JP2005262219A - Laser beam machining apparatus and laser beam drawing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a laser beam machining apparatus, by which the time for irradiating the whole area to be machined with a laser beam is reduced. <P>SOLUTION: The laser beam machining apparatus is provided with: a laser beam source 1, which emits a continuous-wave laser beam; a beam deflector 5, which deflects a laser beam emitted from the laser beam source and changes the direction of the deflection based on control signals inputted from the outside; a stage mechanism 8, which holds a work 7 at a position where the laser beam deflected by the deflector is made incident, and which moves the work based on control signals inputted from the outside; and a controller 9, which controls the stage mechanism and the beam deflector so that the incident position of the laser beam deflected by the beam deflector is moved along a target track on the work during the movement of the work. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus and a laser drawing method, and more particularly, to a laser processing apparatus and a laser drawing method for irradiating a workpiece with laser while changing the traveling direction of a laser beam.

  Laser beams are used in various processes. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a laser processing apparatus that processes a conductive thin film into a predetermined pattern. This laser processing apparatus will be described below. A laser beam emitted from the laser light source enters a shutter that can be opened and closed. By opening and closing the shutter, a state in which the laser beam is irradiated on the object to be processed and a state in which the laser beam is not irradiated are switched. A workpiece is held by the stage mechanism. When the stage mechanism moves the object to be processed within a predetermined plane, the beam incident position on the surface to be processed moves. The position of the object to be processed is detected by the position detection mechanism.

  The stage mechanism moves the processing object according to the processing pattern. When the workpiece reaches the machining start position, the shutter is opened and laser irradiation to the workpiece is started. When the workpiece reaches the machining end position, the shutter is closed and the workpiece is moved to the workpiece. End laser irradiation.

  Patent Document 1 also describes the following laser processing apparatus. The laser beam emitted from the laser light source enters the shutter as described above. The laser beam emitted from the shutter is reflected by a swingable reflecting mirror and is incident on a workpiece to be held on the mounting base. By swinging the reflecting mirror and swinging the traveling direction of the laser beam, the beam incident position on the processing surface is moved. By detecting the posture of the reflecting mirror (displacement angle from the reference position), the position on the processing surface where the laser beam is assumed to be incident is detected.

  While the reflecting mirror is swung, the shutter is opened when the position where the beam is supposed to be incident reaches the machining start position, the laser irradiation to the workpiece is started, and the position where the beam is supposed to be incident is When the processing end position is reached, the shutter is closed and the laser irradiation to the processing object is ended.

  In addition, a laser processing apparatus and a processing method described below are generally known. The laser beam emitted from the laser light source is swayed in the traveling direction by the galvano scanner, and is irradiated onto the object to be processed held by the stage mechanism. When the galvano scanner swings the traveling direction of the laser beam (scans the laser beam), the beam incident position on the processing surface moves. However, since the range in which the laser beam can be scanned by the galvano scanner is limited, there is a case where the entire surface to be processed cannot be irradiated with the position of the object to be processed being fixed. In such a case, the entire surface to be processed can be irradiated with laser as follows.

  Laser irradiation is performed within a range that can be scanned by a galvano scanner on the surface to be processed while the position of the processing object is fixed. When the laser irradiation with respect to the range is completed, the stage mechanism is operated so as to move the object to be processed so that the unirradiated region is positioned within the range that can be scanned by the galvano scanner. When the movement of the object to be processed is completed, the laser irradiation is performed again within a range that can be scanned by the galvano scanner while the position of the object to be processed is fixed. By repeating such steps, the entire surface to be processed is irradiated with laser.

JP 9-265902 A

  In the processing in which the laser beam scanning by the galvano scanner and the movement of the workpiece are repeated alternately as described above, the start and stop of the stage mechanism (acceleration and deceleration of the holding table that holds the workpiece) is repeated. Since acceleration / deceleration of the holding table cannot be performed instantaneously, it becomes more difficult to shorten the machining time as the number of times the stage mechanism is started and stopped.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a laser drawing method capable of shortening the time for irradiating a laser to the entire region to be processed and a laser processing apparatus that can be used therefor.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, a laser light source that emits a continuous wave laser beam, and a beam deflector that deflects the laser beam emitted from the laser light source and changes a deflection direction based on a control signal input from the outside. A stage mechanism for holding the workpiece at a position where the laser beam deflected by the beam deflector is incident and moving the workpiece based on a control signal input from the outside, and the workpiece During the moving period, the stage mechanism and the beam deflector are controlled so that the incident position of the laser beam deflected by the beam deflector moves on the workpiece along the target locus. A laser processing apparatus having a control device is provided.

