JP2011204911A - Method for manufacturing anneal processed body and laser annealing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing an anneal processed body for irradiating a workpiece with a patterned laser beam, by uselessly and efficiently utilizing a laser beam.SOLUTION: The method for manufacturing an anneal processed body, which irradiates a workpiece 100 with a patterned laser beam, to execute laser annealing of the workpiece includes the steps of deflecting a part of the laser beam 10 to be emitted to the workpiece 100 and separating it into a patterned second laser beam 12; irradiating the workpiece 100 with the laser beam from which the second laser beam 12 is separated, as a patterned first laser beam 11; and irradiating the workpiece 100 with the second laser beam 12 so that the irradiation position and/or the irradiation time are/is different from the first laser beam 11.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an annealed body and a laser annealing apparatus that can be used when laterally crystallizing a polycrystalline or single crystal semiconductor film of a thin film transistor used in a pixel switch or a drive circuit of a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. It is about.

  As a semiconductor thin film used for a flat panel display substrate or the like, a semiconductor thin film using an amorphous film or a crystalline thin film is known. With respect to this crystalline thin film, a method of manufacturing an amorphous film by annealing and crystallizing has been proposed. In addition, SLS (sequential lateral solidification) (sequential side crystallization) technology has been proposed in which a single crystal silicon is produced by inducing lateral growth of a silicon crystal using a laser as an energy source.

The SLS technology is based on the phenomenon that silicon grains grow in a direction perpendicular to the boundary surface between liquid silicon and solid phase silicon. By appropriately adjusting the intensity of the laser energy and the movement of the scanning range of the laser beam, the silicon grain is laterally grown to a predetermined length to crystallize the amorphous silicon thin film.
As this type of conventional device, devices disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have been proposed.

In the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, in order to improve the efficiency of the above process, as shown in FIG. 10A, the optical member has two blocks 20, 21 having transmission regions 20a, 21a and blocking regions 20b, 21b. Are arranged side by side, and an activation region 22 in which a large number of small rectangular slits 22a are formed is provided in the blocks.
In the optical member, the laser beam is transmitted through the transmission region, and the laser beam is not transmitted through the shielding region, and the laser beam is absorbed and changed into heat, whereby a patterned laser beam is obtained.
In the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, a slit is used as a phase shift mask 25 as shown in FIG. 10B, and an energy difference is generated in the horizontal direction in the figure to form a beam pattern.

JP 2005-5722 A JP 2004-119919 A

By the way, in the conventional lateral crystallization method disclosed in Patent Document 1, in order to enlarge the crystal, the beam is elongated and has a plurality of elongated slits as means for shaping the beam. An optical member for shielding is used. For this reason, the laser beam is wasted in the shielding region, and the use efficiency of the laser beam is deteriorated. In the shielding area, the irradiation energy of the laser beam changes to heat, the temperature of the slit rises, the slit is thermally deformed and the pattern shape is disturbed, or convection occurs due to the heat generated from the slit, and the object to be processed Such as being projected onto the screen.
Further, in the method using the phase shift mask, the intensity uniformity of the energy density in the shaped beam is poor. Therefore, in order to improve the intensity uniformity in the beam, the phase shift mask currently used transmits the beam in the beam transmission part, and provides a grating in the beam shielding part to lower the beam intensity and shape the beam pattern. As in the case of using a slit, the use efficiency of the laser beam is deteriorated.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. When a pattern is obtained by shaping a laser beam, waste due to partial shielding of the laser beam is eliminated, and the entire laser beam is effectively used. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus that can be subjected to annealing treatment.

