JP2018200744A - Lamp unit - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a lamp unit which can efficiently cool an excimer lamp, thereby allowing the excimer lamp to achieve high illuminance.SOLUTION: An excimer lamp 21 comprises: a block-like metal beam 30 provided, on its one face, with a lamp housing recess having a semicircular cross section; and a double-tube structured discharge container 25 in which insulative liquid coolant W circulates through a coolant flow passage R2, and which has an outer tube 26 and an inner tube 27 held in a pressed state against an inner face of the lamp housing recess of the metal beam 30. The excimer lamp 21 is cooled when the insulative liquid coolant W circulates through a coolant passage R1 formed by an internal space of the inner tube 27.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a lamp unit including a double tubular excimer lamp.

At present, for example, a method using ultraviolet rays is known as a method of performing desmear processing or the like in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor element or a liquid crystal substrate. In particular, a method using active oxygen such as ozone generated by vacuum ultraviolet rays radiated from an excimer lamp is suitably used because a predetermined treatment can be performed efficiently in a short time.
In recent years, for example, from the viewpoint of shortening the processing time of a process, there has been a demand for higher illuminance for a light irradiation apparatus, and an excimer lamp used as a light source is required to emit light with high illuminance.

In order to increase the illuminance of the excimer lamp, for example, it is necessary to supply a large amount of electric power to the excimer lamp. However, when the electric power supplied to the excimer lamp increases, the temperature of the excimer lamp increases and the temperature of the internal discharge gas also increases. In this case, since the discharge gas at a high temperature hinders the production of excimer, the illuminance is rather lowered with a certain power value as a boundary.
For this reason, a lamp unit having a structure for cooling the excimer lamp is known in order to suppress the temperature rise of the excimer lamp. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a structure in which a plurality of excimer lamps are held by an aluminum cooling block in which a cooling water flow passage is formed, and the cooling water is circulated in the cooling water flow passage through the cooling block. It is described that the excimer lamp is cooled. For example, Patent Document 2 describes cooling an excimer lamp by circulating cooling water in an inner tube in a discharge vessel having a double tube structure having an outer tube and an inner tube.

JP 2004-265770 A JP 2002-093377 A

However, in the excimer lamp cooling method described in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to cool the excimer lamp efficiently because the excimer lamp is indirectly cooled via the cooling block. On the other hand, in the excimer lamp cooling method described in Patent Document 2, since the excimer lamp can be directly cooled, the cooling efficiency of the excimer lamp can be improved. However, as described above, when large electric power is supplied to the excimer lamp, it is difficult to sufficiently cool the excimer lamp.
Further, for example, when a large number of excimer lamps are arranged horizontally in order to increase the irradiation area, there is a problem that the structure of the cooling mechanism itself becomes complicated.

  The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a lamp unit that can efficiently cool an excimer lamp and obtain high illuminance for the excimer lamp. .

The lamp unit of the present invention has a block-shaped metal beam in which a lamp receiving recess having a semicircular cross section is formed on one surface, and is coaxial with each other, held in a state pressed against the inner surface of the lamp receiving recess in the metal beam. An excimer lamp with a discharge vessel of a double tube structure having an outer tube and an inner tube arranged on the top,
A refrigerant flow path through which an insulating liquid refrigerant is circulated is formed by an internal space of the inner tube of the excimer lamp, and a refrigerant flow passage is provided in the metal beam, and the liquid refrigerant is disposed inside the excimer lamp. It has a cooling mechanism for flowing in the pipe and flowing in the coolant flow passage in the metal beam.

  In the lamp unit of the present invention, it is preferable that the coolant flow path in the metal beam is in communication with the internal space of the inner tube of the excimer lamp.

In the lamp unit of the present invention, the discharge vessel in the excimer lamp is arranged in a state where both ends of the inner tube protrude outward in the axial direction from both ends of the outer tube, and both ends of the outer tube are outer peripheral surfaces of the inner tube. It is hermetically sealed and configured.
The metal beam is formed with two lamp receiving recesses extending in parallel with each other, and each end of the inner tube of the excimer lamp held in each lamp receiving recess has one common port and two branch ports. The other end of the inner tube of the excimer lamp is connected to two branch ports of the other end side manifold having one common port and two branch ports. Connected,
One and the other of the refrigerant supply unit and the refrigerant discharge unit are connected to one and the other of the common port of the one end side manifold and the common port of the other end side manifold, respectively, and the refrigerant supply unit and the refrigerant discharge unit A refrigerant circulation pipe that is provided in the metal beam and that forms the refrigerant flow passage is connected between one of the two and a common port of the one end side manifold connected to the one end or a common port of the other end side manifold. It is preferable to be configured.

