etchant containing iodine in this step. .

  The patterning of the mask material in this step can be performed not only by the above-described etching but also by electric field peeling. As a specific method, first, the mask material 9 is brought into contact with a solution containing metal ions. For example, when silver is adopted as the material of the mask material 9, a plating solution used for silver plating can be adopted as this solution. Next, a positive electrode is brought into contact with this solution, and a negative electrode is brought into contact with the mask material 9, and then a direct current is passed. Thus, the mask material 9 can be patterned on the principle opposite to the plating film formation by the electric field method. In step S7, referring to FIG. 3C, the resist formed on the surface of the mask material 9 is removed.

  In step S8, referring to FIGS. 3C and 3D, the conductive foil 12 that is the material to be etched is etched through the mask material 9. As the etchant used here, a material that reacts with the conductive foil 11 but does not react with the mask material 9 is suitable. Specifically, when copper is employed as the material of the conductive foil 12 and silver is employed as the mask material, ferric chloride or cupric chloride can be employed as the etchant.

  An advantage of using the mask material 9 as an etching mask in this step will be described. The mask material 9 is in the form of a thin film having a thickness of several microns to several tens of microns, and its thickness is very small compared to the etching resist of the conventional example. Therefore, with reference to FIG. 3C, inhibition of the etchant flow F3 due to the step between the mask material 9 and the conductive foil 11 can be suppressed even in the initial stage of etching. This leads to a reduction in the amount of side etching of the conductive material by wet etching. Furthermore, with reference to FIG. 3D, assuming a case where the etching progresses and the groove 16A is formed, the length T obtained by adding the thickness of the mask material 9 and the depth of the groove 16A is the conventional value T. It is shorter than the one. Therefore, inhibition of the etchant flow F2 due to the step between the mask material 9 and the conductive foil 11 during the etching can be suppressed. Therefore, this improvement in the fluidity of the etchant leads to an improvement in the etching factor.

  What is shown on the right side of the flowchart of FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process of the exposure mask used in step S5 described above. In step S10, the user's specifications and drawings are obtained and an electrical circuit is designed. In step S11, a conductive pattern is designed based on an electric circuit using CAD (Computer Aided Design) or the like. In step S12, a conductive pattern is drawn using a drawing apparatus, and in step S13, an exposure mask is formed so that a region corresponding to the conductive pattern or a region other than the conductive pattern can be transmitted.

  With reference to FIG. 3E, the cross-sectional shape of the pattern formed in the above process will be described. A side surface of the pattern 16 formed by wet etching the conductive foil 11 has a tapered structure. That is, the pattern 16 has a rectangular cross section with the lower bottom longer than the upper bottom. Here, the distance between the upper end of the resist 10 and the upper end of the pattern 16 is a2. The distance (thickness) from the lower end to the upper end of the pattern 16 is assumed to be t. Then, the etching factor Ef is expressed by [Ef = t / a2]. Since the value of the etching factor is larger than that of the conventional example, the effectiveness of wet etching using the mask material 9 of the present application is also confirmed from this.

  As a further effect of the present embodiment, the pattern 16 of the portion where the mask material 9 is formed can be used as it is as a portion where die bonding or wire bonding is performed. That is, a circuit device or the like can be configured by omitting the step of forming the plating film.

  Moreover, since the thickness of the mask material 9 is thin, the fluidity of the etchant is improved and the progress of etching can be promoted.

<Second Embodiment Explaining Another Form of Etching Method>
The etching method according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The etching method of the present embodiment is a process of forming a mask material 9 made of a material having an etching property different from that of the material to be etched on the surface of the material to be etched (conductive foil 11) in a region corresponding to the conductive pattern to be formed. And a step of roughening the surface of the material to be etched (conductive foil 11) exposed from the mask material 9, and a step of removing the roughened surface of the material to be etched (conductive foil 11) by wet etching. Details of these steps will be described below.

  The etching method shown in this flowchart will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. This flowchart is similar to that shown in the first embodiment, and the difference is that it has step S15 for surface roughening and step S16 for etching the conductive foil. Below, it demonstrates focusing on the difference.

