JP2010082505A - Method and device for forming pattern - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and a device for forming a pattern which suppress wet-broadening of a liquid drop impacting on an object for drawing by drying liquid drops in flight by irradiating them with laser light. <P>SOLUTION: ROM 52 of the control part 50 of a liquid drop discharge element stores the intensity data LPD of the laser light which relates the impact diameter of the impacted liquid drops with the intensity of the laser light emitted to the liquid drops. Based on the intensity data LPD of the laser light, the upper limit of the intensity P<SB>L</SB>of the laser light which provides the desired impact diameter is detected, and the area of the laser intensity of a smaller size than that of the upper limit of the intensity P<SB>L</SB>is set as a forbidden area A. Drawing on a green sheet is forbidden when the intensity of the total laser light of a pair of laser beams input together with drawing information Ia is in the forbidden area A and drawing on the green sheet is allowed when not in the forbidden area A. <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 an ejection head so that the volume per droplet is several to several tens of picoliters. The circuit pattern can be further miniaturized and the pitch can be reduced by changing the droplet discharge position.

The above-described ink jet method discharge head stores metal ink in a storage chamber communicating with a nozzle, and discharges the metal ink as droplets by vibrating a gas-liquid interface (meniscus) formed in the nozzle. In this meniscus, since the metal ink is in contact with the outside air, the dispersion medium of the metal ink is constantly volatilized into the outside air. Therefore, when the dispersion medium is easily volatilized, the conductive fine particles are deposited in the vicinity of the meniscus, and there is a possibility that the discharge failure of the droplets is finally caused. Therefore, in such an ink for ink jet, a re-dissolvable component such as a water-soluble polyhydric alcohol is conventionally added to the ink, and the volatilization of the dispersion medium is caused by the interaction between the re-dissolvable component and the dispersion medium. Proposals have been made to reduce the properties of the particles and to disperse (re-dissolve) the deposited metal particles in the dispersion medium again by the interaction between the re-dissolvable component and the conductive fine particles.
JP 2005-57139 A

  By the way, in order to form a high-definition pattern using the ink jet 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 of drying a droplet using laser light, the surface of the droplet is likely to become relatively high temperature in order to irradiate the flying droplet with laser light. When the dispersion medium evaporates, the conductive fine particles are easily deposited on the surface of the droplet. When the above-described precipitation of the conductive fine particles is more dominant than the evaporation of the dispersion medium contained inside the droplet, an outer shell made of the conductive fine particles is formed on the surface of the droplet. When a droplet having such an outer shell lands on the substrate, the outflow of the metal ink contained in the droplet is blocked by the outer shell, thereby suppressing the wetting and spreading of the droplet on the substrate. .

On the other hand, when the droplets in flight are insufficiently dried, a large amount of the re-dissolvable component remains in the landed droplet, and this re-dissolvable component acts on the outer shell. This causes the outer shell to redissolve inside the droplet. Such remelting of the outer shell proceeds until the conductive fine particles in the droplet are saturated, and eventually the outer shell made of the conductive fine particles is broken to cause the wetting and spreading of the droplet. FIG. 11 (a) is a diagram schematically showing a state where a droplet having an outer shell has landed, and FIG. 11 (b) is a state in which the outer shell has been broken by re-dissolution of the outer shell by a re-dissolvable component. FIG.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 11 (a), when the droplets in flight are sufficiently dried, a sufficiently thick outer shell is formed against the action of the re-dissolvable component. The spreading of the droplets is suppressed by the outer shell. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10 (b), when the drying of the droplet during flight is insufficient, the outer shell is broken by the action of the re-dissolvable component and is contained in the droplet. Metal ink spreads wet on the substrate surface.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to wet droplets on a drawing object when a droplet is received by a laser beam and landed on the drawing object. An object of the present invention is to provide a pattern forming method and a pattern forming apparatus that suppress the spread.

  In the pattern forming method of the present invention, a liquid material in which a pattern forming material is dispersed in an evaporation component is discharged as droplets from a nozzle of a discharge head to a target position of the drawing target, and the drawing target and the discharge head are A liquid that has been dried by irradiating a flying space of the droplet, which is a space sandwiched between two, by irradiating a laser beam and evaporating the evaporation component from the droplet in flight to dry the droplet in flight A pattern forming method for forming a pattern made of the pattern forming material on the drawing object by causing droplets to land on the drawing object, wherein the pattern forming material is re-dissolved in the evaporation component. When the dissolved component is included, the intensity of the laser beam and the landing diameter of the droplet are associated in advance, and the landing diameter increases as the intensity of the laser beam increases. Set the upper limit of the intensity range of the laser light, and summarized in that irradiates the laser beam with greater strength than the upper limit.

