JP2013257528A - Exposure apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an exposure apparatus capable of reducing tact time to improve productivity.SOLUTION: An exposure apparatus performs exposure processing on a substrate that is cut into the separate shape of a finally obtained product. The exposure apparatus includes: an exposure unit having a light source, a frame member disposed downward the light source, and a mask attached to the frame member; a substrate holding unit on which the substrate is mounted; and a leg unit that supports the exposure unit above the substrate holding unit and makes the exposure unit move at least to a vertical direction. With the substrate being mounted on the surface of the substrate holding unit, the leg unit adjusts the position of the exposure unit (in the vertical direction). Light is emitted from the light source of the exposure unit. The light passes through the mask to radiate light of a pattern according to the pattern formed on the mask onto the surface of the substrate.

Description

  The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus that performs an exposure process on a substrate cut into individual shapes.

Conventionally, touch panels have been widely used in, for example, ATMs, vending machines, portable information terminals, portable game machines, electronic guidance display boards, car navigation systems, mobile phones, and the like.
In contrast to the conventional method of using a touch panel on a liquid crystal panel, research on methods for integrating a touch panel function into a liquid crystal panel has become active. For integration of the touch panel and the liquid crystal panel, there are a method called “in-cell” and a method called “on-cell”.

  In-cell is a method of incorporating a touch panel function into a liquid crystal pixel. On-cell, on the other hand, is a method in which a touch panel function is built between the color filter substrate and the polarizing plate. If external touch panel components can be integrated, it will be possible to reduce the thickness and weight.

  In-cell technology has been proposed for a long time. However, since a complicated semiconductor manufacturing process is used, it is difficult to secure yield and display performance, and it has not been put into practical use. Also, by incorporating a touch sensor in the pixel, the area that can be used for display is reduced, which also causes deterioration in image quality.

  On the other hand, in the on-cell technology, it is only necessary to form a simple transparent electrode pattern between the color filter substrate and the polarizing plate, so it is easy to ensure the yield. Further, since the area of the effective display area in the pixel is not reduced, there is almost no deterioration in image quality.

  By the way, in recent years, as a trend of thinning the touch panel sensor and simplifying the manufacturing process, a method of directly patterning on the cover glass has been studied along with the in-cell method and the on-cell method as described above.

  The cover glass currently on the market is tempered after being cut into the final product size. Reversing this process is a technical barrier, and the cut cover glass is patterned. In other words, if a plurality of large glass substrates subjected to a tempering process are cut after exposure and patterning, they cannot be commercialized due to cracks.

  Thus, there is a demand for an exposure apparatus that performs an exposure process on a glass substrate that has been cut into a product size. However, in such an exposure apparatus, the tact time is increased, which hinders improvement in productivity. .

JP 2001-297971 A

  The present invention has been devised in view of such conventional circumstances, and in an exposure apparatus that performs exposure processing on a substrate cut into individual shapes, the tact time can be shortened and productivity can be improved. An object is to provide an exposure apparatus.

An exposure apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention is an exposure apparatus that performs an exposure process on a substrate that is cut into an individual shape of a finally obtained product, and is disposed below a light source and the light source. An exposure unit having a frame member and a mask attached to the frame member; a substrate holding unit on which the substrate is placed; and supporting the exposure unit above the substrate holding unit; and at least the exposure unit A leg unit that moves in a vertical direction, and with the substrate placed on the surface of the substrate holding unit, the position of the exposure unit (in the vertical direction) is adjusted by the leg unit, and the exposure unit Light is emitted from a light source, the light passes through the mask, and the substrate surface is irradiated with light having a pattern corresponding to the pattern formed on the mask. , Characterized by.
An exposure apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the exposure apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the substrate is a glass substrate that has been pre-strengthened.
An exposure apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect, the exposure unit has a moving mechanism capable of adjusting a position (in the vertical direction) of the frame member.
An exposure apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the exposure apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the substrate holding unit is a part of a conveyor that continuously conveys a plurality of substrates. The substrate to be exposed is held in a stopped state.
The exposure apparatus according to claim 5 of the present invention is the exposure apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of conveyors arranged in parallel, and the plurality of exposure units arranged corresponding to each of the plurality of conveyors, and The leg unit is provided.
An exposure apparatus according to claim 6 of the present invention is the exposure apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a plurality of conveyors arranged in parallel; and a moving unit that moves the exposure unit in a direction crossing the plurality of conveyors. It is characterized by this.

