JP2010082504A - Pattern forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pattern forming device which irradiates a flying droplet with a laser beam to dry it and suppresses the positional deviation of impact position without reducing the evaporation amount of evaporation components. <P>SOLUTION: A ROM 52 of a control portion 50 of a droplet discharging device stores impact position correction data LRD where a shift amount of impacted droplet to a target position is related to a power ratio of a pair of laser beams reducing the shift amount. The control portion 50 makes an imaging camera 25 pick up an image of impacted droplet and obtains the image, and calculates the shift amount of the impacted droplet by image-processing image data PD. A ratio of the intensities of a pair of the laser beams is corrected from the calculated shift amount and the impact position correction data LRD while maintaining the irradiation intensities of a pair of the laser beams so that the impact position of the droplet may become the target position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a pattern forming apparatus for irradiating a droplet in flight with laser light.

  Multi-layer substrates made of low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) have excellent high frequency characteristics and high heat resistance, and are therefore widely used for high frequency module substrates, IC package substrates, and the like. As a technique for manufacturing such an LTCC multilayer substrate, a method of manufacturing the multilayer substrate by generally laminating a plurality of green sheets having a circuit pattern and firing them at the same time has been studied.

In the step of drawing the circuit pattern, a so-called ink jet method has been proposed in which metal ink is discharged as fine droplets in order to increase the density of the circuit pattern (for example, Patent Document 1). The droplets used in such an ink jet method are generally ejected from a large number of nozzles arranged in the ejection head at a capacity of several to several tens of picoliters. By changing the circuit pattern, the circuit pattern can be further miniaturized and the pitch can be reduced.
JP 2005-57139 A

  By the way, in order to form a high-definition pattern using the inkjet method, it is preferable to quickly dry the discharged droplets to suppress wetting and spreading on the substrate. As one method for promoting such drying, a method for accelerating the drying of the droplets during flight by irradiating the ejected droplets during flight with a laser beam has been studied. In the method using the laser beam in this way, a reaction force against the light pressure by the laser beam and the kinetic force of the evaporation component acts on the droplet in flight. And when irradiating the laser beam from only one direction to the droplet in flight, the above-mentioned force acts only in the laser irradiation direction, so the flying curve of the droplet is induced, The landing position of the droplet is shifted in the laser irradiation direction.

  Therefore, in the method of drying droplets using laser light, a pair of laser beams are irradiated to the droplets so as to face each other with the droplets sandwiched therebetween in order to suppress the shift of the landing position as described above. In addition, an aspect of irradiation that equalizes the power of the pair of laser beams is being studied. In the case of irradiating laser light under such a configuration, since the acting force on the droplet in flight cancels out in the direction of laser light irradiation, it is possible to suppress the shift of the landing position as described above. become.

  However, even when a pair of laser beams are irradiated in the form of facing each other as described above, the irradiated object has a diameter of, for example, 20 μm and a droplet flying at a speed of 10 m / sec. Therefore, it is very difficult to make the intensity of a pair of laser beams exactly equal to such a droplet. In addition, since it is difficult to make the output loss of each optical component exactly the same in the optical path of a pair of laser beams, there is a considerable intensity between the pair of laser beams received by the droplets in flight. The error of inevitably occurs. In such a case, the laser beam having relatively high intensity acts on the droplet preferentially, and the landing position of the droplet shifts in accordance with the acting force.

FIG. 13 schematically shows the relationship between the set value of the power of the pair of laser beams applied to the droplet and the maximum shift amount related to the landing position of the droplet, and the relationship between the same pair of power and the evaporation amount of the droplet. FIG. As shown in the figure, when using a pair of laser beams with relatively low power and low intensity PL, the absolute error in power between the pair of laser beams is small. And the maximum shift amount of the landing position is relatively small. However, when the low-intensity PL is used, sufficient evaporation of the evaporation component cannot be obtained because the power itself is low. On the other hand, when high intensity PH laser light with relatively high power is irradiated, the absolute error in power between the pair of laser lights increases, and the effect of these errors on the landing position. In addition, the weight of the droplets in flight decreases due to evaporation of the dispersion medium, and the maximum shift amount of the landing position becomes very large. Therefore, when the high strength PH is used, a sufficient evaporation amount of the evaporation component is ensured, but the maximum shift amount of the landing position becomes large and it is difficult to obtain a stable landing position.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a pattern forming apparatus for irradiating a droplet in flight with a laser beam to dry the droplet without impacting the drying efficiency. An object of the present invention is to provide a pattern forming apparatus that suppresses positional deviation.

  The pattern forming apparatus of the present invention includes a discharge head for discharging a liquid droplet containing an evaporation component and a pattern forming material from a nozzle toward a drawing target, and a pair of laser beams on the droplet in flight. A laser irradiation unit that irradiates and evaporates a predetermined amount of the evaporating component, and forms a pattern by landing the droplet on the drawing target, wherein the laser irradiation unit includes: Adjusting the intensity ratio of the pair of laser beams so that the landing position of the droplet becomes the target position, the pair of lasers face each other across the path between the nozzle and the position where the droplet lands. The gist is to irradiate the droplets with light.

  When laser light is irradiated to a droplet in flight so that the droplet is sandwiched, the landing position of the droplet that has received the laser light follows the irradiation direction of one of the laser beams that has a relatively high intensity. Shift from the target position. According to the pattern forming apparatus of the present invention, the landing position is set to the target position by adjusting the intensity ratio of each laser beam based on the shift amount of the landing position of the droplet obtained from the previously ejected droplet. And can be corrected. For example, the intensity of the laser light that governs the shift direction of the droplet, that is, the intensity of one of the relatively high intensity laser lights is corrected to be low based on the shift amount, and the intensity of the other laser light having the low intensity is reversed. By making a high correction based on the shift amount, the landing position of the droplet can be brought close to the target position. In this intensity correction, only the ratio of each intensity to the total intensity is changed and the total intensity is maintained, so that it is possible to correct only the shift amount while substantially maintaining the dry state of the droplets. . Therefore, it is possible to provide a pattern forming apparatus that suppresses the displacement of the landing position without impairing the drying efficiency of the droplets.

  In the pattern forming apparatus, the laser irradiation unit includes an intensity ratio reference storage unit in which data in which the landing position of the droplet is associated with the intensity ratio is stored in advance, and is stored in the intensity ratio reference storage unit. The gist is to adjust the pair of laser beams using the intensity ratio based on the data.

  According to this pattern forming apparatus, by referring to the data stored in the intensity ratio storage unit based on the landing position of the same droplet obtained from the landing position of the previously ejected droplet, the positional deviation of the landing position is determined. It can be corrected with high accuracy.

