JP2009244348A - Article manufacturing method and transfer member - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate formation of a relief structure different in height of projections or depth of recesses by positions. <P>SOLUTION: An article manufacturing method includes: forming a first region comprising an unhardened material 20 and a second region comprising gas between a supporting surface 10 and a transfer surface 30 having the relief structure provided thereon so that the first and second regions are adjacent to each other in a direction parallel with the supporting surface; forming a hardened layer comprising the hardened material by partially hardening the material 20 with the first and second regions interposed between the supporting surface and the transfer surface; and removing the transfer surface from the hardened layer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transfer technique for transferring a relief structure.

The relief structure is provided in various articles. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe an optical element provided with a relief structure. In these optical elements, the relief structure forms a hologram or a diffraction grating.
JP-A-1-238679 JP 2007-62066 A

  A relief structure in which the height of the convex portion or the depth of the concave portion is uniform can be formed relatively easily. However, it is difficult to form a relief structure in which the height of the convex portion or the depth of the concave portion varies depending on the location, particularly when the pattern is fine.

  An object of the present invention is to facilitate the formation of a relief structure in which the height of the convex portion or the depth of the concave portion varies depending on the location.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a first region made of an uncured material and a second region made of gas are provided between the support surface and the transfer surface provided with the relief structure. Forming a region adjacent to the support surface in a direction parallel to the support surface, and curing the material with the first and second regions interposed between the support surface and the transfer surface, and curing There is provided a method for producing an article, comprising forming a cured layer made of the above-mentioned material and removing the transfer surface from the cured layer.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, a transfer surface provided with a relief structure is provided, and a lyophilic first portion and a liquid-repellent second portion adjacent to the first portion are provided in the transfer surface. There is provided a transfer member characterized by comprising:

  According to the present invention, it is easy to form a relief structure in which the height of the convex portion or the depth of the concave portion varies depending on the location.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same referential mark is attached | subjected to the component which exhibits the same or similar function through all the drawings, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  1 to 5 are perspective views illustrating a method for manufacturing an article according to one embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of the structure shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII of the structure shown in FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII of the structure shown in FIG.

  In this method, first, a support 10 shown in FIG. 1 is prepared. The support 10 includes a support surface. The support surface is, for example, a flat surface, a curved surface, or a combination thereof.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the uncured material 20 is supported on a part of the support surface of the support 10. For example, the material 20 is dropped onto a part of the support surface using a dispenser. Thereby, the droplets or particles made of the material 20 are arranged on the support surface, and a pattern made of the arrangement of these droplets or particles is formed.

  The size of the droplets or particles made of the material 20 is, for example, in the range of 2 μm to 20 mm. Further, the average interval between the droplets or particles made of the material 20 is, for example, in the range of 2 μm to 50 mm.

  Here, the droplets or particles made of the material 20 are arranged so as not to be connected to each other, but they may be connected to each other on the support surface. However, when the droplets or particles made of the material 20 are arranged apart from each other, the material 20 pushed away at the time of transfer is used to fill a gap between the droplets or particles. Therefore, it is possible to make it difficult for the previous pattern to be deformed due to the undesired movement of the material 20.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the pattern made of the material 20 and the transfer member 30 are aligned.

  The transfer member 30 includes a transfer surface provided with a relief structure. Here, as an example, the transfer member 30 is a layered plate. The transfer member 30 is detachably supported by the elevating head 40 so that the transfer surface faces the support surface.

  The relief structure constitutes, for example, a hologram, a diffraction grating, or a light scattering structure. The relief structure may constitute, for example, a pattern or a pattern.

  When this relief structure constitutes a hologram or a diffraction grating, the height of the convex portion or the depth of the concave portion is usually submicron or less, for example, about several hundred nm. Such a relief structure can be formed using a semiconductor process such as electron beam drawing, for example.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, the elevating head 40 is lowered to align the support surface and the transfer surface with the uncured material 20 interposed therebetween. Thus, the first region made of the uncured material 20 and the second region made of a gas such as air are adjacent to each other in the direction parallel to the support surface between the support surface and the transfer surface. To form. The first region has a shape substantially equal to the previous pattern. The thickness of the first and second regions is usually 1 μm or more, for example, several μm or more.