  In step S15, the surface of the conductive foil 11 exposed from the mask material 9 is roughened. Referring to FIG. 5A, a mask material 9 is selectively formed on the surface of conductive foil 11 as a material to be etched formed on the surface of substrate 12. This mask material 9 corresponds to a region corresponding to a conductive pattern to be formed. The mask material 9 can be formed by the method described in the first embodiment described above. Further, the mask material 9 can be formed by electrolytic plating, electroless plating, sputtering, or the like.

  As the material of the mask material 9, a material having an etching property different from that of the conductive foil 11 as the material to be etched is preferable. Specifically, when copper is used as the material of the conductive foil 11, silver, gold, palladium, or the like can be used as the material of the mask material 9. Further, the material of the mask material 9 is preferably a material harder than the conductive foil 11 that is the material to be etched. This is because the surface of the mask material 9 is also roughened when the surface is roughened in a later step. Furthermore, by adopting a hard material as the material of the mask material 9, the amount of roughening of the mask material 9 in the surface roughening step is reduced, so that the mask material 9 can be made thin. . By employing the thin mask material 9, the fluidity of the etchant can be improved, so that the effects described in the first embodiment can be obtained.

  A specific method for roughening the surface of the conductive foil 11 will be described with reference to FIG. Specific examples of the roughening method include carbon dioxide laser, argon laser, ion implantation, plasma, YAG laser, and solid laser (semiconductor laser). A method of roughening the surface can be employed. Here, “roughening” refers to an act of applying some energy to the surface of the conductive foil 11 to make the portion more easily etched than other portions.

  In the figure, a method for roughening the surface of the conductive foil 11 using plasma will be described. First, the configuration of the plasma apparatus 40 that performs plasma processing will be described. The plasma apparatus 40 includes a supply unit 41 that supplies a gas for inducing plasma into the inside of a casing that is hermetically sealed. And the exhaust part 42 for releasing the gas outside is also provided. A first electrode 43A and a second electrode 43B for applying a high frequency voltage are also provided inside the housing. And the conductive foil 11 which is a to-be-etched material is mounted on the mounting base 44, and the surface is irradiated with plasma. FIG. 5 (A) schematically shows a state in which the surface of the conductive foil 11 is irradiated with plasma. The conductive foil 11 is roughened by the plasma apparatus having such a configuration. In step S15, the surface may be roughened by performing plasma irradiation a plurality of times, and then the process may proceed to step S16.

  With reference to FIG. 6, the etching method of this Embodiment is demonstrated in detail. With reference to FIG. 6A, a cross section of the conductive foil 11 after the surface is roughened will be described. By roughening the surface by a method such as plasma, the composition in the vicinity of the surface of the conductive foil 11 has a fragile structure as compared with other portions. In the following description, the roughened conductive foil 11 near the surface layer is referred to as a damaged layer 11A. Specifically, a damage layer 11A having a thickness of several μm to several tens of μm can be formed on the surface of the conductive foil 11 by one roughening. At the same time that the conductive foil 11 is roughened, the surface of the mask material 9 is also roughened. As described above, when a material harder than the conductive foil 11 is employed as the material of the mask material 9, the damage layer formed on the surface of the mask material 9 can be reduced.

  Subsequently, referring to FIG. 6B, wet etching of the conductive foil shown in step S16 is performed. When the material of the conductive foil 11 is copper, a solution containing ferric chloride or cupric chloride is used as an etchant. By this etching, the damaged layer 11A is preferentially etched and melted early. When such an etchant is used, a material having resistance to ferric chloride or cupric chloride is adopted as the mask material 9. Specifically, gold, silver, palladium, or the like is used as the mask material 9. It can be used as a material. Further, a material other than metal may be employed as the material of the mask material 9. In the drawing, the cross section of the surface of the conductive foil 11 exposed from the mask material 9 is slightly deformed into a concave shape by etching.