  In the exposure apparatus of the present invention, an exposure unit having a light source, a frame member disposed below the light source, and a mask attached to the frame member, a substrate holding unit on which the substrate is placed, and the exposure unit And a leg unit that moves the exposure unit at least in the vertical direction. In the exposure apparatus of the present invention, the position of the exposure unit (in the vertical direction) is adjusted by the leg unit with the substrate cut into an individual shape placed on the surface of the substrate holding unit, and the exposure Since light is emitted from the light source of the unit, the light passes through the mask, and the surface of the substrate is irradiated with light of a pattern corresponding to the pattern formed on the mask, a plurality of pieces cut into individual shapes The exposure processing can be performed quickly on the substrate. As a result, the present invention can provide an exposure apparatus that can shorten the tact time and improve the productivity.

1A and 1B are diagrams schematically showing a configuration example of an exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment, in which FIG. 1A is a perspective view, FIG. 1B is a top view, and FIG. These are the perspective views which show the structure of the part of a frame member and an actuator in the exposure apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of an actuator typically. 2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining the operation of the exposure apparatus shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 1A is a top view and FIG. It is a top view which shows typically the other structural example of exposure apparatus. It is a figure which shows typically another structural example of exposure apparatus, (a) is a top view, (b) is sectional drawing.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of an exposure apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing one configuration example of an exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment, in which (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a top view, and (c) is a cross-sectional view.
This exposure apparatus is an exposure apparatus that performs an exposure process on a substrate that is cut into individual shapes of a finally obtained product.
The exposure apparatus 1 includes a light source 11, an exposure unit 10 having a frame member 12 disposed below the light source 11, and a mask 13 attached to the frame member 12, and a substrate holding unit on which the substrate 2 is placed. 20 and a leg unit 30 that supports the exposure unit 10 above the substrate holding unit 20 and moves the exposure unit 10 at least in the vertical direction.

The substrate 2 is a glass substrate that has been cut into individual shapes of the final product and that has been subjected to a strengthening process in advance.
In the present embodiment, the substrate 2 is made of, for example, chemically strengthened glass. Such a chemically strengthened glass is a glass that has been subjected to a chemical strengthening treatment by being immersed in a potassium salt molten bath at a temperature of about 400 ° C., and sodium ions of the glass substrate 2 are ion-exchanged with potassium ions. Here, the ionic radius of sodium is 95 nm, whereas the ionic radius of potassium ions is 133 nm. The ionic radius of potassium ions is larger than that of sodium ions. For this reason, the glass substrate is in a state where the strength is enhanced by the compressive stress resulting from the chemical strengthening layer on the surface.

In the present embodiment, the substrate is reinforced after cutting a large glass substrate. For this reason, since it is not necessary to cut | disconnect a large tempered glass substrate, the glass substrate of a product size can be produced efficiently.
Note that a thin film to be patterned may be formed on the surface of the substrate 2, and a photoresist film may be formed in advance on the thin film surface.

The exposure unit 10 includes a light source 11, a frame member 12 disposed below the light source 11, and a mask 13 (photomask) attached to the frame member 12.
As the light source 11, for example, an ultrahigh pressure mercury lamp having a wavelength of 365 nm as a reference wavelength is preferable. When this lamp is used, it is not realistic to frequently perform the lighting / extinguishing control, so that it is used in a continuous lighting state. Therefore, a secondary device is required to perform the light emission / shielding operation from the light source. As this secondary device, a motor-driven mechanical shutter is usually mounted. A mirror device to be described later is an example of an alternative element of the shutter.

The frame member 12 positions and holds the mask 13.
The mask 13 is configured, for example, by forming a light shielding film having a predetermined pattern on a transparent substrate such as glass.