  If the liquid material contains a re-dissolvable component that re-dissolves the pattern forming material, the outer shell formed on the surface of the liquid droplet will break down after landing if the liquid droplet is insufficiently dried. As a result, wetting and spreading of the droplet occurs. In such a state, as the evaporation component from the droplet increases, that is, as the intensity of the laser beam applied to the droplet increases, the amount of the evaporation component adhering to the drawing object increases, and the liquid to the drawing object increases. As the wettability of the body increases, the landing diameter of the droplets is enlarged. According to this pattern forming method, after setting the upper limit value of the intensity at which the landing diameter expands as the intensity of the laser beam increases as described above, the laser beam is irradiated with an intensity greater than the upper limit value. Therefore, wetting and spreading of the landing droplet can be suppressed.

  In this pattern forming method, an area having an intensity smaller than the upper limit value is set as a use-prohibited area, and drawing on the drawing object is performed on condition that the intensity of laser light in the drawing condition is within the use-prohibited area. The gist is to permit drawing on the drawing object when the condition is not satisfied.

  According to this pattern forming method, since the region having an intensity smaller than the upper limit value of the intensity with which the landing diameter expands as the intensity of the laser light increases, the use prohibited area is set. If the strength is low and sufficient drying of the droplets is not possible, even if the intensity of the laser beam is input, use the intensity of the laser beam to prohibit drawing and It is possible to reliably suppress the wetting and spreading of the droplets.

The gist of this pattern forming method is to irradiate a pair of laser beams facing each other across a path connecting the target position and the nozzle.
In this way, when the dispersion medium is dried by irradiating the flying droplets with laser light, it is more efficient to irradiate the droplets from both sides than to irradiate laser light from only one side. Can be dried. That is, according to the present invention, since the dispersion medium of the droplets is efficiently dried, it is possible to further suppress wetting and spreading of the droplets.

The gist of this pattern forming method is that the intensity of the pair of laser beams is equal.
When the dispersion medium evaporates from the flying droplet D, a reaction force against the kinetic force accompanying the evaporation acts on the droplet D. Therefore, if the reaction force acts in the direction from the higher evaporation rate to the lower evaporation rate and the evaporation rate is not symmetrical about the discharge direction of the droplet D, the reaction force against the kinetic force is applied. The flying bending of the droplet D is induced by the force, and the landing position is displaced. According to the present invention, the evaporation rate of the droplets can be symmetric with respect to the ejection direction, and the reaction force against the kinetic force cancels out, so that the flight bending of the droplets D hardly occurs. It is also possible to suppress the displacement of the landing position.

  In this pattern forming method, when the evaporating component does not include a re-dissolving component for re-dissolving the pattern forming material in the evaporating component, the intensity of the laser beam and the landing diameter of the droplet are correlated in advance. The gist is to irradiate the laser beam with the intensity of the laser beam based on the landing diameter.

  In the case where the liquid material does not contain a re-dissolvable component that re-dissolves the pattern forming material, the outer shell formed on the surface of the droplet breaks down due to the re-dissolved component after landing and the droplet spreads out. There is nothing. In such a state, the larger the evaporation component from the droplet, that is, the higher the intensity of the laser light applied to the droplet, the smaller the landing diameter of the droplet. According to this pattern forming method, as the laser beam intensity increases as described above, the landing diameter decreases, so the degree of freedom in the laser light intensity range selected to obtain the desired landing diameter is expanded. It can also be made.

  The pattern forming apparatus according to the present invention is sandwiched between a discharge head that discharges a liquid material in which a pattern forming material is dispersed in a dispersion medium as droplets from a discharge head to a drawing target, and the drawing target and the discharge head. A laser irradiation unit that irradiates a flying space of the droplet, which is a space, with a laser beam, and evaporates the dispersion medium from the droplet in flight to dry the droplet in flight to dry the droplet A pattern forming apparatus for forming a pattern made of the pattern forming material on the drawing object by causing the liquid droplets to land on the drawing object, wherein the laser irradiation unit applies the pattern forming material to the evaporation component. In the case where a re-dissolved component that re-dissolves the vapor component is included, the intensity of the laser beam and the landing diameter of the droplet are related in advance, and the intensity of the laser beam increases. Set the upper limit of the intensity range of the laser beam whose serial landing diameter is enlarged, and summarized in that irradiates the laser beam at a larger intensity the upper limit.

