JP3052270B2 - Thin film pattern forming equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a functional material, for example, an insulating film used for a semiconductor device, an insulating film conductive film used for a flat display (a liquid crystal display device, a plasma display, etc.), and other electronic parts. The present invention relates to an apparatus for forming a precise pattern (stripe or dot shape or the like) such as a dielectric film by a printing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, photolithography has been used as a method for patterning functional thin films related to various electronic components, such as insulating films for semiconductor devices and insulating films and transparent conductive films used for liquid crystal display devices. Some have been used. First, a film is uniformly formed on the entire surface of the substrate, and then a photoresist is formed in a desired pattern shape, and unnecessary portions are removed by an etching process. In this case, generally, an expensive functional material is first formed on the entire surface, and then,
There are problems in that there is an uneconomical point of removing unnecessary parts, and there is a problem of treating harmful substances such as heavy metals contained in the material. In addition, resist coating, drying, exposure, development,
The complicated process of stripping the resist has also caused an increase in cost.

In order to solve this problem, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 57-16
No. 0764 is used. In this thin film forming apparatus, a lithographic intaglio having a large number of ink cells and a printing medium are placed side by side on a base, and an ink composed of a polymer solution having a viscosity of several tens to 30,000 cP is placed near the intaglio. A printing roll support frame having an ink supply device for filling the intaglio ink cells and a printing roll is provided on a base so as to be movable between the intaglio and the printing medium, and a doctor is provided on the printing roll support frame. In this thin film forming apparatus, a resin relief plate 25 made of synthetic resin is provided on a circumferential surface of a plate cylinder 16 in which a printing roll is fixed to a rotating shaft 7.
(See FIG. 14). After the ink is supplied to the ink cells of the intaglio and the excess ink is scraped off with a doctor, the printing roll is rotated while being pressed against the intaglio, and the surface of the soft convex portion of the printing roll is rotated. The ink of the ink cell of the intaglio is adhered to a predetermined pattern, and the ink of the convex portion is printed on the surface of the printing medium while rotating the printing roll to which the ink is adhered to form a thin film of the predetermined pattern. It is.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned thin film forming apparatus, since the surface of the resin relief plate (photosensitive resin relief plate, natural rubber plate, synthetic rubber plate, etc.) used is soft, the peripheral edge portion is not linear. Some patterns could not be formed. In addition, the line width of the thin film pattern formed by the above thin film forming apparatus was increased each time the number of printings increased due to solvent swelling on the surface of the resin relief printing plate. Furthermore, when pressing against the intaglio,
The surface of the resin relief plate was deformed and the ink was transferred to the side surface of the convex portion. Further, when the ink was transferred to the substrate, the ink was transferred to the side surface portion other than the top surface, and a marginal zone, which was a feature of the above method, was generated. That is, the thickness of the periphery of the pattern of the formed coating film is increased, and optical characteristics, electrical characteristics, and cracks are generated. In addition, since the base material of the resin relief printing plate was soft, there was variation in the total pitch accuracy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, to obtain a thin film having a uniform thickness with a small variation in line width and total pitch accuracy, a linear pattern peripheral portion. To provide a thin film pattern forming apparatus.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a thin film pattern forming apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an intaglio roll having a large number of ink cells; an ink supply device for supplying ink to the surface of the intaglio roll; A doctor that fills the ink cells with the supplied ink, a printing roll that has a relief plate whose top surface is in contact with the intaglio roll on the circumferential surface of the plate cylinder, and transfers the ink in the ink cells to the top surface of the relief plate; In a thin film pattern forming apparatus, comprising: a printing table for fixing and transferring the ink on the letterpress top surface of the printing roll to the letterpress top surface of the printing roll by transferring the ink on the letterpress top surface of the printing roll.
The letterpress of the printing roll is made of metal or ceramic,
It was configured such that it was formed on the circumferential surface of the plate cylinder via an elastic layer.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 8 are sectional views showing an embodiment of a printing roll used in the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention, FIGS. 9 to 12 are cross sectional views showing printing steps of the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. It is a perspective view of a thin film pattern forming apparatus.

1 is an intaglio roll, 2 is an ink supply device, 3
Is a doctor, 4 is a printing roll, 5 is a printing table, 6 is an ink cell, 7 is a rotating shaft, 8 is a base, 9 is a support frame, 10
Is an ink supply, 11 is an ink nozzle, 12 is a guide rail, 13 is ink, 14 is a printing medium, 15 is letterpress, 16
Denotes a plate cylinder, 17 denotes an elastic layer, 18 denotes a relief depth, 19 denotes a floor portion, 20 denotes a letterpress top surface, 21 denotes a matte process, 22 denotes a guide rail, 23 denotes a printing table drive motor, and 24 denotes a ball screw.