  That is, among the manufacturing methods of the annealed body of the present invention, the first invention is a method for manufacturing an annealed body that performs laser annealing of the target object by irradiating the target object with a patterned laser beam. A part of the laser beam irradiated to the object to be processed is deflected and separated into a patterned second laser beam, and the laser beam from which the second laser beam is separated is patterned. Irradiating the object to be processed as a single laser beam, and irradiating the object to be processed with the second laser beam different from the first laser beam in the irradiation position and / or irradiation time. And

  The method for manufacturing an annealed body according to the second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the present invention, the deflection is performed by an optical member for separation.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the method for manufacturing an annealed body according to the second aspect of the present invention, wherein the deflection is performed by reflection of the separating optical member.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the method for manufacturing an annealed body according to the second or third aspect of the present invention, wherein the deflection is performed by refraction in a separating optical member.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an annealed body according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, wherein the first laser beam pattern and the second laser beam pattern are different in level. It has the same periodic pattern shape which has a phase difference, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing an annealed body according to any one of the first to fifth aspects of the invention, wherein either the first laser beam or the second laser beam is passed through an optical delay device. And irradiating the object to be processed.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing an annealed body comprising: an amorphous material formed by irradiation with the patterned first laser beam and second laser beam in any one of the first to sixth aspects of the present invention; The object to be processed which is a thin film is sequentially subjected to side crystallization.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the method for manufacturing an annealed body according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein the first laser beam and / or the second laser beam is a part of the laser beam. The laser beam is separated into one or a plurality of patterned laser beams and irradiated onto the object to be processed.

  A laser annealing apparatus according to a ninth aspect of the present invention includes a laser light source that outputs a laser beam, an optical system that guides and irradiates the laser beam to the object to be processed, a target object mounting table that sets the target object, A second laser beam separated into a second laser beam patterned by deflecting a part of the laser beam to the optical system, and the object to be processed It is characterized by comprising a separating optical member that enables irradiation.

  In the laser annealing apparatus according to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the present invention, the separating optical member has a reflecting surface that reflects and deflects a part of the laser beam. The second laser beam patterned by the deflection is provided so as to be separated.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the ninth or tenth aspect of the present invention, the separating optical member has a refracting portion that refracts and deflects a part of the laser beam, The refracting section is provided so that the second laser beam patterned by the deflection is separated.

  A laser annealing apparatus according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is the laser annealing apparatus according to any one of the ninth to eleventh aspects, wherein the optical system is the first optical system and the second laser beam is separated by the separation optical member. And a second optical system for irradiating the object to be processed.

  A laser annealing apparatus according to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention is the optical delay according to the tenth aspect of the present invention, wherein the first optical system or the second optical system delays the first laser beam or the second laser beam. It is characterized by providing a vessel.

  According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the laser annealing apparatus according to any one of the ninth to thirteenth aspects, further comprising a scanning device that moves the laser beam relative to the object to be processed.

  In the present invention, a part of the laser beam is deflected and separated, this is used as the second laser beam, the separated laser beam is used as the first laser beam, and these laser beams are respectively moved to different positions or / Further, by irradiating the object to be processed at different times, it is possible to efficiently perform the annealing process using the laser beam. That is, energy lost in the conventional method can be reused, and productivity is doubled at the maximum. The irradiation positions of the first laser beam and the second laser beam are different from each other as long as the irradiation positions do not completely overlap, and it does not exclude the case where both laser beams partially overlap at the irradiation positions. . The same applies to the different irradiation times. By irradiating the first laser beam and the second laser beam so that the irradiation positions or irradiation times do not completely overlap, waste can be reduced and productivity can be increased, and an amorphous film can be used. The crystallinity can be improved when the object to be processed is crystallized by annealing.

  The partial deflection of the laser beam can be performed using a separating optical member, and reflection, refraction, and the like of the separating optical member can be used. For example, in order to pattern the deflected laser beam, the separation optical member is partially provided with a reflecting surface or a refracting portion corresponding to the pattern. In the separation optical member, a patterned laser beam may be obtained by combining transmission, reflection, refraction, and the like. In addition, during reflection and refraction, a plurality of deflection directions may be obtained by changing the reflection angle, the refraction angle, the refractive index, the thickness, and the like depending on the portion in the separating optical member.