  If the liquid material contains a re-dissolvable component that re-dissolves the pattern forming material, the outer shell formed on the surface of the liquid droplet will break down after landing if the liquid droplet is insufficiently dried. As a result, wetting and spreading of the droplet occurs. In such a state, as the evaporation component from the droplet increases, that is, as the intensity of the laser beam applied to the droplet increases, the amount of the evaporation component adhering to the drawing object increases, and the liquid to the drawing object increases. As the wettability of the body increases, the landing diameter of the droplets is enlarged. According to this pattern forming apparatus, after setting the upper limit value of the intensity at which the landing diameter expands as the intensity of the laser beam increases as described above, the laser beam is irradiated with an intensity greater than the upper limit value. Therefore, wetting and spreading of the landing droplet can be suppressed.

The pattern forming apparatus includes a storage unit that stores intensity data defining an area having an intensity smaller than the upper limit value as a use-prohibited area, and the intensity of the laser beam in the input drawing condition is within the use-prohibited area. The gist is to prohibit drawing on the drawing object on the condition that it is present, and permit drawing on the drawing object if the condition is not satisfied.

  According to this pattern forming apparatus, since the region having an intensity smaller than the upper limit value of the intensity with which the landing diameter expands as the intensity of the laser light increases, the use prohibited area is set. If the strength is low and sufficient drying of the droplets is not possible, even if the intensity of the laser beam is input, use the intensity of the laser beam to prohibit drawing and It is possible to reliably suppress the wetting and spreading of the droplets.

  In the pattern forming apparatus, when the laser irradiation unit does not include a re-dissolved component for re-dissolving the pattern forming material in the evaporated component, the laser irradiation unit and the landing of the droplet are previously performed. The gist is to irradiate the laser light with the intensity of the laser light based on the landing diameter in association with the diameter.

  In the case where the liquid material does not contain a re-dissolvable component that re-dissolves the pattern forming material, the outer shell formed on the surface of the droplet breaks down due to the re-dissolved component after landing and the droplet spreads out. There is nothing. In such a state, the landing diameter of the droplet decreases as the intensity of the laser light applied to the droplet increases. According to this pattern forming apparatus, when the re-dissolvable component is not contained in the liquid material, the landing diameter decreases as the intensity of the laser light increases as described above. It is also possible to expand the degree of freedom of the laser light intensity range selected to be obtained.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the pattern forming apparatus of the present invention is embodied in 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, and supplies the stored conductive ink Ik to the ejection head 15 while adjusting a predetermined temperature under a predetermined pressure.

  In general, the conductive ink Ik includes a conductive fine particle as a pattern forming material and a dispersion medium as an evaporation component, and a polyhydric alcohol which is a redissolved component depending on a drawing environment and a drawing application. There are things that include.

  The conductive fine particles 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, nickel, chromium, titanium A metal such as tantalum, tungsten, indium, or an alloy thereof can be used.

  Any dispersion medium may be used as long as it uniformly disperses the conductive fine particles. For example, water or an aqueous solution containing water as a main component can be used. Further, the dispersion medium may contain a water-soluble organic solvent as necessary in order to adjust the viscosity of the conductive ink Ik. Examples of the water-soluble organic solvent include alkyl alcohols such as ethanol, methanol, butanol, propanol, and isopropanol, glycols such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, and triethylene glycol, ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, and ethylene glycol monoethyl ether. And glycol ethers such as ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate, propylene glycol monomethyl ether, and propylene glycol monoethyl ether, and these may be used in combination.

  The polyhydric alcohol has a valence of 3 to 6, and a solid alcohol can be used under standard conditions (25 ° C., 1 atm). Polyhydric alcohols include monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and sugar alcohols obtained by reducing carbonyl groups of polysaccharides, 2- (hydroxymethyl) -1,3-propanediol, 1,2,3-hexanetriol, 1 2,3-heptanetriol and the like can be used. Examples of sugar alcohols include pentaerythritol, dipentaerythritol, tripentaerythritol, sorbitol, erythritol, threitol, ribitol, arabinitol, xylitol, allitol, mannitol, dolitol, iditol, glycol, inositol, maltitol, lactitol, etc. A mixture of these may be used.

  The concentration of the polyhydric alcohol is, for example, 5% by weight to 20% by weight with respect to the total mass of the conductive ink Ik, and the concentration of such a polyhydric alcohol provides a moisturizing effect by the polyhydric alcohol, and the above conductive property. Any range within which the dispersibility of the fine particles can be obtained is acceptable. As a result, in the nozzle N, the drying of the dispersion medium is suppressed by the interaction between the polyhydric alcohol and water (for example, hydrogen bond, van der Waals bond, etc.). Further, in the nozzle N, the conductive fine particles once deposited are dispersed again into the conductive ink Ik (re-dispersion) by the interaction (for example, coordination bond) between the polyhydric alcohol and the conductive fine particles. ) By adding such a re-dissolvable component, clogging of the nozzle N is suppressed.

