JP2014107474A - Substrate manufacturing apparatus and substrate manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate manufacturing apparatus capable of avoiding decrease in throughput when forming thin films having different film thickness within a plane.SOLUTION: A substrate in which a thin film should be formed is held on a holding surface of a stage. Droplets of thin film material are discharged from a plurality of nozzle holes of a nozzle head facing the stage toward the substrate held on the stage. A movement mechanism moves one of the stage and the nozzle head to the other in a scanning direction parallel with the holding surface. A control device controls the movement mechanism. The nozzle head discharges the droplets of the thin film material with volume in accordance with signal waveforms associated with the nozzle holes from the nozzle holes when the nozzle head receives a discharge signal in which correspondence between the nozzle holes and the signal waveforms associated with the nozzle holes is specified from the control device.

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate manufacturing apparatus and a substrate manufacturing method for forming a thin film of a predetermined shape by applying a liquid thin film material to a substrate and then curing the thin film material.

  A technique for forming a thin film pattern on the surface of a substrate by discharging droplets containing a material for forming a thin film pattern from a nozzle head is known (for example, Patent Document 1). A thin film is formed by discharging droplets from the nozzle head toward the substrate while moving the nozzle head relative to the substrate. The process of ejecting droplets from the nozzle head toward the substrate while moving the nozzle head relative to the substrate is referred to as “scanning”.

  In such a thin film forming technique, for example, a printed circuit board is used as the substrate, and a solder resist is used as the thin film material. The printed circuit board includes a base material and wiring, and an electronic component or the like is soldered to a predetermined position. The solder resist exposes a conductor portion for soldering an electronic component or the like and covers a portion that does not require soldering. It is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost as compared with a method in which a solder resist is applied to the entire surface and then an opening is formed using a photolithography technique.

JP 2004-104104 A

  When the thickness of the thin film is varied with respect to the substrate surface, a multi-drop method, an overcoating method, and a separate coating method are conceivable.

  In the multi-drop method, the thickness of the thin film is changed by changing the number of droplets to be landed for each pixel. The number of droplets landing on the pixel where the thickest thin film is to be formed is the largest. The maximum number of droplets that land on one pixel limits the movement speed of the nozzle head relative to the substrate. As the maximum number of droplets that land on one pixel increases, the moving speed of the nozzle head relative to the substrate must be reduced. For this reason, the throughput decreases.

  In the overcoating method, after a first thin film having a uniform thickness is formed, a second thin film is further formed on the first thin film only in a region where a thick film is to be formed. In the painting method, the film is divided into a plurality of regions for each film thickness of the thin film to be formed. A thin film is formed in one region by one scan. In any method, in order to form thin films having different thicknesses, a plurality of scans must be performed. For this reason, the throughput decreases.

  The objective of this invention is providing the board | substrate manufacturing method and board | substrate manufacturing apparatus which can avoid the fall of a throughput, when forming the thin film from which film thickness differs regarding in-plane.

According to one aspect of the invention,
A stage for holding a substrate on which a thin film is to be formed on a holding surface;
A nozzle head that faces the stage and discharges droplets of a thin film material from a plurality of nozzle holes toward a substrate held on the stage;
A moving mechanism for moving one of the stage and the nozzle head in the scanning direction parallel to the holding surface with respect to the other;
A control device for controlling the moving mechanism;
When the nozzle head receives, from the control device, an ejection signal in which a correspondence relationship between the nozzle hole and a signal waveform associated with the nozzle hole is specified, a thin film having a volume corresponding to the designated signal waveform There is provided a substrate manufacturing apparatus for discharging a droplet of material from a designated nozzle hole.

According to another aspect of the invention,
A nozzle head is opposed to the substrate, and one of the substrate and the nozzle head is moved in a scanning direction parallel to the surface of the substrate with respect to the other, and a droplet of a thin film material is discharged from the nozzle hole of the nozzle head. And having a step of forming a thin film on the surface of the substrate,
Based on the information about the thickness of the thin film at the position where droplets of the thin film material land during the period in which one of the substrate and the nozzle head is moved in the scanning direction with respect to the other, the nozzle hole There is provided a substrate manufacturing method in which the volume of the thin film material discharged from the nozzle hole is made different for each nozzle hole.