  While moving the object to be processed and scanning the laser beam, the region to be processed is irradiated with laser. Since the number of times of starting and stopping the stage necessary for irradiating the entire processing region with the laser can be reduced as compared with the prior art, the time required for performing laser irradiation on the entire processing region can be shortened.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a laser processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this laser processing apparatus, a laser beam is irradiated to the processing object 7 held on the stage 8a. The stage 8a is held on a base 8f, and an XY orthogonal coordinate system is fixed to the base 8f.

  A laser light source 1 emits a continuous wave laser beam. As the laser light source 1, for example, a YAG laser including a harmonic generation unit or a semiconductor laser can be used. The laser beam emitted from the laser light source 1 is incident on the shutter 2 disposed on the optical path from the laser light source 1 to the attenuator 3. The shutter 2 is controlled by the synchronization control device 9b and switches between a state in which the laser beam is incident on the attenuator 3 and a state in which the laser beam is not incident. As the attenuator 3, a variable attenuator having a variable amount of attenuation of the laser beam power can be used.

  As the shutter 2, for example, a mechanical shutter including a laser beam transmission region and a light shielding region can be used. In such a shutter 2, the state where the transmission region is disposed and the state where the light shielding region is disposed are switched at the incident position of the laser beam, and the laser beam transmitted through the transmission region is incident on the attenuator 3. As the shutter 2, a swingable reflecting mirror can be used. In such a shutter 2, the angle at which the reflecting mirror swings is controlled, and the incident laser beam is reflected in a direction incident on the attenuator 3 and reflected in a direction not incident on the attenuator 3. Switch.

  The shutter 2 can be configured to include, for example, an electro-optical element that exhibits the Pockels effect, a polarizing beam splitter, and a damper. Such a shutter 2 functions as described below. It is assumed that the laser beam emitted from the laser light source 1 is a linear deflection and is a P wave for the polarization beam splitter. A polarizing beam splitter transmits the P wave and reflects the S wave.

  P waves emitted from the laser light source enter the electro-optic element. When a predetermined voltage is applied to the electro-optic element, the P wave incident on the electro-optic element is rotated in the plane of polarization and becomes an S wave for the polarization beam splitter. The S wave emitted from the electro-optic element is reflected by the polarization beam splitter, absorbs the laser beam, and enters the damper that is the end of the optical path. At this time, the laser beam does not enter the attenuator 3. On the other hand, when no voltage is applied to the electro-optic element, the laser beam incident on the electro-optic element is emitted as a P wave from the electro-optic element, passes through the polarization beam splitter, and enters the attenuator 3. Note that the S wave reflected by the polarization beam splitter may be incident on the attenuator 3 and the P wave transmitted through the polarization beam splitter may be incident on the damper.

  The shutter 2 can also be configured to include an acousto-optic element and a damper. The acoustooptic device can deflect a laser beam incident thereon by applying a predetermined high-frequency signal. When no high frequency signal is applied, the laser beam is not deflected. In such a shutter 2, one of the laser beam deflected by the acoustooptic device and the laser beam not deflected is incident on the attenuator 3 and the other is incident on the damper. Note that the shutter 2 using the acousto-optic element functions even if the laser beam emitted from the laser light source 1 is not linearly deflected.

  The laser beam emitted from the shutter 2 and incident on the attenuator 3 is adjusted in power by the attenuator 3, reflected by the folding mirror 4, then incident on the galvano scanner 5 and deflected. The galvano scanner 5 is for galvano X, which drives two oscillating mirrors 5a and 5b, and X oscillating mirror 5a and 5b. The motor 5c and the galvano Y motor 5d, the galvano X motor 5c, and the galvano Y motor 5d are configured to include a galvano X encoder 5e and a galvano Y encoder 5f that detect displacement angles from the respective reference positions.

