JP2012145786A - Exposure device and exposure method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To highly precisely form a plurality of different orientation regions on an oriented film on a single substrate without using a mask.SOLUTION: A substrate (1) is scanned by a linearly polarized light beam radiated obliquely from a light beam radiation device (20) so as to provide an oriented film applied to the substrate, with orientation characteristics arranging the orientation direction of liquid crystals. The exposure device detects a height displacement of the surface of the substrate supported on a chuck, corrects coordinates of drawing data to be supplied to a driving circuit (27) of the light beam radiation device, according to the height displacement of the surface of the substrate, and supplies the driving circuit of the light beam radiation device with the drawing data of the corrected coordinates. Alternatively, the exposure device detects the height displacement of the surface of the substrate supported on the chuck, and moves the chuck and the light beam radiation device relatively in a perpendicular direction to the surface of the substrate by the detected height displacement of the surface of the substrate.

Description

  In the manufacture of a liquid crystal display device, the present invention relates to an alignment film exposure apparatus and exposure device that irradiates an alignment film made of a polymer compound with linearly polarized exposure light to give the alignment film alignment characteristics that align the liquid crystal alignment direction. In particular, the present invention relates to an alignment film exposure apparatus and exposure method for forming a plurality of different alignment regions in an alignment film on a single substrate.

  2. Description of the Related Art An active matrix liquid crystal display device is manufactured by enclosing liquid crystal between a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) substrate and a color filter substrate, and arranging the liquid crystal alignment direction on the surface of the TFT substrate and the color filter substrate. An alignment film is formed. The process of imparting alignment characteristics to align the alignment direction of the liquid crystal on the alignment film has been conventionally performed by a “rubbing method” in which the surface of the alignment film is rubbed with a cloth, but recently, an alignment film made of a polymer compound such as polyimide. A “photo-alignment method” has been developed in which anisotropy is generated by irradiating a linearly polarized ultraviolet light to selectively react a polymer chain in the polarization direction. In the photo-alignment method, as one method for causing the alignment film to exhibit a pretilt angle, there is a method of obliquely irradiating the alignment film with linearly polarized ultraviolet light.

  In Patent Document 1, in order to increase the viewing angle of a liquid crystal display device, to improve display quality, and to improve contrast, in a pair of substrates sandwiching a liquid crystal layer, an alignment film on each substrate has a pretilt direction of about 180 °. Each of the substrates is divided into two different alignment regions, and the two substrates are bonded so that the boundary between the alignment regions on one substrate and the alignment region on the other substrate are substantially perpendicular to each other. A forming technique is disclosed.

JP-A-11-352486

  As described in Patent Document 1, in order to form a plurality of different alignment regions on an alignment film on one substrate, it is necessary to irradiate linearly polarized ultraviolet light obliquely from different directions for each alignment region. . For this reason, conventionally, exposure is performed using a configuration similar to that of a proximity exposure apparatus that is used in photolithography technology to transfer a mask pattern to a substrate by providing a minute gap (proximity gap) between the mask and the substrate. A mask that covers a region other than the alignment region to be provided is provided, and linearly polarized exposure light is obliquely irradiated from the exposure light irradiation device to the mask.

  However, in the conventional method using a mask, it is necessary to exchange the mask for each type of substrate to be exposed. Also, since the mask is deflected by its own weight, the gap between the mask and the substrate differs depending on the location. When exposure light is irradiated obliquely from the mask to the substrate, the position where the exposure light is irradiated onto the substrate is the mask and the substrate. There is a problem that the exposure accuracy is lowered due to fluctuations depending on the gap between the two.

  An object of the present invention is to accurately form a plurality of different alignment regions in an alignment film on one substrate without using a mask.

  An alignment film exposure apparatus according to the present invention includes a chuck that supports a substrate, a spatial light modulator that modulates a light beam by changing angles of a plurality of mirrors arranged in two directions, and spatial light based on drawing data. A drive circuit that drives the modulator and an irradiation optical system that irradiates the light beam modulated by the spatial light modulator, and obliquely irradiates the linearly polarized light beam from the irradiation optical system to the substrate supported by the chuck. And a moving means for relatively moving the chuck and the light beam irradiating device, and the moving means relatively moves the chuck and the light beam irradiating device so as to be inclined from the light beam irradiating device. An alignment film exposure apparatus that scans a substrate with an irradiated linearly polarized light beam and provides alignment characteristics applied to the alignment film applied to the substrate to align the alignment direction of the liquid crystal. The detection means for detecting the displacement of the height of the surface, and the coordinates of the drawing data supplied to the drive circuit of the light beam irradiation apparatus are corrected according to the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate detected by the detection means. And means for supplying the drawing data of the coordinates to the drive circuit of the light beam irradiation apparatus.

  The alignment film exposure method of the present invention also includes a spatial light modulator that supports the substrate with a chuck, changes the angle of the chuck and a plurality of mirrors arranged in two directions, and modulates the light beam. And a drive circuit for driving the spatial light modulator based on the light source and an irradiation optical system for irradiating the light beam modulated by the spatial light modulator, and linearly polarized light from the irradiation optical system to the substrate supported by the chuck. The light beam irradiation device that irradiates the beam obliquely moves relatively, scans the substrate with the linearly polarized light beam obliquely emitted from the light beam irradiation device, and the liquid crystal is applied to the alignment film applied to the substrate. An alignment film exposure method that imparts alignment characteristics that aligns the alignment direction of the substrate, wherein the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate supported by the chuck is detected, and according to the detected displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate, Driving times of light beam irradiation equipment Correcting the coordinate of the drawing data supplied to the drawing data of the corrected coordinates, and supplies to the drive circuit of a light beam irradiation device.