  By changing the volume of the droplet of the thin film material discharged from the nozzle hole according to the position on the substrate, it is possible to form a thin film whose thickness varies in the plane. Furthermore, thin films having different film thicknesses can be formed by one scan. For this reason, the throughput can be increased as compared with the conventional method.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the nozzle unit, and FIG. 2B is a bottom view of the nozzle head and the curing light source. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the nozzle head, FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along one-dot chain line 3B-3B in FIG. 3A, and FIGS. 3C and 3E are the same as FIG. 3A of the nozzle head during the discharge operation. FIG. 3D and FIG. 3F are cross-sectional views of the nozzle head at the same position as FIG. 3B during the discharging operation. 3G and 3I are cross-sectional views of the nozzle head during the discharge operation at the same position as in FIG. 3A, and FIGS. 3H and 3J are cross-sections of the nozzle head during the discharge operation at the same position as in FIG. 3B. FIG. FIG. 4 is a graph showing an example of a voltage waveform applied to the electrode of the pressurizing chamber. 5A to 5D are cross-sectional views of the nozzle head during the ejection operation. FIG. 6 is a graph showing an example of a voltage waveform applied to the electrode of the pressurizing chamber. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the control device and the nozzle head. 8A is a diagram illustrating an example of image data, and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of the substrate and the thin film corresponding to the position of the alternate long and short dash line 8B-8B in FIG. 8A. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a relationship between a signal waveform for discharging a droplet of a thin film material and the thickness of the thin film formed on the substrate. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a signal waveform when a thin film is formed using the multi-drop method and a thickness of the thin film formed on the substrate.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a substrate manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment. A stage 22 is supported on the surface plate 20 by a moving mechanism 21. A substrate 50 such as a printed wiring board is held on the upper surface (holding surface) of the stage 22. An xyz orthogonal coordinate system is defined in which the direction parallel to the holding surface of the stage 22 is the x direction and the y direction, and the normal direction of the holding surface is the z direction. The moving mechanism 21 moves the stage 22 in the x direction and the y direction.

  The nozzle unit 23 and the imaging device 30 are supported above the surface plate 20. The nozzle unit 23 and the imaging device 30 face the substrate 50 held on the stage 22. The imaging device 30 images a wiring pattern, an alignment mark, a thin film pattern formed on the substrate 50, and the like formed on the surface of the substrate 50. Image data obtained by imaging is input to the control device 40. The nozzle unit 23 ejects droplets (for example, droplets of solder resist or the like) of a photocurable (for example, ultraviolet curable) thin film material from the plurality of nozzle holes toward the substrate 50. The discharged thin film material adheres to the surface of the substrate 50.

  Instead of fixing the nozzle unit 23 to the surface plate 20 and moving the stage 22, the nozzle unit 23 may be moved relative to the stage 22 and the surface plate 20.

  The control device 40 controls the moving mechanism 21, the nozzle unit 23, and the imaging device 30. The control device 40 includes a storage unit 45 that stores raster format image data 46 that defines the shape of a thin film pattern to be formed on the substrate 50 or compressed data thereof. An operator inputs various commands (commands) and numerical data necessary for control to the control device 40 through the input device 41. The control device 40 outputs various information from the output device 42 to the operator.

  FIG. 2A shows a perspective view of the nozzle unit 23. A plurality of, for example, four nozzle heads 24 are attached to the nozzle holder 26. A plurality of nozzle holes 24 a are formed in each nozzle head 24. The nozzle holes 24a are arranged in the x direction, and the four nozzle heads 24 are fixed to the nozzle holder 26 side by side in the y direction.

  A curing light source 25 is disposed between the nozzle heads 24 and outside the nozzle heads 24 at both ends. The curing light source 25 irradiates the substrate 50 (FIG. 1) with light for curing the thin film material, for example, ultraviolet rays.

  FIG. 2B shows a bottom view of the nozzle head 24 and the curing light source 25. Two rows of nozzle rows 24 b are arranged on the bottom surface (surface facing the substrate 50) of each nozzle head 24. Each of the nozzle rows 24b is composed of a plurality of nozzle holes 24a arranged at a pitch (period) 8Pn in the x direction. One nozzle row 24b is shifted in the y direction with respect to the other nozzle row 24b, and is further shifted by a pitch 4Pn in the x direction. That is, paying attention to one nozzle head 24, the nozzle holes 24a are distributed at equal intervals with a pitch of 4Pn in the x direction. The pitch 4Pn corresponds to a resolution of 300 dpi, for example.