  The X oscillating mirror 5a and the Y oscillating mirror 5b respectively oscillate the traveling direction of the laser beam emitted from the galvano scanner 5 in the X axis direction and the Y axis direction. By combining the operations of the X oscillating mirror 5a and the Y oscillating mirror 5b, the laser beam can be oscillated in a two-dimensional direction parallel to the XY plane. The galvano control device 9c controls the galvano X motor 5c and the galvano Y motor 5d to deflect the laser beam in a desired direction.

  The laser beam emitted from the galvano scanner 5 is converged by the fθ lens 6 and is incident on the workpiece 7 held on the stage 8a. Note that the surface of the workpiece 7 is parallel to the XY plane. By using the fθ lens 6, the laser beam deflected in various directions by the galvano scanner 5 is perpendicularly incident on the surface of the workpiece 7 and is focused on the surface of the workpiece 7 (beam spot Can be minimized). On the surface of the workpiece 7, for example, a drawing pattern 7 a made up of a plurality of discretely arranged linear patterns is defined.

  The workpiece 7 is, for example, a printed wiring board or a glass substrate having an ITO film formed on the surface, and a recess is formed on the surface by laser irradiation. The processing object 7 also includes, for example, a substrate and a transfer layer formed on the surface of the substrate, and the transfer layer is bonded to the substrate by irradiating the transfer layer with a laser and heating it. . In such an object 7 to be processed, a portion of the transfer layer that has not been irradiated with the laser is peeled off after the laser irradiation, whereby a convex portion formed of the bonded transfer layer is formed on the substrate.

  The stage mechanism 8 includes a base 8f, a stage 8a held on the base 8f, a stage X motor 8b and a stage Y motor 8c for driving the stage 8a, a stage X motor 8b, and a stage Y motor 8c. A stage X encoder 8d and a stage Y encoder 8e for detecting the rotation angle are included.

  The stage 8a can be moved in a two-dimensional direction parallel to the XY plane with respect to the base 8f by being driven by the stage X motor 8b and the stage Y motor 8c. For example, a stepping motor is used as both motors for driving the stage 8a. The stage controller 9d controls both motors and moves the stage 8a to a desired position.

  The galvano scanner 5 can move the beam incident position on the surface to be processed by changing the traveling direction of the laser beam (scanning the laser beam). However, since the range in which the galvano scanner 5 can oscillate the laser beam is limited, there are cases where the entire drawing pattern 7a cannot be irradiated with the laser beam while the position of the workpiece 7 is fixed. By moving the workpiece 7 by the stage mechanism 8, a desired portion of the drawing pattern 7 a can be positioned within a range that can be scanned by the galvano scanner 5.

  The laser processing apparatus according to the present embodiment controls the stage mechanism 8 and the galvano scanner 5 as described below, thereby moving the processing object 7 by the stage mechanism 8 while moving the laser beam on the processing surface. The laser beam can be deflected by the galvano scanner 5 so that the incident position moves along the target trajectory, and laser irradiation can be performed on the entire drawing pattern 7a.

The control device 9 includes a main control device 9a, a synchronous control device 9b, a galvano control device 9c, and a stage control device 9d. The main control device 9a transmits stage target position coordinates (X _S , Y _S ) that are target position coordinates of the stage 8a to the stage control device 9d. The stage control device 9d obtains the target rotation angles S _X and S _Y from the stage target position coordinates (X _S , Y _S ), and sends signals indicating the rotation angles S _X and S _Y to the stage X motor 8b, respectively. And transmitted to the stage Y motor 8c. Both motors move the stage 8a to the stage target position coordinates (X _S , Y _S ).

The stage X encoder 8d and the stage Y encoder 8e detect the rotation angles E _SX and E _SY of the stage X motor 8b and the stage Y motor 8c, respectively, and _send signals indicating these rotation angles to the stage controller 9d. Send to. Stage controller 9d, the angle _{E SX} and _{E SY} respectively, to match the angle of rotation _{S X} and _{S Y} target, controls the two motors. The stage control device 9d calculates the X coordinate X _ES and the Y coordinate Y _ES of the stage 8a from the angles E _SX and E _SY , and transmits them to the synchronous control device 9b.

  For example, the stage 8a moves on a desired trajectory at a desired timing by repeatedly moving to a target position set for each time. By moving the stage 8a, the region on the surface to be processed located within the range that can be scanned by the galvano scanner 5 is updated.