Note that when the second laser beam is deflected and separated, the first laser beam may be deflected in different directions. For example, the laser beam may be separated by changing the deflection amount by partially changing the angle of the exit surface in the refracting portion. Also, by changing the thickness of the refracting part partially and entering from an oblique direction, the optical path of a part of the beam can be changed together with the action of shaping the beam when passing through the beam.
Further, the separation optical member that causes the deflection can be easily adjusted in position, and the positional relationship between the separation optical member and the objective lens or the object to be processed can be changed by the adjustment. The magnification and the irradiation position on the object to be processed can be easily adjusted. It is possible to easily cope with a change in pattern size by adjusting the magnification.
In the present invention, the laser beam can be separated into two laser beams by the separation optical member, or can be separated into three or more laser beams. Also, the two or more separation optical members can be separated. Thus, a plurality of laser beams may be obtained by performing separation.

  When the laser beam is separated, a patterned laser beam is obtained on each of the separated side and the separated side. As described above, the pattern can be formed into a desired shape by setting the shape and position of the deflection portion. For example, the separated side pattern and the separated side pattern have the same phase difference. It can be a periodic shape. Thus, when the object to be processed is sequentially annealed for the purpose of side crystallization, the surface of the object to be processed can be processed efficiently and with good crystallinity.

The separated second laser beam may be irradiated on the object to be processed based on the deflection direction, or may be irradiated on the object to be processed by adjusting the irradiation direction via the second optical system. You may make it do. An appropriate optical member such as a mirror or a prism can be used for the second optical system.
Note that the first laser beam and the second laser beam may be finally irradiated to the object to be processed through a common objective lens.

Further, an optical delay device is provided in one of the first optical system and the second optical system through which the first laser beam and the second laser beam are guided, respectively, and a time difference is provided between both laser beams to be processed. May be irradiated. By irradiating the object to be processed with a predetermined time difference between the first laser beam and the second laser beam, processing according to the time difference becomes possible. For example, after solidification from the melting of the object to be processed by one laser beam, the energy of the laser beam that has been lost in the past can be reused by irradiating the other laser beam to the position of the one laser beam. And productivity is improved.
The configuration of the optical delay device is not particularly limited as the present invention, and a known one can be used.

As described above, according to the method for manufacturing an annealed body of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing an annealed body that performs laser annealing of the object to be processed by irradiating the object to be processed with a patterned laser beam. Then, a part of the laser beam irradiated to the object to be processed is deflected and separated into a second laser beam patterned, and the laser beam from which the second laser beam is separated is patterned first. Since the laser beam is irradiated to the object to be processed and the object to be processed is irradiated with the second laser beam at different positions and / or irradiation times of the first laser beam. An annealing process can be efficiently performed by the laser beam without a part of the heat being changed to heat by shielding and losing energy.
Further, by preventing the heat generated from the slit, the slit can be prevented from being thermally deformed. As a result, the pattern can be drawn more accurately, and convection can be prevented from being generated by the heat generated from the slit and projected onto the object to be processed.

  Furthermore, according to the laser annealing apparatus of the present invention, a laser light source that outputs a laser beam, an optical system that guides and irradiates the laser beam to the object to be processed, a target object mounting base on which the target object is installed, A second laser beam separated into a second laser beam patterned by deflecting a part of the laser beam to the optical system. Since the separation optical member capable of irradiating the body is provided, the laser beam can be separated into two or more patterned laser beams to efficiently anneal the object to be processed.