The intaglio roll 1 has a plate cylinder 16 fixed to a rotating shaft 7, a plating layer formed on a circumferential surface of the plate cylinder 16, and a plurality of ink cells 6 arranged in a predetermined pattern on the surface. Are formed. The depth of the ink cell 6 ranges from several μm to several tens μm. Rotary axis 7 of intaglio roll 1
Are rotatably supported at both ends by a support frame 9 composed of a pair of support plates arranged at predetermined positions in the center of a base 8 composed of a rectangular base.

The ink supply device 2 includes an ink supply body 10, an ink nozzle 11, and a pair of guide rails 12.
The ink supply 10 is configured to be able to move left and right along a pair of guide rails 12 provided on the upper part of the support frame 9. In addition, an ink nozzle 11 extends from the ink supply 10 above the surface of the intaglio roll 1. The ink nozzle 11 reduces the time that the ink 13 stays in the ink cell 6 of the
Is provided at a position as close as possible to the contact position between the intaglio roll 1 and the printing medium 14 to prevent drying. In addition, this
The ink 13 is applicable not only to high viscosity inks but also to low viscosity inks , and particularly to inks of several cP to several tens cP.

As the doctor 3, a doctor blade made of plastic (such as polyethylene terephthalate / polyethylene) is used. This doctor 3 is the intaglio roll 1
The ink 13 dropped on the surface of the intaglio roll 1 is spread along the surface of the intaglio roll 1 so that a certain amount of the ink 13 is filled in the ink cells 6 of the intaglio roll 1. Further, a doctor roll may be used as the doctor 3.

The printing roll 4 is formed by forming a relief plate 15 made of metal or ceramic on a circumferential surface of a plate cylinder 16 with an elastic layer 17 interposed therebetween.

The elastic layer 17 has a function of maintaining a uniform pressing amount of the relief printing plate 15 at the time of pressing against the intaglio printing roll 1 or the printing medium 14 and relaxing a pressure applied to a surface sliding portion of the relief printing plate 15. I have.

The material of the elastic layer 17 includes, for example, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, elastomer, and commercially available cushion tape. If the thickness of the elastic layer 17 is too small, the effect of the elastic layer 17 cannot be obtained in the first half, while if it is too large, the elastic layer 17 may be bent or have a dimensional error from a predetermined position. It should be noted that the Young's modulus and the thickness may be appropriately changed depending on the thickness or the relief depth 18 of the relief 15. The elastic layer 17 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in (1), it may be formed partially or entirely on the circumferential surface of the plate cylinder 16, or may be partially embedded in the circumferential surface of the plate cylinder 16.

The metal material used for the relief plate 15 is SUS3
04, stainless steel material such as SUS316, or Invar
For example, a magnetostrictive material having a low coefficient of expansion such as super-amber , or a material such as Ni is used. Regarding the relief printing plate 15 made of a material such as the stainless steel-based material or Ni, SiO ₂ , SiC, SiN or the like is used in order to prevent impurities such as metal powder from being mixed with the intaglio roll 1 or a rigid printing medium due to friction.
The surface of the relief 15 may be coated as a passivation layer.

As the ceramic material used for the relief printing plate 15, Cr ₂ O ₃ , SiO _2, AL ₂ O ₃ , SiN or the like is used.

The shape of the relief printing plate 15 is, for example, as shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, in particular, when the side surface of the elastic layer 17 provided partially is covered with the peripheral edge of the relief printing plate 15 leaving room for compression, the intaglio roll 1 and the printing medium It is possible to prevent the relief 15 from peeling off from the elastic layer 17 at the peripheral edge due to the pressure applied at the time of contact with the body 14. The relief depth 18 of the relief 15 is 0.05 to
0.20 mm is preferred. When the relief depth 18 is 0.05 mm or less, depending on the radius of curvature, the ink 1 is also applied to the floor portion 19 of the relief plate 15 when the print roll 4 contacts the intaglio roll 1.
3 may be transferred. Also, the relief depth 18
If the thickness is 0.20 mm or more, distortion may occur in the floor portion 19 of the relief printing plate 15 and deformation may occur. It is preferable that the relief printing plate 15 has a thickness of 2.0 mm or less at the floor portion 19. If the thickness is 2.0 mm or more, problems such as difficult processing may occur. As the pattern shape of the relief plate 15, a considerably precise pattern is possible. For example,
There are patterns such as a stripe pattern, a dot pattern, and a driving pattern. Further, the relief printing plate top surface 20 may be subjected to a mat processing 21 (see FIG. 7).