  In the lamp unit having such a configuration, a refrigerant supply unit is connected to the common port of the one end side manifold, and one end of the refrigerant flow pipe in the metal beam is connected to the common port of the other end side manifold. It is preferable that a refrigerant discharge unit is connected to the other end of the refrigerant flow pipe.

  According to the lamp unit of the first aspect, since the direct cooling action by flowing the liquid refrigerant in the inner tube and the indirect cooling action through the metal beam are obtained, a large electric power is supplied to the excimer lamp. Even in this case, the excimer lamp can be efficiently cooled, and a decrease in the output of the excimer lamp can be avoided.

  According to the lamp unit of the second aspect, the temperature distribution of the excimer lamp can be homogenized by the configuration in which the inside of the excimer lamp and the refrigerant flow passage are communicated with each other, and the cooling mechanism The piping structure in can be simplified.

According to the lamp unit of the third aspect, the liquid refrigerant is distributed by the one end side manifold or the other end side manifold, whereby the individual excimer lamps can be cooled under substantially equal conditions. In addition, the pipe connection portion between the inner tube in the excimer lamp and the one end side manifold or the other end side manifold is formed at a position away from the excimer lamp, and the liquid refrigerant is not directly introduced into the refrigerant flow passage in the metal beam. Therefore, it is possible to avoid refrigerant leakage near the excimer lamp. Further, the liquid refrigerant from the refrigerant supply unit is distributed into the inner pipe of each excimer lamp by the one end side manifold, and the liquid refrigerant flowing through the inner pipe is joined by the other end side manifold and introduced into the refrigerant circulation pipe. Further, the piping structure in the cooling mechanism can be prevented from becoming complicated.
According to the lamp unit of the fourth aspect, the above effect can be obtained more reliably.

It is a side view which shows roughly the structure in an example of the lamp unit of this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a cross section perpendicular to the length direction of the lamp unit shown in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view which shows roughly the structure of the one end part of a lamp unit. It is a perspective view which shows roughly the structure of the other end part of a lamp unit. It is sectional drawing which shows schematically the structure in an example of the excimer lamp which comprises a lamp unit. It is sectional drawing which shows schematically the structure in an example of the horizontal surface light emission part comprised by the several lamp unit.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.
FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing a configuration in an example of a lamp unit of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a cross section perpendicular to the length direction of the lamp unit shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing the structure of one end of the lamp unit. FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing the structure of the other end of the lamp unit.
The lamp unit 20 includes a double tubular excimer lamp 21 and a metal beam 30 that holds the excimer lamp 21.
The lamp unit 20 in this example is configured such that two excimer lamps 21 and 21 are held by a metal beam 30 with the lamp central axes positioned in the same plane along the horizontal plane and aligned in the width direction. Has been.

As shown in FIG. 5, the excimer lamp 21 includes a discharge vessel 25 having a double tube structure having an outer tube 26 and an inner tube 27 arranged coaxially with each other. The inner tube 27 is disposed inside the outer tube 26 with both ends projecting axially outward from both ends of the outer tube 26. Both end portions of the outer tube 26 are hermetically sealed to the outer peripheral surface of the inner tube 27, whereby a cylindrical discharge space S 1 is formed between the inner peripheral surface of the outer tube 26 and the outer peripheral surface of the inner tube 27. Is formed. In the discharge space S1, a discharge gas such as xenon gas that forms excimer molecules by excimer discharge is enclosed. When xenon gas is used as the discharge gas, the sealed pressure of xenon gas is, for example, 0.05 to 0.1 MPa.
As a material constituting the outer tube 26 and the inner tube 27, for example, a dielectric material such as quartz glass can be used.

  Inside the inner tube 27, the inner electrode 22 is disposed in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the inner tube 27. The inner electrode 22 in this example is formed of, for example, a coil shape in which a conductive wire is spirally wound, but may be of an arbitrary shape such as a cylindrical shape.