  Alternatively, the alignment film exposure apparatus of the present invention includes a chuck that supports a substrate, a spatial light modulator that modulates a light beam by changing the angles of a plurality of mirrors arranged in two directions, and a spatial space based on drawing data. A driving circuit that drives the optical light modulator and an irradiation optical system that irradiates the light beam modulated by the spatial light modulator. The linearly polarized light beam is obliquely applied from the irradiation optical system to the substrate supported by the chuck. A light beam irradiating apparatus for irradiating the chuck and a moving means for relatively moving the chuck and the light beam irradiating apparatus, and the moving means relatively moves the chuck and the light beam irradiating apparatus to move the chuck from the light beam irradiating apparatus. An alignment film exposure apparatus that scans a substrate with a linearly polarized light beam irradiated obliquely and gives alignment characteristics applied to the alignment film applied to the substrate to align the alignment direction of the liquid crystal. Detecting means for detecting the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate, and the chuck and the light beam irradiation device are relatively perpendicular to the surface of the substrate by the amount of displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate detected by the detecting means. Means for moving in the direction.

  The alignment film exposure method of the present invention also includes a spatial light modulator that supports the substrate with a chuck, changes the angle of the chuck and a plurality of mirrors arranged in two directions, and modulates the light beam. And a drive circuit for driving the spatial light modulator based on the light source and an irradiation optical system for irradiating the light beam modulated by the spatial light modulator, and linearly polarized light from the irradiation optical system to the substrate supported by the chuck. The light beam irradiation device that irradiates the beam obliquely moves relatively, scans the substrate with the linearly polarized light beam obliquely emitted from the light beam irradiation device, and the liquid crystal is applied to the alignment film applied to the substrate. An alignment film exposure method that imparts alignment characteristics for adjusting the alignment direction of the substrate, wherein the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate supported by the chuck is detected, and the amount of displacement of the detected surface height of the substrate is detected by the chuck. And light beam irradiation device It is intended to move in the direction perpendicular relative the surface of the substrate.

  The substrate is scanned with a linearly polarized light beam emitted obliquely from the light beam irradiation device, and the alignment characteristic applied to the alignment film applied to the substrate is imparted with alignment characteristics that align the liquid crystal alignment direction. The drawing data supplied to the driving circuit for driving the optical modulator can be changed to expose a desired position and an oriented region having a desired shape. At this time, since the light beam is irradiated obliquely onto the substrate from the light beam irradiation device, the height of the surface of the substrate supported by the chuck varies depending on the location due to variations in the height of the chuck surface and the substrate thickness. If they are different, the position where the light beam is irradiated onto the substrate changes as it is. In the present invention, the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate supported by the chuck is detected, and the coordinates of the drawing data supplied to the drive circuit of the light beam irradiation apparatus are determined in accordance with the detected displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate. The corrected drawing data of the coordinate is supplied to the drive circuit of the light beam irradiation device, or the chuck and the light beam irradiation device are relatively moved relative to the substrate by the detected displacement of the surface height of the substrate. Since the substrate moves in a direction perpendicular to the surface, the position where the light beam is applied to the substrate does not change even if the height of the surface of the substrate supported by the chuck varies depending on the location. A plurality of different alignment regions are formed with high accuracy.

  Further, in the alignment film exposure apparatus of the present invention, the detection means receives a light projecting unit that irradiates the detection light obliquely to the substrate supported by the chuck, and the reflected light that is reflected by the surface of the substrate. And detecting the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate from the change in the position of the reflected light received by the light receiving portion. Further, the alignment film exposure method of the present invention irradiates the detection light obliquely onto the substrate supported by the chuck, receives the reflected light reflected by the surface of the substrate, and detects the position of the received reflected light. The displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate is detected from the change. The displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate is detected with high accuracy using an optical method, and the alignment region is formed with higher accuracy.

  According to the present invention, by scanning the substrate with a linearly polarized light beam obliquely irradiated from the light beam irradiation device, and imparting the alignment characteristics to align the alignment direction of the liquid crystal to the alignment film applied to the substrate, The drawing data supplied to the driving circuit that drives the spatial light modulator of the light beam irradiation apparatus can be changed to expose the alignment region having a desired position and a desired shape. Therefore, a plurality of different alignment regions can be formed in the alignment film on one substrate without using a mask.