Furthermore, in the exposure apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the exposure unit 10 has a moving mechanism (actuator 14) that can adjust the position (in the vertical direction) of the frame member 12.
The actuator 14 can move the frame member 12 holding the mask 13 at least in the Y-axis direction (vertical direction). Thereby, the shape or position of the illumination area formed on the substrate 2 placed on the substrate holding unit 20 can be adjusted.
Note that the exposure apparatus 1 of the present embodiment has been studied mainly for a so-called “proximity exposure” apparatus. Here, “proximity exposure” is a non-contact exposure method in which the gap between the mask (reticle) and the workpiece (sample, substrate) is set to several μm to several hundred μm corresponding to the required resolution. Means. “Proximity exposure” can avoid the risk that the resist material spreads on the mask surface, for example, compared to “contact exposure” in which the mask is brought into contact with the workpiece, while light passing through the mask opening (mask opening). Due to the radiation component of the passing light (completely parallel light cannot be produced), the resist material outside the mask pattern is slightly exposed and the resolution deteriorates. Since this resolution degradation proceeds in proportion to the gap amount, for example, in the case of a touch panel, the gap amount is preferably about 150 μm.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the frame member 12 and the actuator 14 in the exposure apparatus of the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the actuator 14. In the present embodiment, the actuator 14 performs feedback control.

  The actuator 14 includes a solenoid valve 50, a nozzle 51 fixed to the frame member 12, a cylinder 52c that divides the inside of the cylinder case 52 into cylinder chambers 52a and 52b, a spring 53 that biases the cylinder 52c disposed in the cylinder case 52, An air pressure source 54, a regulator 55, and a restriction 56 such as an orifice are provided.

In the electromagnetic valve off state of FIG. 3, the cylinder 52c is moved upward by being pressed by the spring 53.
When the solenoid valve 52 is turned on, the cylinder chamber 52b is pressurized, the cylinder 52c is moved downward, and the spring 53 is compressed. At this time, the compressed air that has passed through the throttle 56 is introduced into the cylinder chamber 52a, and the cylinder 51a is in a so-called meter-out drive state in a state where it is exhausted from the nozzle 51.

  When the frame member 12 and the mask 13 are lowered, the previous meter-out diaphragm is strengthened as the nozzle 51 fixed to the frame member 12 comes close to the substrate placement surface (the surface of the substrate holding unit 20). . Thereby, the internal pressure of the nozzle 51 and the pressure in the cylinder chamber 52a increase. When the sum of the pressure of the cylinder chamber 52a and the spring force of the spring 53 that pushes the cylinder 52c upward increases to a downward force on the cylinder 52c due to the pressure of the cylinder chamber 52b, the pressure difference between the cylinder chamber 52a and the cylinder chamber 52b 52c cannot move in the direction in which the gap at the tip of the nozzle 51 is further reduced. Therefore, the frame member 12 fixed integrally with the cylinder 52c stops at a position where the sum of the pressing forces of the spring 53 and the cylinder chamber 52a is balanced with the pressure difference of the cylinder chamber 52b. Although the meter-out effect during the previous operation can be obtained without the restriction 56, in this case, the air remaining in the cylinder chamber 52b flows out from the tip of the nozzle 51, and the nozzle 51 and the substrate. This is not preferable because the surface of the holding unit 20 may come into contact.

  When 20 and 51 are separated by some external force, the discharge flow rate of the nozzle 51 increases. Thereby, the pressure in the nozzle 51 and the cylinder chamber 52a is reduced, and the cylinder 52c is lowered. When the cylinder 52c is lowered to a position where the sum of the pressure in the cylinder chamber 52a and the spring force that pushes the cylinder 52c upward matches the pressure in the cylinder chamber 52b, the cylinder 52c is also moved together with the frame member 12 and the mask 13 that move up and down. Stop.