  Thereafter, the material 20 is cured with the first and second regions interposed between the support surface and the transfer surface. For example, when the material 20 is photocurable like a photocurable resin, the material 20 is irradiated with light. Alternatively, when the material 20 is thermosetting, such as a thermosetting resin, the material 20 is heated.

  In addition, when hardening the material 20 by light irradiation, for example, the support body 10 is made light-transmitting, and light is irradiated to the material 20 through this. Alternatively, the transfer member 30 and the elevating head 40 are made light transmissive, and the material 20 is irradiated with light through them. Alternatively, the transfer member 30 is made light transmissive, and a light source for illuminating the transfer member 30 is built in the elevating head 40, and the material 20 is irradiated with light through the transfer member 30.

  For example, when quartz or glass is used as the material of the support 10 and silicon or nickel is used as the material of the transfer member 30, the material 20 is irradiated with light through the support 10. Alternatively, when silicon is used as the material of the support 10 and quartz is used as the material of the transfer member 30, the material 20 is irradiated with light through the transfer member 30. Here, as an example, the material 20 is a photocurable resin, glass is used as the material of the support 10, and silicon is used as the material of the transfer member 30. Then, the material 20 is irradiated with light through the support 10.

  The light irradiation is performed, for example, by exposing the first and second regions together with light such as ultraviolet rays. The light irradiation may be performed by scanning the first region or the first and second regions with a light beam, for example, a laser beam. The former is superior in productivity compared to the latter.

  After the material 20 is cured, the lifting head 40 is raised. Thereby, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, the transfer member 30 is removed from the cured layer 20 ′ obtained by curing the material 20.

  This hardened layer 20 'has a shape corresponding to the first region described with reference to FIG. The shape of the first region is substantially equal to the shape of the pattern formed by the array of droplets or particles made of the material 20 described with reference to FIG. The shape of this pattern can be arbitrarily set by changing the arrangement of droplets or particles made of the material 20. That is, the hardened layer 20 ′ can be formed into an arbitrary shape by changing the arrangement of the droplets or particles made of the material 20.

  Further, the cured layer 20 ′ forms a relief structure on the surface of the laminate composed of the cured layer 20 ′ and the support 10 on the cured layer 20 ′ side. In this relief structure, a shallow concave portion is provided at a position corresponding to the first region described with reference to FIG. 7, and a deep concave portion is provided at a position corresponding to the second region described with reference to FIG. It has been. From another point of view, the relief structure is provided with a lower convex portion and a higher convex portion at a position corresponding to the first region described with reference to FIG. That is, the cured layer 20 ′ has a relief structure in which the height of the convex portion or the depth of the concave portion varies depending on the location on the surface of the laminated layer composed of the cured layer 20 ′ and the support 10 on the cured layer 20 ′ side. Forming.

  As described above, according to the method described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8, the height of the convex portion or the depth of the concave portion is set using the transfer member 30 having a uniform convex portion height or concave portion depth. Relief structures that differ from place to place can be formed. For example, a relief structure including a convex portion having a height of 1 μm or more and a convex portion having a height of about several hundred nm, or a relief including a concave portion having a depth of 1 μm or more and a concave portion having a depth of about several hundred nm. A structure can be formed. Therefore, when this method is used, a relief structure in which the height of the convex portion or the depth of the concave portion varies depending on the location, particularly, a relief structure in which the height of the convex portion or the depth of the concave portion varies greatly depending on the location. It can be formed easily.

  In this method, a portion corresponding to the first region described with reference to FIG. 7 in the relief structure provided on the transfer surface of the transfer member 30 is not used for transfer. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a relief structure in this part. However, when a relief structure is provided in this portion, depending on the design employed, for example, even if the alignment between the transfer member 30 and the pattern described with reference to FIG. Deviations may have little impact on the performance of the final product.