In the pattern forming apparatus, the laser irradiation unit includes a total intensity reference storage unit in which data in which the landing diameter of the droplet and the total intensity of the laser light are associated in advance is stored, and the total intensity storage unit The gist of the present invention is to adjust the pair of laser beams using the total intensity of the laser beams based on the data stored in.

  When laser light is irradiated to a droplet in flight so that the droplet is sandwiched, the landing position of the droplet that has received the laser light follows the irradiation direction of one of the laser beams that has a relatively high intensity. The amount of shift increases as the intensity of the one laser beam increases. According to this pattern forming apparatus, since the shift amount is corrected by the intensity ratio defined for each sum of the intensities, even if the sum of the intensities is changed according to the properties of the droplets, the landing position Can be suppressed.

The gist of the pattern forming apparatus is that the laser irradiating unit includes a branching unit that branches the basic laser light from one laser light source into the pair of laser beams.
According to this pattern forming apparatus, since a single laser light source for generating a pair of laser beams is sufficient by providing the branching section, the laser irradiation section can be made simple. Further, for example, the intensity of the laser light can be converted after the basic laser light from one laser light source is branched to generate a pair of laser light. In other words, the optical component that converts the intensity of the laser light can be disposed on the target path side with respect to the branching portion. Thereby, it becomes possible to arrange the optical component at a position close to the target path, and it is possible to suppress the diffraction of the laser light between the optical component and the target path. That is, it is possible to reliably irradiate the droplet with the laser beam whose intensity has been converted.

  The pattern forming apparatus includes a shift amount detection unit that detects a shift amount of a droplet ejected preliminarily, and corrects the intensity ratio of the pair of laser beams using a detection result of the shift amount detection unit. The gist.

  According to this pattern forming apparatus, since the shift amount of the preliminarily ejected droplet is directly detected, a shift amount detection error related to the droplet can be suppressed, and the position of the landing position of the droplet can be reduced. It can be corrected with high accuracy.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment in which the pattern forming apparatus of the present invention is embodied as a droplet discharge apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a perspective structure of a droplet discharge device. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a perspective structure of the ejection head of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an internal sectional structure of the ejection head. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the arrangement relationship between the green sheet, which is a drawing object, and the ejection head.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a stage 11 that can reciprocate along the longitudinal direction of the base 11 is mounted on a base 11 of a droplet discharge device 10 as a pattern forming apparatus. In the present embodiment, the longitudinal direction of the base 11, the upper right direction in FIG. 1 is the + X direction, and the opposite direction to the + X direction is the −X direction. Further, the horizontal direction orthogonal to the + X direction, the upper left direction in FIG. 2 is referred to as the + Y direction, and the opposite direction to the + Y direction is referred to as the −Y direction. Further, the upper direction in the vertical direction is defined as the + Z direction, and the direction opposite to the + Z direction is referred to as the −Z direction.

  On the upper surface of the stage 12 mounted on the base 11, a green sheet GS as a drawing object is positioned and fixed to the stage 12 with the drawing surface GSa facing upward. The stage 12 scans the positioned green sheet GS in the + Y direction or the −Y direction at a predetermined speed when a stage motor (not shown) provided on the base 11 rotates forward or reverse.

A guide member 13 formed in a gate shape is installed on the upper side of the base 11 along the + X direction, and an ink tank for supplying the conductive ink Ik as a liquid material is provided on the upper side of the guide member 13. 14 is disposed. The ink tank 14 stores the conductive ink Ik composed of a dispersion system of conductive fine particles, and supplies the stored conductive ink Ik to the discharge head 15 while adjusting a predetermined temperature under a predetermined pressure. The conductive fine particles as the pattern forming material are fine particles having a particle diameter of several nm to several tens of nm. For example, silver, gold, copper, platinum, palladium, rhodium, osmium, ruthenium, iridium, iron, tin, cobalt, A metal such as nickel, chromium, titanium, tantalum, tungsten, indium, or an alloy thereof can be used. The dispersion medium as the evaporation component is not particularly limited as long as the conductive fine particles are uniformly dispersed. For example, water or an aqueous solution mainly containing water or an organic solvent mainly containing an organic solvent such as tetradecane is used. be able to. In the conductive ink Ik of the present embodiment, silver is used as the conductive particles and water is used as the dispersion medium.

  A carriage 16 that can move in the + X direction and the −X direction is mounted on the guide member 13, and an ejection head 15 is mounted on the carriage 16. The carriage 16 scans the ejection head 15 in the + X direction or the −X direction when a carriage motor (not shown) provided on the guide member 13 rotates forward or backward.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the ejection head 15 includes a head substrate 17 that is positioned and fixed to the carriage 16 and extends in the + X direction, and a head body 20 that is supported by the head substrate 17. The head substrate 17 has a connection terminal 17 a at the end in the −X direction, and various control signals from the outside are input to the head main body 20 from the connection terminal 17 a and various detection signals from the head main body 20. Is output from the connection terminal 17a to the outside.

  A nozzle plate 21 disposed so as to face the green sheet GS is attached to the bottom of the head body 20. The nozzle plate 21 is configured such that when the head body 20 is disposed immediately above the green sheet GS, the bottom surface (hereinafter simply referred to as the nozzle forming surface 21a) and the drawing surface GSa are substantially parallel. A flight space of the droplet D, which is a space sandwiched between the nozzle forming surface 21a and the drawing surface GSa, is formed. Further, when the head body 20 is disposed immediately above the green sheet GS, the nozzle plate 21 sets a platen gap PG, which is a distance between the nozzle forming surface 21a and the drawing surface GSa, to a predetermined distance (see FIG. 3, this embodiment). In the form, it is maintained at 1000 μm). On the nozzle forming surface 21a of the nozzle plate 21, a plurality of nozzles N penetrating the nozzle plate 21 in the Z direction are arranged at equal intervals along the X direction at a nozzle pitch Dx.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the head body 20 includes a cavity 22, a vibration plate 23, and a piezoelectric element PZ as a pressure generating element above each nozzle N. Each cavity 22 is connected to a common ink tank 14 via a supply tube 20T, and thereby accommodates the conductive ink Ik from the ink tank 14 and supplies the conductive ink Ik to each nozzle N. . The vibration plate 23 vibrates the meniscus of the nozzle N along with the expansion and contraction of the volume of the cavity 22 by vibrating the region facing each cavity 22 in the Z direction. Each piezoelectric element PZ is supplied with a driving voltage COM (see FIG. 7), which is a voltage waveform that defines the contraction amount, contraction speed, extension amount, and extension speed. Each time the signal is input to PZ, the piezoelectric element PZ contracts and expands in the Z direction, and the diaphragm 23 vibrates in the Z direction.

