JP2019040132A - Polarized light irradiation device, and polarized light irradiation method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a polarized light irradiation device and polarized light irradiation method that can irradiate polarized light with respect to works from obliquely without increasing a size of the device.SOLUTION: A polarized light irradiation device 100 comprises: a light guide fiber 20 that has a light source 11, a light incidence edge 23 upon which light from the light source 11 is incident, and a light emission edge 22 arranged along one direction and emitting the light incident from the light incidence edge 23; a lens unit 30 that has a polarization element 34, and emits polarized light having light to be emitted from the emission edge 22 of the light guide fiber 20 polarized by the polarization element 34 so as to form a linear light irradiation area 34 along the one direction; and an oblique irradiation mechanism 40 that fixes a lens unit 30 at an arbitrary angle so as to irradiate the polarized light with respect to a light irradiation surface of a processed object (work W) obliquely.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a polarized light irradiation apparatus and a polarized light irradiation method for irradiating a workpiece with polarized light.

In recent years, a technique called photo-alignment, in which alignment is performed by irradiating polarized light of a predetermined wavelength, with respect to photo-alignment processing for alignment films of liquid crystal display elements such as liquid crystal panels and alignment layers of viewing angle compensation films. It has been adopted.
As an apparatus for performing the above-described photo-alignment processing, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an exposure apparatus that irradiates light on a workpiece (substrate) that is an object to be processed obliquely by tilting a light irradiation unit. Patent Document 2 discloses a method of tilting a workpiece by tilting a holder that supports the workpiece (substrate), and irradiating the workpiece with light obliquely.

JP-A-10-154658 JP 2011-107731 A

As described in the above patent documents, in the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal panel (liquid crystal substrate), a process of irradiating light obliquely to the substrate has been performed. In recent years, it has also been desired to irradiate polarized light obliquely to the substrate.
However, in recent years, a liquid crystal substrate has a size of 2 m or more on one side, and the light irradiation unit of a device that irradiates polarized light to such a large substrate and the stage that supports the substrate are increased in size of the substrate. As a result, it has become large and heavy. Therefore, in the structure in which the light irradiation unit and the stage are tilted as in the techniques described in the above patent documents, the tilting mechanism for that is large. As a result, the entire apparatus becomes larger and the cost of the apparatus increases.
Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the polarized light irradiation apparatus and polarized light irradiation method which can irradiate polarized light with respect to a workpiece | work diagonally, without enlarging an apparatus.

In order to solve the above-described problem, an aspect of the polarized light irradiation apparatus according to the present invention includes a light source, an incident end on which light from the light source is incident, and one direction, and is incident from the incident end. A light guide fiber having an exit end for emitting the emitted light, and a polarization element, and polarized light obtained by polarizing the light emitted from the exit end of the light guide fiber by the polarization element in the one direction A lens unit that emits light so as to form a linear light irradiation region along the surface, and the lens unit is fixed at an arbitrary angle so that the polarized light is irradiated obliquely with respect to the light irradiation surface of the workpiece An oblique irradiation mechanism.
In this way, by fixing the lens unit at an arbitrary angle, the polarized light is irradiated obliquely with respect to the light irradiation surface of the object to be processed, so that the entire light irradiation unit including the light source is tilted or the object to be processed is There is no need to tilt the holding stage. Therefore, the polarized light can be irradiated obliquely to the light irradiation surface of the object to be processed without increasing the size of the apparatus.

In the polarized light irradiation apparatus, the light guide fiber is configured by a plurality of fiber bundles in which a plurality of fiber strands are bundled by a predetermined number, and a light emission side end portion of the plurality of fiber bundles is in the one direction. May be arranged side by side to constitute the emission end. In this case, an emission end extending along one direction can be formed easily and appropriately.
Further, in the above polarized light irradiation apparatus, a plurality of the light sources are provided, and light emitting side end portions of the plurality of fiber bundles constituting the light guide fibers provided corresponding to the plurality of the light sources respectively are a predetermined number. The emission ends may be configured by being arranged side by side in the one direction. In this case, even when there is illuminance variation among a plurality of light sources, variation in illuminance in the light irradiation region can be suppressed, and the object to be processed can be irradiated with uniform light.