  Then, the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate supported by the chuck is detected, and the coordinates of the drawing data supplied to the drive circuit of the light beam irradiation apparatus are corrected according to the detected displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate. Then, the corrected coordinate drawing data is supplied to the drive circuit of the light beam irradiation device, or the chuck and the light beam irradiation device are relatively placed on the substrate surface by the detected displacement of the substrate surface height. By moving in the vertical direction, even if the height of the surface of the substrate supported by the chuck varies from place to place, the position where the light beam is irradiated onto the substrate is prevented from fluctuating. A plurality of different alignment regions can be accurately formed in the alignment film.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, the detection light is obliquely applied to the substrate supported by the chuck, the reflected light reflected by the surface of the substrate is received, and the change in the position of the received reflected light is detected. By detecting the displacement of the surface height of the substrate, it is possible to accurately detect the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate using an optical method and form the alignment region with higher accuracy.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the aligner exposure apparatus by one embodiment of this invention. 1 is a side view of an alignment film exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view of an alignment film exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a light beam irradiation apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the mirror part of DMD. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of a laser length measurement system. It is a figure explaining the exposure method of the alignment film by one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the exposure method of the alignment film by one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the fluctuation | variation of the irradiation position of the light beam by the displacement of the height of the surface of a board | substrate. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the drawing control part by one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the aligner exposure apparatus by other embodiment of this invention.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an alignment film exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a side view of an alignment film exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a front view of the alignment film exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The exposure apparatus includes a base 3, an X guide 4, an X stage 5, a Y guide 6, a Y stage 7, a θ stage 8, a chuck 10, a gate 11, a light beam irradiation device 20, linear scales 31, 33, encoders 32, 34, A laser length measurement system, a laser length measurement system control device 40, a stage drive circuit 60, and a main control device 70 are included. 2 and 3, the laser light source 41 of the laser measurement system, the laser measurement system control device 40, the stage drive circuit 60, and the main control device 70 are omitted. In addition to these, the exposure apparatus includes a substrate transfer robot that loads the substrate 1 into the chuck 10 and unloads the substrate 1 from the chuck 10, a temperature control unit that performs temperature management in the apparatus, and the like.

  Note that the XY directions in the embodiments described below are examples, and the X direction and the Y direction may be interchanged.

  1 and 2, the chuck 10 is in a delivery position for delivering the substrate 1. At the delivery position, the substrate 1 is carried into the chuck 10 by a substrate carrying robot (not shown), and the substrate 1 is carried out of the chuck 10 by a substrate carrying robot (not shown). The chuck 10 supports the back surface of the substrate 1 by vacuum suction. An alignment film made of a polymer compound such as polyimide is applied to the surface of the substrate 1.

  A gate 11 is provided across the base 3 above the exposure position where the substrate 1 is exposed. A plurality of light beam irradiation devices 20 are mounted on the gate 11. Although the present embodiment shows an example of an exposure apparatus using eight light beam irradiation apparatuses 20, the number of light beam irradiation apparatuses is not limited to this, and the present invention is one or two or more. The present invention is applied to an exposure apparatus using a light beam irradiation apparatus.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the light beam irradiation apparatus. The light beam irradiation device 20 includes an optical fiber 22, a lens 23, a mirror 24, a DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) 25, projection lenses 26a and 26b, a DMD driving circuit 27, a polarizer 28, an adjusting device 50, and a laser displacement meter. It is configured. The optical fiber 22 introduces an ultraviolet light beam generated from the laser light source unit 21 into the light beam irradiation device 20. The light beam emitted from the optical fiber 22 passes through the lens 23, then passes through the polarizer 28, becomes linearly polarized light, is reflected by the mirror 24, and is irradiated onto the DMD 25. The DMD 25 is a spatial light modulator configured by arranging a plurality of minute mirrors that reflect a light beam in two orthogonal directions, and modulates the light beam by changing the angle of each mirror. The light beam modulated by the DMD 25 is irradiated from the head unit 20a including the projection lenses 26a and 26b. The DMD drive circuit 27 changes the angle of each mirror of the DMD 25 based on the drawing data supplied from the main controller 70.

  The polarizer 28 is not limited to the position between the lens 23 and the mirror 24, and can be installed at an arbitrary position in the optical path of the light beam within the light beam irradiation device 20.

  2 and 3, the chuck 10 is mounted on the θ stage 8, and a Y stage 7 and an X stage 5 are provided below the θ stage 8. The X stage 5 is mounted on an X guide 4 provided on the base 3 and moves in the X direction along the X guide 4. The Y stage 7 is mounted on a Y guide 6 provided on the X stage 5 and moves in the Y direction along the Y guide 6. The θ stage 8 is mounted on the Y stage 7 and rotates in the θ direction. The X stage 5, Y stage 7, and θ stage 8 are provided with drive mechanisms (not shown) such as ball screws and motors, linear motors, etc., and each drive mechanism is driven by a stage drive circuit 60 of FIG. The

  By rotation of the θ stage 8 in the θ direction, the substrate 1 mounted on the chuck 10 is rotated so that two orthogonal sides are directed in the X direction and the Y direction. As the X stage 5 moves in the X direction, the chuck 10 is moved between the delivery position and the exposure position. When the X stage 5 moves in the X direction at the exposure position, the light beam irradiated from the head unit 20a of each light beam irradiation apparatus 20 scans the substrate 1 in the X direction. In addition, as the Y stage 7 moves in the Y direction, the scanning region of the substrate 1 by the light beam emitted from the head unit 20a of each light beam irradiation device 20 is moved in the Y direction. In FIG. 1, the main controller 70 controls the stage drive circuit 60 to rotate the θ stage 8 in the θ direction, move the X stage 5 in the X direction, and move the Y stage 7 in the Y direction. .