It is the schematic which shows the laser annealing apparatus of one Embodiment of this invention. Similarly, it is the schematic which shows the laser annealing apparatus of other embodiment. Similarly, it is an enlarged plan view showing an example of an optical member for separation. Similarly, it is an enlarged view showing an example (transmission + refraction type) of an optical member for separation, (a) is a sectional view taken along the line aa in FIG. 3, and (b) is a sectional view taken along the line bb in FIG. is there. Similarly, it is a short-axis direction enlarged sectional view showing another example (transmission + reflection type) of the separating optical member. Similarly, it is a minor axis direction enlarged cross-sectional view showing still another example (refraction + reflection type) of the separating optical member. Similarly, it is the schematic which shows the irradiation state of the pattern irradiated to the to-be-processed object. Similarly, it is the schematic which shows the laser annealing apparatus of other embodiment provided with an optical delay device. Similarly, it is an enlarged plan view showing still another example of the separating optical member. It is a top view which shows the example of the mask used for the conventional laser annealing apparatus.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the laser annealing apparatus of the present invention.
In this embodiment, it has the laser light source 1 which outputs a laser beam, and has the optical system 2 which guides a laser beam and irradiates the to-be-processed object 100 in the output direction. The optical system 2 includes an appropriate mirror, lens, homogenizer, and the like. The optical system 2 shapes the laser beam as necessary, and irradiates the object 100 while being condensed through the objective lens 6. The object 100 is made of an amorphous thin film (for example, a silicon thin film).

  In the present invention, a separating optical member 3 that deflects and separates a part of the laser beam 10 is provided in the optical system 2. The separating optical member 3 has a refracting portion (not shown), and a first laser beam 11 and a deflected second laser beam 12 irradiated to the object 100 through the refracting portion, and Separated. In this embodiment, the first laser beam 11 is irradiated in the same direction as the laser beam 10, and the second laser beam 12 is irradiated with an angular difference from the first laser beam 11.

The first laser beam 11 and the second laser beam 12 are both set to be incident on the objective lens 6 in the optical system 2, and the first laser beam 11 passing through the objective lens 6 The second laser beam 12 is emitted while being condensed by the objective lens 6 and irradiated to different positions on the surface of the object 100 to be processed.
Further, the object to be processed 100 is mounted on a movable mounting table 7, and the processing object 100 is moved to the first laser beam 11 and the second laser beam by a scanning device including the mounting table 7 and a driving device (not shown). Relative to the laser beam 12. As a result, the object 100 can be irradiated based on a beam pattern having a uniform energy intensity while scanning the first laser beam 11 and the second laser beam 12.
In the design of the separating optical member 3, the amount of deviation of the laser beam optical path is changed by adjusting the deflection amount of the second laser beam, and the distance between the separating optical member 3, the objective lens 6, and the object to be processed 100 is changed. It can be easily changed. Thereby, the overlap of the first laser beam 11 and the second laser beam 12 on the object to be processed 100 can be easily provided, and the setting of the amount is also prepared.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing another embodiment of the laser annealing apparatus of the present invention.
As in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the laser light source 1 that outputs laser light is provided, and the optical system 2 that guides the laser beam and irradiates the workpiece 100 at the output destination. The optical system is configured by an appropriate mirror, lens, homogenizer, and the like, and shapes the laser beam as necessary, and irradiates the object 100 while condensing through the objective lens 6.

  In the present invention, a separating optical member 4 that deflects and separates a part of the laser beam 10 is provided in the optical system 2. The separation optical member 4 has a reflective surface in part, and when irradiated with the laser beam 10, the separation optical member 4 is transmitted through the separation optical member 4 and irradiated toward the object 100 to be processed. The first laser beam 11 is separated into the patterned second laser beam 12 which is once reflected by the separating optical member 4. In this embodiment, the first laser beam 11 is irradiated in the same direction as the laser beam 10, and the second laser beam 12 is reflected by the separating optical member 4 and is opposite to the first laser beam 11. Deflected in the direction.