In the above polarized light irradiation device, the light guide fiber is constituted by a single fiber bundle in which a plurality of fiber strands are bundled into one, and the light emission side end of the single fiber bundle has the above-described configuration. The emission end may be configured by being bundled so as to extend in one direction. In this case, an emission end extending along one direction can be formed easily and appropriately.
Furthermore, in the above polarized light irradiation device, the lens unit uses light emitted from the light exit end of the light guide fiber as incident light, and makes the illuminance of the incident light uniform, and from the optical system A condensing lens that condenses the emitted light, and the polarizing element may polarize the light collected by the condensing lens.
In this case, it is possible to appropriately form a light irradiation region along one direction with uniform illuminance. Furthermore, if the object to be processed is directly irradiated with polarized light polarized by the polarizing element without providing another optical element on the exit side of the polarizing element, unintentional rotation of the polarization axis is suppressed, and a desired The polarized light can be appropriately irradiated.

In the polarized light irradiation apparatus, the optical system may be a glass plate having a long side arranged along the one direction. In this case, the illuminance of incident light can be made uniform with a simple configuration.
Furthermore, in the above polarized light irradiation apparatus, the condensing lens may be a cylindrical lens. In this case, linear light along one direction can be appropriately formed with a simple configuration.
In the polarized light irradiation apparatus, the oblique irradiation mechanism may be configured to be capable of adjusting an angle of the lens unit with respect to the light irradiation surface. In this case, the incident angle of the light emitted from the lens unit with respect to the light irradiation surface of the object to be processed can be adjusted.

Further, in one aspect of the polarized light irradiation method according to the present invention, the light from the light source is incident on the incident end of the light guide fiber and is emitted from the exit end arranged along one direction, and the light guide Light emitted from the exit end of the fiber is incident on a lens unit having a polarizing element, and polarized light obtained by polarizing the incident light by the polarizing element is used as a linear light irradiation region along the one direction. The step of emitting so as to form and the step of fixing the lens unit at an arbitrary angle and irradiating the polarized light obliquely with respect to the light irradiation surface of the object to be processed are included.
In this way, by fixing the lens unit at an arbitrary angle, the polarized light is irradiated obliquely with respect to the light irradiation surface of the object to be processed, so that the entire light irradiation unit including the light source is tilted or the object to be processed is There is no need to tilt the holding stage. Therefore, the polarized light can be irradiated obliquely to the light irradiation surface of the object to be processed without increasing the size of the apparatus.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to irradiate the work with polarized light obliquely without increasing the size of the apparatus.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows the polarized light irradiation apparatus of this embodiment. It is a structural example of a lamp (lamp house). It is a structural example of a light guide fiber. It is a structural example of a lens unit.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a polarized light irradiation apparatus 100 of the present embodiment.
The polarized light irradiation apparatus 100 includes a light irradiation unit including a first lamp (lamp house) 10A, a second lamp (lamp house) 10B, a light guide fiber 20, and a lens unit 30, and an oblique irradiation mechanism 40. And a work stage 50. The workpiece W, which is an object to be processed of the polarized light irradiation apparatus 100, is a rectangular substrate in which a photo-alignment film is formed on the light irradiation surface, for example.
The polarized light irradiation apparatus 100 linearly moves the work stage 50 by a transport unit (not shown) while emitting polarized light (polarized light), and light formed on the light irradiation surface of the work W transported by the work stage 50. The alignment film is irradiated with the polarized light and subjected to photo-alignment treatment. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the polarized light irradiation apparatus 100 can perform a photo-alignment process in which polarized light is irradiated obliquely with respect to the light irradiation surface of the workpiece W.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first lamp 10 </ b> A includes a light source 11 that emits ultraviolet rays and a mirror 12. Since the second lamp 10B has the same configuration as the first lamp 10A, only the configuration of the first lamp 10A will be described here.
The light source 11 can be, for example, a lamp such as a short arc type ultra-high pressure mercury lamp or a metal halide lamp, and emits ultraviolet light having a wavelength corresponding to the encapsulated luminescent species. In addition, the light source 11 is not limited to a lamp, For example, LED and LD can also be used. The type of the light source 11 can be appropriately selected according to the required wavelength.

