JP2014108388A - Substrate manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate manufacturing apparatus which eliminates or reduces influences of airflow passing through holes and thereby forms a thin film pattern even if the through holes are formed on the substrate.SOLUTION: A substrate is held on a holding surface of a stage. Droplets of a thin film material are discharged from a nozzle head facing the substrate held by the stage toward the substrate. Multiple suction holes are formed at the stage. The suction holes open on the holding surface. A suction device suctions the substrate held by the holding surface through the suction holes. A flow rate adjustment mechanism changes a flow rate of a gas flowing through the suction holes. A moving mechanism moves one of the stage and the nozzle head relative to the other in a direction arranged parallel with the holding surface. The flow rate adjustment mechanism limits the flow rate of the gas flowing through some of the multiple suction holes on the basis of a relative position relationship between the stage and the nozzle head.

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate manufacturing apparatus that forms a thin film pattern on a surface of a substrate.

  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).

  In such a thin film forming technique, for example, a printed wiring board is used as a substrate, and a solder resist is used as a thin film material. The printed wiring 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

  Usually, when forming a thin film, the substrate is adsorbed to the stage by a vacuum chuck or the like. In the printed board, generally, a through hole for electrically connecting wirings formed on both sides of the board is formed. When the through hole of the substrate overlaps the suction hole of the vacuum chuck, an air flow is generated through the through hole. This air flow may adversely affect the formation of the thin film pattern.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate manufacturing apparatus capable of forming a thin film pattern by eliminating or reducing the influence of an airflow passing through a through hole even if the substrate has a through hole.

According to one aspect of the invention,
A stage for holding the substrate on the holding surface;
A nozzle head that faces the substrate held on the stage and discharges a droplet of a thin film material toward the substrate;
A plurality of suction holes formed in the stage and opening in the holding surface;
A suction device for sucking the substrate held on the holding surface through the suction hole;
A flow rate adjusting mechanism for changing the flow rate of the gas flowing through the suction hole;
A moving mechanism that moves one of the stage and the nozzle head in a direction parallel to the holding surface with respect to the other;
A substrate manufacturing apparatus is provided in which the flow rate adjusting mechanism limits a flow rate of gas flowing through some of the plurality of suction holes based on a relative positional relationship between the stage and the nozzle head.

Even if the through hole formed in the substrate overlaps with the suction hole, the flow rate adjusting mechanism restricts the flow rate of the gas passing through the suction port, whereby the flow rate of the gas flowing through the through hole can be restricted. Thereby, the thin film pattern can be formed by eliminating or reducing the influence of the airflow flowing into the through hole.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the nozzle unit. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the stage and the nozzle head. 4A is a cross-sectional view of a stage and a nozzle head of a substrate manufacturing apparatus according to a comparative example, and FIG. 4B is a plan view of a through hole of the substrate and a thin film pattern formed in the vicinity thereof. 5A is a plan view of the stage of the substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along one-dot chain line 5B-5B in FIG. 5A. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an example of the positional relationship between the stage and the nozzle unit. FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view of the stage of the substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the third embodiment, and FIG. 7B is a plan view of the flow rate adjusting mechanism. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the stage and nozzle head when a thin film is formed by the substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the third embodiment. 9A is a cross-sectional view of a stage used in the substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment, and FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view of the stage and the nozzle head when a thin film is formed in the substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment. It is.

[Example 1]
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment. A stage 22 is supported on the surface plate 20 by a moving mechanism 21. A substrate 27 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.

  Above the surface plate 20, the nozzle unit 30 and the imaging device 28 are supported by the support member 24. The nozzle unit 30 is supported by the support member 24 via a nozzle unit support mechanism 31 so as to be movable up and down. The nozzle unit 30 and the imaging device 28 face the substrate 27 held on the stage 22. The imaging device 28 images a wiring pattern, an alignment mark, a thin film pattern formed on the substrate 27, and the like formed on the surface of the substrate 27. Image data obtained by imaging is input to the control device 70. The nozzle unit 30 ejects droplets (for example, droplets of solder resist, etc.) of a photocurable (for example, ultraviolet curable) thin film material from the plurality of nozzle holes toward the substrate 27. The discharged thin film material adheres to the surface of the substrate 27.