As a method of forming the relief plate 15 made of a metal, a foil-shaped or sheet-shaped metal plate having a thickness tolerance of ± 0.005 mm or less is subjected to etching, laser processing, and the like.
It is processed into a predetermined pattern shape by electric discharge machining, press machining, or the like. Letterpress 1 having a shape as shown in FIGS.
In order to form 5, a processing method such as etching, laser processing, or electric discharge processing is convenient. In order to form the relief 15 having the shape as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it is most convenient to form the relief 15 by press working. Can be integrally formed with the elastic layer 17.

On the other hand, as a method of forming the relief plate 15 made of ceramic, there are a method of forming a mold in a green state before sintering and then sintering, and a method of injection molding in which a ceramic powder and a binder are poured into the mold. For example, the relief plate 15 is formed as shown in FIG. Alternatively, a ceramic molded product having no irregularities on its surface, once molded according to the shape of the plate cylinder 16, is etched.

The print table 5 has a printing medium 14 thereon.
Are mounted on the base 8. A pair of guide rails 22 that continuously connect the printing medium loading position B, the printing position A, and the printing medium unloading position C are fixed to the upper surface of the base 8. The printing table 5 is provided on the base 8 on the guide rail 2.
It moves between each position A, B and C along 2. That is, the printing table 5 drive motor 2 connected to the printing table 5
The drive of 3 causes the ball screw 24 to rotate forward and backward, and the printing table 5 moves. At this time, the height of the print table 5 is set by a height adjusting means (not shown) so that the surface of the printing medium 14 on the print table 5 can contact the lower surface of the intaglio roll 1. Therefore, when the printing table 5 is located at the printing position A, the printing medium 14 placed on the printing table 5 comes into contact with the printing roll 4, and a predetermined pattern of the ink 13 of the printing roll 4 is applied onto the printing medium 14. Transfer and form a thin film. Thereafter, the printing table 5 is moved to the printing medium unloading position C by the drive of the printing table drive motor 23, and the printing medium 14 is discharged there.
Next, the printing table 5 is lowered by the height adjusting means (not shown), and is moved from the printing medium carrying-out position C to the printing medium carrying-in position B by the driving of the printing table drive motor 23.

According to the above arrangement, the ink 13 is dropped from the ink nozzle 11 on the surface of the intaglio roll 1 having a large number of ink cells 6 arranged in a predetermined pattern, and the intaglio roll 1 is rotated. The ink 13 is spread on the surface of the intaglio roll 1 to fill the ink cells 6 with the ink 13 (see FIG. 9), and the intaglio roll 1 is rotated so that the ink cells 6 of the predetermined pattern come into contact with the relief 15 of the printing roll 4, and the relief printing is performed. The ink 13 in the ink cell 6 of the intaglio roll 1 is transferred to the top surface 20. Next, when the printing plate 4 comes to face the base 8 due to the rotation of the printing roll 4, the printing table drive motor 23 is driven to rotate the ball screw 24 to move the printing table 5 to the printing object loading position B.
To printing position A (see FIG. 10). While rotating the printing roll 4, the printing medium 14 is moved to the unloading position C side to bring the relief 15 of the printing roll into contact with the surface of the printing medium 14, and the ink 13 having a predetermined pattern on the top surface 20 of the printing roll is coated with the printing medium 14. The upper layer is transferred to form a thin film (see FIG. 11). When a predetermined pattern of the ink 13 is printed on the printing medium 14, the printing table drive motor 23 drives the ball screw 24 to rotate the printing table 5 to the printing medium discharge position C, and prints the printing medium 14. Table 5
Discharge from above. During this time, the intaglio roll 1 rotates to a predetermined position and stops in preparation for the next printing (see FIG. 12).
On the other hand, the print table 5 from which the printing medium 14 is taken out is
Lowered by the height adjusting means (not shown),
The printing medium is moved from the printing medium discharge position C to the printing medium carry-in position B without contacting the printing roll 4. Then, the next print medium 14 is placed on the print table 5.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be implemented in other various modes. For example, the mechanism for moving the print table 5 between the printing medium loading position B, the printing position A, and the printing medium discharge position C is not limited to the ball screw 24, and is a well-known mechanism such as a rack and pinion mechanism. Mechanism can be adopted.

Example 1 A line width of 0.080 mm and a space between lines of a super-amber material having a thickness of 0.2 mm
A 0.120 mm (pitch: 0.200 mm) stripe was etched (pattern area 160 mm × 240 mm) so that the relief depth 18 became 0.080 mm, and a relief plate 15 was formed. Thereafter, an elastic layer 17 is formed on the back surface of the relief printing plate 15 with a thermoplastic elastomer having a thickness of 3 mm, and the double-sided adhesive tape is used to form the plate cylinder 1.
6 was fixed to the circumferential surface to form a print roll.