  On the other hand, 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). It is maintained at 1000 μm in the form. 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 drive voltage that is a voltage waveform that defines the contraction amount, contraction speed, extension amount, and extension speed. Each time such drive voltage is input to the piezoelectric element PZ. Further, the piezoelectric element PZ contracts and expands in the Z direction, so that 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 discharged from the nozzle N can surely fly along the Z direction from the nozzle N because the resultant force of the external force applied to the droplet D acts 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. 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.

  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 device that emits basic laser light Le whose cross-sectional intensity distribution is a Gaussian distribution. The laser light source 32 is a so-called semiconductor laser, and makes basic laser light Le set to a wavelength having a predetermined absorption rate for the conductive ink Ik incident on the collimating lens 33.

  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 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 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.

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. In this way, by irradiating the flying droplet D with laser light from both sides, the dispersion medium of the droplet D can be efficiently dried. First intensity modulator element 42a and a second intensity modulation element 42b is a cylindrical lens 41a, respectively, the first laser beam Le1 intensity and a first intensity _{P 1} and the intensity of the predetermined second laser beam Le2 first molded by 41b and modulating the second intensity P ₂ irradiated to the flight space.

  When the laser beam is irradiated onto the droplet D ejected from the nozzle N in this way, the temperature of the droplet D is first the highest temperature in the range where the liquid does not boil due to the energy received from the laser beam. The temperature is raised to around the target temperature, for example, to the boiling point of the dispersion medium. Next, the energy from the laser light is converted into latent heat (heat of vaporization) that causes the dispersion medium of the droplet D to smoothly transition to a gas while keeping the heated droplet D in a non-boiling state. The dispersion medium evaporates from the surface.

  When the dispersion medium evaporates in this way, conductive fine particles are sequentially deposited near the surface of the droplet D. When the above-described precipitation reaction of the conductive fine particles is more dominant than the evaporation of the dispersion medium contained in the droplet D, an outer shell made of the conductive fine particles is formed on the surface of the droplet D. become. When polyhydric alcohol as a re-dissolving component is contained, conductive fine particles and polyhydric alcohol are sequentially deposited near the surface of the droplet D by evaporation of the dispersion medium, and the deposited conductive fine particles and polyhydric alcohol are deposited. Forms an outer shell on the surface of the droplet D while evaporating the dispersion medium from the surface. When the outer shell of the droplet D is formed thick, even when the conductive ink Ik remains inside the droplet D, when the droplet D lands on the green sheet GS, The outer shell of the droplet D blocks the outflow of the conductive ink Ik and suppresses the wetting and spreading of the droplet D.

As described above, in order to dry the droplet D, the first heat quantity q ₁ for raising the temperature of the droplet D to the target temperature and the phase transition of the dispersion medium contained in the droplet D to gas And the second heat quantity q _{2 for making} it necessary. First intensity modulator element 42a and a second intensity modulation element 42b, the irradiation intensity Ps first intensity _{P 1} and the sum of the second intensity _{P 2} is a first heat quantity _{q 1} of a second heat quantity _{q 2} The first intensity P ₁ and the second intensity P ₂ are modulated so as to correspond to the total heat quantity q which is the sum.

Such an amount of heat can be estimated by calculation using the properties of the conductive ink Ik, the drive voltage COM applied to the piezoelectric element PZ, and the volume of the droplet D, or by direct measurement based on various experiments. It can also be determined. 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. Further, when the first heat quantity q ₁ and the second heat quantity q _{2 are} determined by the above-described experiment, light of a different heat quantity is irradiated to the droplet D while the droplet D in flight is imaged with a high-speed camera. The first heat quantity q ₁ and the second heat quantity q ₂ can also be obtained by directly measuring the highest heat quantity that can maintain the state where the droplet D does not boil.

Further, when the dispersion medium evaporates from the flying droplet D, a reaction force against the kinetic force accompanying the evaporation acts on the droplet D. Therefore, if the reaction force acts in the direction from the higher evaporation rate to the lower evaporation rate and the evaporation rate is not symmetrical about the discharge direction of the droplet D, the reaction force against the kinetic force is applied. The flying bending of the droplet D is induced by the force, and the landing position is displaced. Therefore, the first intensity modulation element 42a and the second intensity modulation element 42b equally divide the irradiation intensity Ps set as described above into the first laser beam Le1 and the second laser beam Le2 facing each other, that is, a first strength _{P 1} and the second intensity _{P 2} is set to Ps / 2. As a result, the evaporation rate of the droplet D becomes symmetric with respect to the ejection direction, and the reaction force against the kinetic force associated with the evaporation of the dispersion medium cancels out. It is also possible to suppress positional deviation.