A mirror 5 is arranged in the deflection direction of the second laser beam 12, and the second laser beam 12 reflected by the mirror 5 is combined with the first laser beam 11 and the objective lens 6 in the optical system 2. Is incident on. That is, the mirror 5 constitutes a second optical system that guides the second laser beam 12.
The first laser beam 11 and the second laser beam 12 that pass through the objective lens 6 are emitted while being condensed by the objective lens 6 and are irradiated to different positions of the object 100 to be processed.
Moreover, the to-be-processed object 100 is mounted in the movable mounting base 7 similarly to the said embodiment, and the to-be-processed object 100 is made into 1st by the scanning apparatus comprised by this mounting base 7 and the drive device which is not shown in figure. The object 100 is processed based on a beam pattern having a uniform energy intensity while scanning the first laser beam 11 and the second laser beam 12 while being moved relative to the laser beam 11 and the second laser beam 12. Can be irradiated.

  In addition, the mirror 5 can change easily the position where the to-be-processed object 100 is irradiated with the 2nd laser beam 12 by changing an arrangement position and a reflection angle. In addition to adjusting the arrangement position and reflection angle of the mirror 5 based on the design, the arrangement and reflection angle may be adjusted as necessary by using a variable structure. By changing the position and angle of the mirror, the distance between the separation optical member 4 and the objective lens 6 and the object to be processed 100 can be adjusted. The magnification of the second laser beam can be changed to change the beam size and the first laser beam. And whether or not the second laser beam overlaps can be adjusted.

Next, an embodiment of the separating optical member that separates the laser beam will be described.
3 is a plan view showing the separating optical member 300, FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line aa in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line bb in FIG. .
In the separating optical member 300, a plurality of elongated holes 301 through which a laser beam passes are arranged at predetermined intervals in the minor axis direction of the elongated holes. A space between the elongated holes 301 and 301 is constituted by a refracting portion 302 capable of transmitting light. As shown in FIG. 4A, the refracting portion extends so as to protrude straight downward on the lower surface side of the separating optical member 300. The lower surface side of the refracting portion 302 is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction by having an angle of θ1 (<90 °) with respect to the vertical direction in the major axis direction of the elongated hole 301 as shown in FIG. It is the exit surface. Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, the lower surface side of the refracting portion 302 has an angle of θ2 (<90 °) with respect to the vertical direction in the short axis direction, so that the outgoing light is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. It is a surface.

When the separation optical member 300 is irradiated with the laser beam 10, the laser beam in the region irradiated to the elongated holes 301 passes through the elongated holes 301 as it is, and has a pattern according to the arrangement shape of the elongated holes 301. The laser beam 11 becomes. The laser beam 11 is emitted from the separating optical member 300 while maintaining the incident direction of the laser beam 10. On the other hand, the laser beam incident on the region of the refracting unit 302 is incident on the refracting unit 302 perpendicularly, proceeds straight, and is emitted from the lower surface of the refracting unit 302. At this time, deflection is performed in the minor axis direction and the major axis direction of the elongated hole 301 in accordance with the inclination angle (θ1, θ2) of the lower surface. The separated first laser beam 11 and second laser beam 12 are irradiated to the object 100 as described in the annealing apparatus.
In the separation optical member 300, by appropriately selecting θ1 and θ2 at the design stage, the deflection direction of the second laser beam, that is, the irradiation position on the object to be processed can be easily adjusted. As preferable examples of θ1 and θ2, a range of 20 to 75 ° can be shown.
In the portion of the separating optical member 300 excluding the elongated hole 301 and the refracting portion 302, the permeation of light is blocked and the periphery of the laser beam is cut.
In this example, the laser beam is incident on the incident surface perpendicularly. However, when the laser beam is incident on the incident surface of the refracting portion from an oblique direction, the deflection angle is changed according to the thickness of the refracting portion. Is also possible.