The printing medium is made of soda-lime glass with a SiO ₂ coat having a thickness of 1.1 mm.
A mixed solution of tin octylate and indium nitrate having a viscosity of 60 cP and a solid concentration of 8.00% was used.

When the printed glass was fired at 480 ° C. for 30 minutes in an oxidation-reduction atmosphere, the line width was 0.150 mm ± 0.010 m.
m, total pitch accuracy within 0.005mm (L = 240mm)
Conventional line width 0.150mm ± 0.030mm, total pitch accuracy, approx.
Very improved results were obtained compared to 0.050 mm (L = 240 mm). In addition, the unevenness of the film thickness at the periphery of the film is 180% less than that of the center of the stripe.
The portion that had risen as (the film thickness at the periphery of the coating film / the film thickness at the center portion × 100) was considerably smoothed to about 120%.

[0026]

According to the present invention, there is provided a thin film pattern forming apparatus comprising: an intaglio roll having a large number of ink cells; an ink supply device for supplying ink to the surface of the intaglio roll; a doctor for filling the supplied ink into the ink cells; A printing roll that has a relief plate whose top surface is in contact with the intaglio roll on the circumferential surface of the plate cylinder and transfers the ink in the ink cells to the top surface of the relief plate. And a printing table for transferring the ink on the top surface of the relief plate of the printing roll to the surface of the printing substrate, wherein the relief plate of the printing roll is made of metal or ceramic, and the printing plate is formed via an elastic layer. It was configured to be formed on the circumferential surface of the trunk.

Therefore, in the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention, since the printing roll forms the relief plate made of a hard material on the circumferential surface of the plate cylinder via the elastic layer, a precise thin film pattern can be formed. That is, since the surface of the relief printing plate is not deformed when pressed against the printing medium, the peripheral portion of the pattern has linearity and the variation in the total pitch accuracy is small. Further, even when pressed against the intaglio roll, the ink is transferred only to the top surface of the relief printing plate without deforming the relief printing plate surface, so that a thin film having a uniform thickness can be obtained. Further, since the relief printing plate does not absorb the solvent, a thin film pattern can be always formed with a constant line width.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a printing roll used in a thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a printing roll used in the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a printing roll used in the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a printing roll used in the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a printing roll used in the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a printing roll used in the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a printing roll used in the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a printing roll used in the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a printing process of the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a printing step of the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing a printing process of the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a printing process of the thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a thin film pattern forming apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing a printing roll used in a conventional thin film forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Intaglio roll 2 Ink supply device 3 Doctor 4 Printing roll 5 Printing table 6 Ink cell 7 Rotation axis 8 Base 9 Support frame 10 Ink supply body 11 Ink nozzle 12 Guide rail 13 Ink 14 Printed object 15 Letterpress 16 Plate cylinder 17 Elastic layer 18 Relief depth 19 Floor part 20 Letterpress top surface 21 Mat processing 22 Guide rail 23 Printing table drive motor 24 Ball screw 25 Resin letterpress

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-259724 (JP, A) JP-A-2-192944 (JP, A) JP-A-62-202736 (JP, A) JP-A-63-202 246249 (JP, A) JP-A-63-217324 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41F 17/14 G02F 1/1337

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. An intaglio roll having a large number of ink cells, an ink supply device for supplying ink to the surface of the intaglio roll, a doctor filling the supplied ink into the ink cells, and a relief printing plate whose top surface is in contact with the intaglio roll. Roll on the circumferential surface of the plate cylinder to transfer the ink in the ink cells to the top of the letterpress, and the top of the printing roll by fixing the printing object and contacting the print with the top of the letterpress. In a thin film pattern forming apparatus comprising a printing table for transferring ink on the surface to the surface of the printing medium, the relief plate of the printing roll is made of metal or ceramic, and is formed on the circumferential surface of the plate cylinder via an elastic layer. A thin film pattern forming apparatus. 2. The thin film pattern forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the relief printing plate has a relief depth of 0.05 to 0.20 mm. 3. The letterpress is 2.0 mm thick on its floor.
3. The thin-film pattern forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thickness is as follows. 4. The thin film pattern forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elastic layer is formed on a circumferential surface of the plate cylinder. 5. The thin film pattern forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the elastic layer is partially embedded in the circumferential surface of the plate cylinder. 6. The letterpress covers the side surface of the partially provided elastic layer with a peripheral edge of the letterpress leaving room for compression.
6. The thin-film pattern forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. The thin film pattern forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a top surface of the relief printing plate is matted.