  The control device 70 controls the moving mechanism 21, the nozzle unit 30, and the imaging device 28. The position of the stage 22 is detected by the encoder incorporated in the moving mechanism 21, and the detection result is input to the control device 70. The controller 70 stores raster format image data that defines the shape of the thin film pattern to be formed on the substrate 27. An operator inputs various commands (commands) and numerical data necessary for control to the control device 70 through the input device 71. The control device 70 outputs various information from the output device 72 to the operator.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the nozzle unit 30 (FIG. 1). A plurality of, for example, four nozzle heads 34 are attached to the nozzle holder 35 side by side in the y direction. A plurality of nozzle holes 37 are opened on the surface (hereinafter referred to as “nozzle surface”) 38 of each nozzle head 34 facing the stage 22. The plurality of nozzle holes 37 are arranged in two rows in the x direction. The plurality of nozzle holes 37 of the four nozzle heads 34 are arranged at different positions in the x direction, and are distributed at equal intervals in the x direction as a whole.

  A curing light source 36 is attached between the nozzle heads 34 and outside the nozzle heads 34 at both ends. The curing light source 36 irradiates the substrate 27 (FIG. 1) with curing light, for example, ultraviolet rays.

  Hereinafter, a method for forming a thin film pattern will be described. While moving the substrate 27 (FIG. 1) in the y direction, droplets of the thin film material are ejected from the nozzle holes 37 based on the image data of the thin film pattern to be formed. This operation is referred to as “scanning”. The thin film material droplets discharged from the nozzle holes 37 land on the substrate 27. The thin film material landed on the substrate 27 is irradiated with curing light from the curing light source 36. Thereby, at least the surface layer portion of the thin film material is cured. A thin film pattern can be formed on the surface of the substrate 27 by changing the relative position in the x direction between the substrate 27 (FIG. 1) and the nozzle unit 30 and performing a plurality of scans.

  FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the stage 22 and the nozzle head 34. A substrate 27 is held on the upper surface (holding surface) of the stage 22. A nozzle head 34 is disposed above the substrate 27. The nozzle surface 38 of the nozzle head 34 faces the substrate 27. A plurality of nozzle holes 37 are arranged on the nozzle surface 38. The space | interval of the board | substrate 27 and the nozzle surface 38 is 0.5 mm-1 mm, for example.

  A plurality of suction holes 40 are formed in the stage 22. One end of each suction hole 40 opens to the holding surface. Each of the suction holes 40 is connected to the common flow path 41 via the flow rate adjusting mechanism 43. The flow rate adjusting mechanism 43 is an open / close valve that is opened and closed by an actuator, for example, an electromagnetic valve. Note that the flow rate of the gas flowing through the suction hole 40 is changed in multiple steps or continuously by changing the cross-sectional area of the flow path instead of the solenoid valve that takes two states of an open (on) state and a closed (off) state. A valve that can be used may be used. Opening and closing of each of the flow rate adjusting mechanisms 43 is controlled by the control device 70. The suction device 45 exhausts the inside of the suction hole 40 through the common channel 41 and the flow rate adjusting mechanism 43. Thereby, the inside of the suction hole 40 becomes negative pressure, and the substrate 27 is adsorbed to the holding surface of the stage 22.

  The moving mechanism 21 moves the stage 22 in the x direction or the y direction in response to a command from the control device 70. Position information of the stage 22 is input to the control device 70 from an encoder provided in the moving mechanism 21.

  A plurality of through holes 26 are formed in the substrate 27. Some of the through holes 26 overlap with the openings of the suction holes 40. The suction hole 40 whose opening does not overlap with the through hole 26 is blocked by the substrate 27.