  The four nozzle heads 24 are arranged in the y direction and are offset from each other in the x direction and attached to the nozzle holder 26 (FIG. 2A). In FIG. 2B, with the leftmost nozzle head 24 as a reference, the second, third, and fourth nozzle heads 24 are shifted by 2Pn, Pn, and 3Pn, respectively, in the negative x-axis direction. Therefore, when attention is paid to the four nozzle heads 24 (as a whole nozzle head), the nozzle holes 24a are arranged at equal intervals in the x direction at a pitch Pn (a pitch corresponding to 1200 dpi).

  A curing light source 25 is disposed between the nozzle heads 24 and further outside the outermost nozzle head 24 in the y direction. When focusing on one nozzle head 24, curing light sources 25 are arranged on both sides thereof.

  By moving the substrate 50 (FIG. 1) in the y direction, a droplet of a thin film material is ejected from each nozzle hole 24a of the nozzle unit 23 based on the image data 46 (FIG. 1) of the thin film pattern to be formed. The thin film pattern can be formed with a resolution of 1200 dpi in the x direction. The operation of discharging the thin film material droplets from the nozzle holes 24 a while moving the substrate 50 in the y direction and applying the thin film material to the substrate 50 is referred to as “scanning”. After performing one scan, the next scan is performed with a shift of Pn / 2 in the x direction, so that the resolution in the x direction can be doubled to 2400 dpi. The two scans can be realized by a reciprocating scan in which the directions of the first scan and the second scan are reversed. The resolution in the y direction (scanning direction) is determined by the moving speed of the substrate 50 and the discharge period of droplets from the nozzle holes 24a.

  3A and 3B are schematic sectional views of a part of the nozzle head 24. FIG. 3A shows a cross-sectional view parallel to the xy plane at a position slightly inside the surface on which the nozzle hole 24a is formed, and FIG. 3B shows a cross-sectional view taken along one-dot chain line 3B-3B in FIG. 3A. The nozzle head 24 is a so-called share mode type piezoelectric element type nozzle head.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, a plurality of pressurizing chambers 27 are arranged in the x direction. The plurality of pressurizing chambers 27 are partitioned by a partition wall 28. The partition wall 28 is made of a piezoelectric material, and is configured to undergo shear deformation when an electric field in the thickness direction of the partition wall 28 is applied. A nozzle hole 24 a is arranged corresponding to the pressurizing chamber 27. An electrode 29 is formed on the wall surface of the pressurizing chamber 27.

  When the electrodes 29 of the pressurizing chamber 27 at both ends shown in FIG. 3A are grounded and a voltage is applied to the electrode 29 of the central pressurizing chamber 27, an electric field in the thickness direction is applied to the partition walls 28 on both sides of the central pressurizing chamber 27. Will be added. As an example, when a negative voltage is applied to the electrode 29 of the central pressurizing chamber 27, the partition walls 28 on both sides are deformed in a direction away from each other as shown in FIG. 3C. As a result, the volume of the central pressurizing chamber 27 is increased. On the contrary, when a positive voltage is applied to the electrode 29 of the central pressurizing chamber 27, the partition walls 28 on both sides are deformed so as to approach each other as shown in FIG. 3G. As a result, the volume of the central pressurizing chamber 27 is reduced.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, a nozzle hole 24 a is formed on the bottom surface of the pressurizing chamber 27. All the pressurizing chambers 27 are connected to one common chamber 33. A liquid thin film material is stored in the pressurizing chamber 27 and the common chamber 33. When the pressurizing chamber 27 is enlarged, the thin film material flows into the pressurizing chamber 27 from the common chamber 33.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 3A to FIG. 3J and FIG. 4, an operation for discharging a thin film material droplet from the nozzle hole 24 a will be described. 3A to 3J show an example in which a thin film material droplet is ejected from the central nozzle hole 24a. 3C, 3E, 3G, and 3I show cross-sectional views at the same position as FIG. 3A, and FIGS. 3D, 3F, 3H, and 3J show cross-sectional views at the same position as FIG. 3B. FIG. 4 shows an example of a voltage waveform applied to the electrode 29 of the central pressurizing chamber 27. In the following description of the operation, unless otherwise specified, the central pressurizing chamber 27 is simply referred to as “pressurizing chamber 27”, and the electrode 29 of the central pressurizing chamber 27 is simply referred to as “electrode 29”.