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 apparatus 10 includes a CPU 51, a ROM 52 as a storage unit, a RAM 53, and the like, and transport processing and discharge of the stage 12 and the carriage 16 according to various stored data and various control programs. Droplet discharge processing of the head 15, laser emission processing of the laser light source 32, intensity modulation processing by the first intensity modulation element 42a and the second intensity modulation element 42b, and the like are executed.

  The control unit 50 is electrically connected to an input / output device 54 having operation switches such as a start switch, a stop switch, a drawing start switch, and an input / output screen 54a. The input / output device 54 draws information about the position coordinates of the grid point T of the dot pattern grid DL with respect to the drawing surface GSa, information about the driving voltage COM, information about the properties of the conductive ink Ik, information about the irradiation intensity Ps, and the like as drawing information Ia. To the control unit 50. 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 bitmap data BMD based on the drawing information Ia, and stores it in the RAM 53.

  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, and a drive control signal corresponding to the carriage motor drive circuit 55 is output from the control unit 50. 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. 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, a signal related to the movement direction and movement amount of the nozzle N, based on the detection signal from the carriage encoder 57, and a control unit. Output to 50.

  A stage motor drive circuit 58 is connected to the control unit 50, and a drive control signal corresponding to the stage motor drive circuit 58 is output from the control unit 50. 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 driving 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, and outputs the signal to the control unit 50. To do. The control unit 50 calculates the relative position of each grid point T with respect to the drawing surface GSa based on the signal from the stage motor drive circuit 58, and each time the relative position is located at the corresponding grid point T, the ejection timing signal LT. Is output.

  A discharge head drive circuit 61 is connected to the control unit 50, and a drive voltage COM for driving each piezoelectric element PZ is output from the control unit 50 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.

The control unit 50 has a laser light source driving circuit 62 is connected, the irradiation start signals S ₁ for starting the irradiation operation of the basic laser light Le is output from the control unit 50, and to terminate the irradiation operation irradiation stop signal S ₂ of are output. The laser light source driving circuit 62 receives the irradiation start signal S ₁ from the control unit 50 and causes the laser light source 32 to emit the basic laser light Le having the irradiation intensity Ps. The laser light source driving circuit 62 stops the emission of the fundamental laser light Le to the laser light source 32 by irradiation stop signal S ₂ from the control unit 50.

The control unit 50 is connected with an intensity modulation element driving circuit 63, a first output signal LP ₁ and the second output for from control unit 50 which defines a first intensity P ₁ and the second intensity P ₂ The signal LP ₂ is output to the intensity modulation element driving circuit 63. When the first output signal LP ₁ and the second output signal LP ₂ are input to the intensity modulation element driving circuit 63, the first laser beam Le 1 and the second laser beam Le 2 have the first intensity P ₁ and the second intensity signal 2, respectively. controlling a first intensity modulating element 42a and a second intensity modulation element 42b such that the intensity _{P 2.}

  Here, in the case where the reconstituted component is contained in the conductive ink Ik to be used, the redissolvable component remaining inside the outer shell becomes conductive fine particles forming the outer shell. It acts to re-disperse (re-dissolve) the conductive fine particles in the conductive ink Ik inside the droplet. When the irradiation intensity Ps applied to the droplet D in flight is insufficient, the thickness of the outer shell is so thin that the outer shell breaks down due to the progress of the re-dissolution reaction described above, and the droplet D Will spread wet. Therefore, the control unit 50 uses a region having an intensity with which the irradiation intensity Ps is insufficient when the conductive ink Ik contains a redissolved component in order to suppress the wetting and spreading of the droplet D. A prohibited area setting process is executed for setting the prohibited area A and prohibiting the use of the intensity in the prohibited area A.

More specifically, the ROM 52 of the control unit 50 stores laser beam intensity data LPD in which the landing diameter of the landed droplet D and the irradiation intensity Ps are associated for each property of the conductive ink Ik and the driving voltage COM. The control unit 50 appropriately reads the intensity data LPD and executes the prohibited area setting process. The intensity data LPD is data obtained by various experiments carried out in advance. The irradiation intensity P indicates whether or not wetting spread occurs due to the above-described rupture of the outer shell.
Data defined for each s. FIG. 8 is a graph showing an example of laser beam intensity data LPD.