Next, another embodiment of the separating optical member for separating the laser beam will be described with reference to FIG.
In the separating optical member 310, the elongated holes 311 are arranged at a predetermined interval in the minor axis direction of the elongated holes, like the separating optical member 300. Between the elongated holes 311 and 311, a protruding portion 312 is provided that protrudes straight upward from the upper surface side of the separating optical member 310. The upper surface side of the protrusion 312 is inclined in the major axis direction of the elongated hole 311 and in the minor axis direction, and a highly reflective coating is formed on the surface thereof to form a reflecting surface 313. The laser beam can be reflected off the original laser beam path by the inclination of the reflecting surface 313.

When the separation optical member 310 is irradiated with the laser beam 10, the laser beam in the region irradiated to the elongated holes 311 passes through the elongated holes 311 as it is, and has a first pattern having a pattern according to the arrangement shape of the elongated holes 311. The laser beam 11 is emitted while maintaining the incident direction of the laser beam 10. On the other hand, in the region where the protruding portion 312 is located, a part of the laser beam 10 is reflected and separated as the second laser beam 12 by the reflection surface 313.
In the portion of the separating optical member 310 excluding the elongated hole 311 and the protruding portion 312, the permeation of light is blocked and the periphery of the laser beam is cut.
The second laser beam 12 is reflected not in regular reflection but in a state of being deflected in the major axis direction and minor axis direction of the elongated hole 311. The second laser beam 12 reflected upward is irradiated again onto the object 100 together with the first laser beam 11 by being reflected again by a mirror or the like.

In the embodiments of the separating optical members, a second laser beam patterned by deflecting a part of the laser beam by refraction or reflection is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a combination of refraction and reflection may be used.
A configuration example of the separating optical member will be described with reference to FIG.
The separation optical member 320 is formed in a planar rectangular shape as a whole, and a plurality of elongated elongated refracting portions 321 through which a laser beam is transmitted are arranged at predetermined intervals in the elongated axis direction of the elongated shape. Yes. The elongated refracting portion 321 slightly protrudes to the lower surface side of the separating optical member 320, and the lower surface is inclined in the minor axis direction of the elongated refracting portion 321.

In addition, a protruding portion 322 that protrudes straight from the upper surface side of the separating optical member 320 is provided between the elongated refracting portions 321 and 321. The upper surface side of the projecting portion 322 is inclined in the minor axis direction of the elongated refracting portion 321, and a highly reflective coating is formed on the surface thereof to form a reflecting surface 323. The inclination direction of the lower surface of the elongated refraction part 321 and the inclination direction of the upper surface of the protrusion part are in the backward direction.
One or both of the lower surface of the elongated refracting portion 321 and the reflecting surface 323 may be inclined in the minor axis direction and may be inclined in the major axis direction.
When the separation optical member 320 is irradiated with the laser beam 10, the laser beam in the region irradiated on the elongated refracting portion 321 passes through the elongated refracting portion 321 as it is and is emitted from the lower surface according to the inclination of the lower surface. The first laser beam 11 is deflected by being refracted and is emitted as a first laser beam 11 having a pattern according to the arrangement shape of the elongated refracting portions 321.
On the other hand, in the region where the protrusion 322 is located, a part of the laser beam 10 is reflected and separated as the second laser beam 12 by the reflection surface 323. The second laser beam 12 reflected (deflected) upward can be irradiated to the object 100 together with the first laser beam 11 by being reflected by a mirror or the like.

FIG. 7 shows an example of irradiating the workpiece 100 while scanning the first laser beam 11 and the second laser beam 12 separated from each other.
In this example, as shown in the Nth shot, the workpiece 100 is irradiated with the laser beam according to the pattern 11a in the first laser beam 11 and the pattern 12a in the second laser beam.

  The pattern 11a has a shape in which line shapes are arranged at intervals in the minor axis width direction, and the intervals are smaller than the minor axis width of the line shape. On the other hand, the position of the pattern 12a is shifted in the major axis direction of the line shape by the length of the line shape, and the position is shifted in the minor axis direction of the line shape. Thereby, the pattern 12a has the same period from which a phase differs with respect to the pattern 11a. The line shape of the pattern 12a has a minor axis width that is substantially the same as the interval of the pattern 11a. Accordingly, the minor axis width of the pattern 12a is smaller than the line shape of the pattern 11a. Yes. Further, the line-shaped long-axis direction end portion of the pattern 12a is located slightly inside the line-shaped long-axis direction end portion of the pattern 11a.