In the ejection head 15 having such a configuration, when each piezoelectric element PZ contracts and expands in the Z direction, a part of the conductive ink Ik accommodated in each cavity 22 has a size and speed corresponding to the driving voltage. The droplets D are discharged from the nozzle N. The droplet D discharged from the nozzle N flies in the above-described flight space and lands on the drawing surface GSa of the green sheet GS. At this time, the droplet D ejected from the nozzle N can reliably fly along the Z direction from the nozzle N by the resultant force of the external force applied to the droplet D acting only in the Z direction. It flies over the target path TL which is a virtual line including the nozzle N and extending in the Z direction. On the other hand, when the resultant force of the external force applied to the droplet D acts greatly in the direction intersecting the Z direction, the droplet D discharged from the nozzle N deviates from the target path TL according to the action of the resultant force. Flying over the route, the so-called flight bend is a factor that impairs the accuracy of the landing position.

  As shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 4, the drawing surface GSa of the green sheet GS is virtually divided by a dot pattern lattice DL which is a two-dimensional rectangular lattice. The dot pattern lattice DL is a virtual lattice in which the lattice interval in the + X direction and the lattice interval in the + Y direction are set at predetermined intervals. For example, the + X-direction grid spacing of the dot pattern grid DL is defined by the nozzle pitch Dx, and the + Y-direction grid spacing of the dot pattern grid DL is the product of the droplet D ejection period and the scanning speed of the stage 12. Is defined by the discharge pitch Dy calculated from When such a dot pattern grid DL is scanned by the stage 12, the ejection head 15 described above is arranged such that each grid point T of the dot pattern grid DL crosses the target path TL, and the drawing surface GSa is drawn from each nozzle N. The selection as to whether or not to discharge the droplets D is set for each lattice point T. A flight path of the droplet D is formed by an imaginary line connecting the nozzle N and the lattice point T which is the target position.

  In FIG. 4, for convenience of explaining each lattice point T of the dot pattern lattice DL, the lattice interval of the dot pattern lattice DL and the nozzle pitch Dx of the ejection head 15 are shown sufficiently enlarged. In addition, each grid point T located in the most + Y direction in the dot pattern grid DL of the present embodiment is defined as a test area IDL for performing preliminary drawing, and a droplet D ejected from the nozzle N. It is used to obtain the landing position and the landing diameter of

In order to effectively evaporate a desired amount of the dispersion medium from the droplet D ejected from the nozzle N, first, the temperature of the droplet D at room temperature is set to the highest temperature within the range where the liquid does not boil. A heat quantity for raising the temperature to near (target temperature), for example, a first heat quantity q ₁ that is a heat quantity for raising the temperature of the droplet D at room temperature to the boiling point of the dispersion medium is required. Next, a second heat quantity q which is latent heat (heat of vaporization) for smoothly causing phase transition of the dispersion medium of the droplet D into a gas while maintaining the state where the droplet D heated by the first heat quantity q ₁ does not boil. ₂ is required. That is, in order to evaporate a desired amount of the dispersion medium from the droplet D, a total heat amount q (= q ₁ + q ₂ ) that is an addition value of the first heat amount q ₁ and the second heat amount q ₂ is required. . Such an amount of heat can be estimated by calculation using the properties of the conductive ink Ik, the drive voltage applied to the piezoelectric element PZ, and the volume of the droplet D, and is determined by direct measurement based on various experiments. You can also

For example, when the first heat quantity q ₁ and the second heat quantity q ₂ are estimated by the above-described calculation, the molar fraction of the dispersion medium and the conductive fine particles obtained from the properties of the conductive ink Ik, the dispersion medium, and the conductivity This can be performed based on the specific heat capacity of the fine particles, the weight W of the droplet D obtained based on the driving voltage, and the temperature of the droplet D at the time of ejection.

Among the evaporation components evaporated from the minute droplets D as described above, those that diffuse to a distance far enough from the surface of the droplet D and those that remain on the target path TL and remain on the path. Some increase the partial pressure. For this reason, the evaporation amount of the droplets at each temperature increases as the concentration of the evaporation component remaining in the target path TL decreases, and conversely decreases as the concentration of the evaporation component in the target path TL increases. Therefore, the differential equation related to the mass balance of the droplet using the mass transfer flux of the evaporated component based on the density of the evaporated component on the droplet surface and its diffusion, etc., and the heat balance of the droplet considering the heat of vaporization of the droplet The first heat quantity q ₁ and the second heat quantity q ₂ can also be estimated by solving a differential equation relating to the above, and a droplet motion equation in consideration of air resistance to the droplet. In addition, the first heat quantity q ₁ and the second heat quantity q _{2 are determined} by the experiment described above.
When deciding, the image of the droplet D in flight is imaged with a high-speed camera, and the droplet D is irradiated with different amounts of heat to obtain the highest amount of heat that can maintain the droplet D not boiling. The first calorie q ₁ and the second calorie q ₂ can also be obtained by direct measurement.

  Further, an imaging camera 25 for imaging the droplet D that has landed on the drawing surface GSa of the green sheet GS is provided above the base 11. The imaging camera 25 is used when detecting the landing position and the landing diameter of the droplet D. When the test area IDL is located immediately below the imaging area 25, the imaging camera 25 captures an image on the drawing surface GSa. The landed droplet D is imaged.

  Next, an optical system for irradiating the droplet D in flight with laser light to dry the droplet D will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating an optical configuration of the laser irradiation unit 31 mounted on the droplet discharge device 10, and FIG. 6 schematically illustrates an irradiation angle of the laser beam with respect to each droplet D. It is a figure.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the laser irradiation unit 31 includes a laser light source 32 as a laser emission unit, a collimating lens 33, a half mirror 34 as a branching unit, and reflection mirrors 35, 36, 37, 38, and 39, 1 laser shaping part 40a and 2nd laser shaping part 40b are provided.

The laser light source 32 is a so-called solid-state laser, and includes a YAG (Yttrium Aluminum Garnet) laser oscillator 32a and a harmonic unit 32b. The YAG laser oscillator 32a includes an yttrium aluminum garnet (Y ₃ Al ₅ O ₁₂ ) crystal to which neodymium ions (Nd ³⁺ ) are added, and emits a fundamental wave (wavelength: 1064 nm) of YAG laser light that is invisible light in the near infrared. Generate. The harmonic unit 32b is provided with a nonlinear optical crystal, and the fundamental wave of the YAG laser light generated by the YAG laser oscillator 32a is passed through the nonlinear optical crystal, so that the YAG laser light, which is visible light, is transmitted. Convert to second harmonic (SHG: Second harmonic generation, wavelength: 532 nm). The laser light source 32 causes the second harmonic of the YAG laser light to enter the collimating lens 33 as the basic laser light Le.

