JP3379480B2 - Laser processing equipment for display substrates - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus for a display substrate, and in particular, it is used for processing an electrode pattern having an oblique pattern in a large flat panel display substrate such as a liquid crystal display panel or a plasma display panel substrate. The present invention relates to a laser processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The electrode pattern of a flat panel display substrate is an electrode for driving a liquid crystal display or the like.
When the display substrates are stacked so that the electrode patterns intersect, the points where the electrode patterns intersect become pixels. Generally, this type of flat panel display substrate is large and has a large number of pixels. Therefore, the electrode pattern has, for example, a length of 400 to
The number of lines is about 1000 at 1,000 mm, and the pattern width is 50 to 500 μm.

A conventional electrode patterning method using a laser beam for this flat panel display substrate will be described. The final electrode pattern of the flat panel display substrate is shown in FIG.
As shown in plan views and (b) sectional views, electrode thin films are formed in stripes on a glass substrate. Before processing, thin films are formed on the entire surface as shown in (c) plan views and (d) sectional views. It is applied or vapor-deposited. As the thin film material, ITO, aluminum, silver or the like is usually used, and the film thickness is 0.1 to 1
It is about μm.

In order to form this electrode pattern, a processing method using laser light, which is a dry process that is easier to handle, is beginning to be applied instead of a wet photolithography method. FIG. 5 shows a typical configuration example of such a laser processing apparatus. The flat panel display substrate to be processed is placed on the XY stage 14 and includes a laser oscillator 11, a fixed optical unit 12, an XY stage 14, and a control unit 16. Further, the fixed optical unit 12 is composed of an attenuator 121, a beam expander 122, a mirror 123, and a condenser lens 124, and a magnification of the beam expander and a condenser lens according to a desired turn processing width, that is, a spot diameter of laser light. The focal length of is selected.

Usually, the pattern width is in the range of 50 to 500 μm. The processing method is, for example, scanning the stage in the X direction to finish processing one line while emitting laser light, and then turning off the laser light and sending it in the Y direction, turning on the laser light again and turning on the next line in sequence. It is to be processed into.

Further, there is a galvanometer scan type laser beam machine for patterning a small substrate, which is used, for example, for pattern trimming of a thick film hybrid IC or a resistor module, or for marking alphanumeric characters on a metal surface. . This galvanometer scan type laser processing apparatus uses a rotation of two mirrors, one for an X axis and the other for a Y axis, which is mounted on the rotation axis of the galvanometer, to two-dimensionally scan a laser beam, and is a substrate to be processed. Is fixed and scanning is performed by rotating the mirror, so that the processing speed is high.

[0007]

It suffices that the electrode patterns have only simple parallel equal intervals as shown in FIG. 4, but there may be oblique patterns as shown in FIG. The conventional laser processing apparatus has a problem that the processing speed of the diagonal pattern portion is very slow. The parallel pattern portion of the electrode pattern becomes an effective pixel portion, and the diagonal pattern portion is a portion corresponding to a lead wire for connecting the electrode pattern to an external circuit, and its length is extremely shorter than that of the parallel pattern. Normally, the length of the parallel equidistant pattern part is 400 to 1000 mm.
When processed at a stage speed of m / sec, it takes 1 to 2.5 seconds. If the number of lines is about 1000, it takes about 17 to 42 minutes in total. On the other hand, the length of the diagonal pattern portion is only about 5 to 10 mm, but when this is processed by the conventional XY stage, the maximum speed increases only about 10 mm / sec, so 0.5 to 1.0 per line. It takes a second, and it takes 8 to 17 minutes for 1000 pieces in total, which occupies about 1/3 of the processing time of the whole substrate.

Further, the galvanometer scan type has a very high processing speed, but is applied to a small substrate.
It is difficult to apply it to a large-sized flat panel display substrate.