The first laser beam 11 and the second laser beam 12 are applied to the object 100 according to the patterns 11a and 12a, and the object 100 is moved by the scanning device. The scanning interval at this time is set so that the end portions in the major axis direction of the line shapes of the patterns 11a and 12a are slightly overlapped in each shot of the laser beam.
Note that the laser beam pattern and the relationship between the irradiation positions of the first laser beam and the second laser beam are not limited to the above description, and various forms are possible.

  When the amorphous film is crystallized by the laser beam irradiation of the above pattern, the film is melted by the laser beam irradiation in the region irradiated with the second laser beam, and the melted portion is sequentially exposed from the surrounding solid phase portion. The solid phase portion is crystallized and solidified, and the solid phase portion is irradiated with the first laser beam and melted by scanning with a laser beam, and side crystallization is sequentially performed from the solid phase portion where the solidification has occurred. By repeating this, crystallization of the entire amorphous film can be efficiently performed without waste.

In each of the above embodiments, description has been made on the case where the separated laser beam and the separated laser beam are irradiated to different positions of the object to be processed. However, the object to be processed is provided with a delay time between the laser beams. It is also possible to perform irradiation. This type of laser annealing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.
Similar to the above-described embodiment, the laser light source 1 that outputs laser light is included, and the optical system 2 that guides the laser beam and irradiates the workpiece 100 at the output destination. The optical system 2 includes an appropriate mirror, lens, homogenizer, and the like. The optical system 2 shapes the laser beam as necessary, and irradiates the object 100 while being condensed through the objective lens 6.
In the optical system 2, a separation optical member 4 that deflects and separates a part of the laser beam 10 is provided. The separation optical member 4 has a reflecting surface in part, and a first laser beam 11 irradiated toward the object 100 and a second laser beam 12 once reflected by the separation optical member 4 Separated. In this embodiment, the first laser beam 11 is irradiated in the same direction as the laser beam 10 and is incident on the objective lens 6. On the other hand, the second laser beam 12 is reflected by the separating optical member 4 and deflected in the opposite direction to the first laser beam 11.

A mirror 50 is disposed in the reflection (deflection) direction of the second laser beam 12, and the second laser beam 12 reflected by the mirror 50 is incident on the optical delay device 9. The optical delay device 9 is configured by a known device such as changing an optical path length, and emits an incident laser beam with a predetermined time delay. In the present invention, the configuration of the optical delay device is not particularly limited, as long as a delay action can be obtained, and the delay time can be appropriately set.
The second laser beam 12 emitted from the optical delay device 9 is incident on the objective lens 6 after being reflected by the mirror 51 and the mirror 52. Therefore, the mirrors 50, 51, and 52 constitute the second optical system of the present invention.
In the objective lens 6, the first laser beam 11 and the second laser beam 12 are condensed and applied to the object 100 to be processed. At this time, the irradiation position of the first laser beam 11 and the second laser beam 12 with respect to the object 100 may be the same, or the irradiation positions may be different.

  Even when the first laser beam 11 and the second laser beam 12 are irradiated on the object 100 to be processed at the same position, the second laser beam 12 is delayed for a predetermined time, and the two laser beams have different actions. Obtainable. For example, when the surface of the workpiece 100 is melted by irradiation with the first laser beam 11, the crystallinity when the amorphous film is crystallized by irradiating the second laser beam 12 to the same position after solidification. Can be improved. In this case, the pulse delay time is longer than the time during which the workpiece is melted. The pulse delay time is desirably about 1 to 2 times the pulse width (100 ns to 500 ns). However, the delay time is not limited in the present invention, and an appropriate delay time can be set according to the purpose.