The mirror 12 reflects the ultraviolet light from the light source 11 and focuses it on the incident end 23 of the light guide fiber 20. For example, when the light source 11 is a lamp, the mirror 12 is arranged so that the light emission point coincides with the first focal point of the ellipse. When the light source 11 is a lamp, the light source 11 may be horizontally lit or vertically lit.
In addition, although this embodiment demonstrates the case where a light irradiation part is provided with two lamp 10A, 10B, the number of lamps is not limited above. The number of lamps shall be set as appropriate according to the size, illuminance, etc. of the light irradiation region 34 described later.

The light guide fiber 20 is provided corresponding to each of the lamps 10A and 10B. The light guide fiber 20 guides light from the lamps 10 </ b> A and 10 </ b> B to the lens unit 30. The light guide fiber 20 is composed of a large number of thin fiber wires 21 and can be flexibly bent (has flexibility). One end of the light guide fiber 20 is an emission end 22 that emits the guided light in a spot shape, and the other end is an incident end 23 where light from the first lamp 10A and the second lamp 10B is incident. is there.
The fiber strands 21 of the light guide fiber 20 are bundled together, for example, in a circular shape at the incident end 23 of the light guide fiber 20 according to the shape of the light collected by the mirror 12 described above. On the other hand, the fiber strand 21 is bundled in a linear shape (including a belt shape) along one direction at the emission end 22 of the light guide fiber 20.

  In the present embodiment, the light guide fiber 20 is configured by a plurality of fiber bundles in which a predetermined number of fiber strands 21 are bundled. The arrangement is arranged in a line in a direction orthogonal to the (conveying direction). That is, in this embodiment, the light emission side end portions of a plurality of fiber bundles are arranged side by side in one direction (substrate transport direction) to constitute the emission end 22. In FIG. 1, only one fiber bundle is shown, but actually, the light guide fiber 20 is branched into a plurality as described above.

  FIG. 3 is a configuration example of the light guide fiber 20 in the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, the direction orthogonal to the paper surface (the front and back direction in the drawing) is the substrate transport direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the light emitting side end of a plurality of fiber bundles constituting the light guide fiber 20 connected to the first lamp 10A and the light guide fiber 20 connected to the second lamp 10B are provided. The light emission side end portions of the plurality of fiber bundles to be configured may be alternately arranged one by one. In this case, even when there is randomness and there is a variation in illuminance among the plurality of lamps, a variation in illuminance within the light irradiation region can be suppressed.

  FIG. 3 shows an example in which each light guide fiber 20 has 12 fiber bundles, and the emission ends 22 of a total of 24 fiber bundles are arranged in a line in one direction. The arrangement of the emission end 22 is not limited to the above. The output end 22 only needs to be arranged along one direction. For example, the output end 22 may be arranged in a plurality of rows in the substrate transport direction. Moreover, although FIG. 3 shows the case where the light emitting side ends of the fiber bundle are alternately arranged one by one, a plurality of them may be alternately arranged. Similarly, when there are three or more lamps, similarly, a predetermined number of light emitting side ends of a plurality of fiber bundles constituting the light guide fiber 20 provided corresponding to each lamp are mutually connected. They can be arranged side by side in one direction.

  Furthermore, although this embodiment demonstrates the case where the light guide fiber 20 is comprised by the some fiber bundle, the light guide fiber 20 may be comprised by one fiber bundle. That is, all the fiber strands 21 constituting the light guide fiber 20 are bundled together, for example, in a rectangular shape at the emission end 22 and arranged so that the long sides thereof coincide with the direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction. It may be.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the lens unit 30. FIG. 4 is a view showing a cross section of the lens unit 30 with the oblique irradiation mechanism 40 removed from FIG.
The lens unit 30 includes a rectangular parallelepiped glass plate 31, a cylindrical lens 32, and a polarizing plate (polarizing element) 33. These members are made of a material that transmits ultraviolet rays applied to the workpiece W, which is a workpiece, such as quartz.