  3A and 3B are cross-sectional views of the nozzle head 24 when no voltage is applied to the electrode 29 (time t11 shown in FIG. 4). A negative voltage is applied to the electrode 29 at time ta (FIG. 4).

  3C and 3D are cross-sectional views of the nozzle head 24 when a negative voltage is applied to the electrode 29 (time t12 shown in FIG. 4). When the partition walls 28 on both sides of the pressurizing chamber 27 are deformed away from each other, the pressurizing chamber 27 is enlarged. As a result, the thin film material flows from the common chamber 33 into the pressurizing chamber 27.

  At time tb (FIG. 4), the voltage applied to the electrode 29 is returned to the ground potential. 3E and 3F are sectional views of the nozzle head 24 when the potential of the electrode 29 is returned to the ground potential (time t13 shown in FIG. 4). The partition walls 28 on both sides of the pressurizing chamber 27 return to the neutral state. At this time, pressure is applied to the thin film material in the pressurizing chamber 27, and a part of the thin film material protrudes from the nozzle hole 24a. In this state, the portion 34 protruding from the nozzle hole 24 a is continuous with the thin film material in the pressurizing chamber 27.

  A positive voltage is applied to the electrode 29 at time tc (FIG. 4). 3G and 3H are sectional views of the nozzle head 24 when a positive voltage is applied to the electrode 29 (time t14 shown in FIG. 4). When the partition walls 28 on both sides of the pressurizing chamber 27 are deformed so as to approach each other, the volume of the pressurizing chamber 27 is reduced. The thin film material in the pressurizing chamber 27 is pressurized, and the discharged portion 34 becomes large.

  At time td (FIG. 4), the voltage applied to the electrode 29 is returned to the ground potential. 3I and 3J are cross-sectional views of the nozzle head 24 when the potential of the electrode 29 is returned to the ground potential (time t15 shown in FIG. 4). The partition walls 28 on both sides of the pressurizing chamber 27 return to the neutral state. At this time, the pressurizing chamber 27 is enlarged, and a part of the portion 34 (FIG. 3H) protruding from the nozzle hole 24 a is pulled back into the pressurizing chamber 27. Of the protruding portion 34, the tip portion that has not been pulled back into the pressurizing chamber 27 becomes a droplet 35 and flies toward the substrate 50 (FIG. 1).

  Next, with reference to FIG. 5A to FIG. 5D and FIG. 6, another operation when discharging a thin film material droplet from the nozzle hole 24 a will be described. 5A to 5D show cross-sectional views of the nozzle head 24 at the same position as FIG. 3B. FIG. 6 shows a voltage waveform applied to the electrode 29.

  FIG. 5A shows a cross-sectional view of the nozzle head 24 when no voltage is applied to the electrode 29 (time t21 shown in FIG. 6).

  FIG. 5B shows a cross-sectional view of the nozzle head 24 when a negative voltage is applied to the electrode 29 and then returned to the ground potential (time t22 shown in FIG. 6). After the pressurizing chamber 27 is once expanded, the thin film material protrudes from the nozzle hole 24a by returning to the original state. Thereby, the part 34 which protruded from the nozzle hole 24a is formed.

  FIG. 5C shows a cross-sectional view of the nozzle head 24 after a plurality of negative voltage pulses are repeatedly applied to the electrode 29 (time t23 in FIG. 6). As the pressurizing chamber 27 repeats expansion and contraction, a part of the protruding portion 34 is pulled back into the pressurizing chamber 27. Thereby, the volume of the protruding portion 34 is reduced.

  FIG. 5D shows a cross-sectional view of the nozzle head 24 when a positive voltage is applied to the electrode 29 (time t24 in FIG. 6). When the pressurizing chamber 27 is reduced to pressurize the thin film material in the pressurizing chamber 27, the protruding portion 34 is separated from the thin film material in the pressurizing chamber 27 and becomes droplets 35.