[0009]

A laser processing apparatus for a display substrate according to the present invention comprises a parallel pattern portion in which a plurality of lines are arranged at equal intervals in parallel on a surface of a flat panel display substrate (hereinafter referred to as a display substrate) and the parallel pattern portion. In a laser processing apparatus for generating an electrode pattern having an oblique pattern part in which a plurality of lines following each line of the part are arranged in an oblique direction, a laser oscillator for emitting a laser beam and the parallel pattern part for injecting the laser beam Fixed optics for generating
A galvanometer scan unit for entering the laser beam through the fixed optical unit to generate the oblique pattern unit, an XY stage on which the display substrate is placed and two-dimensionally moved, the fixed optical unit and the galvanometer scan unit. And a control unit for controlling the XY stage.

The fixed optical section includes an attenuator for adjusting the incident laser light to an optimum power, a beam expander for expanding the output light of the attenuator into a parallel beam, and an output light of the beam expander, that is, laser light. A variable-angle movable mirror that switches between reflecting the light in the direction of the display substrate or passing the light in the direction of the carbanometer scan unit, and condensing the laser light reflected by the movable mirror on the pattern surface of the display substrate. The galvanometer scanning unit includes a lens, and an X-direction mirror and a Y-direction mirror that cause the laser light from the fixed optical unit to enter and reflect the laser light toward the display substrate and at the same time scan in the XY direction and the oblique direction. A set of scanner mirrors and the laser light reflected by the scanner mirrors are used to pattern the display substrate. Incident light is wide angle fθ condensed on down surface
A lens, and the control unit turns on the laser beam of the laser oscillator, scans the XY stage from the starting point of the first line of the parallel pattern portion in the X direction, and when the end point of the first line is reached, the control unit of the laser oscillator The laser light is turned off, and at the same time, the movable mirror is switched from the reflecting direction to the passing direction.
When the Y stage is moved in the opposite X direction and the end point of the first line and the preset laser spot position of the galvanometer scan unit coincide with each other, the laser oscillator is turned on and the scan mirror is operated to make the laser beam oblique. Direction to scan the first line of the parallel pattern portion to generate the first line of the diagonal pattern portion, and when this is finished, the laser light of the laser oscillator is turned off.
The stage is moved to the position of the second line in the Y direction, the second line is generated in the scanning direction opposite to the scanning direction of the first line, and the generation process of the first line and the second line is further performed after the third line. Each may be provided with a series of control means that are generated and performed by the same method.

Further, the control unit turns on the laser beam of the laser oscillator, scans the XY stage from the start point of the first line of the parallel pattern portion in the X direction, and when the end point of the first line is reached, the laser oscillator of the laser oscillator is turned on. Turn off the laser light,
Next, the XY stage is moved to the position of the second line in the Y direction, and after the movement, the laser beam of the laser oscillator is turned on to scan the XY stage in the opposite left X direction to generate the second line. Similarly, the third line to the last line is continuously generated, and when the XY stage reaches the end point of the last line, the laser light of the laser oscillator is turned off and at the same time the movable mirror is passed from the reflection direction. Direction, and the XY stage is moved in the XY directions so that the starting point position of the first line of the oblique pattern following the first line of the parallel pattern part and the preset laser spot position of the galvanometer scanning part coincide with each other. First line of diagonal pattern with the laser beam of the laser oscillator turned on to operate the scanner mirror to scan the laser beam in an oblique direction After the generation, the laser light of the laser oscillator is turned off, the spot position of the laser light is moved to the position of the diagonal pattern second line, the laser light of the laser oscillator is turned on, and the scanning direction is opposite to the first line. It may be configured to include a series of control means for generating the second line and operating the scanner mirror in the same manner from the third line to the last line in the same manner.

Further, the XY stage may include an X stage on which the flat panel display substrate is mounted, a Y stage on which the fixed optical unit and the galvanometer scanning unit are mounted.

Further, the fixed optical section may be provided with a slit member which is located behind the beam expander and serves as a focusing optical system for laser light.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the flat panel display substrate of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment.