The glass plate 31 is a uniform irradiation optical system that emits the incident light incident by the light guide fiber 20 as uniformed light, and the upper surface of the glass plate 31 has a rectangular shape corresponding to the arrangement of the output end 22 of the light guide fiber 20. It can be a rectangular parallelepiped quartz plate. That is, the glass plate 31 is disposed so that the long side direction on the upper surface thereof coincides with the direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction. The light incident from the upper surface of the glass plate 31 is repeatedly reflected on the inner surface of the side wall of the glass plate 31, and the illuminance distribution is uniformized and emitted from the lower surface of the glass surface 31.
In addition, the uniform irradiation optical system is not limited to the rectangular parallelepiped glass plate 31, and may be constituted by, for example, a plurality of cylindrical rod lenses arranged side by side. Further, the uniformizing irradiation optical system may be a cylindrical member whose inner surface is constituted by a mirror.

The light emitted from the glass plate 31 enters the cylindrical lens 32. The cylindrical lens 32 is a condensing lens that condenses the light emitted from the glass plate 31 and shapes the light applied to the workpiece W into a linear shape. In the present embodiment, a case where two cylindrical lenses 32 are used will be described. The cylindrical lens 32 in the present embodiment is a plano-convex lens in which a plane and a convex surface are arranged to face each other. The two cylindrical lenses 32 are arranged so that the convex surfaces thereof face each other in the vertical direction, and the longitudinal direction thereof is provided along the long side direction of the glass plate 31 in the horizontal plane.
Note that the shape, arrangement, and number of the cylindrical lenses 32 are not limited to the above, and can be appropriately set according to the shape of the light irradiation region 34 that is irradiated onto the workpiece W. The condensing lens is not limited to a cylindrical lens, and a cylindrical rod lens can also be used.

The light emitted from the cylindrical lens 32 enters the polarizing plate (polarizing element) 33 and is emitted as polarized light. The polarizing plate 33 is, for example, a wire grid type polarizing element. The polarizing plate 33 is disposed along the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical lens 32, and the polarized light polarized by the polarizing plate 33 is along a direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction as shown in FIG. The light is emitted so as to form a linear light irradiation region 34.
When the polarized light enters the optical element or is reflected by the optical element, the direction of the polarization axis deviates from the desired direction (the polarization axis rotates). Therefore, it is preferable not to provide an optical element on the exit side of the polarizing plate 33. That is, the lens unit 30 includes a glass plate 31, a cylindrical lens 32, and a polarizing plate (polarizing element) 33 in order from the light incident side of the light guide fiber 20, and polarized light polarized by the polarizing plate (polarizing element) 33. It is preferable to irradiate the light irradiation surface of the workpiece W directly without using an optical element.

Returning to FIG. 1, the oblique irradiation mechanism 40 includes a frame 41, a rotation shaft 42, and a rotation lever 43.
The frame 41 fixes the exit end 22 of the light guide fiber 20 and the lens unit 30 so that the relative positions of the exit end 22 and the glass plate 31 of the lens unit 30 do not change (so that the positions of both do not shift). To do. The frame 41 is attached to the rotating shaft 42.
The rotating shaft 42 is an axis in a direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction. When the rotating shaft 42 rotates, the frame 41 rotates around the rotating shaft 42, and the lens unit 30 fixed to the frame 41 is moved. It rotates around the rotation shaft 42.