As shown in FIG. 8, in a region where the irradiation intensity Ps for the droplet D is low, a thin outer shell is formed on the surface of the droplet D, but a sufficient thickness to withstand remelting is formed. For this reason, the outer shell is broken as described above, and the landing diameter of the droplet D is relatively increased. Further, in such a state, as the evaporation component evaporated from the droplet D increases, that is, as the irradiation intensity Ps increases, the evaporation component adhering to the drawing surface GSa increases and the wettability of the drawing surface GSa increases. By increasing the height, the landing diameter is enlarged. Then, defines an irradiation intensity thereof landing diameter is largest impact diameter r _L and upper intensity P _L is a threshold illumination intensity Ps for droplet D.

On the other hand, in the region higher than the upper limit intensity P _L is irradiated intensity Ps threshold for droplet D, and since the outer shell of sufficient thickness to withstand the remelting such as described above is formed, so as to above Even if the drawing surface GSa has a very high wettability, the landing diameter of the droplet D can be maintained at a value relatively smaller than the landing diameter r _L at the upper limit strength P _L.

The upper limit intensity P _L is above threshold, such as component and viscosity in the electroconductive ink Ik, properties and related to conductive ink Ik, it varies by a driving voltage COM that defines the size of the droplets D. Therefore, in the above strength data LPD, for each property and a drive voltage COM of irradiation intensity Ps at which the upper limit intensity P _L is conductive ink Ik when landing diameter to expand with the increase of such irradiation intensity Ps is rapidly reduced It has come to be specified.

Control unit 50, when the drawing information Ia is input, the upper limit intensity P _L based on the intensity data LPD information and the laser beam relating information and the driving voltage COM on the Properties of conductive ink Ik in image drawing information Ia These are acquired and temporarily stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 53. Control unit 50 sets the region of the intensity of less than the upper limit intensity P _L as the prohibited area A is temporarily stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 53, by utilizing the prohibited region A, is set value It is determined whether or not the irradiation intensity Ps can be used.

Then, the control unit 50 does not use the input irradiation intensity Ps when the irradiation intensity Ps is input together with the drawing information Ia, or when the irradiation intensity Ps is input separately from the drawing information Ia. condition (drawing restriction condition) that it is within the area a, when the drawing restriction condition is satisfied and outputs a prohibition signal S ₃ to the input-output device 54, and displays to that effect on the output screen 54a. On the other hand, when the drawing restriction condition is not satisfied selects the intensity of the total laser light inputted to the input screen 54a outputs a permission signal S ₄ which allow the drawing of the green sheet GS input and output device 54 A message to that effect is displayed.

On the other hand, when the re-dissolved component is not contained in the conductive ink Ik to be used, the landing diameter decreases as the laser intensity is increased. the device 54 outputs a permission signal S ₄ which allow the drawing of the green sheet GS so indicate to the input-output screen 54a. Thereby, the freedom degree of the intensity range of the laser beam selected in order to obtain a desired landing diameter can also be expanded.

  Next, a method for forming a pattern using the droplet discharge device 10 having the above-described configuration will be described below. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a series of processes until a pattern is drawn on the green sheet GS.

First, the green sheet GS is placed at a predetermined position of the stage 12 of the droplet discharge device 10, and drawing information Ia including information on the irradiation intensity Ps is input from the input / output device 54 from this state (step S11). .

When the drawing information Ia is input, it is determined from the information regarding the property of the conductive ink Ik in the drawing information Ia whether or not the redissolved component is contained in the conductive ink Ik (step S12). . If the conductive ink Ik contains a redissolved component (step S12: YES), the upper limit is determined based on the information on the properties of the conductive ink Ik, the information on the drive voltage COM, and the intensity data LPD. acquiring an intensity _{P L} (step S13). Control unit 50, wetting and spreading landed in intensity region of less than the upper limit intensity P _L that this acquired is determined to be greater, it sets the intensity area under the upper intensity P _L as a prohibited area A (step S14).

Then, based on the irradiation intensity Ps input together with the drawing information Ia and the use prohibited area A, it is determined whether or not the drawing prohibition condition is satisfied (step S15). Here if the drawing restriction condition is satisfied (step S15: YES), and outputs the inhibition signal S ₃ to the input-output device 54 as well as prohibiting the drawing at the input radiation intensity Ps (step S16) A message to that effect is displayed on the input / output screen 54a, and this processing is temporarily terminated. That is, it is necessary to change the input irradiation intensity Ps and input the drawing information Ia again, and drawing on the green sheet GS is prohibited as long as the drawing prohibition condition is satisfied at the changed irradiation intensity Ps. .

By setting the use prohibition area A in the irradiation intensity Ps in this way, wetting and spreading of the droplets D that have landed on the green sheet GS can be reliably suppressed, and a high-definition pattern can be drawn. Also, when entering again drawing information Ia, by selecting the upper limit intensity P _L to the irradiation intensity Ps, while suppressing the spreading of the droplet D landed, also the intensity of the laser light of the laser beam It can also be suppressed.