A PQ orthogonal coordinate system is defined on the processing surface of the processing object 7. The main controller 9a transmits the coordinates (P _P , Q _P ) of the incident position of the laser beam on the workpiece surface to the synchronous controller 9b. The incident position coordinates (P _P , Q _P ) are position coordinates in the PQ orthogonal coordinate system. The main control device 9a also has information for specifying the start point and end point of each linear pattern of the drawing pattern 7a, and transmits this information to the synchronous control device 9b.

When the processing object 7 moves, the beam incident position on the processing surface moves with respect to the XY orthogonal coordinate system. The coordinates of the incident position in the XY coordinate system are specified based on the coordinates (P _P , Q _P ) of the incident position in the PQ orthogonal coordinate system and the position coordinates (X _ES , Y _ES ) of the stage 8a in the XY coordinate system. be able to.

Based on the incident position coordinates (P _P , Q _P ) and the position coordinates (X _ES , Y _ES ) of the stage 8a, the synchronization control device 9b moves to a position corresponding to the incident position coordinates (P _P , Q _P ). Displacement angles G _X and G _Y for controlling the galvano scanner 5 so that the laser beam is incident are calculated, and signals indicating these displacement angles are transmitted to the galvano control device 9c. The galvano control device 9c transmits signals indicating the displacement angles G _X and G _Y to the galvano X motor 5c and the galvano Y motor 5d, respectively. Both motors swing the X swing mirror 5a and the Y swing mirror 5b based on the displacement angles G _X and G _Y , respectively.

The galvano X encoder 5e and the galvano Y encoder 5f detect the displacement angles E _GX and E _GY from the reference positions of the galvano X motor 5c and the galvano Y motor 5d, respectively, and signals indicating these displacement angles Is transmitted to the galvano controller 9c. The galvano control device 9c controls both motors so that the displacement angles E _GX and E _GY coincide with the target displacement angles G _X and G _Y. Signals indicating the displacement angles E _GX and E _GY are transmitted to the synchronous control device 9b.

The displacement angles E _GX and E _GY correspond to positions (assumed incident positions) on the processing surface on which the laser beam deflected by the galvano scanner 5 is assumed to be incident. When the assumed incident position reaches the start point of the straight line pattern to be processed, the synchronization control device 9b controls the shutter 2 so that laser irradiation to the processing surface is started, and the assumed incident position is set to the straight line pattern. When the end point is reached, the shutter 2 is controlled so that the laser irradiation to the processing surface is completed. Further, the synchronization control device 9b applies laser to the surface to be processed during the period in which the incident position of the laser beam moves from the end point of the linear pattern irradiated with the laser beam to the start point of the linear pattern irradiated next. The shutter 2 is controlled so as not to be irradiated. In this way, the laser is irradiated only on the drawing pattern 7a.

  As described above, when the laser processing apparatus according to this embodiment is used, the entire drawing pattern 7a can be irradiated with the laser while the stage 8a is moved and the galvano scanner 5 scans the laser beam. As a result, the number of times of starting and stopping the stage mechanism can be reduced as compared with the prior art, so that the time required to perform laser irradiation on the entire region to be processed can be shortened. Further, by controlling the shutter 2, laser irradiation can be performed only on the region to be processed.

  A DC motor may be used as the stage X motor 8b and the stage Y motor 8c. In this case, the position of the stage 8a can be controlled by the stage controller 9d transmitting the target speeds of the stage X motor 8b and the stage Y motor 8c.

  The configuration example in which the stage X encoder 8d and the stage Y encoder 8e detect the rotation angles of the stage X motor 8b and the stage Y motor 8c, respectively, has been described. However, both encoders include, for example, a laser interferometer. Thus, both encoders may detect the position of the stage 8a. In this case, the position information of the stage 8a is transmitted from both encoders to the stage control device 9d, and the stage control device 9d sets the stage X motor 8b and the stage X so that the detected position of the stage 8a matches the target position. The stage Y motor 8c is controlled.

  Although the synchronous control device 9b calculates the target displacement angle for controlling the galvano scanner 5, the XY coordinates of the incident position on the processing surface are transmitted from the synchronous control device 9b to the galvano control device 9c, and the galvano control is performed. The apparatus 9c may calculate the target displacement angle based on the coordinates.