When the lens unit 30 rotates about the rotation shaft 42, the incident angle of the light emitted from the lens unit 30 with respect to the workpiece W changes. The rotation shaft 42 can be fixed at an arbitrary rotation angle by the rotation shaft lever 43. That is, by operating the rotary shaft lever 43, the angle of the lens unit 30 with respect to the workpiece W can be adjusted to an arbitrary angle, and the angle of light incident on the workpiece W can be adjusted to an arbitrary angle.
In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the rotation shaft 42 is provided near the center of the lens unit 30. Therefore, when the lens unit 30 rotates around the rotation axis 42, the position of the lower end portion of the lens unit 30 moves so as to draw an arc around the rotation axis 42. Therefore, the position of the light irradiation region 34 moves in the substrate transport direction.

Further, when the lens unit 30 rotates around the rotation axis 42, the position of the upper end portion of the lens unit 30 also moves so as to draw an arc around the rotation axis 42. That is, the position of the exit end 22 of the light guide fiber 20 connected to the lens unit 30 moves so as to draw an arc around the rotation shaft 42, and the relative position between the lamps 10A, 10B and the exit end 22 changes. .
In the present embodiment, the lamps 10A and 10B and the lens unit 30 are connected by a light guide fiber 20 having flexibility. Therefore, the movement of the emission end 22 caused by the rotational movement of the lens unit 30 is absorbed by the bending of the light guide fiber 20. The light guide fiber 20 can cope with bending from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction unless it is a steep angle.

As described above, the polarized light irradiation apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment uses the light guide fiber 20 as a light guide unit that guides light from the lamps 10A and 10B to the lens unit 30, and irradiates the lens unit 30 with light of the workpiece W. By fixing at an arbitrary angle with respect to the surface, the work W is irradiated with polarized light obliquely.
With such a configuration, it is not necessary to incline the lamps 10 </ b> A and 10 </ b> B, and it is not necessary to incline the work stage 50 that holds the work W, and the work W can be irradiated with polarized light from an oblique direction. For example, when the workpiece W is a substrate on which a photo-alignment film for a liquid crystal display (LCD) is formed, a pretilt angle can be given to the photo-alignment film by irradiating the substrate with polarized light from an oblique direction. it can.

In the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the rotation shaft 42 is provided near the center of the lens unit 30 and the lens unit 30 is rotated around the center of the lens unit 30. The rotation center of the lens unit 30 is not limited to the above.
For example, the lens unit 30 may be configured to rotate around the position of the light irradiation region 34 on the workpiece W when the inclination of the lens unit 30 is zero (perpendicular to the workpiece W). In this case, even if the lens unit 30 rotates, the position of the light irradiation region 34 can be prevented from changing. However, in this case, an arcuate guide for rotatably supporting the lens unit 30 is required, and the structure of the oblique irradiation mechanism 40 is complicated.

  The work stage 50 is a flat plate stage that can hold the work W by suction using a method such as vacuum suction. In the present embodiment, the work stage 50 and the work W are rectangular, but the present invention is not limited to this and may be any shape. Further, the configuration is not limited to the configuration in which the workpiece W is sucked and held by a flat plate stage, and may be a configuration in which the workpiece W is sucked and held by a plurality of pins.

  A transfer unit (not shown) for linearly moving the work stage 50 includes a drive mechanism for moving the work stage 50 in the substrate transfer direction. The drive mechanism can be a linear motor drive mechanism, for example. The drive mechanism may be a mechanism using a ball screw, for example. That is, any configuration can be adopted as the configuration of the drive mechanism as long as the configuration can move the work stage 50 in the substrate transport direction. The movement path of the work stage 50 is designed to pass through the light irradiation region 34 formed by the polarized light emitted from the lens unit 30.

  As described above, the polarized light irradiation apparatus 100 according to this embodiment includes the plurality of lamps 10A and 10B each including the light source 11. Further, the polarized light irradiation apparatus 100 has a light guide having an incident end 23 on which light from the light source 11 is incident and an output end 22 that is arranged along one direction and emits light incident from the incident end 23. An optical fiber 20 is provided. Furthermore, the polarized light irradiation device 100 includes a polarizing plate (polarizing element) 33, and the polarized light obtained by polarizing the light emitted from the emission end 22 of the light guide fiber 20 is linear along the one direction. A lens unit 30 that emits light so as to form a light irradiation region 34 is provided. Further, the polarized light irradiation device 100 is an oblique irradiation mechanism 40 that fixes the lens unit 30 at an arbitrary angle so that the polarized light emitted from the lens unit 30 is irradiated obliquely onto the workpiece W that is the object to be processed. And comprising.