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a DMD mirror unit. The DMD 25 of the light beam irradiation device 20 is disposed at a predetermined angle θ with respect to the scanning direction (X direction) of the substrate 1 by the light beam from the light beam irradiation device 20. When the DMD 25 is arranged to be inclined with respect to the scanning direction, any one of the plurality of mirrors 25a arranged in two orthogonal directions covers a portion corresponding to the gap between the adjacent mirrors 25a, so that the alignment film is exposed. Can be performed without gaps.

  In the present embodiment, the substrate 10 is scanned by the light beam from the light beam irradiation device 20 by moving the chuck 10 in the X direction by the X stage 5, but the light beam irradiation device 20 is moved. By doing so, the substrate 1 may be scanned by the light beam from the light beam irradiation device 20. In the present embodiment, the scanning region of the substrate 1 by the light beam from the light beam irradiation device 20 is changed by moving the chuck 10 in the Y direction by the Y stage 7, but the light beam irradiation device 20. , The scanning region of the substrate 1 by the light beam from the light beam irradiation device 20 may be changed.

  For example, the chuck 10 may be fixed, and a stage for moving the gate 11 mounted with each light beam irradiation device 20 in the XY direction may be provided, and each light beam irradiation device 20 may be moved in the XY direction. In that case, a laser length measurement system that detects the position of the gate 11 with three axes is provided, and the drawing control unit 71 of the main control device 70 described later is based on the detection result of the laser length measurement system. The XY coordinates of the drawing data supplied to the DMD driving circuit 27 are determined.

  1 and 2, the base 3 is provided with a linear scale 31 extending in the X direction. The linear scale 31 is provided with a scale for detecting the amount of movement of the X stage 5 in the X direction. The X stage 5 is provided with a linear scale 33 extending in the Y direction. The linear scale 33 is provided with a scale for detecting the amount of movement of the Y stage 7 in the Y direction.

  1 and 3, an encoder 32 is attached to one side surface of the X stage 5 so as to face the linear scale 31. The encoder 32 detects the scale of the linear scale 31 and outputs a pulse signal to the main controller 70. 1 and 2, an encoder 34 is attached to one side surface of the Y stage 7 so as to face the linear scale 33. The encoder 34 detects the scale of the linear scale 33 and outputs a pulse signal to the main controller 70. Main controller 70 counts the pulse signal of encoder 32, detects the amount of movement of X stage 5 in the X direction, counts the pulse signal of encoder 34, and moves the amount of Y stage 7 in the Y direction. Is detected.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the laser length measurement system. In FIG. 6, the gate 11 and the light beam irradiation device 20 shown in FIG. 1 are omitted. The laser length measurement system is a known laser interference type length measurement system, and includes a laser light source 41, laser interferometers 42 and 44, and bar mirrors 43 and 45. The bar mirror 43 is attached to one side surface of the chuck 10 that extends in the Y direction. The bar mirror 45 is attached to one side surface of the chuck 10 extending in the X direction.

  The laser interferometer 42 irradiates the laser beam from the laser light source 41 onto the bar mirror 43, receives the laser beam reflected by the bar mirror 43, and the laser beam reflected from the laser beam source 41 and the laser beam reflected by the bar mirror 43. Measure interference. This measurement is performed at two locations in the Y direction. The laser length measurement system control device 40 detects the position and rotation of the chuck 10 in the X direction from the measurement result of the laser interferometer 42 under the control of the main control device 70.

  On the other hand, the laser interferometer 44 irradiates the laser beam from the laser light source 41 to the bar mirror 45, receives the laser beam reflected by the bar mirror 45, and the laser beam reflected from the laser source 41 and the bar mirror 45. Measure interference with light. The laser length measurement system control device 40 detects the position of the chuck 10 in the Y direction from the measurement result of the laser interferometer 44 under the control of the main control device 70.

  Hereinafter, an alignment film exposure method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 4, the adjusting device 50 of the light beam irradiation device 20 includes a support base 51 and a linear motor. The support base 51 includes a rotation mechanism 51a that supports and rotates the mirror 24, and changes the angle of the mirror 24 by rotating the rotation mechanism 51a. The linear motor includes a mover 52a with a built-in coil and a stator 52b with a built-in magnet. When a current is passed through the coil of the mover 52a, a thrust (Lorentz force) acts on the mover 52a according to Fleming's left-hand rule from the coil current and the magnetic field of the magnet of the stator 52b, and the mover 52a becomes a stator. Move along 52b. A support base 51 is mounted on the mover 52a. The adjusting device 50 is not limited to a linear motor, and other moving mechanisms such as a ball screw and a motor may be used.

  Under the control of the main controller 70, the adjusting device 50 rotates the rotating mechanism 51a of the support base 51 to change the angle of the mirror 24, and moves the linear motor movable element 52a to adjust the position of the mirror 24. The angle of incidence of the light beam irradiated from the mirror 24 onto the DMD 25 is adjusted. When the incident angle of the light beam irradiated from the mirror 24 to the DMD 25 changes, the reflection angle of the light beam reflected by each mirror 25a of the DMD 25 changes. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the central axis of the light beam reflected by each mirror 25a of the DMD 25 is parallel to the optical axes of the projection lenses 26a and 26b. At this time, the central axis of the light beam transmitted through the projection lenses 26 a and 26 b is perpendicular to the surface of the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10.