The metal beam 30 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped block shape as a whole, and has both side surfaces that are perpendicular to the horizontal plane on which the central axis of each excimer lamp 21 is located.
A lamp mounting portion is formed on one surface (the lower surface in FIG. 2) of the metal beam 30. The lamp mounting portion is configured by a lamp housing recess (groove) 31 having a semicircular cross section having a diameter that matches the outer diameter of the outer tube of the excimer lamp 21. In this example, two lamp housing recesses 31 are formed so as to extend in the length direction in parallel with each other at positions aligned in the width direction, thereby forming a lamp mounting portion.
Since the metal beam 30 also functions as a cooling mechanism for cooling the excimer lamp 21 as will be described later, the metal beam 30 is made of a metal having high mechanical strength and high thermal conductivity. As a material constituting the metal beam 30, for example, aluminum, copper, stainless steel, or the like can be used.

  In the lamp unit 20 in this example, the excimer lamp 21 is held in a state where the outer surface of the outer tube 26 is pressed against the inner surface of the lamp receiving recess 31 of the metal beam 30. Further, both end portions of the excimer lamp 21 are supported by a lamp holder 35 made of, for example, stainless steel provided on the metal beam 30. Since both ends of the excimer lamp 21 are supported by the lamp holder 35, it is possible to prevent the excimer lamp 21 from warping due to ultraviolet ray distortion.

Between the outer surface of the outer tube 26 of the excimer lamp 21 and the inner surface of the lamp receiving recess 31 in the metal beam 30, a metal plate 23 detachably (replaceable) is interposed. The metal plate 23 functions as an outer electrode. By interposing the metal plate 23, the inner surface of the metal beam 30 is protected, so that the metal beam 30 can be reused and the lamp unit 20 can have a long service life. Further, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of corona discharge in a gap inevitably formed between the outer surface of the outer tube 26 in the excimer lamp 21 and the inner surface of the lamp receiving recess 31 in the metal beam 30.
As a material constituting the metal plate 23, for example, stainless steel can be used. Moreover, it is preferable that the thickness of the metal plate 23 is 0.1-0.5 mm, for example.

  In this lamp unit 20, when the distance between the central axes of the excimer lamp 21 is d, the distance a from the central axis of one excimer lamp to the side surface of the metal beam 30 on the side where the one excimer lamp is located is It is preferable to be d / 2 or less. With such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of lamp units 20 can be arranged side by side in a state where the inter-lamp distance d is a constant size. For this reason, it is possible to easily configure a horizontal light emitting section of an arbitrary size, and it is easy to increase the irradiation area.

In the lamp unit 20, the refrigerant flow path R 1 through which the insulating liquid refrigerant W is circulated is formed by the internal space of the inner tube 27 of the excimer lamp 21, and the refrigerant flow path R 2 is provided in the metal beam 30. It has been. And it has the cooling mechanism which cools each excimer lamp 21 by distribute | circulating the liquid refrigerant W in the inner pipe | tube 27 of the excimer lamp 21, and distribute | circulates to the refrigerant | coolant flow path R2 in the metal beam 30.
As the insulating liquid refrigerant W, for example, a fluorine-based inert liquid such as pure water or Fluorinert (registered trademark) can be used.
It is preferable that the refrigerant flow path R <b> 2 in the metal beam 30 communicates with the refrigerant flow path R <b> 1 by the internal space of the inner tube 27 of the excimer lamp 21. Since the refrigerant flow path R1 and the refrigerant flow path R2 communicate with each other, the temperature distribution of the excimer lamp 21 can be homogenized and the piping structure in the cooling mechanism can be simplified.

Specifically, the structure of the cooling mechanism will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, a joint 41 is attached to each end of the inner tube 27 of the two excimer lamps 21. The refrigerant | coolant distribution pipe | tube 42 comprised by these is connected. Refrigerant flow pipes 42 associated with each excimer lamp 21 are connected to two branch ports in one end side manifold 40 having one common port and two branch ports, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 4, joints 46 are attached to the other ends of the inner tubes 27 of the two excimer lamps 21, and a refrigerant circulation tube 47 made of, for example, an insulator is connected to each joint 46. Has been. Refrigerant flow pipes 47 related to each excimer lamp 21 are connected to two branch ports in the other end side manifold 45 having one common port and two branch ports, respectively.