Thus, by fixing the lens unit 30 at an arbitrary angle, the polarized light is irradiated obliquely with respect to the light irradiation surface of the workpiece W, so that the entire light irradiation unit including the light source 11 is tilted or the work stage 50 is moved. There is no need to tilt.
For example, when the light source 11 is a discharge lamp, when the entire light irradiation unit is tilted, the movement of the lamp is restricted by the lighting condition of the discharge lamp. In other words, if the discharge lamp is tilted, the arc shape may be deformed, which may cause a problem. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain the posture of the discharge lamp vertically or horizontally when it is lit. Therefore, when the entire light irradiation unit is moved for oblique irradiation, it is necessary to move the lamp while maintaining the posture of the discharge lamp. Therefore, the tilting mechanism of the light irradiator becomes complicated and becomes large.

Further, when the workpiece W is a large liquid crystal substrate or the like, the workpiece stage 50 that holds the workpiece W is also enlarged. Therefore, when the work stage is tilted, the tilt mechanism for that purpose is large.
On the other hand, in this embodiment, since it is not necessary to move a lamp, the structure of the oblique irradiation mechanism 40 can be simplified. Moreover, in this embodiment, since it is not necessary to incline the work stage 50, the state which hold | maintained the workpiece | work W stably can be maintained. Thus, the polarized light can be irradiated obliquely onto the light irradiation surface of the workpiece W without increasing the size of the apparatus.

Further, the polarized light irradiation device 100 uses a flexible light guide fiber 20 as a means for guiding light from the light source 11 to the lens unit 30. Thereby, when the lens unit 30 is moved for oblique irradiation, the light guide fiber 20 can easily absorb the movement of the lens unit 30. That is, the light guide fiber 20 is flexibly deformed with respect to the angle change of the lens unit 30, and the light from the light source 11 can be appropriately guided to the lens unit 30.
For example, it is conceivable to guide the light from the light source 11 to the lens unit 30 using an optical system, but in that case, a fine position adjustment of the optical system is required in accordance with the movement of the lens unit 30. In the present embodiment, the angle setting of the lens unit 30 can be easily performed by using the light guide fiber 20 as described above.

  In addition, the light guide fiber 20 in the present embodiment is configured by a plurality of fiber bundles in which a plurality of fiber strands 21 are bundled by a predetermined number, and light emission side end portions of the plurality of fiber bundles are orthogonal to the substrate transport direction. The emission end 22 is configured by being arranged side by side in the direction. In this way, by configuring the light guide fiber 20 with a plurality of fiber bundles, it is possible to easily and appropriately form the emission end of a desired size arranged along one direction.

In addition, the lens unit 30 in the present embodiment uses the light emitted from the emission end 22 of the light guide fiber 20 as incident light, and a glass plate 31 as an optical system that equalizes the illuminance of the incident light, and the glass plate 31. The cylindrical lens 32 as a condensing lens which condenses the emitted light from the light, and the polarizing plate (polarizing element) 33 which polarizes the light condensed by the cylindrical lens 32 are provided.
Thereby, the lens unit 30 can emit linear light having directivity with uniform illuminance, and the linear light irradiation region 34 can be appropriately formed on the light irradiation surface of the workpiece W. In addition, the shape (width and length) of the light irradiation region 34 can be easily set to a desired shape by designing the optical system of the lens unit 30. In addition, by not providing an optical element on the exit side of the polarizing element, it is possible to effectively suppress disturbance of polarization performance and to obtain a high extinction ratio.

  As described above, the polarized light irradiation apparatus 100 according to this embodiment irradiates light having directivity at an arbitrary angle with respect to the light irradiation surface of the workpiece W that is the object to be processed without increasing the size of the apparatus. can do.