  Next, an example of a laser drawing method that can be performed using the laser processing apparatus described with reference to FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2A, on the surface of the workpiece 7, a drawing pattern 7 a made up of a plurality of linear patterns parallel to the X-axis direction arranged in the Y-axis direction is defined. In the figure, three of the linear patterns 21 to 23 are shown. The linear patterns 21 to 23 are arranged in order from the Y axis positive direction to the negative direction. The stage mechanism moves the workpiece 7 at a constant speed in the positive Y-axis direction.

  FIG. 2B shows a laser beam scanning direction 25 in the case of irradiating a single linear pattern with laser. The laser beam is scanned from one end of the linear pattern toward the other end. By scanning the laser beam in the direction inclined in the positive direction of the Y-axis direction from the X-axis direction, the locus of the beam incident position on the processing surface can be made parallel to the X-axis. The figure shows the scanning direction when the laser beam is scanned in the positive direction with respect to the X-axis direction and the positive direction with respect to the Y-axis direction, but the laser beam is scanned in the negative direction with respect to the X-axis direction and in the positive direction with respect to the Y-axis direction. It doesn't matter.

  Next, a method for irradiating the linear patterns 21 to 23 in FIG. The laser beam is scanned from one end to the other end of the linear pattern 21 in the positive direction with respect to the X-axis direction and in the positive direction with respect to the Y-axis direction. Next, the laser beam is scanned from one end to the other end of the linear pattern 22 in the negative direction with respect to the X-axis direction and in the positive direction with respect to the Y-axis direction. Next, the laser beam is scanned from one end to the other end of the linear pattern 23 in the positive direction with respect to the X-axis direction and in the positive direction with respect to the Y-axis direction. Laser is irradiated in order from a linear pattern arranged at a position where the Y coordinate is large. During the period in which the incident position of the laser beam moves from the other end of the straight line pattern 21 to one end of the straight line pattern 22 and from the other end of the straight line pattern 22 to one end of the straight line pattern 23, the processing object 7 is processed by the shutter 2. The laser beam is not irradiated.

  In this way, the laser beam can be applied to the linear patterns adjacent to each other so that the incident points of the laser beam move in opposite directions. The linear pattern may not be parallel to the X axis. The laser beam is scanned in the direction intersecting the Y axis while moving the object 7 in the Y axis direction on a linear pattern that is long in the direction intersecting the Y axis (the moving direction of the object 7). Can also be irradiated.

  Next, another example of the laser drawing method will be described with reference to FIG. On the surface of the workpiece 7, a drawing pattern 7 a composed of linear patterns 31 to 33 parallel to the X-axis direction arranged in the Y-axis direction is defined. The distance in the X-axis direction that can be scanned by the galvano scanner is L. The length of each linear pattern 31 to 33 is three times L. Regions from one end of each of the linear patterns 31 to 33 to the distance L are defined as regions 31a to 33a, regions from the distance L to 2L are defined as 31b to 33b, and regions from the distance 2L to 3L are defined as 31c to 33c.

  First, as described with reference to FIG. 2, laser irradiation is performed on the regions 31 a to 33 a while moving the workpiece 7 in the positive Y-axis direction. When this laser irradiation is completed, the workpiece 7 is moved in the negative direction of the X axis, and the regions 31b to 33b are moved within a range that can be scanned by the galvano scanner. Next, laser irradiation is performed on the linear patterns 31b to 33b while moving the workpiece 7 in the negative Y-axis direction. Laser irradiation is performed in the same manner as described with reference to FIG. 2, but the scanning direction with respect to the Y axis is the negative direction.

  After this laser irradiation, the workpiece 7 is further moved in the negative direction of the X axis, and the regions 31c to 33c are moved within a range that can be scanned by the galvano scanner. The linear pattern 31c to 33c is irradiated with laser while moving the workpiece 7 in the positive direction of the Y axis again. In this way, laser irradiation can be performed on the linear patterns 31 to 33 longer than the distance that can be scanned by the galvano scanner.

  In the laser drawing method described with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the drawing pattern composed of the linear patterns arranged in parallel to each other is processed. The laser beam can be irradiated onto the processing surface while moving the laser beam in the two-dimensional direction parallel to the processing surface and swinging in the two-dimensional direction of the laser beam with a galvano scanner. Processing can also be performed.