  The volume of the droplet 35 ejected by the operations shown in FIGS. 5A to 5D and FIG. 6 is smaller than the volume of the droplet 35 ejected by the operations shown in FIGS. 3A to 3J and FIG. Thus, by changing the voltage waveform applied to the electrode 29, the volume of the droplet 35 discharged from the nozzle hole 24a can be changed. The voltage waveforms shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 are examples, and the voltage waveform applied to the electrode 29 differs from the waveforms shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 depending on the viscosity of the thin film material, the structure of the nozzle head 24, and the like. It has various shapes.

The partition wall 28 (FIG. 3A) of the nozzle head 24 functions as an actuator that changes the volume of the pressurizing chamber 27. When the actuator is driven to change the volume of the pressurizing chamber 27, a thin film material droplet is ejected from the nozzle hole 24a. The voltage waveform (signal waveform) applied to the electrode 29 (FIG. 3A) of the actuator corresponds to the time change of the volume of the pressurizing chamber 27.

  FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of the control device 40 (FIG. 1) and the nozzle head 24 (FIGS. 2A and 2B). The control device 40 includes a processing device 43 and a storage unit 45. The storage unit 45 stores image data 46 and a volume waveform correspondence table 44. The image data 46 includes information regarding the planar shape and film thickness of the thin film to be formed. The volume waveform correspondence table 44 is a correspondence between the volume of the droplet 35 (FIGS. 3J and 5D) ejected from the nozzle hole 24a and the voltage waveform (FIGS. 4 and 6) applied to the electrode 29 (FIG. 3A). A relationship is defined. The volume waveform correspondence table 44 can be created by driving the nozzle head 24 with various voltage waveforms and measuring the volume of the droplet actually ejected from the nozzle hole 24a. For example, voltage waveforms are defined corresponding to four types of droplet volumes V1 to V4. The volume of the droplets is in the order of V1> V2> V3> V4.

  FIG. 8A shows an example of the image data 46. The image data 46 is composed of a plurality of pixels 47 arranged in a matrix in the x direction and the y direction. For each pixel 47, the thickness information of the thin film formed at the position of the pixel 47 is stored. In FIG. 8A, the thickness information of the thin film at the position corresponding to the pixel 47 is indicated by the line width of the cross mark attached in the pixel 47. The thicker the line width of the cross mark attached to the pixel 47 is, the thicker the thin film at the position of the pixel 47 is. A white pixel 47 means that a thin film is not formed at the position of the pixel 47.

  An opening 48 and an opening 49 in which a thin film is not formed are distributed in the substrate surface. For example, the opening 49 has a planar shape that can be approximated by a circle, and corresponds to the position of a through hole formed in the substrate 50 (FIG. 1). The opening 48 corresponds to a region for soldering the terminal of the circuit element to the substrate.

  By increasing the volume of the droplets landed on the pixels 47 that increase the thickness of the thin film, it is possible to form a thin film having a target thickness. The thickness of the thin film varies in the x direction in which the nozzle holes 24a (FIG. 2B) are arranged. By changing the volume of droplets to be ejected for each nozzle hole 24a, a thin film whose film thickness varies in the in-plane direction can be formed by a single scan.

  FIG. 8B shows a cross-sectional view of the substrate 50 and the thin film 51 corresponding to the position of the alternate long and short dash line 8B-8B in FIG. 8A. A thin film 51 is formed on the substrate 50. The thin film 51 is formed by curing a thin film material that is discharged from the nozzle head 24 (FIGS. 2A and 2B) and adhered to the surface of the substrate 50. A plurality of openings 48 are formed in the thin film 51. The conductive pattern is exposed in the opening 48. The terminal 53 of the circuit element 52 and the terminal 56 of the circuit element 55 are soldered to the conductive pattern in the opening 48.

  A portion 51A thicker than the thin film 51 formed in a region where no circuit element is disposed is formed immediately below one circuit element 52. The thickness of the thin film 51 immediately below the other circuit element 55 is substantially the same as the thickness of the thin film 51 formed in the region where the circuit element is not disposed. One circuit element 52 is thinner than the other circuit element 55.

  One circuit element 52 is in contact with the upper surface of the relatively thick portion 51A of the thin film 51 immediately below, and the other circuit element 55 is in contact with a portion of the thin film 51 that is thinner than the thick portion 51A. A relatively thin circuit element 52 is supported on the thick portion 51 A of the thin film 51, and a relatively thick circuit element 55 is supported on the relatively thin portion of the thin film 51. For this reason, the heights of the upper surfaces of the plurality of circuit elements 52 and 55 can be made uniform.