The balance conditions under which the weight of the frame member 12, the mask 13, the cylinder 52c, the spring force of the spring 53, the regulator set pressure of the regulator 55 introduced into the cylinder chamber 52b, and the chamber pressure of the cylinder chamber 52a act on the cylinder 52c are mechanically designed. The gap between the surface of the substrate holding unit 20 and the nozzle 51 is determined by the pressure in the cylinder chamber 52 and the pressure loss ratio at the tip of the nozzle 51. The balance gap between the surface of the substrate holding unit 20 and the nozzle 51 can be adjusted to be narrower.
Further, when the diaphragm 56 is fixed, the balance gap between the surface of the substrate holding unit 20 and the nozzle 51 can also be adjusted by adjusting the regulator pressure of the regulator 55.

  This makes it possible to precisely control the gap between the mask 13 and the substrate 2 without mechanical contact, and to control the exposure gap between the mask lower surface 13a and the substrate 2 to a predetermined width. Become. Furthermore, in this case, the risk of collision between the nozzle 51 and the substrate placement surface (substrate holding unit 20 surface) can be reduced, which is preferable. As described above, the actuator 14 according to the present embodiment does not require a sensor or a controller, so that inexpensive closed-loop control can be realized.

  In the exposure unit 10, a condenser lens (not shown) may be disposed between the light source 11 and the mask 13. The condenser lens is composed of, for example, a pair of aspheric lenses, and the irradiation light from the light source 11 is substantially parallel light.

  Further, a reduction projection lens (not shown) may be disposed between the mask 13 and the substrate holding unit 20. The reduction projection lens reduces and projects the pattern on the mask 13 onto the substrate 2 placed on the substrate holding unit 20.

On the surface of the substrate holding unit 20, the substrate 2 to be processed is placed. The substrate holding unit 20 may have means for fixing the substrate 2 by, for example, vacuum chucking, electrostatic chucking, mechanical clamping, or the like.
In the exposure apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the substrate holding unit 20 is a part of a conveyor 21 that continuously conveys a plurality of substrates 2.

The conveyor 21 includes, for example, a driving rotation roller, a rotation roller, and a conveyor belt. The motor is rotated in a predetermined direction, and the conveyor belt is rotated in a predetermined direction, whereby the plurality of substrates 2 placed on the conveyor belt are continuously conveyed.
And the conveyor 21 hold | maintains in the state which stopped the to-be-processed substrate 2 in which an exposure process is made in a light irradiation position (lower position of the exposure unit 10).

The leg unit 30 supports the exposure unit 10 above the substrate holding unit 20 and moves the exposure unit 10 at least in the vertical direction.
The leg unit 30 includes an elevating leg 31 that is connected to an elevating motor (not shown) and extends in the vertical direction. The exposure unit 10 is attached to the upper end of the elevating leg 31. Although the number of the raising / lowering legs 31 is not specifically limited, It is preferable to set it as multiple, for example, it shall be three.

In order to pattern the thin film formed on the surface of the substrate 2 made of glass using the exposure apparatus 11 having such a configuration, first, as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of substrates 2 are transferred to a conveyor 21 (substrate holding unit 20). Placed on.
Note that a thin film to be patterned is formed on the surface of the substrate 2, and a photoresist film is formed in advance on the thin film surface.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 4B, the elevating unit is raised, and the exposure unit 10 is supported and raised by the elevating legs 31.
The conveyor 21 conveys the substrate 2 to be processed to a predetermined position (a position below the exposure unit 10) where the processing is performed, and holds the substrate 2 to be stopped at the light irradiation position.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 1C, the exposure unit 10 is lowered by lowering the elevating legs 31 of the elevating unit, and in this state, the substrate 2 is exposed. At this time, the position of the exposure unit 10 in the vertical direction may be adjusted by the leg unit 30. Further, the position of at least the Y-axis direction (vertical direction) of the frame member 12 holding the mask 13 may be adjusted by the actuator 14.

  In this state, when light is emitted from the light source 11, the light is applied to the condenser lens, and is condensed by the condenser lens to form a parallel light beam, which is then applied to the mask 13.

  The parallel light beam applied to the mask 13 passes through the mask 13, is reduced by the reduction projection lens 15, and is applied to the substrate surface placed on the substrate holding unit 20. As a result, a partial region of the photoresist film is exposed to form a latent image so that a reduced image is formed in the same pattern as the mask 13 on a partial region of the photoresist film on the surface of the substrate 2. Is done.