  7 and 8 are views for explaining an alignment film exposure method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, the adjusting device 50 rotates the rotation mechanism 51 a of the support base 51 counterclockwise as indicated by an arrow, moves the support base 51 to the right in the drawing as indicated by an arrow, and moves from the mirror 24 to the DMD 25. The example which enlarged the incident angle of the light beam irradiated to is shown. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7, the light beam reflected by each mirror 25a of the DMD 25 enters the projection lens 26a obliquely with respect to the optical axis from the upper right side. Then, the light beam that has passed through the projection lens 26 b is applied to the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 from the upper left side.

  The exposure apparatus relatively moves the chuck 10 and the light beam irradiation device 20, and scans the substrate 1 in the scanning direction indicated by the arrow by the linearly polarized light beam irradiated obliquely from the light beam irradiation device 20. At this time, when the pretilt direction is along the traveling direction of the exposure light according to the pattern of the exposure light, the nature of the alignment film applied to the substrate 1, etc., the pretilt direction is on the right side of the drawing in the alignment film of the substrate 1. Orientation characteristics are imparted. Further, when the pretilt direction is along the direction opposite to the traveling direction of the exposure light, the alignment film of the substrate 1 is given an alignment characteristic in which the pretilt direction is the left side of the drawing.

  In FIG. 8, the adjusting device 50 rotates the rotation mechanism 51a of the support base 51 clockwise as indicated by an arrow, and moves the support base 51 leftward as indicated by an arrow, from the mirror 24 to the DMD 25. The example which made small the incident angle of the irradiated light beam is shown. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8, the light beam reflected by each mirror 25a of the DMD 25 enters the projection lens 26a obliquely with respect to the optical axis from the upper left. Then, the light beam that has passed through the projection lens 26 b is applied to the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 from the upper right side.

  The exposure apparatus relatively moves the chuck 10 and the light beam irradiation device 20, and scans the substrate 1 in the scanning direction indicated by the arrow by the linearly polarized light beam irradiated obliquely from the light beam irradiation device 20. At this time, when the pretilt direction is along the traveling direction of the exposure light according to the pattern of the exposure light, the nature of the alignment film applied to the substrate 1, etc., the pretilt direction is on the left side of the drawing in the alignment film of the substrate 1. Orientation characteristics are imparted. Further, when the pretilt direction is along the direction opposite to the traveling direction of the exposure light, the alignment film of the substrate 1 is given an alignment characteristic with the pretilt direction on the right side of the drawing.

  The combination of the direction in which the light beam is applied to the substrate 1 and the scanning direction of the substrate 1 by the light beam is not limited to the example shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and the pattern of exposure light and the orientation applied to the substrate 1. It is determined appropriately according to the properties of the film.

  Since the substrate 1 is scanned with the linearly polarized light beam obliquely irradiated from the light beam irradiation device 20, the alignment characteristics applied to the alignment film applied to the substrate 1 are imparted with alignment characteristics that align the liquid crystal alignment direction. The drawing data supplied to the DMD driving circuit 27 that drives the 20 DMDs 25 can be changed to expose the alignment region having a desired position and a desired shape. Therefore, a plurality of different alignment regions can be formed in the alignment film on one substrate without using a mask.

  Then, by adjusting the incident angle of the light beam supplied to the DMD 25 by the adjusting device 50, the direction of the light beam irradiated to the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 is changed, and the pre-tilt direction of the alignment characteristic imparted to the alignment film Can be changed. Therefore, when forming a plurality of different alignment regions on the alignment film on one substrate, it is not necessary to remove the substrate from the chuck and rotate the orientation of the substrate every time each alignment region is exposed, thereby reducing the tact time. Throughput is improved.

  In addition, the adjusting device 50 adjusts the incident angle of the light beam supplied to the DMD 25 to change the incident angle of the light beam applied to the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10, so that the alignment characteristic applied to the alignment film can be improved. The pretilt angle can be controlled.

  Further, by adjusting the incident angle of the light beam supplied to the DMD 25 by the adjusting device 50 of the light beam irradiation device 20, the direction of the light beam irradiated to the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 is changed, and the light beam is changed. Since the change of the direction of the above and the change of the relative movement direction of the chuck 10 and the light beam irradiation device 20 are combined to change the pretilt direction of the alignment characteristic imparted to the alignment film, the pattern of the exposure light and the substrate 1 When the scanning direction of the substrate 1 by the light beam affects the pretilt direction of the alignment characteristic imparted to the alignment film, depending on the properties of the alignment film applied to the film, the change of the light beam direction, the chuck 10 and the light A desired pretilt direction can be obtained in combination with a change in the direction of movement relative to the beam irradiation device 20.

In the present invention, since the light beam is radiated obliquely from the light beam irradiation device 20 to the substrate 1, the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 is caused by the variation in the height of the surface of the chuck 10 and the variation in the thickness of the substrate 1. If the height of the surface varies depending on the location, the position where the light beam is irradiated onto the substrate 1 varies as it is. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the variation of the irradiation position of the light beam due to the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate. The displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate 1 is ΔZ when the surface height of the substrate 1 is a solid line 1a and when the height of the surface of the substrate 1 is a broken line 1b. When the angle of incidence of the light beam on the surface of the substrate 1 is α, the light beam is emitted when the surface height of the substrate 1 is a solid line 1a and when the surface height of the substrate 1 is a broken line 1b. Of the position where the surface of the substrate 1 is irradiated is ΔP,
ΔP = ΔZ · tan α (Formula 1)
It becomes.