  The collimator lens 33 is a plano-convex lens having a predetermined curvature on the exit surface side, and converts the light beam of the basic laser light Le emitted from the laser light source 32 into parallel light parallel to the optical axis, thereby generating a half mirror. 34 is incident. The half mirror 34 divides the basic laser beam Le emitted from the collimator lens 33 into a first laser beam Le1 and a second laser beam Le2 that are a pair of laser beams having the same energy. Each of the reflecting mirrors 35 and 36 is a plane mirror having a reflecting surface that reflects the first laser beam Le1 that is the transmitted light of the half mirror 34, and the first laser beam Le1 that is the reflected light is a first laser forming unit. It is made incident on 40a. Each of the reflection mirrors 37 to 39 is a plane mirror having a reflection surface that reflects the second laser beam Le2 that is the reflection light of the half mirror 34, and the second laser beam Le2 that is the reflection light is a second laser forming unit. It is made incident on 40b.

  The first laser shaping unit 40a includes a cylindrical lens 41a and a first intensity modulation element 42a constituting an intensity modulation unit on the optical path of the first laser beam Le1. The second laser shaping unit 40b includes a cylindrical lens 41b and a second intensity modulation element 42b constituting an intensity modulation unit on the optical path of the second laser beam Le2.

The cylindrical lenses 41a and 42b are lenses each having an exit surface that has a curvature only in the short direction, and the cross sections of the first laser light Le1 and the second laser light Le2 converted into parallel light by the collimating lens 33 are shown. It converts into the rectangular shape extended along the said nozzle formation surface 21a. The first laser light Le1 and the second laser light Le2 incident on the cylindrical lenses 41a and 41b have a predetermined width in the Z direction. Therefore, when the laser light is irradiated to the flight space without being formed by the cylindrical lenses 41a and 41b, the end portion in the Z direction of the laser light is the ejection head 15, the green sheet GS, the stage 12, and the like. And the energy of the first laser beam Le1 and the second laser beam Le2 is partially lost. The cylindrical lenses 41a and 41b convert the Z-direction components of the first laser light Le1 and the second laser light Le2 from the corresponding reflecting mirrors, respectively, and the first laser light Le1 and the second laser light Le2 in the Z direction. The cross-sectional shape is formed so that the length is equal to the platen gap PG (1 mm in this embodiment). Thereby, the first laser light Le1 and the second laser light Le2 can be guided to the target path TL of the droplet D while suppressing the energy loss of the first laser light Le1 and the second laser light Le2.

First and second intensity modulator element 42a, 42b is a cylindrical lens 41a, respectively, of the first laser beam Le1 molded by 41b strength and a first intensity _{P 1} and the intensity of the predetermined second laser beam Le2 second by modulating to the intensity P ₂ irradiated to the flight space. Here, the total energy E, which is an added value of the energy E1 received from the first laser beam Le1 and the energy E2 received from the second laser beam Le2, is supplied to the droplet D in flight. The irradiation intensity Ps, which is the sum of the first intensity P ₁ and the second intensity P ₂ , corresponds to the total energy E.

  The optical axes of the first and second intensity modulation elements 42a and 42b are arranged so as to be located at intermediate positions of the target path TL, and the first laser is applied to the droplets D discharged from all the nozzles N. In order to irradiate the light Le1 and the second laser light Le2, a predetermined inclination angle θ (θ: 0 ° <θ ≦ 90 °) is horizontally applied with respect to the arrangement direction of the nozzles N (the one-dot chain line direction shown in FIG. 5). Inclined. As shown in FIG. 6, the inclination angle θ is selected within a range that satisfies sin θ ≧ 2r / Dx, for example, when the diameter of the droplet D is 2r. If the tilt angle θ satisfies such a condition, even if the first laser beam Le1 and the second laser beam Le2 are irradiated to the droplet D from each nozzle N ejected at the same timing, The droplet D on the side closer to the first intensity modulation element 42a does not obstruct the first laser beam Le1 and the second laser beam Le2 relative to the droplet D on the side farther from the first intensity modulation element 42a. . Therefore, the first laser beam Le1 and the second laser beam Le2 can be evenly irradiated to all the droplets D ejected simultaneously from the ejection head 15. In addition, when the inclination angle θ satisfies sin θ = 2r / Dx, there is no gap in the laser light irradiation direction with the droplet D ejected from the adjacent nozzle N, and therefore the droplet D is irradiated. Laser light that passes through the flight space without being transmitted can be minimized, and the utilization efficiency of the laser light can be improved. Further, even if the laser beam satisfies sin θ> 2r / Dx, the laser beam corresponds to each flight path of the droplet D discharged from each nozzle N by the first and second intensity modulation elements 42a and 42b. By dividing the light, laser light that passes through the flight space can be minimized, and utilization efficiency of the laser light can be improved.

Next, the electrical configuration of the droplet discharge device 10 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a block circuit diagram showing an electrical configuration of the droplet discharge device.
In FIG. 7, the control unit 50 of the droplet discharge device 10 includes a CPU 51 that executes various calculations, a ROM 52 and a RAM 53 as intensity ratio reference storage units, and various data and various controls stored in the ROM 52 and RAM 53. According to the program, the conveyance process of the stage 12 and the carriage 16, the droplet ejection process of the ejection head 15, the imaging process of the imaging camera 25, the laser emission process of the laser light source 32, and the landing position correction by the first and second intensity modulation elements 42a and 42b. Execute processing.

An input / output device 54 having operation switches such as a start switch and a stop switch is electrically connected to the control unit 50. The input / output device 54 irradiates the droplet D with laser light, information on the position coordinates of the grid point T of the dot pattern grid DL with respect to the drawing surface GSa, information on the drive voltage COM, information on the properties of the conductive ink Ik, Then, information related to the total energy E corresponding to the total amount of heat q required to evaporate a predetermined amount of the dispersion medium is input to the control unit 50 as drawing information Ia. The control unit 50 receives the drawing information Ia from the input / output device 54, stores the drawing information Ia in the RAM 53, generates test and drawing bitmap data BMD based on the drawing information Ia, and stores it in the RAM 53. Store.

  The bitmap data BMD is data that specifies whether each piezoelectric element PZ is turned on or off according to the value (0 or 1) of each bit. The bitmap data BMD is data that defines whether or not the droplets D are ejected to each lattice point T on the drawing surface GSa that passes directly under the ejection head 15. That is, the bitmap data BMD is data for causing the droplets D to be ejected at the respective lattice points T defined by the dot pattern lattice DL.

  A carriage motor drive circuit 55 is connected to the control unit 50. The control unit 50 outputs a drive control signal corresponding to the carriage motor drive circuit 55. In response to the drive control signal from the control unit 50, the carriage motor drive circuit 55 rotates the carriage motor 56 for moving the carriage 16 forward or backward. A carriage encoder 57 is connected to the carriage motor drive circuit 55, and a detection signal from the carriage encoder 57 is input. Based on the detection signal from the carriage encoder 57, the carriage motor drive circuit 55 generates a signal related to the movement direction and movement amount of the carriage 16 relative to the drawing surface GSa, that is, the movement direction and movement amount of the nozzle N, and sends the signal to the control unit 50. Output.