  When the flow rate adjusting mechanism 43 is open, when the suction device 45 is operated, the inside of the suction hole 40 becomes negative pressure, and the substrate 27 is adsorbed on the holding surface. The control device 70 closes some of the flow rate adjusting mechanisms 43 based on the relative positional relationship between the stage 22 and the nozzle head 34. Specifically, the flow rate adjusting mechanism 43 connected to the suction hole 40 (the suction hole 40 overlapping the vertical projection image of the nozzle head 34 on the holding surface) located immediately below the nozzle head 34 is closed. In general, since the size of the nozzle head 34 in the xy plane is smaller than the substrate 27, even if some of the flow rate adjusting mechanisms 43 are closed, the nozzle head 34 is sucked from the suction holes 40 corresponding to the opened flow rate adjusting mechanisms 43. The adsorption state of the substrate 27 is maintained. Instead of completely closing the flow rate adjusting mechanism 43, the flow rate of the gas may be limited by reducing the flow path cross-sectional area.

  Before describing the effects of the first embodiment, a stage and a nozzle head of a substrate manufacturing apparatus according to a comparative example will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B.

  FIG. 4A shows a cross-sectional view of the stage 22 and the nozzle head 34 of the substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the comparative example. A common channel 41 and a suction hole 40 are formed in the stage 22. In the comparative example, the flow rate adjusting mechanism 43 (FIG. 3) is not arranged. Other configurations are the same as those of the substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment. A thin film material droplet 32 is discharged from the nozzle hole 37 and landed on the upper surface of the substrate 27. The droplet flight path is generally perpendicular to the holding surface of the substrate 27.

  When the suction device 45 is operated, air flows into the suction hole 40 through the through hole 26 that overlaps the suction hole 40. Thereby, an air flow toward the through hole 26 is generated in the space between the substrate 27 and the nozzle head 34. The flight path of the droplet 32 to be landed in the vicinity of the through hole 26 that overlaps the opening of the suction hole 40 is disturbed by the airflow. For this reason, the droplet 32 may land at a position shifted from the target position in a direction approaching the through hole 26.

  FIG. 4B shows a plan view of the through hole 26 of the substrate 27 and a thin film pattern formed in the vicinity thereof. A thin film pattern 50 is formed around the through hole 26. In the thin film pattern 50, an opening 51 slightly larger than the through hole 26 is formed at the position of the through hole 26. Between the outer peripheral line of the through hole 26 and the outer peripheral line of the opening 51, an annular region 57 where no thin film material is applied is provided.

  When the flight path of the droplet 32 (FIG. 4A) is disturbed, an island 53 made of a thin film material may be formed in the annular region 57. Or the protrusion part 55 which goes to the through hole 26 from the edge of the opening 51 may be formed. The island 53 and the protruding portion 55 cause a defect during the soldering process.

  On the other hand, in the substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the suction hole 40 located immediately below the nozzle head 34 is closed by the flow rate adjusting mechanism 43. For this reason, an air flow that disturbs the droplet flight path does not occur in the space between the substrate 27 and the nozzle surface 38. As a result, even in the vicinity of the through hole 26, the droplet can be landed on the target position. It is not always necessary to completely block the suction hole 40. By restricting the flow rate of the gas flowing through the suction hole 40, the air flow generated in the space between the substrate 27 and the nozzle surface 38 may be weakened to the extent that the droplet flight path is not disturbed.

[Example 2]
A substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Hereinafter, differences from the first embodiment will be described, and description of the same configuration will be omitted.

  FIG. 5A is a plan view of the stage 22 of the substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the second embodiment. A plurality of suction holes 40 are distributed on the holding surface of the stage 22. The suction holes 40 are arranged in a matrix, for example. The holding surface is divided into a plurality of sections 42. A plurality of suction holes 40 are arranged inside each of the compartments 42. The flow control of the suction hole 40 is performed for each section 42.

  FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along one-dot chain line 5B-5B in FIG. 5A. For each section 42, a plurality of suction holes 40 are connected to the common flow path 41 via one flow rate adjusting mechanism 43. For this reason, the suction hole 40 is closed for each section 42.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of the positional relationship between the stage 22 and the nozzle unit 30. With respect to the xy plane, some of the sections 42 overlap with any of the nozzle heads 34. The control device 70 (FIG. 1) extracts the section 42 that overlaps the nozzle head 34 based on the position information of the stage 22 received from the encoder of the moving mechanism 21 (FIG. 1), and the section 42 that overlaps the nozzle head 34. The flow rate adjusting mechanism 43 (FIG. 5B) connected to the inner suction hole 40 is closed. In FIG. 6, the suction hole 40 connected to the closed flow rate adjusting mechanism 43 is shown in black.

  As in the second embodiment, the suction holes 40 may be closed for each section 42 including the plurality of suction holes 40.

[Example 3]
A substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 7A to 8. Hereinafter, differences from the first embodiment will be described, and description of the same configuration will be omitted.

  FIG. 7A shows a cross-sectional view of the stage 22 of the substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the third embodiment, and FIG. 7B shows a plan view of the flow rate adjusting mechanism 43. The flow rate adjustment mechanism 43 includes an accommodation space 46, a closing member 47, and a support bar 48. The suction hole 40 is connected to the accommodation space 46. The accommodation space 46 is connected to the common channel 41 via a channel 49 that opens to the bottom surface. A closing member 47 is accommodated in the accommodation space 46.

  The accommodation space 46, the closing member 47, and the flow path 49 (FIG. 7B) have, for example, a circular planar shape. The support bar 48 is disposed at a position that is three-fold rotationally symmetric with the center of the flow path 49 as the rotation axis. Each of the support bars 48 connects the bottom surface and the top surface of the accommodation space 46, and is inclined so as to approach the vertical line downward with respect to the vertical line passing through the center of the flow path 49. The closing member 47 is supported by the support rod 48 and floats from the bottom surface of the accommodation space 46. For this reason, the substrate on the holding surface is adsorbed to the holding surface via the suction hole 40, the accommodation space 46, and the common channel 41.

  The closing member 47 is made of a magnetic material and is attracted to the magnet. When the magnet is disposed on the holding surface, the closing member 47 is attracted by the magnet and contacts the upper surface of the accommodation space 46. The suction hole 40 is closed by the closing member 47 coming into contact with the upper surface of the accommodation space 46.

  FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of the stage 22 and the nozzle head 34 when a thin film is formed. The nozzle head 34 includes a permanent magnet. For example, the casing of the nozzle head 34 may be formed of a permanent magnet, or the permanent magnet may be embedded in a casing made of a nonmagnetic material. Although FIG. 8 shows an example in which the N pole is arranged on the stage 22 side and the S pole is arranged on the opposite side to the stage 22, the polarity may be reversed.

  The closing member 47 of the flow rate adjusting mechanism 43 located immediately below the nozzle head 34 is attracted to the nozzle head 34 by the magnetic force from the nozzle head 34. As a result, the closing member 47 contacts the upper surface of the accommodation space 46 and closes the suction hole 40. When the through hole 26 that overlaps the suction hole 40 is present directly below the nozzle head 34, the suction hole 40 is blocked, so that no airflow passing through the through hole 26 is generated. For this reason, as in the case of the first embodiment, it is possible to prevent the disturbance of the flight path of the thin film material droplet.

  In the third embodiment, the closing member 47 is formed of a magnetic material and the nozzle head 34 includes a permanent magnet. Conversely, the closing member 47 is formed of a permanent magnet and the casing of the nozzle head 34 is formed of a magnetic material. May be formed. Further, the nozzle head 34 may include a permanent magnet, and the closing member 47 may be formed of a permanent magnet so that an attractive force acts between them.

[Example 4]
With reference to FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B, the board | substrate manufacturing apparatus by Example 4 is demonstrated. Hereinafter, differences from the third embodiment will be described, and description of the same configuration will be omitted. In Example 3, the magnetic force acting between the closing member 47 and the nozzle head 34 (FIG. 8) was the attractive force. In Example 4, the magnetic force acting between the two is a repulsive force.