The laminate composed of the hardened layer 20 ′ and the support 10 can be used, for example, as an optical element or a part thereof. This laminate is used, for example, as a plate used for manufacturing an optical element or a part thereof. May be. For example, a metal layer is formed by electroforming on the surface of the laminated body on the cured layer 20 ′ side. Alternatively, a metal layer is formed by electroless plating on the surface of the laminated body on the cured layer 20 ′ side. The metal layer peeled from the laminate can be used as, for example, a plate for producing an optical element or a part thereof, an original plate for producing this plate, or a part thereof.

  In this method, only a part of the first region described with reference to FIG. 7 may be irradiated with light. For example, only a part of the first region may be scanned with a light beam such as a laser beam. In this case, only a part of the material 20 can be cured. Therefore, development is performed after removing the transfer member 30 to remove the uncured material 20 from the support surface, thereby obtaining a cured layer 20 ′ having a shape different from the pattern described with reference to FIG. Can do.

  The position of the boundary between the first and second regions described with reference to FIG. 7 can be controlled by, for example, the arrangement of droplets or particles made of the material 20, as described with reference to FIG. For controlling the boundary position, instead of or in addition to using the arrangement of droplets or particles, a difference in surface state, for example, a difference in surface free energy, may be used.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an example of a transfer member that can be used by the method shown in FIGS.
The transfer member 30 includes a relief layer 31 and a liquid repellent layer 32.

  A relief structure is provided on the surface of the relief layer 31. The relief layer 31 is made of a material that has a relatively high affinity for the uncured material 20. As a material of the relief layer 31, for example, quartz, glass, silicon, or nickel can be used.

  The liquid repellent layer 32 partially covers the surface of the relief layer 31 on which the relief structure is provided. As a material of the liquid repellent layer 32, for example, a fluororesin or a silicone resin can be used. A relief structure may not be provided in a portion of the surface of the relief layer 31 that is covered with the liquid repellent layer 32.

  A portion of the relief layer 31 exposed from the liquid repellent layer 32 forms a lyophilic first portion in the transfer surface of the transfer member 30. On the other hand, the liquid repellent layer 32 forms a liquid repellent second portion adjacent to the first portion in the transfer surface of the transfer member 30.

  When such a transfer member 30 is used, the position of the boundary between the first and second regions described with reference to FIG. 7 can be substantially matched with the position of the contour of the liquid repellent layer 32 or the second portion. .

  Instead of using the transfer member 30 shown in FIG. 9, a lyophilic first part and a liquid repellent second part adjacent thereto may be formed in the support surface. For example, the support surface may be partially covered with the same material as exemplified for the liquid repellent layer 32. Also in this case, the position of the boundary between the first and second regions described with reference to FIG. 7 can be substantially matched with the position of the contour of the second portion.

  Instead of using the difference in surface free energy, the difference in surface shape may be used. For example, on the transfer surface of the transfer member 30, the height of the convex portion is 200 nm, the first portion forming a relief type diffraction grating having a pitch of 500 nm, the height is about 300 nm, and the aspect ratio That is, a second portion in which conical convex portions having a height ratio to the diameter of the bottom surface of about 1.5 are arranged is provided. When such a structure is employed, the second part exhibits a lower affinity for the uncured material 20 compared to the first part. Therefore, also in this case, the position of the boundary between the first and second regions described with reference to FIG. 7 can be made substantially coincident with the position of the contour of the second portion.

  The transfer member 30 may be provided with through holes, and gas may be supplied between the support surface and the transfer surface through the through holes. In this case, if the through holes are provided with high density, the position of the boundary between the first and second regions described with reference to FIG. 7 is substantially coincident with the contour of the pattern formed by the arrangement of the through holes. Can be made.

  In the method described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8, a base layer may be formed on the support surface prior to disposing the droplets or particles made of the material 20 on the support surface.

  FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an example of a structure obtained when an underlayer is formed by the method described with reference to FIGS.

  The structure shown in FIG. 10 is, for example, that a base layer 50 having a relief structure on the surface is formed on the support surface prior to disposing droplets or particles made of the material 20 on the support surface. These are obtained by the same method as described with reference to FIGS.