  A stage motor drive circuit 58 is connected to the control unit 50. The control unit 50 outputs a drive control signal corresponding to the stage motor drive circuit 58. In response to the drive control signal from the control unit 50, the stage motor drive circuit 58 rotates the stage motor 59 for moving the stage 12 forward or backward. A stage encoder 60 is connected to the stage motor drive circuit 58 and a detection signal from the stage encoder 60 is input. Based on the detection signal from the stage encoder 60, the stage motor drive circuit 58 generates a signal related to the moving direction and moving amount of the stage 12, that is, a signal related to the moving direction and moving amount of the lattice point T, which is the target position, and performs control. To the unit 50.

  A discharge head drive circuit 61 is connected to the controller 50 and outputs a drive voltage COM for driving each piezoelectric element PZ in synchronization with the discharge timing signal LT. Further, the control unit 50 generates an ejection control signal SI synchronized with a predetermined clock signal based on the bitmap data BMD, and serially transfers the ejection control signal SI to the ejection head drive circuit 61. The ejection head drive circuit 61 sequentially converts the ejection control signal SI from the control unit 50 into serial / parallel corresponding to each piezoelectric element PZ. Each time the ejection head driving circuit 61 receives the ejection timing signal LT from the control unit 50, the ejection head driving circuit 61 latches the ejection control signal SI that has been subjected to serial / parallel conversion, and supplies the drive voltage COM to each selected piezoelectric element PZ.

An imaging camera driving circuit 62 is connected to the control unit 50, and outputs an imaging signal S ₁ that is a signal for driving the imaging camera 25 to capture an image to the imaging camera driving circuit 62. Imaging camera drive circuit 62, the imaging signal S ₁ is input to image the droplet D that lands the imaging camera 25 to the drive control to the drawing surface GSa. The imaging camera 25 outputs the captured image as image data PD to the control unit 50 via the imaging camera drive circuit 62. The control unit 50, the imaging camera drive circuit 62, and the imaging camera 25 constitute a shift amount detection unit.

The control unit 50 performs test drawing for ejecting the droplets D to the test area IDL using the test bitmap data BMD in order to obtain the image data PD. In this test drawing, and strength from the first intensity modulation element 42a and intensity from the second intensity modulation element 42b is a reference intensity P ₀ is equal intensity, so that the sum of these is the irradiation intensity Ps A laser beam is emitted.

When the image data PD is input from the imaging camera 25, the control unit 50 executes image processing related to the image data PD, and the displacement direction and displacement of the landing position of the droplet D with reference to the lattice point T which is the target position. A shift amount L indicating the amount is calculated. The control unit 50 stores data relating to the shift amount L as a shift amount data DBD in a predetermined area of the RAM 53. FIG. 8 schematically shows the relationship between the landing position of the droplet D imaged to calculate the shift amount L and the lattice point T, and the first intensity, which is the intensity of the first laser beam Le1. P ₁ indicates the case where relatively high.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the landing position of the droplet D is shifted in the irradiation direction of the first laser beam Le1, and the control unit 50 performs image processing on the image data PD to obtain a lattice point that is a target position. The coordinates of the center point C of the droplet D with respect to T are calculated. Then, the control unit 50 calculates the shift amount L based on the lattice point T, which is the target position, and the center point C of the droplet D. That is, the control unit 50 calculates the shift amount L that is information regarding the landing position of the droplet D by imaging the droplet D that has landed on the drawing surface GSa and performing image processing on the image data PD, and the shift amount L Is stored in the RAM 53.

A laser light source driving circuit 63 is connected to the control unit 50. Control unit 50 includes a laser light source driving circuit irradiation stop signal S ₃ is when outputting the irradiation start signal S ₂ to the laser light source driving circuit 63 when starting the irradiation operation of the basic laser light Le, and ends the irradiation operation To 63. The laser light source driving circuit 63 drives the laser light source 32 to emit the fundamental laser light Le having a predetermined power when receiving the irradiation start signal S ₂ from the control unit 50. Conversely, to stop the driving of the laser light source 32 to stop the emission of the fundamental laser light Le when receiving the irradiation stop signal S ₃ from the control unit 50.

The control unit 50, the intensity modulation element drive circuit 64 is connected, the first output signal LP ₁ and the first strength P ₁ is the second intensity P ₂ and a signal which defines the second output signal LP ₂ Is output to the intensity modulation element driving circuit 64. Intensity modulation element driving circuit 64, the the first output signal LP ₁ and the second output signal LP ₂ is input, the first intensity intensity of the first laser beam Le1 and the intensity of the second laser beam Le2 each P such that the _first and the second intensity _{P 2} controls the first intensity modulator element 42a and a second intensity modulation element 42b.

  Here, in the first laser beam Le1 and the second laser beam Le2 irradiated to the droplet D, the number of reflection mirrors, the optical path length, the atmosphere, and the like on the optical path are different, respectively, and further, the first intensity modulation element 42a and Since a modulation error or the like occurs in the second intensity modulation element 42b, intensity loss due to these errors occurs. Such a loss can occur even in a mode in which one basic laser beam Le is split into a pair of laser beams, so that it is extremely difficult to make the intensity in the droplet D exactly equal. Therefore, in such a configuration, a pair of laser beams having different intensities are irradiated onto the droplet D, and the flying curve of the droplets along the irradiation direction of the laser beam having a relatively high intensity. Will be triggered. The degree of intensity loss as described above differs for each drawing information Ia that is a drawing condition, such as the above-described optical components and the irradiation intensity Ps.

In where the control unit 50, to correct the deviation of the landing position by such ink deflection, every time a new drawing information Ia is input, the first strength P ₁ and the intensity ratio R is the ratio of the second intensity P ₂ The landing position correction process for correcting the is executed.

More specifically, the control unit 50 reads the landing position correction data LRD in which the shift amount L of the droplet D and the intensity ratio R are associated with each other, reads the shift amount data DBD from the RAM 53, and sets the landing position correction data LRD. And the landing position correction process are executed using the shift amount data DBD. The landing position correction data LRD is generated by an experiment performed in advance or a computer simulation related to the flight state of a droplet, and an intensity ratio R for reducing the shift amount L is defined for each shift amount L. It is data. The landing position correction data LRD is defined for each drawing information Ia and each irradiation intensity Ps, and FIG. 9 shows an example of the relationship between the shift amount L and the intensity ratio R in the correction intensity data LDR. is there.