On the other hand, if the conductive ink Ik does not contain a redissolved component (step S12: NO), or if the drawing prohibition condition is not satisfied (step S15: NO), the input irradiation intensity Ps is set. select (step S17), and outputs a permission signal _{S 4} to the output device 54 (step S18) and displays to that effect on the output screen 54a. Then, drawing on the green sheet GS is started by operating the drawing start switch of the input / output device 54.

As described above, according to the droplet discharge device 10 of the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) According to the above embodiment, the upper limit intensity P _L that suppresses the wetting and spreading of the droplet D after landing is obtained based on the drawing information Ia and the intensity data LPD of the laser beam stored in the ROM 52. The area below the upper limit intensity P _L set as disabled region A, the irradiation intensity Ps is inputted in the case of the use prohibition region A, banned drawing the entered illumination intensity Ps. Thereby, wetting and spreading of the landed droplets D can be reliably suppressed.

  (2) According to the above embodiment, the droplet D in flight is irradiated with a pair of laser beams having the same laser beam intensity from both sides, so that the dispersion medium of the droplet D can be efficiently dried. In addition, the flying bend of the droplet D is less likely to occur, and the displacement of the landing position can be suppressed.

In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.
In the laser irradiation unit 31 in the above embodiment, the first and second laser beams Le1 which are a pair of laser beams having the same laser beam intensity as the droplet D in flight by the first and second laser forming units 40a and 40b. , Le2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when irradiating a pair of laser beams, the first and second laser beams Le1 and Le2 having different laser beam intensities may be generated.

  In the optical system of the laser irradiation unit 31 in the above embodiment, the basic laser light Le emitted from one laser light source 32 is divided into the first laser light Le1 and the second laser light Le2 by the half mirror 34. A pair of laser beams irradiated from both sides of the droplet D in flight was generated. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when irradiating laser light from both sides of the droplet D in flight, a laser light source that emits laser light to each of the pair of laser light may be used. According to this configuration, the half mirror 34 can be omitted.

  In the optical system of the laser irradiation unit 31 in the above embodiment, 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. Not limited to this, the optical axes of the first laser beam Le1 and the second laser beam Le2 may be aligned with the arrangement direction without being inclined with respect to the arrangement direction of the nozzles N. 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 optical system of the laser irradiation unit 31 in the above embodiment, a pair of laser beams opposed to the droplet D in flight are irradiated. Not limited to this, if the drawing prohibition condition is not satisfied, a predetermined angle may be provided between the optical axes of the pair of laser beams, or the laser beam is irradiated only from one of the droplets D. Also good.

  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 storage unit that stores the intensity data LPD of the laser beam is the ROM 52 of the control unit 50. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in storing the laser beam intensity data LPD, the RAM 53 may function as a storage unit by adding the laser beam intensity data LPD to the drawing information Ia.

  In the above embodiment, the laser light applied to the droplet D is a semiconductor laser. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a solid laser such as a liquid laser, a gas laser, or a YAG laser may be used for irradiating the droplet D with laser light. When a YAG laser is used, it is preferable to select whether or not to irradiate the flight space with laser light by arranging a shutter on the optical path of the basic laser light and controlling the opening and closing.

In the above embodiment, the largest impact diameter to become strength limit strength P _L of the irradiation intensity of the laser beam. Not limited to this, as a range in which the landing diameter expands as the intensity of the laser light increases, the landing diameter when the droplet D is ejected when the laser light is not irradiated as shown in FIG. _It may be defined as _L, and the intensity of the laser beam when the same landing diameter r _L is obtained when the laser beam is irradiated may be the upper limit intensity P _L.

  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 above-described embodiment, the droplet discharge device 10 is driven by the piezoelectric element driving method. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and from the viewpoint of ejecting droplets from the ejection head, the 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. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an optical configuration of a droplet discharge device. The schematic diagram for demonstrating the relationship between a laser beam and a droplet. The block circuit diagram which shows the electric constitution of a droplet discharge apparatus. The graph which showed typically an example of the intensity data of a laser beam. The flowchart which showed a series of processes until it draws on a green sheet. The graph for demonstrating the upper limit intensity | strength in the example of a change. (A) The schematic diagram which showed typically the droplet in which the outer shell was formed, (b) The schematic diagram which showed typically the droplet by which the outer shell broke down.