  On the other hand, the refrigerant flow path R <b> 2 in the metal beam 30 is configured by a refrigerant flow pipe 32 made of, for example, metal provided in a groove formed on the upper surface of the metal beam 30. The refrigerant flow pipe 32 is entirely U-shaped, for example, and has two linear flow path portions extending in parallel with each other in the length direction of the metal beam 30 and each linear shape at one end side portion of the metal beam 30. And an arcuately curved channel portion connecting the channel portions. One end of the refrigerant flow pipe 32 is connected to a common port in the other end side manifold 45, so that the refrigerant flow path R1 and the refrigerant flow path R2 are in communication with each other.

  One of the other ends of the refrigerant flow pipe 43 connected to the common port in the one end side manifold 40 and the refrigerant flow pipe 32 provided in the metal beam 30 is connected to a refrigerant supply unit (not shown) and the other is a refrigerant. Connected to a discharge unit (not shown). In such a cooling mechanism, it is preferable that the refrigerant circulation pipe 43 connected to the common port in the one end side manifold 40 is connected to the refrigerant supply unit. With such a configuration, the excimer lamp 21 can be cooled more efficiently.

  In the lamp unit 20, the liquid refrigerant W supplied from the refrigerant supply unit to the one end side manifold 40 via the refrigerant flow pipe 43 passes through the refrigerant flow pipes 42 and 42 to the refrigerant flow path R1 in each excimer lamp 21. Supplied. The excimer lamp 21 is cooled by the liquid refrigerant W flowing through the refrigerant flow path R1. The liquid refrigerant W discharged from the refrigerant flow path R1 in each excimer lamp 21 is introduced into the other end side manifold 45 via the refrigerant flow pipes 47 and 47. Thereafter, the metal beam 30 is supplied to the refrigerant flow path R2. The liquid refrigerant W is circulated in the refrigerant flow pipe 32 constituting the refrigerant flow passage R <b> 2, whereby the metal beam 30 is cooled, and each excimer lamp 21 is cooled via the metal beam 30.

  Next, a power feeding structure for each excimer lamp 21 in the lamp unit 20 will be described. In this lamp unit 20, as shown in FIG. 3, each lead 28 connected to the inner electrodes 22 of the two excimer lamps 21 is, for example, liquid-tightly exposed from a joint 41 attached to one end of the inner tube 27. Has been derived. Each lead 28 is connected to a high voltage side terminal in a lamp lighting power supply unit (not shown) common to the two excimer lamps 21 via a power supply line 29a. On the other hand, an extraction electrode 24 is electrically connected to each metal plate 23 interposed between the excimer lamp 21 and the metal beam 30. The lead electrode 24 is electrically connected to a low-voltage side terminal in a lamp lighting power supply unit (not shown) via a feeder line (not shown).

  As an example of the configuration of the lamp unit 20, the maximum dimension in the length direction of the lamp unit 20 is 950 mm, the maximum dimension in the width direction (width dimension of the metal beam 30) is 59 mm, and the weight is about 5 kg. The excimer lamp 21 has a total length of 800 mm (an effective light emission length of 600 mm) and a rated power of 600 W.

Thus, according to the lamp knit 20 having the above configuration, the excimer lamp 21 is directly cooled by circulating the liquid refrigerant W through the refrigerant flow path R1 formed by the internal space of the inner tube 27 of the excimer lamp 21. In addition, it is possible to cool the metal beam 30 by circulating the liquid coolant W through the coolant circulation pipe 32 provided in the metal beam 30 and indirectly cool the excimer lamp 21 via the metal beam 30. it can. Therefore, even when a large amount of electric power is applied to the excimer lamp 21, the excimer lamp 21 can be efficiently cooled, so that a reduction in the output of the excimer lamp 21 can be avoided, and the excimer lamp 21 has high illuminance. Can be obtained.
Further, the refrigerant flow path R1 formed by the internal space of the inner pipe 27 in the excimer lamp 21 and the refrigerant flow path R2 formed by the refrigerant flow pipe 32 communicate with each other, so that the temperature distribution of the excimer lamp 21 is uniformed. And the piping structure in the cooling mechanism can be simplified.