In FIG. 9, the shift amount when the landing position is at the target position is represented by “0” as a reference value. The first intensity P ₁ is a higher than the second intensity P _2, the shift amount of the landing position relative to the lattice point T is shifted to the irradiation direction of the first laser beam Le1 labeled "+" ing. Conversely, the first intensity P ₁ is a lower than the second intensity P _2, landing positions relative to the grid point T is the opposite direction to the irradiation direction of the first laser beam Le1 (the first laser beam Le1 The shift amount shifted in the (irradiation direction) is indicated by “−”.

Then, the control unit 50 calculates the shift amount L by the test drawing, acquires the target ratio _RL , which is the intensity ratio R associated with the shift amount L, from the landing position correction data LRD, and the first intensity P ₁ When a second intensity P ₂ is to correct the ratio of the intensity of the laser beam so as to satisfy the target ratio R _L. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, a target ratio _RL for reducing the shift amount is calculated based on the shift amount L in the test drawing. Next, the first intensity P ₁ is corrected so as to decrease from the reference intensity P ₀ so as to satisfy the target ratio _RL while maintaining the irradiation intensity Ps, and the second intensity P ₂ increases from the reference intensity P ₀ . It is corrected in the form.

Next, the operation of the droplet discharge device 10 configured as described above will be described.
When the new drawing information Ia is input from the input / output device 54 to the control unit 50, the droplet discharge device 10 executes the above-described test drawing and landing position correction processing. That is, the green sheet GS at a predetermined position of the stage 12 when the operation of starting the drawing in a state of being placed is made, is the irradiation start signal S ₂ to the laser light source 32 is output fundamental laser light Le emitted. By first intensity modulator element 42a and a second intensity modulation element 42b is driven, the first laser beam Le1 and second laser beam Le2 reference intensity _{P 0} is emitted.

  Subsequently, the stage 12 and the carriage 16 are driven so that the test area IDL is located immediately below the nozzle N, and one droplet D is directed from the predetermined nozzle N toward the lattice point T of the test area IDL. Discharged. The ejected droplets D receive the first laser beam Le1 and the second laser beam Le2 that are irradiated in a manner sandwiching the flight path, and land on the drawing surface GSa while the dispersion medium evaporates.

With droplet D is outputted to the irradiation stop signal S ₃ to the laser light source 32 landing, that grid point T is the stage 12 is driven so as to be positioned directly below the imaging camera 25. Then, image data PD is generated by imaging the droplet D landed by the imaging camera 25, and the shift amount L in the test drawing is calculated by executing image processing of the image data PD. Then, a target ratio RL for reducing the shift amount _L is calculated based on the shift amount L as the calculation result and the landing position correction data LRD, and the irradiation intensity Ps is set so that the intensity ratio R becomes the target ratio _RL. first intensity P ₁ and the second intensity P ₂ is modulated while maintaining the.

By so doing, even when the intensity of the first laser beam Le1 and the intensity of the second laser beam Le2 are different, the first laser beam Le1 and the second laser beam Le2 are irradiated at an intensity ratio R corresponding to the shift amount L. By doing so, the landing position of the droplet D can be corrected to the target position. That is, the landing position of the droplet D can be brought close to the lattice point T according to the drawing conditions at that time, and the displacement of the landing position can be suppressed. In addition, when correcting the power intensity ratio R, the irradiation intensity Ps is maintained with the total energy E corresponding to the total heat q required for evaporating a predetermined amount of the dispersion medium from the droplets D. The displacement of the landing position can be suppressed without impairing the drying efficiency of the droplet D.

As described above, according to the droplet discharge device 10 of the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) According to the above embodiment, the first and second intensities P ₁ of the first and second laser beams Le 1 and Le 2 are based on the shift amount L of the center point C of the landed droplet D with respect to the lattice point T. , P ₂ intensity ratio R was corrected. Further, the intensity ratio R of the first and second intensities P ₁ and P ₂ is set while maintaining the total energy E corresponding to the total heat q required for evaporating the dispersion medium having a predetermined amount of the dispersion medium from the droplets D. Corrected. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the displacement of the landing position of the droplet D without impairing the drying efficiency of the droplet D.

  (2) According to the above embodiment, by detecting the shift amount L of the preliminarily ejected droplet D based on the image data PD imaged by the imaging camera 25, the detection error of the shift amount L is suppressed. And the landing position of the droplet D can be corrected with high accuracy. Further, by correcting the intensity ratio R based on the landing position correction data LRD stored in advance in the ROM 52, the displacement of the landing position can be accurately corrected.

  (3) According to the above embodiment, the first and second intensity modulation elements 42a and 42b are arranged closer to the target path TL than the half mirror 34, so that the liquid droplet D is irradiated after intensity modulation. It is also possible to reduce the intensity loss of the first and second laser beams Le1 and Le2 in the optical path up to.

  (4) According to the above embodiment, the landing position correction data LRD is defined for each sum of the intensities of the first and second laser beams Le1 and Le2. Thereby, even if it is a case where the sum total of intensity | strength is changed according to the property of the electroconductive ink Ik, the position shift of a landing position can be suppressed.

(5) In the laser irradiation part 31 of the said embodiment, the basic laser beam radiate | emitted from the laser light source 32 was branched to 1st laser beam Le1 and 2nd laser beam Le2 by arrange | positioning the half mirror 34. FIG. Thereby, a pair of laser light irradiated to the droplet D can be produced | generated by the one laser light source 32, and the laser irradiation part 31 can be made into a simple structure.
(Second Embodiment)
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the second embodiment, in addition to the landing position correction process using the intensity ratio R, the landing diameter correction process using the irradiation intensity Ps is executed. Therefore, in the second embodiment, this landing diameter correction process will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 50 performs image processing on the image data PD from the imaging camera 25 to calculate a difference value between the landing diameter ra of the droplet D and the target diameter, and relates to the difference value. Difference value data as data is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 53. Here, when the irradiation intensity Ps becomes low due to the above-described loss of intensity or the like, a sufficiently dry state cannot be obtained for the droplet D even when the laser light is irradiated. There is a correlation between the landing diameter ra of the droplet D and the dry state of the droplet D in flight. The larger the amount of the dispersion medium contained in the droplet D, the larger the landing diameter ra of the droplet D. .

In where the control unit 50, to correct the deviation of the landing diameter due to the difference of such a dry state, every time a new drawing information Ia is input, the sum of the first intensity P ₁ and the second intensity P ₂ irradiated A landing diameter correction process for correcting the strength Ps is executed.