  Then, step S15 for roughening the surface of the conductive foil 11 and step S16 for etching the damaged layer 11A are alternately performed, and the etching of the conductive foil 11 exposed from the mask material 9 is anisotropically performed. Proceed with Here, the anisotropy refers to a phenomenon in which etching basically proceeds only in the downward direction and the side etching phenomenon does not occur. Even if side etch occurs, the amount is very small compared to the conventional example. Moreover, you may interpose the process of washing the conductive foil 11 in water while returning from step S16 to step S15.

  With reference to FIG. 6C, the cross-sectional shape of the groove 16A formed by repeating Step S15 and Step S16 will be described. As described above, when the damaged layer 11A is formed and etching is performed, wet etching proceeds anisotropically, and the side surface of the groove 16A has a substantially vertical shape. The reason is that the roughening method such as plasma used in the present embodiment has a property of going straight downward, so that the damaged layer 11A is formed only near the bottom of the groove 16A. For this reason, also in the wet etching performed after the damage layer 11A is formed, the vicinity of the bottom of the groove 16A is preferentially eroded. Also, anisotropic etching can be performed more reliably by setting the time for performing wet etching so that the damaged layer 11A is eroded and the grooves 16A in other regions are not eroded.

  Referring to FIG. 6D, by repeating step S15 and step S16, here, conductive foil 11 is electrically separated by groove 16A, and pattern 16 is formed. By the above-described process, the cross-sectional shape of the pattern 16 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape, so that a very large etching factor can be obtained. Furthermore, the interval between the patterns 16 can be reduced to about 10 μm.

  The improvement of normal miniaturization is performed by miniaturizing the exposure mask 15 of the exposure pattern 14. Specifically, when the resist 10 is of a negative type, this miniaturization is achieved by reducing the width L2 of the exposure pattern. Accordingly, promotion of miniaturization by this method requires a large amount of cost in order to improve the drawing apparatus for the exposure pattern 16. The above-described method of the present invention can promote miniaturization without requiring such a large cost. That is, the interval between the patterns 116 can be narrowed without changing the width of the exposure pattern 15. Furthermore, since the cross-sectional area of the pattern 16 can be increased, a current capacity can be ensured.

<Third embodiment for explaining an etching apparatus>
In this embodiment, a structure of an etching apparatus that performs etching and an etching method using the same will be described. That is, in step S6 or step S8 in the first embodiment, or in step S6 or step S16 in the first embodiment, the etching apparatus and the etching method described in this embodiment are as follows. Can be used. In addition to the conductive pattern that is a component of the circuit device, a printed circuit board, a wafer, or the like can be used as the material to be etched. Details of the etching apparatus will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  The etching apparatus according to the present embodiment is an etching apparatus that etches a material to be etched with an etchant supplied from a supply device 45, and the etchant is blown out from the periphery of the material to be etched 50 to the center. A plurality of nozzles N are formed, and etching is performed while changing the relative positions of the nozzles N and the material to be etched 50. There are two configurations for changing the relative position of the nozzle N and the material to be etched 50, the first configuration is a configuration for moving the nozzle N, and the second configuration is a configuration for moving the material to be etched. It is.

  The first configuration described above will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the material to be etched 50 is placed on the surface of a mounting table (not shown), and the position of the material to be etched 50 is fixed by a fixing mechanism such as suction means.

  The nozzle N has a role of supplying an etchant of the material to be etched 50, and a plurality of nozzles N are provided from the periphery to the center of the material to be etched 50. Here, four nozzles N1, N2, N3, and N4 are provided. Further, the nozzle N is provided at the lower part of the arm 47, and the outlet is directed to the surface of the material to be etched 50. Moreover, the arm 47 and the nozzle N have a hollow structure, and the internal space of both communicates. Accordingly, the etchant is supplied to each nozzle N through the arm 47.

  The arm 47 extends outward from a shaft portion 46 provided above the central portion of the material to be etched 50. Here, six arms 47 extend radially from the shaft portion 46 toward the outside. Then, when the shaft portion 46 rotates, the arm 47 and the nozzle N rotate above the material to be etched 50.