  Next, a laser processing apparatus according to a modification will be described with reference to FIG. The laser processing apparatus shown in FIG. 4 is a condensing lens that is, for example, a biconvex lens, a plano-convex lens, or a combined lens on the optical path from the attenuator 3 to the folding mirror 4 except for the fθ lens 6 from the laser processing apparatus shown in FIG. The lens 6a is inserted.

  The condenser lens 6a is movably held by the lens moving mechanism 6b. The lens moving mechanism 6b includes, for example, a voice coil mechanism, and can translate the condenser lens 6a in a direction parallel to the traveling direction of the laser beam passing through the condenser lens 6a. The control device 9 controls the lens moving mechanism 6b. If necessary, the lens moving mechanism 6b can be configured using a piezo drive mechanism or the like instead of the voice coil mechanism. The laser beam emitted from the laser light source 1 and passed through the shutter 2 and the attenuator 3 is converged by the condenser lens 6a, reflected by the folding mirror 4, and then moved in the traveling direction by the galvano scanner 5 to be processed. 7 is incident.

  There is a case where it is desired to perform processing (focus processing) for irradiating a laser beam to a processing point (focus processing) so that the laser beam is focused on the processing point (the beam spot is minimized). . The laser processing apparatus shown in FIG. 4 can move the condensing lens 6a using the lens moving mechanism 6b, and can keep the optical path length from the condensing lens 6a to the processing point constant with respect to all the processing points. . If the optical path length from the condensing lens 6a to the processing point is made equal to the focal length of the condensing lens 6a, the focal processing can be performed on all the processing points. The amount of movement of the lens moving mechanism 6b can be obtained by geometric calculation based on the direction in which the galvano scanner 5 deflects the laser beam.

  If the relative position of the condenser lens 6a with respect to the galvano scanner 5 is fixed, the optical path length from the condenser lens 6a to the processing point changes as the galvano scanner 5 changes the deflection direction of the laser beam. To do. Since the optical path length from the condensing lens 6a to the processing point is not kept constant, it is not possible to perform focus processing on all the processing points.

  If the incident angle of the laser beam is the same for all the processing points, the area of the beam spot becomes equal to any processing point when the laser beam is focused on the processing point, The power density in the beam spot is equal. However, in the laser processing apparatus shown in FIG. 4, the incident angle is not constant with respect to all processing points. Even in the case where the laser beam is focused on all the processing points, at the processing points having different incident angles, the areas of the beam spots are different from each other, and the power densities in the beam spots are different from each other.

  There is a case where it is desired to perform the processing while keeping the power density at the processing point constant. The laser processing apparatus shown in FIG. 4 can perform such processing by adjusting the power of the laser beam with the attenuator 3 based on the direction in which the galvano scanner 5 deflects the laser beam. Based on the direction in which the galvano scanner 5 deflects the laser beam, the area of the beam spot on the processing surface is obtained by geometric calculation. Based on the area of the beam spot and the power density in the desired beam spot, the power of the laser beam to be emitted from the attenuator 3 is obtained. The control device 9 controls the attenuator 3.

  Note that when the power of the laser beam is constant, the power density in the beam spot is the highest for the laser beam perpendicularly incident on the surface to be processed. Accordingly, the amount of power attenuation by the attenuator 3 is set to be the largest with respect to the laser beam perpendicularly incident on the processing surface, and is set so as to decrease as the incident angle increases.

  The laser processing apparatus shown in FIG. 4 can be used for processing in which the incident angle of the laser beam may vary to some extent at each processing point. This laser processing apparatus can be manufactured using a biconvex lens, a plano-convex lens, and an assembled lens that are cheaper than the fθ lens as the condenser lens 6a that is a processing lens. When scanning a certain range on the processing surface with a laser beam, if the distance from the galvano scanner 5 to the processing surface is increased, the range in which the traveling direction of the laser beam is swung can be narrowed. Variation in incident angle for each processing point can be suppressed. When the range in which the traveling direction of the laser beam is swung is constant, the range on the processing surface that can be scanned with the laser beam can be widened by increasing the distance from the galvano scanner 5 to the processing surface.

