JP2532905B2 - Plate chuck - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a plate chuck for vacuum-sucking an object to be exposed in an exposure apparatus such as a liquid crystal substrate.

In the liquid crystal substrate exposure apparatus, the distance between the original plate (mask) and the object to be exposed (substrate or wafer) is maintained with high accuracy, and the mask pattern is transferred onto the substrate by the photolithography technique. For this reason, the substrate is vacuum-sucked on a plate chuck having a suction groove with good surface accuracy and is fixedly held to perform exposure.

As a recent trend, liquid crystal display panels for liquid crystal TVs or liquid crystal displays have been used for many purposes, and various types of display screen sizes are required, and the substrate size of the exposed object is also diversified accordingly. There is.

[Prior Art] An example of a conventional plate chuck is shown in a plan view (top view) of FIG. A vacuum suction groove 40 is formed on the upper surface of the chuck body 15, and communicates with a vacuum source (not shown) through the nipple 12. The substrate 14 to be exposed is brought into contact with the positioning pins 13 to be aligned and then vacuum-sucked and fixedly held on the chuck body 15.

Another example of a conventional plate chuck is shown in a plan view of FIG. 5 and a sectional view of FIG. In this example, a plurality of vacuum suction grooves 40a, 40b, 40c are provided on the substrate mounting surface with their centers aligned, and the two outer vacuum suction grooves 40b, 40c are provided with detachable screws for disconnecting from the vacuum source. A plug 17 made up of, etc. is mounted on the board mounting surface. When mounting a small-sized substrate 14, only the inner vacuum suction groove 40a is used by closing the hole communicating with the outer vacuum suction grooves 40b and 40c with the plug 17.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the plate chuck shown in FIG. 4, only suction grooves corresponding to one type of substrate size are provided on the suction surface, and different size substrates can be commonly used for suction. could not.
Therefore, in order to expose several kinds of substrates, it is necessary to create a plate chuck for each substrate size. As a result, the cost of the liquid crystal display panel becomes high, and the plate chuck must be replaced for each size. Since it does not happen, workability was poor.

Further, in the conventional plate chuck capable of adsorbing plural kinds of substrates shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, since the vacuum adsorption groove to be used is selected by the plug (nez) 17 provided on the substrate mounting surface, The dust generated on the mounting surface poses a problem, which lowers the exposure accuracy, and requires the attachment / detachment operation of the positioning screw 13 to be performed, resulting in poor workability and troublesome storage and the like.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and is capable of adsorbing a plurality of types of substrates having different sizes, preventing dust from being generated on the substrate adsorbing surface, and having an operability An object is to provide a good plate chuck for an exposure apparatus.

[Configuration of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a plate chuck includes a chuck body on which an object to be exposed that is aligned with a mask is mounted, and a plurality of vacuum suction grooves provided on an object mounting surface of the chuck body. And a selecting means for selecting the vacuum suction groove according to the shape of the exposed object to be mounted, in the plate chuck, the selecting means selects a sheet covering a portion other than the suction surface of the exposed object to be mounted. Or a plurality of vacuum suction grooves, each of which has a substantially rectangular shape in which one corner is aligned, or a rectangular shape formed separately on the mounting surface. Characterize.

[Embodiment] FIGS. 1 and 2 are a plan view and a sectional view, respectively, of a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a universal plate chuck body, 2a, 2b, 2c are knobs for opening and closing valves, 3a, 3b, 3c are valves, 4 is rubber for closing holes,
Reference numeral 5 is an O-ring, 6 is a valve guide tube, 7 is a guide pin, 8 is a gasket, 9 is a lid, 10 is a sealing pin, 11 is a mounting screw, 12 is a nipple, 13 is a positioning pin for the substrate, and 14 and 14 ′ Is a substrate.

In the above structure, the substrate 14 is positioned by abutting the positioning pin 13. By introducing a vacuum pressure from the nipple 12, the vacuum suction groove 30 is brought into a vacuum suction state, and the substrate 14 is sucked onto the chuck body 1. In this state, the substrate 14 is exposed through a mask (not shown). At this time, the other holes (vacuum suction grooves) are sealed by the valves 3a, 3b, 3c, so that the vacuum does not leak.

Next, in order to expose the substrate 14 'of another size, the substrate 14' is abutted against the positioning pins 13 to be positioned, and then the third knob 2c from the left is turned. As a result, the valve 3c moves in the guide cylinder 6 (downward in FIG. 1 and leftward in FIG. 2) because its rotation is restricted by the guide pin 7 (only valve 3a is shown). Therefore, vacuum is also introduced into the vacuum suction groove 31 communicating with the valve 3c, and the substrate 14 'is sucked onto the chuck body 1 by the two vacuum suction grooves 30 and 31.