  Returning to FIG. 7, the description will be continued. The nozzle head 24 includes a driver circuit 60 and an electrode 29 (FIG. 3A). The processing device 43 of the control device 40 sends an ejection signal S1 to the driver circuit 60. In the discharge signal S1, the correspondence between the nozzle hole 24a and the voltage waveform applied to the electrode 29 of the nozzle hole 24a is specified. Upon receiving the ejection signal, the driver circuit 60 applies a drive signal S2 having a signal waveform (voltage waveform) associated with the nozzle hole 24a by the ejection signal to the electrode 29 corresponding to each nozzle hole 24a.

  The nozzle head 24 discharges a thin film material having a volume corresponding to the signal waveform designated by the discharge signal S1 from each of the nozzle holes 24a.

  FIG. 9 shows a relationship between a signal waveform for discharging droplets of a thin film material and the thickness of the thin film 51 formed on the substrate 50. The upper part of FIG. 9 shows signal waveforms, and the lower part shows cross-sectional views of the substrate 50 and the thin film 51. The horizontal axis of the upper signal waveform represents the elapsed time. The horizontal direction in the lower cross-sectional view corresponds to the y direction (scanning direction). Pixels 47a to 47f are arranged in the y direction.

  The thin film 51 formed at the pixel 47a, 47b position is the thinnest, the thin film 51 formed at the pixel 47c, 47d position is the thickest, and the thin film 51 formed at the pixel 47e, 47f position is between the two. Has a thickness. Pixel 47a, 47b is landed with a drop of volume V4 (FIG. 7), pixel 47c, 47d is landed with a drop of volume V1 (FIG. 7) larger than volume V4, and pixels 47e, 47f are filled with volume. A thin film 51 having a target thickness distribution can be formed by landing a droplet having a volume V2 intermediate between the volume V1 and the volume V4.

  The control device 40 responds to the film thickness at the positions of the pixels 47a to 47f when the nozzle holes 24a (FIGS. 2A and 2B) for landing the droplets on the pixels 47a to 47f pass above the pixels 47a to 47f. The ejection signal S1 (FIG. 7) including information specifying the signal waveform to be transmitted is sent to the driver circuit 60. Accordingly, a target volume of liquid droplets can be landed on the positions of the pixels 47a to 47f.

  FIG. 10 shows the relationship between the signal waveform when thin films having different film thicknesses are formed using the multi-drop method and the thickness of the thin film 51 formed on the substrate 50. The film thickness distribution of the formed thin film 51 is the same as the film thickness distribution of the thin film 51 shown in FIG. By causing one drop to land at the positions of the pixels 47a and 47b, landing four drops at the positions of the pixels 47c and 47d, and landing two drops at the positions of the pixels 47e and 47f. A thin film 51 having a target film thickness distribution can be formed.

  The signal waveform for ejecting four droplets has a time length approximately four times that of the signal waveform for ejecting one droplet. The scanning speed of the nozzle head 24 relative to the substrate 50 is limited by the time length of the longest signal waveform. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the scanning speed must be reduced to ¼ compared to the case where a thin film is formed by landing one droplet on each pixel. For this reason, the throughput decreases.

In the case of the embodiment, instead of changing the number of droplets, the volume of the droplets is changed in order to vary the thickness of the thin film. The difference between the time length of the signal waveform for discharging a large droplet and the time length of the signal waveform for discharging a small droplet is the difference in the time length of the signal waveform when changing the number of droplets. Smaller than that. The scanning speed is limited by the signal waveform having a long time length, but the degree of limitation is lighter than when the multi-drop method is adopted. In addition, the signal waveform for ejecting one droplet of a large volume is shorter than the time length of the signal waveform for ejecting a plurality of droplets. Thereby, a decrease in throughput can be suppressed.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, improvements, combinations, and the like can be made.