  In FIG. 4, the laser displacement meter includes a light projecting unit 81 and a light receiving unit 82. The light projecting unit 81 includes a laser light source 81a and a lens 81b, and irradiates the detection light generated from the laser light source 81a obliquely to the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 from the lens 81b. The light receiving unit 82 includes a lens 82a and a CCD line sensor 82b, and the reflected light reflected from the surface of the substrate 1 by the detection light is condensed by the lens 82a and received by the CCD line sensor 82b.

In FIG. 9, when the incident angle of the detection light to the surface of the substrate 1 is β, the height of the surface of the substrate 1 is a solid line 1a, and the height of the surface of the substrate 1 is a broken line 1b. The change Δε in the light receiving position of the reflected light received by the CCD line sensor 82b is
Δε = M · (ΔZ / cos β) (M is the magnification of the lens 82a)
It becomes. Accordingly, the displacement ΔZ of the height of the surface of the substrate 1 is
ΔZ = (1 / M) · Δε · cosβ
Thus, the light receiving unit 82 of the laser displacement meter detects the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate 1 from the change in the position of the reflected light received by the CCD line sensor 82b.

  In FIG. 4, the main controller 70 has a drawing controller that supplies drawing data to the DMD drive circuit 27 of the light beam irradiation device 20. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the drawing control unit. The drawing control unit 71 includes a memory 72, a bandwidth setting unit 73, a center point coordinate determination unit 74, and a coordinate determination unit 75. In FIG. 10, only the light receiving unit 82 of the laser displacement meter of one light beam irradiation device 20 is shown, and the light receiving units 82 of the laser displacement meters of the other seven light beam irradiation devices 20 are omitted. The memory 72 stores drawing data to be supplied to the DMD driving circuit 27 of each light beam irradiation apparatus 20 using the XY coordinates as addresses.

  The bandwidth setting unit 73 sets the Y-direction bandwidth of the light beam emitted from the head unit 20 a of the light beam irradiation device 20 by determining the range of the Y coordinate of the drawing data read from the memory 72.

  The laser length measurement system control device 40 detects the position of the chuck 10 in the X and Y directions before the exposure of the substrate 1 at the exposure position is started. The center point coordinate determination unit 74 determines the XY coordinates of the center point of the chuck 10 before starting the exposure of the substrate 1 from the position in the XY direction of the chuck 10 detected by the laser length measurement system control device 40. In FIG. 1, when scanning the substrate 1 with the light beam from the light beam irradiation device 20, the main control device 70 controls the stage drive circuit 60 to move the chuck 10 in the X direction by the X stage 5. When moving the scanning area of the substrate 1, the main controller 70 controls the stage drive circuit 60 to move the chuck 10 in the Y direction by the Y stage 7. In FIG. 10, the center point coordinate determination unit 74 counts the pulse signals from the encoders 32 and 34 to detect the amount of movement of the X stage 5 in the X direction and the amount of movement of the Y stage 7 in the Y direction. The XY coordinates of the center point of the chuck 10 are determined.

  The coordinate determination unit 75 determines the XY coordinates of the drawing data supplied to the DMD drive circuit 27 of each light beam irradiation device 20 based on the XY coordinates of the center point of the chuck 10 determined by the center point coordinate determination unit 74. Then, the coordinate determination unit 75 calculates the determined XY coordinates according to the above-described “Equation 1” by ΔP according to the height displacement of the surface of the substrate 1 detected by the light receiving unit 82 of the laser displacement meter. Only correct. The memory 72 inputs the XY coordinates corrected by the coordinate determination unit 75 as an address, and outputs the drawing data stored at the input XY coordinate address to the DMD drive circuit 27 of each light beam irradiation apparatus 20.

  Note that the light projecting unit 81 and the light receiving unit 82 of the laser displacement meter are arranged in the X direction in which the light beam emitted from the light beam irradiation device 20 is inclined, and the calculated ΔP is determined according to this arrangement. Conversion to XY coordinates is performed to correct the XY coordinates of the drawing data.

  The displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 is detected, and the drawing data supplied to the DMD drive circuit 27 of the light beam irradiation device 20 is detected according to the detected displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate 1. Since the coordinates are corrected and drawing data of the corrected coordinates is supplied to the DMD driving circuit 27 of the light beam irradiation device 20, the light beam can be obtained even if the height of the surface of the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 varies depending on the location. The position at which the substrate 1 is irradiated does not change, and a plurality of different alignment regions are accurately formed in the alignment film on one substrate.

  Further, the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 is obliquely irradiated with the detection light, the reflected light reflected by the surface of the substrate 1 is received, and the surface of the substrate 1 is changed from the change in the position of the received reflected light. Therefore, the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate 1 is detected with high accuracy using an optical method, and the alignment region is formed with higher accuracy.

  Further, since the light projecting unit 81 and the light receiving unit 82 of the laser displacement meter are installed in each light beam irradiation device 20 and the coordinates of the drawing data are corrected for each light beam irradiation device 20, the surface of the substrate is complicatedly undulated. If you can.