  When at least part of the relief structure in which the first region made of the uncured material 20 and the second region made of gas are provided on the surface of the underlayer 50 is adjacent to the second region, the first region is provided on the surface of the underlayer 50. At least a part of the relief structure is exposed at the position of the opening of the hardened layer 20 ′. Therefore, when the base layer 50 provided with the relief structure is formed, a more complicated structure can be obtained as compared with the case where this is omitted.

  The relief structure provided on the surface of the foundation layer 50 can be formed using, for example, a transfer member different from the transfer member 30 used for forming the cured layer 20 ′. Alternatively, the relief structure provided on the surface of the base layer 50 may be formed using the same transfer member 30 used for forming the hardened layer 20 ′.

  The underlayer 50 can be formed by the same method as described for the hardened layer 20 ′, for example, except that the second region made of gas is not formed. Alternatively, the underlayer 50 may be formed by the same method as described for the cured layer 20 '. In the latter case, when the underlayer 50 and the hardened layer 20 ′ are formed so that at least part of the opening provided in the underlayer 50 is exposed from the hardened layer 20 ′, the surface shape is different from that shown in FIG. A laminated body can be obtained.

  When an opening is provided in the underlayer 50, one or more underlayers may be further provided between the underlayer 50 and the support surface. In this case, for example, openings are provided in all base layers other than the base layer or the lowermost layer. Thereby, a more complicated structure can be obtained.

The perspective view which shows the manufacturing method of the articles | goods which concern on 1 aspect of this invention. The perspective view which shows the manufacturing method of the articles | goods which concern on 1 aspect of this invention. The perspective view which shows the manufacturing method of the articles | goods which concern on 1 aspect of this invention. The perspective view which shows the manufacturing method of the articles | goods which concern on 1 aspect of this invention. The perspective view which shows the manufacturing method of the articles | goods which concern on 1 aspect of this invention. Sectional drawing along the VI-VI line of the structure shown in FIG. Sectional drawing along the VII-VII line of the structure shown in FIG. Sectional drawing along the VIII-VIII line of the structure shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an example of a transfer member that can be used in the method shown in FIGS. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an example of a structure obtained when a base layer is formed by the method described with reference to FIGS.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Support body, 20 ... Material, 20 '... Hardened layer, 30 ... Transfer member, 40 ... Lifting head, 50 ... Underlayer.

Claims (9)

Between the support surface and the transfer surface provided with the relief structure, a first region made of uncured material and a second region made of gas are arranged in a direction in which the first and second regions are parallel to the support surface. To be adjacent to each other,
Curing at least a portion of the material with the first and second regions interposed between the support surface and the transfer surface, and forming a cured layer made of the cured material;
Removing the transfer surface from the hardened layer.   The transfer surface includes a first portion and a second portion adjacent to the first portion and having a lower affinity with the uncured material as compared to the first portion, and the first and first portions The method of claim 1, wherein two regions are formed at the positions of the first and second portions, respectively.   The uncured material is supplied to a position on the support surface or the transfer surface where the first region is to be formed, and then the support surface and the transfer surface are sandwiched between the uncured materials. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second regions are formed by combining together. Prior to forming the first and second regions, further comprising forming an underlayer having a relief structure on the surface on the support surface;
The said 1st and 2nd area | region is formed so that at least one part of the said relief structure provided in the said surface of the said foundation | substrate layer may adjoin the said 2nd area | region. The method according to claim 1.   The said uncured material is a photocurable resin, and all the said material is hardened by irradiating light to the said 1st area | region entirely, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 4 characterized by the above-mentioned. the method of.   The uncured material is a photo-curable resin, and only a part of the first region is cured by irradiating light to the part of the first region, and the method includes removing the transfer surface from the cured layer. 5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising removing the uncured material from the support surface by development after removal.   The method according to claim 1, wherein the hardened layer is an optical element or a part thereof.   The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the hardened layer is a plate or a part thereof.   A transfer surface comprising a transfer surface provided with a relief structure, wherein the transfer surface includes a lyophilic first portion and a lyophobic second portion adjacent to the first portion. Element.

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