In FIG. 1, a laser processing apparatus for a display substrate of the present invention fixes a laser oscillator 1 for emitting a laser beam, a fixed optical section 2 for injecting the laser beam to generate a parallel pattern portion, and a laser beam. A galvanometer scanning unit 5 which is incident through the optical unit to generate an oblique pattern unit, an XY stage 4 on which a flat panel display substrate 3 is mounted and which moves two-dimensionally, a fixed optical unit 1, and the galvanometer scanning unit 2
And an XY stage 4 and a controller 6 for controlling the XY stage 4 via an electric signal to generate an electrode pattern.

The laser oscillator 1 normally uses a fundamental wave or a second harmonic of a YAG laser, but a third harmonic, a fourth harmonic, or an excimer laser is used depending on the material to be processed. A shutter is provided at the laser light emission port, and the laser light is turned on / off by a control signal from the control unit 6.

The fixed optical section 2 has a function of condensing the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator 1 onto the flat panel display substrate 3 to be processed. This fixed optical unit converts an attenuator 21 that adjusts the incident laser light to an optimum power, a beam expander 22 that expands the output light of the attenuator 21 and forms a parallel beam, and an output light of the beam expander 22, that is, a laser light. A variable mirror type movable mirror 23 that switches between the direction of the display substrate 6 and the direction of passage through the galvanometer scanning unit 5, and the movable mirror 2.
And a condenser lens 24 for condensing the laser light reflected at 3 on the pattern surface of the display substrate 6. The size of the focused beam is determined by the combination of the focal length of the lens 24 and the beam expander 22 and the pattern width is determined.

The galvanometer scanning unit 5 includes a set of an X scanner mirror 51 and a Y scanner mirror 52 for making the laser beam from the fixed optical unit 1 incident and reflecting it in the direction of the display substrate 6 and simultaneously scanning in the XY direction and the oblique direction. And a fθ lens 53 having a wide angle of incident light that focuses the laser light reflected by the scanner mirror on the pattern surface of the display substrate 6.

The control unit 6 is composed of an operation unit, a computer, a control signal transmission / reception unit and the like (not shown), and controls each unit via an electric control signal to automatically generate an electrode pattern on the display substrate 6. It is a thing.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view of the flat panel display substrate showing a part of the electrode pattern. There are parallel pattern portions 31 that are parallel and evenly spaced and that are effective pixel portions of the panel, and diagonal pattern portions 32 that do not relate to pixels. Diagonal pattern part 32
Are not necessarily parallel and evenly spaced. In order to process such an electrode pattern using a laser beam from a glass substrate coated with an electrode thin film on the entire surface, the following procedure is performed.

First, using the fixed optical unit 1, the XY stage 4 is scanned in the X direction between the lines AB to perform linear processing. Between the diagonal BC and DE, the galvanometer scanning unit 5 is used to perform diagonal processing. At this time, it is not necessary to move the XY stage 4. Next, the XY stage 4 is step-fed in the Y direction, and the fixed optical unit 1 is used to linearly process between the EFs of the line 2 by scanning the X stage. In this way, one substrate is processed by repeating the same processing over the entire surface one after another.

Since the control unit 6 controls each unit to perform this series of processing operations, the control operation of the control unit 6 will be described below. First, the laser light of the laser oscillator 1 is turned on, and XY
The stage 4 is scanned in the right X direction from the start point A of the line 1 of the parallel pattern portion 31 of the display substrate 6, and when the end point B of the line 1 is reached, the laser light of the laser oscillator 1 is turned off, and at the same time, the movable mirror 23 is moved from the reflection direction. Switching to the passing direction, and then moving the XY stage 4 in the opposite X direction, and when the position of the end point B of the line 1 coincides with the preset laser spot position of the galvanometer scanning unit 5, the laser oscillator 1 is turned on and the scanner The line 51 is generated by operating the mirrors 51 and 52 to scan the laser beam diagonally up to the point C. When this is finished, the laser beam of the laser oscillator 1 of the laser oscillator 1 is once turned off, and the XY stage 4 is moved in the Y direction to the position D of the line 2 to scan the line 2 in the scanning direction opposite to the scanning direction of the line 1. In the same manner as in the generation process of line 1 and line 2, lines 3 and after are generated by scanning to point F.