Furthermore, in the lamp knit 20 having the above-described configuration, the liquid refrigerant W is distributed by the one end side manifold 40 and supplied to the respective excimer lamps 21, thereby cooling the individual excimer lamps 21 under substantially equal conditions. can do. In addition, the discharge vessel 25 in the excimer lamp 21 is arranged in a state where both ends of the inner tube 27 protrude outward in the axial direction from both ends of the outer tube 26, and both ends of the outer tube 26 are on the outer peripheral surface of the inner tube 27. It is hermetically sealed. For this reason, the pipe connection part between the inner tube 27 and the one end side manifold 40 and the other end side manifold 45 in the excimer lamp 21 can be formed at a position away from the excimer lamp 21. Further, since the refrigerant flow pipe 32 is provided in the metal beam 30 to form the refrigerant flow path R2, the pipe connection portion between the refrigerant flow path R2 and the other end side manifold 45 is formed at a position away from the excimer lamp 21. can do. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the liquid refrigerant W from leaking in the vicinity of the excimer lamp 21.
Further, the liquid refrigerant W from the refrigerant supply unit is distributed into the inner pipe 27 of each excimer lamp 21 by the one end side manifold 40, and the liquid refrigerant W that has circulated in the inner pipe 27 is joined by the other end side manifold 45. Therefore, the piping structure in the cooling mechanism can be prevented from becoming complicated.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, A various change can be added.
For example, the liquid refrigerant for cooling the excimer lamp in the lamp unit may be supplied independently to each of the refrigerant flow path of the excimer lamp and the refrigerant flow path of the metal beam.
Further, the number of excimer lamps constituting the lamp unit may be one.
Further, the excimer lamp is not limited to the above configuration as long as the liquid refrigerant is configured to flow through the inner space of the inner tube.

20 Lamp unit 21 Excimer lamp 22 Inner electrode 23 Metal plate 24 Lead electrode 25 Discharge vessel 26 Outer tube 27 Inner tube 28 Lead 29a Feed line 30 Metal beam 31 Lamp housing recess (groove)
32 Refrigerant flow pipe 35 Lamp holder 40 One end side manifold 41 Joint 42 Refrigerant flow pipe 43 Refrigerant flow pipe 45 Other end side manifold 46 Joint 47 Refrigerant flow pipe R1 Refrigerant flow path R2 Refrigerant flow path S1 Discharge space W Liquid refrigerant

Claims (4)

A block-shaped metal beam in which a lamp receiving recess having a semicircular cross section is formed on one surface, and outer tubes arranged coaxially with each other and held in a pressed state on the inner surface of the lamp receiving recess in the metal beam And an excimer lamp equipped with a discharge vessel having a double tube structure having an inner tube,
A refrigerant flow path through which an insulating liquid refrigerant is circulated is formed by an internal space of the inner tube of the excimer lamp, and a refrigerant flow passage is provided in the metal beam, and the liquid refrigerant is disposed inside the excimer lamp. A lamp unit comprising a cooling mechanism for flowing in a tube and flowing in a coolant flow path in the metal beam.   The lamp unit according to claim 1, wherein a coolant flow path in the metal beam communicates with an internal space of an inner tube of the excimer lamp. The discharge vessel in the excimer lamp is configured such that both ends of the inner tube are protruded axially outward from both ends of the outer tube, and both ends of the outer tube are hermetically sealed to the outer peripheral surface of the inner tube. Has been
The metal beam is formed with two lamp receiving recesses extending in parallel with each other, and each end of the inner tube of the excimer lamp held in each lamp receiving recess has one common port and two branch ports. The other end of the inner tube of the excimer lamp is connected to two branch ports of the other end side manifold having one common port and two branch ports. Connected,
One and the other of the refrigerant supply unit and the refrigerant discharge unit are connected to one and the other of the common port of the one end side manifold and the common port of the other end side manifold, respectively, and the refrigerant supply unit and the refrigerant discharge unit A refrigerant flow pipe that forms the refrigerant flow path provided in the metal beam is connected between one of the two and a common port of the one end side manifold connected to the one end or a common port of the other end side manifold. The lamp unit according to claim 2, wherein: A refrigerant supply unit is connected to the common port of the one end side manifold, one end of the refrigerant flow pipe in the metal beam is connected to the common port of the other end side manifold, and a refrigerant is connected to the other end of the refrigerant flow pipe. The lamp unit according to claim 3, wherein the discharge unit is connected.

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