20 Surface plate 21 Moving mechanism 22 Stage 23 Nozzle unit 24 Nozzle head 24a Nozzle hole 24b Nozzle array 25 Curing light source 26 Nozzle holder 27 Pressurization chamber 28 Partition 29 Electrode 30 Imaging device 33 Common chamber 34 Projected portion 35 Liquid of thin film material Droplet 40 Control device 41 Input device 42 Output device 43 Processing device 44 Volume waveform correspondence table 45 Storage unit 46 Image data 47, 47a to 47f Pixel 48, 49 Opening 50 Substrate 51 Thin film 51A Thick portion 60 Driver circuit

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a substrate manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment . FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the nozzle unit, and FIG. 2B is a bottom view of the nozzle head and the curing light source. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the nozzle head, FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along one-dot chain line 3B-3B in FIG. 3A, and FIGS. 3C and 3E are the same as FIG. 3A of the nozzle head during the discharge operation. FIG. 3D and FIG. 3F are cross-sectional views of the nozzle head at the same position as FIG. 3B during the discharging operation. 3G and 3I are cross-sectional views of the nozzle head during the discharge operation at the same position as in FIG. 3A, and FIGS. 3H and 3J are cross-sections of the nozzle head during the discharge operation at the same position as in FIG. 3B. FIG. FIG. 4 is a graph showing an example of a voltage waveform applied to the electrode of the pressurizing chamber. 5A to 5D are cross-sectional views of the nozzle head during the ejection operation. FIG. 6 is a graph showing an example of a voltage waveform applied to the electrode of the pressurizing chamber. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the control device and the nozzle head. 8A is a diagram illustrating an example of image data, and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of the substrate and the thin film corresponding to the position of the alternate long and short dash line 8B-8B in FIG. 8A. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a relationship between a signal waveform for discharging a droplet of a thin film material and the thickness of the thin film formed on the substrate. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a signal waveform when a thin film is formed using the multi-drop method and a thickness of the thin film formed on the substrate.

A positive voltage is applied to the electrode 29 at time tc (FIG. 4). 3G and 3H are sectional views of the nozzle head 24 when a positive voltage is applied to the electrode 29 (time t14 shown in FIG. 4). When the partition walls 28 on both sides of the pressurizing chamber 27 are deformed so as to approach each other, the volume of the pressurizing chamber 27 is reduced. The thin film material in the pressurizing chamber 27 is pressurized, and the protruding portion 34 becomes large.

Claims (5)

A stage for holding a substrate on which a thin film is to be formed on a holding surface;
A nozzle head that faces the stage and discharges droplets of a thin film material from a plurality of nozzle holes toward a substrate held on the stage;
A moving mechanism for moving one of the stage and the nozzle head in the scanning direction parallel to the holding surface with respect to the other;
A control device for controlling the moving mechanism;
When the nozzle head receives, from the control device, an ejection signal in which the correspondence between the nozzle hole and the signal waveform associated with the nozzle hole is specified, the nozzle head associates the nozzle hole with the nozzle hole. A substrate manufacturing apparatus that discharges droplets of a thin film material having a volume corresponding to a specified signal waveform from the designated nozzle hole. The control device defines the correspondence between the image data including information on the planar shape and thickness of the thin film to be formed on the substrate, and the volume of the droplet of the thin film material ejected from the nozzle hole and the signal waveform. Including a storage unit for storing a volume waveform correspondence table;
The substrate manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ejection signal is transmitted to the nozzle head based on the image data and the volume waveform correspondence table.   The nozzle head includes a pressurizing chamber disposed corresponding to each of the nozzle holes and an actuator for changing the volume of the pressurizing chamber, and the actuator is driven to change the volume of the pressurizing chamber. Accordingly, the droplet of the thin film material is ejected from the nozzle hole, and the signal waveform corresponds to a time change of the volume of the pressurizing chamber. A nozzle head is opposed to the substrate, and one of the substrate and the nozzle head is moved in a scanning direction parallel to the surface of the substrate with respect to the other, and a droplet of a thin film material is discharged from the nozzle hole of the nozzle head. And having a step of forming a thin film on the surface of the substrate,
Based on the information about the thickness of the thin film at the position where droplets of the thin film material land during the period in which one of the substrate and the nozzle head is moved in the scanning direction with respect to the other, the nozzle hole A substrate manufacturing method in which the volume of the thin film material discharged from the nozzle hole is different for each nozzle hole.   The nozzle head receives a discharge signal in which the nozzle hole and a signal waveform corresponding to the nozzle hole are specified, whereby a droplet of a thin film material having a volume corresponding to the specified signal waveform is specified. The board | substrate manufacturing method of Claim 4 discharged from the said nozzle hole.

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