  Next, the operation of the etching apparatus having the above structure will be described with reference to FIG. First, the material to be etched 50 is placed on the placing table and its position is fixed. Next, the arm 47 is rotated while supplying the etchant from the nozzles N of the supply device 45 to the surface of the material to be etched 50. Thus, etching can be performed while changing the relative position between the material to be etched 50 and the nozzle N. Here, as the etchant, when the material to be etched 50 is copper, a solution containing ferric chloride or cupric chloride can be employed. When another material is employed as the material to be etched 50, a solution that erodes the material is employed as the etchant. After the etching is completed, pure water is supplied to the material to be etched 50 through the nozzle N in order to clean the material 50 to be etched. Further, the etching target material 50 is dried by rotating the etching target material 50 at a high speed. Further, the etching amount of the material to be etched 50 can be controlled by the rotational speed of the material to be etched 50 or the supply device 45, the pressure of the etchant sprayed from the nozzle, and the etching time.

  In the above description, the relative position between the nozzle N and the etching target material 50 is changed by fixing the etching target material 50 and rotating the supply device 45 that supplies the etchant. However, it is also possible to change the relative position of both in other configurations. Specifically, the supply device 45 may be fixed and the material to be etched 50 may be rotated. Further, both the supply device 45 and the material to be etched 50 may be configured to rotate in opposite directions.

  With reference to FIG. 7B, an etching apparatus having another configuration will be described. The basic configuration of the etching apparatus shown in the figure is the same as the apparatus shown in FIG. 7A, and the difference is in the configuration of the supply apparatus. The supply device here has an arm 47 extending from the periphery of the material to be etched 50 to the vicinity of the center, and a plurality of nozzles N are provided below the arm. The inside of the arm 47 and the inside of the nozzle N communicate with each other, and the etchant that has passed through the nozzle N is supplied to the surface of the material to be etched 50 through the arm 47. Here, one arm 47 extends from the outer peripheral portion of the material to be etched 50 to above the central portion, but a plurality of arms 47 may be provided. As a specific operation of the etching apparatus, the material to be etched 50 rotates while supplying an etchant from the nozzle N to the surface of the material to be etched 50. Other operations are similar to those of the etching apparatus shown in FIG.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 8, the detail of the supply apparatus 45 mentioned above is demonstrated. 8A is a plan view of the supply device 45, and FIGS. 8B to 8E are cross-sectional views of the nozzles N. FIG.

  With reference to FIG. 8 (A), arms 47 are led out in four directions around the shaft portion 46. Here, four arms 47 are led out from the shaft portion 46, but the number of arms 47 may be four or more or four or less. A plurality of nozzles N communicating with the internal space of the arm 47 are provided below each arm 47. Here, four nozzles N1, N2, N3, and N4 are provided at the lower part of each arm 47 at substantially equal intervals, but this number can be changed.

  Next, the structure of each nozzle N will be described. Considering the case where the supply device 45 rotates around the shaft portion 46, the moving speed of the nozzle N positioned on the outer side is faster than that of the nozzle N positioned on the inner side. Therefore, for example, if the nozzle N1 located on the inner side and the nozzle N4 located on the outer side operate under the same conditions, the outer etched material 50 may be etched excessively than the inner etched material 50. is there. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the operating conditions of the inner nozzle N are different from the operating conditions of the outer nozzle. Various structures are conceivable for making the operating conditions of the nozzles different. As the first structure, there is a method in which the amount of the etchant ejected from the inner nozzle N is made larger than that of the outer nozzle N. As a second method, there is a structure in which the pressure of the etchant ejected from the inner nozzle N is made larger than that of the outer nozzle N. As a third structure, the nozzle connection angle is changed.

  The above-described third structure will be described in detail below. Here, the angle of the inner nozzle N in the traveling direction is made larger than that of the outer nozzle. Referring to FIG. 8A, in supply device 45, arm 47 rotates counterclockwise. The nozzle N located on the inner side is fixed to the arm 47 with an inclination in the forward direction with respect to the traveling direction. Therefore, the angle formed by the jet direction of the etchant supplied from the inner nozzle N and the direction perpendicular to the material to be etched 50 is large.