  In a laser processing apparatus having an fθ lens, the surface of the fθ lens is scanned with a laser beam emitted from a galvano scanner. The area of the region that can be scanned with the laser beam on the surface of the fθ lens corresponds to the area of the range that can be scanned with the laser beam on the processing surface. For this reason, when trying to widen the range that can be scanned with the laser beam on the surface to be processed with such a laser processing apparatus, it is necessary to increase the aperture of the fθ lens. Large-diameter fθ lenses are expensive.

  In the above description, the laser beam is deflected by the galvano scanner, but the laser beam may be deflected by other means.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, improvements, combinations, and the like can be made.

It is the schematic of the laser processing apparatus by an Example. 2A is a plan view of an object to be processed for explaining an example of a laser drawing method, and FIG. 2B is a view for explaining a scanning direction of a laser beam. It is a top view of the processed object for demonstrating the other example of the laser drawing method. It is the schematic of the laser processing apparatus by a modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Laser light source 2 Shutter 3 Attenuator 4 Folding mirror 5 Galvano scanner 6 f (theta) lens 7 Work object 8 Stage mechanism 9 Control apparatus

Claims (10)

A laser light source that emits a continuous wave laser beam;
A beam deflector for deflecting a laser beam emitted from the laser light source and changing a deflection direction based on a control signal input from the outside;
A stage mechanism that holds the workpiece at a position where the laser beam deflected by the beam deflector is incident, and moves the workpiece based on a control signal input from the outside;
The stage mechanism and the beam deflection are arranged so that the incident position of the laser beam deflected by the beam deflector moves on the workpiece along a target locus during the period in which the workpiece is moving. A laser processing apparatus having a control device for controlling the tool. The beam deflector can swing the traveling direction of the laser beam in a two-dimensional direction, and the stage mechanism moves the processing object in a two-dimensional direction parallel to the processing surface of the processing object held by the beam deflector. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1, which can move. The stage mechanism transmits information specifying the position of the processing object to the control device, and the control device specifies information specifying the position of the processing object given from the stage mechanism, and the processing object. The beam deflection is performed so that the laser beam deflected by the beam deflector is incident on the position to be incident on the workpiece on the basis of the information specifying the position on the workpiece where the laser beam is to be incident. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the laser is controlled. Furthermore, the laser beam is disposed on the optical path from the laser light source to the workpiece held by the stage mechanism, and the laser beam is incident on the workpiece based on a control signal input from the outside. And a shutter that switches between
The control device is configured so that the laser beam is moved during the period in which the incident position of the laser beam moves from the end point of the locus where the laser beam has already been irradiated by the operation of the beam deflector to the start point of the locus where the laser beam is to be irradiated next. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shutter is controlled so as not to enter the object to be processed. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an fθ lens disposed on an optical path between the beam deflector and a workpiece to be processed held by the stage mechanism. Furthermore, a lens that is arranged on an optical path from the laser light source to the beam deflector and converges a laser beam emitted from the laser light source,
A lens moving mechanism for moving the lens,
The laser processing device according to claim 1, wherein the control device controls the lens moving mechanism so that an optical path length from the lens to an incident position of a laser beam on a processing surface is constant. . (A) A laser beam is deflected by a beam deflector that can move a processing object in which a linear drawing pattern to be drawn with a laser beam is defined on the surface and can move the traveling direction of the laser beam in a two-dimensional direction. A method of drawing with a beam deflected by the beam deflector so that the locus of the incident point of the laser beam on the surface of the workpiece coincides with the drawing pattern. The drawing pattern includes a plurality of linear patterns parallel to each other, and a direction in which the workpiece is moved in the step (a) is a direction intersecting with a direction in which the linear pattern extends. The laser drawing method described. 9. The laser drawing method according to claim 8, wherein in the step (a), the linear patterns adjacent to each other are drawn such that the incident points of the laser beams move in opposite directions. Each of the linear patterns has a pair of ends, and the step (a) includes:
(A1) drawing from one end to the other end of a certain linear pattern;
(A2) controlling the beam deflector so that the laser beam is not incident on the workpiece and the position where the laser beam should be incident moves to one end of a linear pattern to be drawn next;
The laser drawing method according to claim 8, further comprising: (a3) drawing a linear pattern having one end coincident with a position where the laser beam moved in the step (a2) is to be incident.

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