Explanation of symbols

θ: inclination angle, A: prohibited area, BMD: bitmap data, COM: drive voltage, D: droplet, N: nozzle, T: grid point, DL: dot pattern grid, Dx: nozzle pitch, Dy ... discharge Pitch, GS ... green sheet, GSa ... drawing surface, Ia ... drawing information, Ik ... conductive ink, Le ... basic laser beam, Le1 ... first laser beam, Le2 ... second laser beam, LPD ... intensity data of laser beam , LT: discharge timing signal, P ₁ , P ₂ ... laser beam intensity, PG ... platen gap, P _L ... upper limit intensity, Ps ... total laser beam intensity, PZ ... piezoelectric element, q ... total heat quantity, q ₁ ... Quantity of heat, q ₂ ... quantity of heat, r _L ... landing diameter, S ₁ ... irradiation start signal, S ₂ ... irradiation stop signal, S ₃ ... prohibition signal, S ₄ ... permission signal, SI ... discharge control signal, TL ... target path, 10: droplet discharge device, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 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 forming surface, 22 ... cavity, 23 ... diaphragm, 25 ... imaging camera, 31 ... laser irradiation unit, 32 ... laser light source, 32a ... YAG laser oscillator, 32b ... harmonic unit, 33 ... collimating lens 34 ... Half mirror, 35 ... Reflecting mirror, 36 ... Reflecting mirror, 37 ... Reflecting mirror, 38 ... Reflecting mirror, 39 ... Reflecting mirror, 40a ... First laser molding part, 40b ... Second laser molding part, 41a ... Cylindrical Lens 41b ... Cylindrical lens 42a ... Optical element 42b ... Optical element 50 ... Control part 51 ... C U, 52 ... ROM, 53 ... RAM, 54 ... I / O 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 driving circuit, 62: Laser light source driving circuit, 63: Intensity modulation element driving circuit.

Claims (8)

The liquid in which the pattern forming material is dispersed in the evaporation component is discharged as droplets from the nozzle of the discharge head to the target position of the drawing target, and is a space sandwiched between the drawing target and the discharge head The flying space of the droplet is irradiated with laser light, and the evaporation component is evaporated from the droplet in flight to dry the droplet in flight, and the dried droplet is landed on the drawing object. A pattern forming method for forming a pattern made of the pattern forming material on the drawing object by allowing
When the evaporating component includes a re-dissolving component for re-dissolving the pattern forming material in the evaporating component, the laser beam intensity is increased by associating the laser beam intensity with the landing diameter of the droplet in advance. A pattern forming method comprising: setting an upper limit value of the intensity range of the laser beam in which the landing diameter increases, and irradiating the laser beam with an intensity greater than the upper limit value. An area having an intensity smaller than the upper limit is set as a use-prohibited area, and drawing on the drawing object is prohibited on the condition that the intensity of laser light in the drawing condition is within the use-prohibited area, The pattern forming method according to claim 1, wherein when the above is not established, drawing on the drawing object is permitted. The pattern forming method according to claim 1, wherein a pair of laser beams facing each other across a path connecting the target position and the nozzle are irradiated. The pattern formation method according to claim 3, wherein the intensity of the pair of laser beams is equal. When the evaporating component does not include a re-dissolving component for re-dissolving the pattern forming material in the evaporating component, the intensity of the laser beam and the landing diameter of the droplet are correlated in advance and based on the landing diameter The pattern forming method according to claim 1, wherein the laser beam is irradiated with the intensity of the laser beam. A discharge head for discharging a liquid material in which a pattern forming material is dispersed in an evaporation component as droplets from the discharge head to a drawing object; and
A laser irradiation unit that irradiates a flight space of the droplet, which is a space sandwiched between the drawing object and the ejection head, with a laser beam;
With
By evaporating the evaporation component from the droplets in flight, drying the droplets in flight and landing the dried droplets on the drawing object, the pattern made of the pattern forming material A pattern forming apparatus for forming on a drawing object,
The laser irradiation unit is
When the evaporating component contains a re-dissolved component that re-dissolves the pattern forming material in the evaporated component,
Associating the intensity of the laser beam with the landing diameter of the droplet in advance, and setting an upper limit value of the intensity range of the laser beam in which the landing diameter expands as the intensity of the laser beam increases, from the upper limit value A pattern forming apparatus irradiating the laser beam with high intensity. A storage unit storing intensity data defining an area having an intensity smaller than the upper limit value as a use-prohibited area;
Drawing on the drawing object is prohibited on the condition that the intensity of the laser beam under the inputted drawing condition is within the prohibited area. If the condition is not satisfied, drawing on the drawing object is performed. The pattern forming apparatus according to claim 6, which is permitted. The laser irradiation unit is
When the evaporating component does not include a re-dissolving component that re-dissolves the pattern forming material in the evaporating component,
8. The pattern forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the laser light is irradiated with the intensity of the laser light based on the landing diameter in advance by associating the intensity of the laser light with the landing diameter of the droplet.

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