  The connection structure of the nozzle N will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 8B to 8E. Referring to FIG. 8B, the nozzle N4 located on the outermost side of the arm 47 is connected to the arm 47 so as to inject the etchant substantially directly below. Referring to FIGS. 8C to 8E, the angles formed by the nozzles N3, N4, N5 and the vertical direction are α1, α2, and α3, respectively. The magnitude relationship between these angles is α1 <α2 <α3. Further, in the above description, the nozzle N located inside can be inclined in the opposite direction to the traveling direction.

  With reference to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, another third structure will be described. Here, the connection angle of the nozzle N is inclined with respect to the extending direction of the arm 47. Specifically, the operating conditions of each nozzle can be made different by inclining the nozzle N located inside in the center direction or the outer peripheral direction.

  With reference to FIG. 9A, a plurality of nozzles N are provided below the arm 47 of the supply device 45. The nozzle N4 located at the outermost peripheral portion extends directly below the material to be etched 50. On the other hand, the nozzle N1 located on the innermost side has a connection structure that is inclined toward the outer peripheral side. Therefore, the nozzle N1 having such a connection structure can etch the inner material to be etched 50 as well as the outer side.

  Referring to FIG. 9B, here, the inner nozzle N is configured to be inclined with respect to the central direction of rotation. That is, the nozzle N4 located at the outermost peripheral portion extends vertically below the material to be etched 50, and the nozzle N1 extending inwardly has a connection structure with an inclination toward the rotation center. ing. Even with such a configuration, etching can be performed evenly.

Referring to FIG. 10, here, uniform etching is realized by changing the distance between the tip of each nozzle N and the material 50 to be etched. Specifically, the tip of the nozzle N located on the inner side is closer to the material to be etched 50 than the tip of the nozzle N located on the outer side. Referring to the figure, arm 47 extends parallel to the surface direction of material 50 to be etched, nozzle N4 located at the outermost periphery is formed in the shortest, and nozzle N1 located at the innermost side is Formed the longest. With this configuration, the tip of the inner nozzle N is closer to the material to be etched 50. Therefore, the pressure of the etchant ejected from the tip of the inner nozzle N becomes stronger in the inner nozzle, and uniform etching can be performed.
<Fourth Embodiment Explaining a Circuit Device Manufacturing Method>
Next, with reference to FIG. 11, several types of circuit devices manufactured using the etching method described above will be introduced. The configuration of the circuit device 20 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11A to FIG. 11C are cross-sectional views of circuit devices of various forms.

  Referring to FIG. 11A, a circuit device 20A of the present invention electrically connects a conductive pattern 21, a circuit element 22 fixed to the conductive pattern 21 via solder, and the conductive pattern 21 and the outside. It has the structure which has the external electrode 27 as a connection means to do.

  The conductive pattern 21 is made of a metal such as copper and is embedded in the sealing resin 28 with its back surface exposed. Each conductive pattern 21 is electrically separated by a separation groove 29, and the separation groove 29 is filled with a sealing resin 28. In addition, the side surface of the conductive pattern 21 is curved, and the bonding between the conductive pattern 21 and the sealing resin 28 is improved by this shape.

  The separation groove 29 has a function of electrically separating the conductive patterns 21. In addition, since the separation groove is formed by the etching method described above, the width can be narrowed with respect to the length in the depth direction. That is, the interval between the conductive patterns 21 can be narrowed. Furthermore, since the width of the conductive pattern 21 can be increased to increase the cross-sectional area, the current capacity can be increased.

  Here, the circuit element 22 includes a semiconductor element 22A and a chip element 22B. Further, active elements such as LSI chips, bare transistor chips, and diodes can be employed as circuit elements. Furthermore, passive elements such as chip resistors and chip capacitors can be employed as circuit elements. As a specific mounting structure, the back surface of the semiconductor element 22 </ b> A is fixed to a pad made of the conductive pattern 21. Then, the electrode on the surface of the semiconductor element 22 </ b> A and the conductive pattern 21 are electrically connected through a fine metal wire 25. The chip element 22B has electrodes at both ends thereof fixed to the conductive pattern 21 via solder.