Further, the control unit 6 may collectively perform the straight line machining of the parallel pattern unit 31 and then perform the diagonal line machining of the diagonal pattern unit 32 collectively. In this case, only one switching operation of the movable mirror 23 is required, the movement amount of the XY stage 4 is small, and the processing speed is high. The control operation of the control unit 6 in this case will be described below.

First, when the laser beam of the laser oscillator 1 is turned on and the XY stage 4 is started to move to the right, when the line 1 of the parallel pattern portion 31 is scanned from the point A in the X direction to reach the point B. The laser light of the laser oscillator 1 is turned off, and the XY stage 4 is moved in the Y direction to the point E on the line 2.
After the movement, the laser beam of the laser oscillator 1 is turned on, the XY stage 4 is scanned in the opposite left X direction to the point F, and the line 2 is generated. Then, the third line to the last line are continuously generated in the same manner. To do.

When the XY stage 4 reaches the end point of the last line, the laser light of the laser oscillator 1 is turned off, and at the same time the movable mirror 23 is switched from the reflection direction to the passing direction, and the point B of the line 1 of the parallel pattern portion 31 is preset. The XY stage 4 is moved in the XY directions so that the set laser spot position of the galvanometer scanning unit 5 matches. Then, the laser light of the laser oscillator 1 is turned on and the scanner mirrors 51 and 52 are operated to scan the laser light in the oblique direction up to the point C to generate the line 1 of the oblique pattern 32. After the generation, the laser light of the laser oscillator 1 is generated. Once turned off, the spot position of the laser beam is moved to the position of the line 2 of the oblique pattern, the laser beam of the laser oscillator 1 is turned on, and the line 2 is generated by scanning to the point E in the scanning direction opposite to the first line. Similarly, the scanner mirrors 51 and 52 are operated from line 3 to the last line to generate continuously.

Further, the fixed optical section 2 may be provided with a slit member behind the beam expander 22 which uses a laser beam as an image forming optical system. In this case, the power of the laser beam is reduced but the pattern is formed. The edges of the width are cut well, and fine patterns can be processed.

The XY stage 4 may be separately provided with an X stage on which the flat panel display substrate 3 is mounted, a Y stage on which the fixed optical unit 2 and the galvanometer scanning unit 5 are mounted. The configuration of another embodiment is shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, an XY stage is configured by an X stage 10 on which the display substrate 3 is mounted, a fixed optical unit 7, and a Y stage 9 on which a galvanometer scanning unit 8 is mounted. Each part has a different structure from that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, but has the same function. With this configuration, the stage size can be reduced as the substrate size increases.

[0028]

As described above, in the laser processing apparatus for a display substrate according to the present invention, a parallel fixed-interval pattern is processed by a conventional fixed optical system, and an oblique pattern portion that requires a long processing time is scanned by a galvanometer scan at a high processing speed. Since processing is performed using a mold, it has the effect of increasing the overall processing speed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the flat panel display substrate in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment example.

FIG. 4 is a front view illustrating patterning of a general display substrate.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Laser oscillator 2, 7 Fixed optics 3 Flat panel display board 4 XY stage 5, 8 Galvanometer scanning section 6 control unit 9 Y stage 10 X stage 21 Attenuator 22 beam expander 23 Movable mirror 24 Condensing lens 51 X Scanner Mirror 52 Y scanner mirror 53 fθ lens

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI // B23K 101: 36 B23K 101: 36 (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B23K 26/00-26 / 42 G02F 1/1343 G09F 9/00