  FIG. 11 is a view showing a schematic configuration of an alignment film exposure apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an elevating mechanism 9 is provided between the θ stage 8 and the chuck 10, a guide block 10 a is attached to the bottom surface of the chuck 10, and an elevating mechanism drive circuit 61 that drives the elevating mechanism 9 is provided. . Other components are the same as those of the embodiment shown in FIG.

  The elevating mechanism 9 includes a Z guide 9a and a linear motor 9b. The Z guide 9a guides the guide block 10a provided on the bottom surface of the chuck 10 up and down (Z direction). The linear motor 9b is driven by an elevating mechanism driving circuit 61, and moves up and down (Z direction) by moving the chuck 10 up and down while the rod 9c contacts the bottom surface of the chuck 10. The main controller 70 controls the lifting mechanism drive circuit 61 in accordance with the displacement of the surface height of the substrate 1 detected by the light receiving unit 82 of the laser displacement meter, and chucks the amount corresponding to the displacement of the surface height of the substrate 1. 10 is moved up and down (Z direction) to keep the distance from the light beam irradiation device 20 to the surface of the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 constant.

  In this embodiment, the distance from each light beam irradiation device 20 to the surface of the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 is kept constant by moving the chuck 10 in the Z direction. A distance from each light beam irradiation device 20 to the surface of the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 may be kept constant by providing an elevating mechanism and moving each light beam irradiation device 20 in the Z direction.

  The displacement of the surface height of the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 is detected, and the chuck 10 and the light beam irradiation device 20 are relatively moved relative to the surface of the substrate 1 by the detected displacement of the surface height of the substrate 1. Therefore, even if the height of the surface of the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 varies depending on the location, the position where the light beam is irradiated onto the substrate 1 does not vary, and the orientation on one substrate A plurality of different alignment regions are accurately formed in the film.

  In the embodiment described above, the light projecting unit 81 and the light receiving unit 82 of the laser displacement meter are installed in each light beam irradiation apparatus 20, but the light projecting unit 81 and the light receiving unit 82 of the laser displacement meter are installed. Further, it may be configured to be installed at one or a plurality of locations below the gate 11 to detect the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate at one representative point on the substrate or at a plurality of arbitrary locations. In that case, as the chuck 10 moves in the X direction, the detected displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate 1 is replaced with an average displacement with respect to each light beam irradiation device 20 and supplied to each light beam irradiation device 20. XY coordinates are corrected, or the chuck 10 is moved in the Z direction. Further, the detection of the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate 1 may be performed in real time during exposure, or may be performed in advance before exposure.

  In the embodiment described above, two types of alignment region groups having different pretilt directions by 180 degrees are formed in the alignment film of the substrate. However, four types of alignment region groups having different pretilt directions by approximately 90 degrees are formed. In this case, after the substrate is scanned with the light beam as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the substrate is rotated by approximately 90 degrees, and then again as shown in FIGS. The substrate may be scanned by

  In the embodiment described above, the pretilt direction is parallel to the long side or short side of the substrate. However, as a characteristic of the display panel, the pretilt direction is inclined with respect to the long side or short side of the substrate. If necessary, a desired pretilt direction can be obtained by scanning the substrate with a light beam while rotating the substrate with respect to the XY directions.

  According to the embodiment described above, the alignment is performed by adjusting the alignment direction of the liquid crystal on the alignment film applied to the substrate 1 by scanning the substrate 1 with the linearly polarized light beam irradiated obliquely from the light beam irradiation device 20. By imparting the characteristics, the drawing data supplied to the DMD drive circuit 27 that drives the DMD 25 of the light beam irradiation device 20 can be changed to expose the alignment region having a desired position and a desired shape. Therefore, a plurality of different alignment regions can be formed in the alignment film on one substrate without using a mask.

  Then, the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 is detected, and the drawing supplied to the DMD drive circuit 27 of the light beam irradiation apparatus 20 according to the detected displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate 1. The coordinate of the data is corrected, and the drawing data of the corrected coordinate is supplied to the DMD drive circuit 27 of the light beam irradiation device 20, or the chuck 10 and the light beam are detected by the detected height displacement of the surface of the substrate 1. By moving the irradiation device 20 in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate 1, the light beam is irradiated onto the substrate 1 even if the height of the surface of the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10 varies depending on the location. And a plurality of different alignment regions can be accurately formed in the alignment film on one substrate.

  Further, the detection light is obliquely irradiated onto the substrate 1 supported by the chuck 10, the reflected light reflected by the surface of the substrate 1 is received, and the surface of the substrate 1 is changed from the change in the position of the received reflected light. By detecting the displacement of the height, it is possible to accurately detect the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate 1 using an optical method, and to form the alignment region with higher accuracy.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 3 Base 4 X guide 5 X stage 6 Y guide 7 Y stage 8 θ stage 9 Lifting mechanism 9a Z guide 9b Linear motion motor 9c Rod 10 Chuck 10a Guide block 11 Gate 20 Light beam irradiation device 20a Head unit 21 Laser light source unit 22 Optical Fiber 23 Lens 24 Mirror 25 DMD (Digital Micromirror Device)
26a, 26b Projection lens 27 DMD drive circuit 28 Polarizer 31, 33 Linear scale 32, 34 Encoder 40 Laser length control system 41 Laser light source 42, 44 Laser interferometer 43, 45 Bar mirror 50 Adjustment device 51 Support base 51a Rotation mechanism 52a Movable element 52b Stator 60 Stage drive circuit 61 Elevating mechanism drive circuit 70 Main controller 71 Drawing control unit 72 Memory 73 Bandwidth setting unit 74 Center point coordinate determination unit 75 Coordinate determination unit 81 Projection unit 81a Laser light source 81b Lens 82 Light receiving part 82a Lens 82b CCD line sensor