  After completion of the exposure process, as shown in FIG. 4, the exposure unit 10 is raised by raising the elevating legs 31 of the elevating unit, and the processed substrate 2 is conveyed by operating the conveyor 21 again. The substrate 2 to be exposed is transferred to a predetermined position (a position below the exposure unit 10).

  As described above, according to the exposure apparatus 1 of the present invention, it is possible to quickly perform an exposure process on a plurality of substrates 2 cut into individual shapes. Thereby, in the exposure apparatus 1 of this invention, tact time can be shortened and productivity can be improved.

  In the exposure apparatus 1 of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, the plurality of conveyors 21 arranged in parallel and the plurality of exposure units arranged corresponding to the plurality of conveyors 21, respectively. 10 and the leg unit 30 may be provided. Thereby, it is possible to perform exposure processing on a larger number of substrates 2 and to further improve productivity.

  In the exposure apparatus of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, the plurality of conveyors 21 arranged in parallel and the exposure unit 10 are crossed across the plurality of conveyors 21 (width direction of the conveyor 21). It can also be set as the structure provided with the moving means 40 moved to.

  The exposure unit 10 is moved in the direction crossing the plurality of conveyors 21 by the moving means 40 and performs an exposure process on the plurality of substrates placed on the conveyors 21 on each conveyor 21. Thereby, exposure processing can be performed on many substrates with one apparatus, and productivity can be further improved. In addition, since only one exposure unit is required, the apparatus cost can be reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case of an exposure apparatus using a mask has been described. However, in the present invention, a MEMS mirror device is arranged in an optical path of a light source without using a mask, and irradiation / non-irradiation in an exposure process It is also possible to apply to an exposure apparatus in which switching is performed by a signal to the mirror device.

  In this case, the configuration of the exposure unit is almost the same as that of a known single-chip DLP projector, the lamp is for ultraviolet light (UV), and the projection lens has high UV light transmittance. It is desirable that the focal position of the projection lens be within about 1 m.

By using a mirror device with the apparatus being maskless, there is an advantage that patterning can be performed just by the resolving power of the mirror device when enlarged and projected onto the size of the substrate to be processed.
On the other hand, the mirror device can be used for mask exposure as a shutter function simply by inputting an ON / OFF signal. At this time, using a mirror device is more advantageous than a mechanical shutter in terms of vibration, life, and responsiveness.

  Although the exposure apparatus of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this and can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

  The present invention is widely applicable to exposure apparatuses. In particular, it is particularly suitable when applied to an exposure apparatus that performs an exposure process on a substrate cut into individual shapes of a finally obtained product, such as a touch panel used as a display unit of a mobile device.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Exposure apparatus, 2 board | substrates, 10 exposure unit 11 light source, 12 frame member, 13 mask, 14 actuator, 20 board | substrate holding unit, 21 conveyor, 30 leg unit, 40 moving means.

Claims (6)

An exposure apparatus that performs an exposure process on a substrate that has been cut into individual shapes of a finally obtained product,
An exposure unit having a light source, a frame member disposed below the light source, and a mask attached to the frame member;
A substrate holding unit on which the substrate is placed;
A leg unit that supports the exposure unit above the substrate holding unit and moves the exposure unit at least in the vertical direction; and
With the substrate placed on the surface of the substrate holding unit, the vertical position of the exposure unit is adjusted by the leg unit,
An exposure apparatus that emits light from the light source of the exposure unit, transmits the light through the mask, and irradiates the substrate surface with light having a pattern corresponding to a pattern formed on the mask.   The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a glass substrate that has been tempered in advance.   The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exposure unit has a moving mechanism capable of adjusting a position of the frame member in a vertical direction. The substrate holding unit is a part of a conveyor that continuously conveys a plurality of substrates,
4. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate to be exposed is held in a stopped state at the light irradiation position.   5. The apparatus according to claim 4, comprising a plurality of the conveyors arranged in parallel, and a plurality of the exposure units and the leg units arranged corresponding to each of the plurality of conveyors. Exposure device.   The exposure apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a plurality of conveyors arranged in parallel and a moving unit that moves the exposure unit in a direction across the plurality of conveyors.

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