  Specifically, the control unit 50 stores the landing diameter correction data in which the intensity correction value, which is the correction value of the irradiation intensity Ps, and the difference value are associated with each other in the ROM 52 as the intensity reference storage unit, and the landing diameter correction data. And the difference diameter data are used to execute the landing diameter correction process. This landing diameter correction data is generated by experiments conducted in advance or computer simulations related to the flight state of the droplets, and the intensity correction value for reducing the difference value is data defined for each difference value. is there. Such correction data is defined for each drawing information Ia, and FIG. 10 shows an example of the relationship between the difference value and the intensity correction value in the landing diameter correction data, and the difference value between the landing diameter and the target diameter. This shows the relationship that the intensity correction value, which is the correction amount from the irradiation intensity Ps, increases as the value of.

The control unit 50 calculates a difference value between the target diameter and the landing diameter by the test drawing, acquires an intensity correction value associated with the difference value from the landing diameter correction data, and obtains the first intensity P ₁ and the first intensity P ₁ . it is the sum of two intensity P ₂ irradiation intensity Ps corrects the intensity of the laser beam to increase only intensity correction value. Further, the control unit 50 reads the landing position correction data LRD corresponding to the new irradiation intensity corrected in this way, and obtains the target ratio _RL that is the intensity ratio R associated with the shift amount _L from the landing position correction data LRD. To do. According to the laser beam irradiation mode using the intensity correction value thus obtained and the target ratio _RL , in addition to the case where only the ratio between the first laser beam Le1 and the second laser beam Le2 is corrected, the droplet D It is also possible to reliably ensure the dry state.
(Third embodiment)
Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. In the third embodiment, the configuration of the optical system of the droplet discharge device 10 is changed from the above embodiment. Therefore, the changes will be described in detail below. FIG. 11 schematically shows the configuration of the laser irradiation unit 71 of the optical system in the third embodiment, and FIG. 12 is a block circuit diagram showing the electrical configuration of the liquid droplet ejection apparatus 10.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the laser irradiation unit 71 includes a first laser light source 72a that emits the first laser light Le1, a second laser light source 72b that emits the second laser light Le2, and a first laser shaping unit 40a. 2nd laser shaping part 40b.

  The first and second laser light sources 72a and 72b are laser light sources that emit the first and second laser lights Le1 and Le2, respectively. The first and second laser light sources 72 a and 72 b are laser light sources that emit the second harmonic (wavelength: 532 nm) of the YAG laser, and are applied to the droplets D ejected from all the nozzles N of the ejection head 15. Thus, a laser beam having a sufficient width to irradiate the laser beam is emitted. The first and second laser light sources 72a and 72b are arranged such that the optical axes of the respective laser beams are arranged in the arrangement of the nozzles N so as to irradiate the respective laser beams onto the droplets D ejected from all the nozzles N of the ejection head 15. The laser beam is inclined in a horizontal direction with respect to the direction by a predetermined inclination angle θ, and is arranged so as to be a pair of opposed laser beams having the same optical axis. The first and second laser beams Le1 and Le2 emitted from the first and second laser light sources 72a and 72b are emitted so that the sum of the intensities with respect to the droplet D corresponds to the irradiation intensity Ps. Further, only the cylindrical lenses 41a and 41b for linearly converting the corresponding laser beams are disposed in the first and second laser forming portions 40a and 40b.

Next, the electrical configuration of the droplet discharge device 10 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 12, a laser light source driving circuit 73 is connected to the control unit 50. The controller 50 outputs the first output signal LP ₁ to the laser light source driving circuit 73 in order to obtain the first intensity P ₁ in the flight path. The laser light source driving circuit 73 receives the first output signal LP ₁ and causes the first laser light source 72 a to emit laser light having a power corresponding to the first intensity P ₁ .

Further, the control unit 50 outputs the second output signal LP ₂ to the laser light source driving circuit 73 in order to obtain the second intensity P ₂ in the flight path. The laser light source driving circuit 73 receives the second output signal LP _2, thereby emitting a laser beam having power corresponding to the second intensity P ₂ in the second laser light source 72b.

That is, the control unit 50 includes a first intensity P ₁ based on the image data PD of the image pickup droplets D in correcting the second intensity P _2, the first laser light source 72a is a laser light source and the The two laser light sources 72b are controlled. In such a configuration, the configuration of the laser irradiation unit can be simplified by the amount that the reflection mirror and the intensity modulation element for modulating the power are not provided on each optical path. In addition, since the first and second laser light sources 72a and 72b can be arranged at positions close to the irradiation target, diffraction on the optical path of each laser beam is suppressed and power loss is reduced. be able to.

In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.
In the laser irradiation units 31 and 71 in the first to third embodiments, the optical axes of the first laser beam Le1 and the second laser beam Le2 are inclined by the inclination angle θ with respect to the arrangement direction of the nozzles N. In addition to this, in order to suppress the displacement of the landing positions of the droplets D, the optical axes of the first laser light Le1 and the second laser light Le2 are not inclined with respect to the arrangement direction of the nozzles N, but the same arrangement. You may make it correspond with a direction. At this time, by sequentially ejecting the droplets D from the nozzles N of the ejection head 15 at different ejection timings, it is possible to irradiate all the droplets D with laser light.

  In the landing position correction data LRD of the first embodiment, the intensity ratio R of the modulated first and second laser beams Le1 and Le2 is defined based on the shift amount L. In addition to this, in correcting the intensity ratio R of the first and second laser beams Le1 and Le2, the landing position correction data LRD is the actual laser irradiated to the droplet at that time according to the shift amount L. It may be data defining the ratio of light. In such a case, a calculation program for calculating the power intensity ratio R for setting the landing position to the lattice point T from the actual laser light ratio of the correction data may be stored in the ROM 52 of the control unit 50 or the like.

  According to the test drawing of the first and second embodiments, a single droplet D was landed from a predetermined nozzle N on the test area IDL and imaged by the imaging camera 25. In addition to this, when the test drawing is performed and the shift amount L and the landing diameter ra of the droplet D are acquired, the droplets D are discharged from all the nozzles N of the discharge head 15 and then imaged by the imaging camera 25. It may be. In such a case, the shift amount L and the landing diameter ra of the droplet D can be obtained by calculating an average value for all the droplets D, respectively. According to this, since a more accurate shift amount L and landing radius ra can be obtained, the displacement of the landing position can be further suppressed.

  In the droplet discharge device 10 of the first and second embodiments, the shift amount detection unit is provided in the droplet discharge device 10. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in order to obtain the shift amount L and the landing diameter ra of the droplet D by performing test drawing, the droplet discharge device 10 and the shift amount detection unit may be provided separately.

In the second embodiment, the landing position correction process is performed after the laser beam landing diameter correction process is performed. However, the order is not particularly limited as long as both the landing position correction process and the landing diameter correction process are executed, and the landing diameter correction process may be executed after the landing position correction process is executed. Alternatively, the test drawing may be performed again after executing the landing diameter correction process, and the landing position correction process may be executed after the image data PD is acquired again. According to this, since the landing position correction process can be executed in a state where the irradiation intensity Ps is corrected, it is possible to further suppress the displacement of the landing position.