Claims (8)

A chuck for supporting the substrate;
It is modulated by a spatial light modulator that modulates the light beam by changing the angle of a plurality of mirrors arranged in two directions, a drive circuit that drives the spatial light modulator based on drawing data, and a spatial light modulator. A light beam irradiation device that irradiates a linearly polarized light beam obliquely from the irradiation optical system to the substrate supported by the chuck;
A moving means for relatively moving the chuck and the light beam irradiation device;
An alignment film applied to the substrate by relatively moving the chuck and the light beam irradiation device by the moving means, scanning the substrate with a linearly polarized light beam obliquely irradiated from the light beam irradiation device. An alignment film exposure apparatus that imparts alignment characteristics to align the alignment direction of the liquid crystal,
Detecting means for detecting the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate supported by the chuck;
In accordance with the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate detected by the detection means, the coordinates of the drawing data supplied to the drive circuit of the light beam irradiation device are corrected, and the drawing data of the corrected coordinates is applied to the light beam irradiation. An alignment film exposure apparatus comprising: means for supplying to a drive circuit of the apparatus.   The detection means includes a light projecting unit that irradiates the detection light to the substrate supported by the chuck at an angle, and a light receiving unit that receives the reflected light reflected by the surface of the substrate. 2. The alignment film exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate is detected from a change in the position of the received reflected light. Support the substrate with a chuck,
A spatial light modulator that modulates a light beam by changing the angles of a chuck and a plurality of mirrors arranged in two directions, a drive circuit that drives the spatial light modulator based on drawing data, and a spatial light modulator A light beam irradiation device that irradiates a linearly polarized light beam obliquely from the irradiation optical system to the substrate supported by the chuck, and relatively moves the irradiation optical system that irradiates the light beam modulated by
An alignment film exposure method for imparting alignment characteristics to align an alignment direction of liquid crystals on an alignment film applied to the substrate by scanning the substrate with a linearly polarized light beam obliquely irradiated from a light beam irradiation device,
Detects the height displacement of the surface of the substrate supported by the chuck,
In accordance with the detected displacement of the surface height of the substrate, the coordinates of the drawing data supplied to the drive circuit of the light beam irradiation apparatus are corrected, and the drawing data of the corrected coordinates is supplied to the drive circuit of the light beam irradiation apparatus. An alignment film exposure method characterized by the above. Irradiate the detection light obliquely to the substrate supported by the chuck,
The detection light receives the reflected light reflected by the surface of the substrate,
4. The alignment film exposure method according to claim 3, wherein the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate is detected from a change in the position of the received reflected light. A chuck for supporting the substrate;
It is modulated by a spatial light modulator that modulates the light beam by changing the angle of a plurality of mirrors arranged in two directions, a drive circuit that drives the spatial light modulator based on drawing data, and a spatial light modulator. A light beam irradiation device that irradiates a linearly polarized light beam obliquely from the irradiation optical system to the substrate supported by the chuck;
A moving means for relatively moving the chuck and the light beam irradiation device;
An alignment film applied to the substrate by relatively moving the chuck and the light beam irradiation device by the moving means, scanning the substrate with a linearly polarized light beam obliquely irradiated from the light beam irradiation device. An alignment film exposure apparatus that imparts alignment characteristics to align the alignment direction of the liquid crystal,
Detecting means for detecting the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate supported by the chuck;
And a means for moving the chuck and the light beam irradiation device in a direction relatively perpendicular to the surface of the substrate by a displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate detected by the detection means. An alignment film exposure apparatus.   The detection means includes a light projecting unit that irradiates the detection light to the substrate supported by the chuck at an angle, and a light receiving unit that receives the reflected light reflected by the surface of the substrate. 6. The alignment film exposure apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate is detected from a change in the position of the received reflected light. Support the substrate with a chuck,
A spatial light modulator that modulates a light beam by changing the angles of a chuck and a plurality of mirrors arranged in two directions, a drive circuit that drives the spatial light modulator based on drawing data, and a spatial light modulator A light beam irradiation device that irradiates a linearly polarized light beam obliquely from the irradiation optical system to the substrate supported by the chuck, and relatively moves the irradiation optical system that irradiates the light beam modulated by
An alignment film exposure method for imparting alignment characteristics to align an alignment direction of liquid crystals on an alignment film applied to the substrate by scanning the substrate with a linearly polarized light beam obliquely irradiated from a light beam irradiation device,
Detects the height displacement of the surface of the substrate supported by the chuck,
An alignment film exposure method, wherein the chuck and the light beam irradiation device are moved in a direction relatively perpendicular to the surface of the substrate by the detected displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate. Irradiate the detection light obliquely to the substrate supported by the chuck,
The detection light receives the reflected light reflected by the surface of the substrate,
8. The alignment film exposure method according to claim 7, wherein the displacement of the height of the surface of the substrate is detected from a change in the position of the received reflected light.

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