  The sealing resin 28 is made of a thermoplastic resin formed by injection molding or a thermosetting resin formed by transfer molding. The sealing resin 28 has a function of sealing the whole as well as a function of mechanically supporting the whole. The external electrode 27 is formed at a predetermined location on the back surface of the conductive pattern 21.

  Referring to FIG. 11B, the basic configuration of circuit device 20B shown in FIG. 11B is the same as that of circuit device 20A described above, and the difference is that support substrate 31 is provided.

  As the support substrate 31, a substrate having excellent heat dissipation and good mechanical strength is employed. Here, a metal substrate, a printed substrate, a flexible substrate, a composite substrate, or the like can be employed. Further, when a substrate made of a conductive material such as metal is employed, an insulating layer is provided on the surface to insulate the conductive pattern 21.

  The first conductive pattern 21 </ b> A and the second conductive pattern 21 </ b> B are formed on the front surface and the back surface of the support substrate 31. The first conductive pattern 21A and the second conductive pattern 21B penetrate through the support substrate 31 and are electrically connected. In addition, the external electrode 27 is formed on the second conductive pattern 21B. Also here, since the first and second conductive patterns 21A and 21B are formed by the etching method described above, the width between the patterns can be narrowed, and miniaturization can be promoted.

Referring to FIG. 11C, in circuit device 20C, conductive pattern 21 has a multilayer wiring structure. Specifically, two layers of conductive patterns composed of a first conductive pattern 21A and a second conductive pattern 21B are stacked via an insulating layer 32 made of resin. Here, a wiring structure having three or more layers may be formed. The first conductive pattern 21 </ b> A and the second conductive pattern 21 </ b> B are electrically connected through the insulating layer 32. Also here, since the first and second conductive patterns 21A and 21B are formed by the etching method described above, the width between the patterns can be narrowed, and the miniaturization can be promoted. A method for manufacturing the circuit device having the configuration described in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. First, a method for manufacturing the circuit device 20A having the configuration shown in FIG. 11A will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, referring to FIG. 12A, mask material 9 is laminated on the surface of conductive foil 30 made of metal such as copper. Then, as shown in FIG. 12B, an etching resist PR is formed in a portion that becomes a conductive pattern. Then, the mask material 9 exposed from the resist PR is patterned by wet etching. At this time, the conductive foil 30 is basically not etched. Then, the resist PR is removed as shown in FIG. Thereafter, referring to FIG. 12D, the surface of conductive foil 30 exposed from mask material 9 is removed by wet etching, thereby forming separation groove 29. By forming the separation groove 29, each conductive pattern 21 is formed in a convex shape. Here, since the mask material 9 is formed extremely thin, the etching factor can be improved. Here, the mask material 9 may be used as an alternative to the plating film, or a new plating film may be formed on the surface of the conductive pattern 21 by removing the mask material 9.

  Referring to FIG. 12E, the semiconductor element 22A and the chip element 22B are fixed to the desired conductive pattern 21 via a brazing material such as solder. In addition, the electrode on the surface of the semiconductor element 22 </ b> A and the conductive pattern 21 are electrically connected through a thin metal wire 25.

  Next, referring to FIG. 13A, a sealing resin 28 is formed so that the separation grooves 29 are filled and the circuit elements are covered. The sealing resin 28 can be formed by a transfer mold using a thermosetting resin or an injection mold using a thermoplastic resin.

  Next, referring to FIG. 13B, the conductive foil 30 is completely removed from the back surface, so that the sealing resin 28 filled in the separation grooves 29 is exposed on the back surface, and each conductive pattern 21 is electrically connected. Separate. Then, by forming the resist 26 and the external electrode 27, the circuit device 20 as shown in FIG. 13C is completed.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the circuit device 20C shown in FIG. 11C will be described with reference to FIGS. First, referring to FIG. 14A, a laminated sheet is prepared in which a first conductive foil 33 and a second conductive foil 34 are laminated via an insulating layer 22.

  Next, referring to FIG. 14B, mask material 9 is laminated on the surface of first conductive foil 33, and mask material 9 is patterned using resist 10. After performing this patterning, the resist 10 is peeled off.