Similarly, by further opening the valves 3b and 3a on the left side, it is possible to adsorb a larger size substrate. By selecting the suction groove using the valve in this way, the generation of dust is suppressed as compared with the case of using the conventional screw. Further, since such valves 3a, 3b, 3c are embedded in the chuck body 1 and are not exposed on the substrate mounting surface, and the operation is also performed from the side surface of the chuck body, the generation of dust on the substrate mounting surface is further suppressed. It It is also easy to operate,
Since the positioning pins of each size can be shared, operability is good.

In the above embodiment, an example in which one plate chuck is compatible with substrates of several kinds of sizes has been described. However, when the plate size is further diversified and one plate chuck can support several tens of kinds of substrate sizes, The suction groove on the chuck is covered with a rubber sheet.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure,
20 is a plate chuck main body, 21 to 24 are substrates, and 25 to 27 are rubber sheets that block the suction grooves.
Uses carbon-free ethylene propylene that can withstand cleaning with alcohol. A large number of rectangular vacuum suction grooves are separately formed on the substrate mounting surface. These vacuum suction grooves communicate with each other in the chuck body.

In the above configuration, the smallest size substrate 21 (third
The position (1) in FIG. Since vacuum pressure is introduced into each suction groove provided on the plate chuck body 20, the substrate 21 is attracted to the plate chuck body 20. At this time, vacuum pressure also acts on the grooves other than the suction groove on which the substrate 21 is sucked, but by covering these grooves with the rubber sheet 25 and sucking them, vacuum leakage can be prevented.

When the size of the substrate is changed (the substrate 23 or the substrate 24) as shown in FIGS. 3 (3) and (4), the rubber sheet 26 or 27 corresponding thereto is prepared and used as described above. However, as shown in FIG. 3 (2), the rubber sheet is not necessary when adsorbing the largest substrate 22.

With such a method, the suction groove is designed according to the size of the substrate, and a rubber sheet corresponding to the substrate is used, so that substrates of several tens of sizes can be sucked by one chuck.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the present invention, the selecting means is configured by using a sheet that covers a portion other than the suction surface of the exposed object to be mounted, or a plurality of vacuum suction grooves are provided. Substantially different kinds of substrates having different sizes can be easily adsorbed because the rectangular shape in which one corner portion is substantially aligned or the rectangular shape formed separately on the mounting surface is adopted. Further, depending on the shape of the suction groove, it is possible to easily deal with substrates of several tens of sizes. Furthermore, by selecting a sheet of a material that does not easily generate dust, it is possible to easily prevent generation of dust.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 (1) to (4) are the present invention in which substrates of different sizes are mounted. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a second conventional plate chuck, FIG. 4 is a plan view of a conventional plate chuck, FIG. 5 is a plan view of another conventional plate chuck, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the plate chuck of FIG. . 1,20: Chuck body, 2,2a, 2b, 2c: Knobs, 3,3a, 3b, 3c: Valve, 14,14 ′, 21,22,23,24: Substrate, 19,19 ′: Wafer, 30 , 31,32,33: Vacuum suction groove.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A chuck main body for mounting an exposure target aligned with a mask, a plurality of vacuum suction grooves provided on a surface of the chuck main body on which the exposure target is mounted, and a plurality of vacuum suction grooves according to the shape of the exposure target to be mounted. A plate chuck, comprising: a selection unit that selects a vacuum suction groove, the selection unit including a sheet that covers a portion other than the suction surface of the exposed object to be mounted. 2. A chuck main body for mounting an exposure target aligned with a mask, a plurality of vacuum suction grooves provided on a surface of the chuck main body for mounting the exposure target, and the chuck according to the shape of the exposure target to be mounted. A plate chuck, comprising: a selection unit for selecting a vacuum suction groove, wherein the plurality of vacuum suction grooves are substantially rectangular with one corner aligned. 3. A chuck body on which an exposed object aligned with a mask is mounted, a plurality of vacuum suction grooves provided on an exposed object mounting surface of the chuck body, and the chuck body according to the shape of the exposed object to be mounted. A plate chuck, comprising: a selection unit for selecting a vacuum suction groove, wherein the plurality of vacuum suction grooves have a rectangular shape formed separately on the mounting surface.