  FIG. 9A shows a cross-sectional view of the stage 22 used in the substrate manufacturing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment. The flow rate adjusting mechanism 43 according to the fourth embodiment includes an accommodation space 46, a closing member 47, an elastic member 60, and a closing ring 61. For example, a coil spring is used for the elastic member 60. The elastic member 60 is inserted between the closing member 47 and the bottom surface of the receiving space 46, and supports the closing member 47 in the receiving space 46 so as to be movable up and down. The closing ring 61 protrudes from the bottom surface of the accommodation space 46 and has a planar shape surrounding the opening of the flow path 49 that opens to the bottom surface of the accommodation space 46.

  When an external force other than an attractive force is not applied to the closing member 47, the closing member 47 is supported between the upper surface of the closing ring 61 and the upper surface of the accommodation space 46 without being in contact with any of them. When an external force directed downward is applied to the closing member 47, the elastic member 60 is elastically deformed and the closing member 47 comes into contact with the upper surface of the closing ring 61. As a result, the flow path 49 connecting the suction hole 40 and the common flow path 41 is closed.

  FIG. 9B shows a cross-sectional view of the stage 22 and the nozzle head 34 when a thin film is formed. The nozzle head 34 includes a permanent magnet. The permanent magnet of the nozzle head 34 and the permanent magnet of the closing member 47 are arranged in a posture in which a repulsive force acts between them. FIG. 9B shows an example in which the N poles of the closing member 47 and the nozzle head 34 face each other.

  Since a repulsive force acts between the closing member 47 located immediately below the nozzle head 34 and the nozzle head 34, a downward force acts on the closing member 47. By this force, the elastic member 60 is elastically deformed, and the closing member 47 comes into contact with the upper surface of the closing ring 61. As a result, the flow path 49 connecting the suction hole 40 and the common flow path 41 is closed. For this reason, as in the case of the third embodiment, it is possible to prevent the disturbance of the flight path of the droplet of the thin film material.

  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 Platen 21 Moving mechanism 22 Stage 24 Support member 26 Through hole 27 Substrate 28 Imaging device 30 Nozzle unit 31 Nozzle unit support mechanism 32 Droplet 34 of thin film material Nozzle head 35 Nozzle holder 36 Curing light source 37 Nozzle hole 38 Nozzle surface 40 Suction hole 41 Common channel 42 Partition 43 Flow rate adjusting mechanism 45 Suction device 46 Accommodating space 47 Blocking member 48 Support rod 49 Channel 50 Thin film pattern 51 Opening 53 Island 55 Protrusion 57 Annular region 60 where thin film material is not applied Elastic member 61 Closure ring 70 Control device 71 Input device 72 Output device

Claims (4)

A stage for holding the substrate on the holding surface;
A nozzle head that faces the substrate held on the stage and discharges a droplet of a thin film material toward the substrate;
A plurality of suction holes formed in the stage and opening in the holding surface;
A suction device for sucking the substrate held on the holding surface through the suction hole;
A flow rate adjusting mechanism for changing the flow rate of the gas flowing through the suction hole;
A moving mechanism that moves one of the stage and the nozzle head in a direction parallel to the holding surface with respect to the other;
The flow rate adjusting mechanism is a substrate manufacturing apparatus that restricts the flow rate of gas flowing through some of the plurality of suction holes based on a relative positional relationship between the stage and the nozzle head. The flow rate adjusting mechanism includes a closing member made of a magnetic material disposed in the flow path of the suction hole,
The nozzle head includes a magnetic member made of a magnetic material,
The substrate according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate of the gas flowing through the suction hole is changed by the movement of the closing member by the magnetic interaction between the magnetic member of the nozzle head and the closing member. manufacturing device.   The substrate manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the closing member closes a flow path in the suction hole by moving by an attractive force or a repulsive force between the nozzle head and the magnetic member. And a control device for controlling the moving mechanism and the nozzle head,
The flow rate adjusting mechanism includes an actuator that is controlled by the control device and changes a flow rate of the gas flowing through the suction hole,
The substrate manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control device controls the actuator based on a relative positional relationship between the nozzle head and the stage.

Images