  Referring to FIG. 14C, the first conductive foil 33 is etched through the patterned mask material 9. Here, since the mask material 9 is formed very thin, a fine through hole 35 can be formed. Thus, the area occupied by the through-hole 35 can be reduced, so that the wiring density of the entire device can be improved and the overall size of the device can be reduced.

  After the through hole 35 is formed, the mask material 9 is removed with reference to FIG. The removal of the mask material can be performed by electric field separation using the reverse principle of electrolytic plating or etching with an etchant that melts the mask material 9. Subsequently, the insulating layer 22 located below the through hole 35 is removed, so that the through hole 35 reaches the surface of the second conductive foil 34. The insulating layer 22 can be removed using a carbon dioxide laser.

  Then, referring to FIG. 15A, by forming a plating film made of a metal such as copper, a connection portion 36 is formed in the through hole 35, and the first conductive foil 33 and the second conductive foil are formed. 34 is electrically connected. Subsequently, with reference to FIG. 15B, the upper surface of the first conductive foil 33 and the lower surface of the second conductive foil 34 are covered with the mask material 9. Further, the mask material 9 covering both conductive foils is etched using the resist 10.

Referring to FIG. 15C, the first conductive foil 33 using the mask material 9 as an etching mask.
Then, the second conductive foil 34 is etched. As a result, the first conductive pattern 21A and the second conductive pattern 21B are formed. After this etching is completed, as shown in FIG. 15D, the mask material 9 may be peeled off, or may be used as a die pad or a bonding pad as an alternative to a normal plating film.

  Next, referring to FIG. 16A, the semiconductor element 22A and the chip element 22B are fixed to the first conductive pattern 21A. Then, referring to FIG. 16B, sealing resin 28 is formed so as to cover semiconductor element 22A and chip element 22B. Then, by performing the back surface processing, a circuit device as shown in FIG. 11C is completed.

3 is a flowchart showing an etching method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing (A)-(B) which shows the etching method of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing (A)-(E) which shows the etching method of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the etching method of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing (A)-(B) which shows the etching method of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing (A)-(D) which shows the etching method of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view (A)-(B) which shows the etching apparatus of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is the top view (A) and sectional drawing (B)-(E) which show the etching apparatus of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing (A)-(B) which shows the etching apparatus of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the etching apparatus of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing (A)-(C) which shows the manufacturing method of the circuit device of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing (A)-(E) which shows the manufacturing method of the circuit device of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing (A)-(C) which shows the manufacturing method of the circuit device of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing (A)-(D) which shows the manufacturing method of the circuit device of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing (A)-(D) which shows the manufacturing method of the circuit device of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing (A)-(B) which shows the manufacturing method of the circuit device of the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing (A)-(E) which shows the conventional etching method.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 Mask material 10 Resist 11 Conductive foil 12 Board | substrate 14 Exposure mask 16 Conductive pattern 45 Supply apparatus 46 Shaft part 47 Arm N1-N4 Nozzle

Claims (6)

An etching apparatus that etches a material to be etched with an etchant supplied from a supply apparatus,
In the supply device, a plurality of nozzles for blowing out the etchant are formed from the periphery to the center of the material to be etched.
An etching apparatus that performs etching while changing a relative position between the nozzle and the material to be etched. The position of the material to be etched is fixed,
2. The etching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle supplies the etchant to the surface of the material to be etched while rotating above the material to be etched. The supply device includes:
A shaft provided above the center of the material to be etched;
Arms extending radially from the shaft portion in the surface direction of the material to be etched;
The etching apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising the nozzle provided on the arm. The angle formed by the traveling direction of the etchant supplied from the nozzle and the direction perpendicular to the material to be etched is
2. The etching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a nozzle closer to the center of the material to be etched is larger than a nozzle far from the center of the material to be etched. The position of the nozzle is fixed,
2. The etching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the etchant is supplied to a surface of the material to be etched while the material to be etched is rotated in the surface direction.   The etching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle is provided on an arm extending from a peripheral portion to a central portion above the material to be etched.

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