(Modification)
In the above-described embodiment, the oblique irradiation mechanism 40 has been described with respect to the configuration in which the irradiation angle of the polarized light with respect to the light irradiation surface of the workpiece W can be adjusted by manually operating the rotation lever 43. The angle adjustment is not limited to manual adjustment. For example, the angle may be automatically adjusted using a motor or the like.
Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the oblique irradiation mechanism 40 demonstrated the case where it was the structure which can adjust the irradiation angle of the polarized light with respect to the light irradiation surface of the workpiece | work W, the said irradiation angle is being fixed at arbitrary angles. May be.

  Furthermore, although the case where this invention is applied to a polarized light irradiation apparatus was demonstrated in the said embodiment, the light irradiated to the workpiece | work W is not limited to polarized light. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a light irradiation device such as an exposure device that irradiates a workpiece with light including ultraviolet light and an ultraviolet irradiation device that performs a thermosetting treatment from the ultraviolet light. In the case of these light irradiation devices, by enabling light to be irradiated obliquely to the workpiece, for example, light can be effectively irradiated to a stepped portion or the like of the workpiece, and appropriate light irradiation processing is performed. Is possible.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10A, 10B ... Lamp, 11 ... Light source, 12 ... Mirror, 20 ... Light guide fiber, 21 ... Fiber strand, 22 ... Outlet end, 23 ... Inlet end, 30 ... Lens unit, 31 ... Glass plate, 32 ... Cylindrical lens , 33 ... Polarizing plate, 34 ... Light irradiation region, 40 ... Oblique irradiation mechanism, 41 ... Frame, 42 ... Rotating shaft, 43 ... Rotating lever, 50 ... Work stage, 100 ... Polarized light irradiation apparatus

Claims (9)

A light source;
A light guide fiber having an incident end on which light from the light source is incident, and an exit end that is arranged along one direction and emits light incident from the incident end;
A lens that has a polarizing element and emits polarized light obtained by polarizing light emitted from the exit end of the light guide fiber by the polarizing element so as to form a linear light irradiation region along the one direction. Unit,
A polarized light irradiation apparatus comprising: an oblique irradiation mechanism that fixes the lens unit at an arbitrary angle so as to irradiate the polarized light obliquely with respect to the light irradiation surface of the workpiece. The light guide fiber is
It is composed of a plurality of fiber bundles in which a plurality of fiber strands are bundled by a predetermined number,
2. The polarized light irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein light emitting side end portions of the plurality of fiber bundles are arranged side by side in the one direction to constitute the emitting end. A plurality of the light sources;
The light emission side end portions of the plurality of fiber bundles constituting the light guide fiber provided corresponding to each of the plurality of light sources are arranged side by side in the one direction to constitute the emission end. The polarized light irradiation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: The light guide fiber is
It is composed of one fiber bundle in which a plurality of fiber strands are bundled into one,
2. The polarized light irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light emission side end portion of the one fiber bundle is bundled so as to extend in the one direction to constitute the emission end. The lens unit is
An optical system that makes light emitted from the emission end of the light guide fiber as incident light, and uniformizes the illuminance of the incident light;
A condensing lens that condenses the light emitted from the optical system,
The polarized light irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the polarizing element polarizes light collected by the condenser lens.   The polarized light irradiation apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the optical system is a glass plate having a long side arranged along the one direction.   The polarized light irradiation apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the condenser lens is a cylindrical lens. The oblique irradiation mechanism is
The polarized light irradiation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein an angle of the lens unit with respect to the light irradiation surface is adjustable. The light from the light source is incident on the incident end of the light guide fiber, and is emitted from the emission end disposed along one direction;
Light emitted from the exit end of the light guide fiber is incident on a lens unit having a polarizing element, and polarized light obtained by polarizing the incident light by the polarizing element is linear light along the one direction. Emitting to form an illuminated region;
And fixing the lens unit at an arbitrary angle, and irradiating the polarized light obliquely with respect to the light irradiation surface of the object to be processed.

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