  In the first to third embodiments, the storage unit is the ROM 52 of the control unit 50. In addition to this, in storing the landing position correction data LRD, the RAM 53 may function as a storage unit by adding the landing position correction data LRD to the drawing information Ia.

  In the above embodiment, the ejection head 15 has one nozzle row composed of the nozzles N. Not limited to this, a plurality of nozzle rows may be formed in the ejection head 15. At this time, the tilt angle θ of the optical axis of the laser light may be appropriately changed so that the first laser light Le1 and the second laser light Le2 are irradiated to all the droplets D ejected from the nozzle N.

  In the above embodiment, the laser beam irradiated on the droplet D is the second harmonic of the YAG laser. That is, the solid-state laser was irradiated to the droplet D. Not limited to this, a liquid laser, a gas laser, a semiconductor laser, or the like may be used for irradiating the droplet D with laser light.

  In the embodiment described above, the liquid droplet ejecting apparatus 10 that draws the metal wiring by ejecting the conductive ink Ik containing the conductive fine particles on the green sheet GS is embodied. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to a pattern forming apparatus for other uses such as a pattern forming apparatus for drawing an insulating pattern, as long as the flying droplets are irradiated with laser light and dried.

  In the embodiment described above, the piezoelectric element driving type droplet discharge device 10 is embodied. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and from the viewpoint of ejecting droplets from the ejection head, the present invention may be embodied in a droplet ejection apparatus equipped with a resistance heating type or electrostatic drive type ejection head.

The perspective view which shows an example of the pattern formation apparatus concerning this invention. The perspective view which shows an ejection head. FIG. 3 is a main part cross-sectional view showing the inside of the ejection head. The schematic diagram which shows the dot pattern lattice of a green sheet. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an optical configuration of a droplet discharge device according to the first embodiment. The schematic diagram for demonstrating the relationship between a laser beam and a droplet. FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the droplet discharge device according to the first embodiment. The schematic diagram of the image data which imaged the landed droplet. The graph which shows typically the relationship between the shift amount of the landed droplet, and the ratio of power. The graph which showed typically the relationship between the difference value in impact diameter correction data, and an intensity correction value. The schematic diagram which shows the optical structure of the droplet discharge apparatus in 3rd Embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block circuit diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of a droplet discharge device according to a third embodiment. The graph which showed typically the relationship between the power in the prior art example, the evaporation amount of the evaporation component, and the maximum shift amount.

Explanation of symbols

θ ... tilt angle, BMD ... bitmap data, C ... center point, COM ... driving voltage, D ... droplet, DBD ... shift amount data, N ... nozzle, T ... grid point, DL ... dot pattern lattice, Dx ... nozzle Pitch, Dy ... discharge pitch, GS ... green sheet, GSa ... drawing surface, Ia ... drawing information, IDL ... test area, Ik ... conductive ink, L ... shift amount, Le ... basic laser light, Le1 ... first laser light , Le2 ... second laser light, LRD ... landing position correction data, LT ... ejection timing signal, P 0 _... reference intensity, P 1 _... first intensity, P 2 _... second intensity, PD ... image data, PG ... platen gap , PH ... high strength, PL ... low strength, Ps ... irradiation intensity, PZ ... piezoelectric elements, q ... total heat, q 1 _... heat, q 2 _... heat, ra ... landing diameter, R ... intensity ratio, R L _... target Ratio, S ₁ ... Imaging Signal, S ₂ ... Irradiation start signal, S ₃ ... Irradiation stop signal, SI ... Discharge control signal, TL ... Target path, 10 ... Droplet discharge device, 11 ... Base, 12 ... Stage, 13 ... Guide member, 14 ... Ink tank, 15 ... discharge head, 16 ... carriage, 17 ... head substrate, 17a ... connection terminal, 20 ... head body, 20T ... supply tube, 21 ... nozzle plate, 21a ... nozzle formation surface, 22 ... cavity, 23 ... vibration Plate 25 ... Imaging camera 31 ... Laser irradiation unit 32 ... Laser light source 32a ... YAG laser oscillator 32b Harmonic unit 33 ... Collimator lens 34 ... Half mirror 35 ... Reflection mirror 36 ... Reflection mirror 37: reflection mirror, 38: reflection mirror, 39: reflection mirror, 40a: first laser molding unit, 40b: second laser molding unit, 41a: syring DRAICAL LENS, 41B ... CYLINDRICAL LENS, 42A ... First intensity modulation element, 42B ... Second intensity modulation element, 50 ... CONTROL section, 51 ... CPU, 52 ... ROM, 53 ... RAM, 54 ... Input / output device, 55 ... Carriage motor Drive circuit 56 ... carriage motor 57 ... carriage encoder 58 ... stage motor drive circuit 59 ... stage motor 60 ... stage encoder 61 ... discharge head drive circuit 62 ... imaging camera drive circuit 63 ... laser light source drive circuit 64, intensity modulation element driving circuit, 71, laser irradiation unit, 72a, first laser light source, 72b, second laser light source, 73, laser light source driving circuit.

Claims (5)

An ejection head for ejecting and flying liquid droplets containing an evaporation component and a pattern forming material from a nozzle toward a drawing object;
A laser irradiation unit that irradiates the droplet in flight with a pair of laser beams to evaporate a predetermined amount of the evaporation component;
A pattern forming apparatus for forming a pattern by landing the droplet on the drawing object,
The laser irradiation unit is
Adjusting the intensity ratio of the pair of laser beams so that the landing position of the droplet becomes the target position, the pair of lasers face each other across the path between the nozzle and the position where the droplet lands. A pattern forming apparatus irradiating the droplet with light. The laser irradiation unit is
It has an intensity ratio reference storage unit in which data relating the droplet landing position and the intensity ratio is stored in advance, and using the intensity ratio based on the data stored in the intensity ratio reference storage unit The pattern forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of laser beams is adjusted. The laser irradiation unit is
A total intensity reference storage unit in which data relating the landing diameter of the droplet and the total intensity of the laser beam is stored in advance, and the laser beam based on the data stored in the total intensity storage unit The pattern forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pair of laser beams is adjusted using a total intensity. The laser irradiation unit is
The pattern formation apparatus of any one of Claims 1-3 which have a branch part which branches the basic laser beam from one laser light source into a pair of said laser beam. It is a pattern formation apparatus of any one of Claims 1-4,
Provided with a shift amount detection unit for detecting the shift amount of the preliminarily ejected droplets,
A pattern forming apparatus that corrects an intensity ratio of the pair of laser beams using a detection result of the shift amount detection unit.

Images