In each of the above embodiments, the laser beam is shaped into a pattern in which line shapes are arranged in parallel. However, the shape of the pattern is not particularly limited as the present invention.
FIG. 9 shows an example of the separation optical member 330.
In this embodiment, a large number of round holes 331 that transmit light are arranged vertically and horizontally. Laser light is deflected by refraction or reflection in a region 332 outside the round hole 331.
As a result, the laser beam transmitted through the round hole 331 becomes the first laser beam having a pattern in which circular shapes are arranged, and the laser beam deflected in a region other than the round hole 331 has a circular beam missing portion. The second laser beams have the pattern shape arranged side by side, each guided to the optical system, and irradiated to the object to be processed.

  As described above, the present invention has been described based on the above embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to the above description, and appropriate modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Laser light source 2 Optical system 3 Separation optical member 4 Separation optical member 5 Mirror 6 Objective lens 7 Mounting base 9 Optical delay device 300 Separation optical member 301 Slotted hole 302 Refraction part 310 Separation optical member 311 Slotted hole 312 Projection part 313 Reflecting surface 320 Separating optical member 321 Elongated refraction portion 322 Protruding portion 323 Reflecting surface

Claims (14)

A method of manufacturing an annealed body that performs laser annealing of the object to be processed by irradiating the object to be processed with a patterned laser beam,
A part of the laser beam irradiated to the object to be processed is deflected and separated into a patterned second laser beam, and the laser beam from which the second laser beam is separated is patterned into a first laser. Annealing that irradiates the object to be processed as a beam, and irradiates the object to be processed with the second laser beam different from the first laser beam at an irradiation position or / and at the time of irradiation. A manufacturing method of a processing object.   2. The method of manufacturing an annealed body according to claim 1, wherein the deflection is performed by a separating optical member.   3. The method of manufacturing an annealed body according to claim 2, wherein the deflection is performed by reflection of the separating optical member.   4. The method of manufacturing an annealed body according to claim 2, wherein the deflection is performed by refraction in the separating optical member.   The annealing process according to claim 1, wherein the pattern of the first laser beam and the pattern of the second laser beam have the same periodic pattern shape having a phase difference. Body manufacturing method.   6. The annealed body according to claim 1, wherein either the first laser beam or the second laser beam is applied to the object to be processed via an optical delay device. Production method.   7. The object to be processed, which is an amorphous thin film, is successively subjected to side crystallization by irradiation with the patterned first laser beam and second laser beam. The manufacturing method of the annealing process body.   The first laser beam or / and the second laser beam may be further separated into one or a plurality of patterned laser beams by deflecting a part of the laser beam and irradiating the object to be processed. The manufacturing method of the annealed body according to any one of claims 1 to 7. A laser annealing apparatus comprising: a laser light source that outputs a laser beam; an optical system that guides and irradiates the laser beam to a target object; and a target object mounting base that sets the target object.
An optical member for separation that enables the object to be irradiated with a second laser beam separated into a second laser beam patterned by deflecting a part of the laser beam to the optical system. A laser annealing apparatus comprising:   The separating optical member has a reflecting surface that reflects and deflects a part of the laser beam, and the reflecting surface separates the second laser beam patterned by the deflection. The laser annealing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the laser annealing apparatus is provided.   The separating optical member has a refracting unit that refracts and deflects a part of the laser beam, and the refracting unit separates the second laser beam patterned by the deflection. The laser annealing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the laser annealing apparatus is provided.   10. The optical system according to claim 9, wherein the optical system is a first optical system, and the second optical system guides the second laser beam separated by the separation optical member and irradiates the object to be processed. Laser annealing apparatus in any one of -11.   11. The laser annealing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the first optical system or the second optical system includes an optical delay device that delays the first laser beam or the second laser beam.   The laser annealing apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a scanning device that moves the laser beam relative to the object to be processed.

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