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A parallel pattern portion in which a plurality of lines are arranged in parallel at equal intervals on a surface of a flat panel display substrate (hereinafter referred to as a display substrate) and a plurality of lines following each line of the parallel pattern portion are obliquely arranged in an oblique direction. In a laser processing apparatus that generates an electrode pattern having a pattern portion, a laser oscillator that emits laser light, and a fixed optical portion for generating the parallel pattern portion by entering the laser light,
A galvanometer scan unit for entering the laser beam through the fixed optical unit to generate the oblique pattern unit, an XY stage on which the display substrate is placed and two-dimensionally moved, the fixed optical unit and the galvanometer scan unit. And a controller for controlling the XY stage and a laser processing apparatus for a display substrate. 2. The fixed optical section includes an attenuator that adjusts the incident laser light to an optimum power, a beam expander that expands the output light of the attenuator into a parallel beam, and an output light of the beam expander. A variable-angle movable mirror that switches between reflecting the laser light toward the display substrate or passing through the galvanometer scanning unit, and focusing the laser light reflected by the movable mirror on the pattern surface of the display substrate. The laser processing apparatus for a display substrate according to claim 1, further comprising a lens. 3. The galvanometer scanning unit includes an X-direction mirror and a Y-direction mirror that allow the laser beam from the fixed optical unit to enter and reflect in the display substrate direction and at the same time scan in the XY direction and the oblique direction. there claim 1, characterized in that it comprises one pair and the scanner mirrors, and a wide-angle fθ lens of the incident light for condensing the laser light reflected by the scanner mirror the pattern surface of the display substrate
The laser processing apparatus for a display substrate according to item 1 or 2. 4. The control unit turns on the laser beam of the laser oscillator, scans the XY stage from the start point of the first line of the parallel pattern portion in the X direction, and when the end point of the first line is reached, the control unit of the laser oscillator is turned on. off and then the movable mirror switching to the passing direction from the reflection direction at the same time the laser beam, the laser spot position of the said preset to the first line end point to move the XY stage in the opposite direction X galvanometer scanner match Then, the laser oscillator is turned on and the scanner mirror is operated to scan the laser beam in an oblique direction to generate the first line of the diagonal pattern portion following the first line of the parallel pattern portion. And turn off the laser light of
Move the Y stage to the second line position in the Y direction
The lines are generated in the scanning direction opposite to the scanning direction of the first line, and the third line and the subsequent lines are also generated in the first line and the second line.
4. The laser processing apparatus for a display substrate according to claim 3, further comprising a series of control means for generating and performing in the same method as the line generation process. 5. The control unit turns on the laser beam of the laser oscillator, scans the XY stage from the start point of the first line of the parallel pattern portion in the X direction, and when the end point of the first line is reached, the control unit of the laser oscillator is turned on. The laser light is turned off, then the XY stage is moved to the position of the second line in the Y direction, and after the movement, the laser light of the laser oscillator is turned on and the XY stage is scanned in the left X direction which is the reverse direction. A line is generated, and then the third line to the last line is continuously generated in the same manner, and when the XY stage reaches the end point of the last line, the laser light of the laser oscillator is turned off and at the same time the movable line is moved. The mirror is switched from the reflection direction to the passing direction, and the galvanometer scanning unit is preset with the starting point position of the first line of the diagonal pattern following the first line of the parallel pattern unit. The XY stage is moved in the XY directions so that the position of the laser spot coincides with the laser spot position, and after the movement, the laser light of the laser oscillator is turned on and the scanner mirror is operated to scan the laser light in the oblique direction. After the generation, the laser beam of the laser oscillator is turned off, the spot position of the laser beam is moved to the position of the diagonal pattern second line, the laser beam of the laser oscillator is turned on, and the scanning direction opposite to the first line is generated. And second
4. The laser processing apparatus for a display substrate according to claim 3, further comprising a series of control means for generating a line and operating the scanner mirror in a similar manner from the third line to the last line. 6. The XY stage according to claim 1, further comprising an X stage on which the flat panel display substrate is mounted, a fixed optical unit, and a Y stage on which the galvanometer scanning unit is mounted. Laser processing equipment for display substrates. 7. The display substrate according to claim 2, wherein the fixed optical section is provided with a slit member which is located behind the beam expander and uses laser light as an imaging optical system. Laser processing equipment.