JP5089238B2 - Substrate adapter for exposure apparatus and exposure apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate adapter for an exposure device which can safely hold a glass substrate during holding the glass substrate during carrying the glass substrate and during exposure, and to provide the exposure device. <P>SOLUTION: A mask adapter 80 has a frame part 81 forming an opening part 81a that surrounds a periphery part of a mask M, and a holding part 82 provided at the periphery of the opening part 81a to come into contact with the periphery part of the mask to hold the mask M. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate adapter for an exposure apparatus and an exposure apparatus, and more particularly, to a flat panel display, for example, a liquid crystal display color filter substrate and a TFT substrate used for holding and transporting a mask when manufacturing a color filter substrate and a TFT substrate, and The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus using the adapter.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an exposure apparatus for a liquid crystal display, a mask is directly sucked and held by a mask holding unit at the time of exposure, and is also sucked and held by a loader at the time of transport. In addition, in the event that the vacuum suction of the mask by the mask holding part is canceled due to a power supply trouble, etc., a chamfered part is provided on the peripheral edge of the mask to prevent the mask from dropping and being damaged. It has been proposed to hold it with a tapered pressing plate (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-117238 A

  By the way, in recent years, with an increase in size of a liquid crystal display, a mask is also increased in size and weight is increased. For this reason, as described above, when the mask is directly held by the loader and transported, it is sucked and held at the portion where the exposure pattern is not drawn, the holding state becomes unstable, and the mask falls from the loader. Damage may occur due to misalignment.

  Further, in the exposure apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the mask is prevented from being damaged when the mask is dropped by the pressing plate, but the pressing force is set low to prevent the mask from being deformed by the pressing plate. The abutting part is also limited. For this reason, with the increase in size of the mask, safer holding of the mask is required.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a substrate adapter for an exposure apparatus that can safely hold a glass substrate during conveyance of the glass substrate and during holding of the glass substrate. And providing an exposure apparatus.

The above object of the present invention can be achieved by the following constitution.
(1) a frame portion that forms an opening surrounding the peripheral edge of the glass substrate;
A holding portion that is provided at the periphery of the opening and holds the glass substrate in contact with the periphery of the glass substrate;
I have a,
The holding portion has a tapered surface having an inclination angle substantially equal to a chamfered portion formed at a peripheral portion of the glass substrate, and the width of the tapered surface in the plate thickness direction of the frame portion is in the plate thickness direction. A substrate adapter for an exposure apparatus, wherein the substrate adapter is smaller than a width of the chamfered portion.
( 2 ) The exposure apparatus according to (1) , wherein an engagement portion that can be engaged with a clamp mechanism provided in a mask holding portion of the exposure apparatus is formed on an outer peripheral portion of the frame portion. Board adapter.
( 3 ) a workpiece holding unit that holds a workpiece as an exposed material, a mask holding unit that holds a mask having an exposure pattern, and an irradiation unit that irradiates the substrate with light for pattern exposure through the mask; An exposure apparatus for exposing and transferring the exposure pattern of the mask to the substrate by the irradiation means,
The said mask holding part hold | maintains the said mask using the said adapter as described in (1) or (2) , The exposure apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.

According to the exposure apparatus substrate adapter and the exposure apparatus of the present invention, the adapter is provided on the periphery of the opening and surrounding the periphery of the glass substrate, and is in contact with the periphery of the glass substrate. And a holding unit that holds the glass substrate, the glass substrate can be safely held in holding the glass substrate during conveyance of the glass substrate and during exposure.
Further, since the holding portion has a tapered surface having an inclination angle substantially equal to that of the chamfered portion formed on the peripheral edge portion of the glass substrate, a malfunction of the vacuum suction mechanism in holding the mask during transport of the mask and during exposure, etc. Even if the mask is removed from the suction, the mask is supported by the tapered surface, and can be prevented from falling onto the structure under the apparatus, and a damage accident can be prevented.
Further, since the width of the taper surface in the plate thickness direction of the frame portion is smaller than the width of the chamfered portion in the plate thickness direction, contact between the exposure apparatus substrate adapter and the glass substrate is not possible in holding the mask during mask suction exposure. Is prevented.

  Hereinafter, a substrate adapter for an exposure apparatus and an exposure apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows a stepwise proximity exposure apparatus PE that divides a mask exposure pattern on a large substrate and performs proximity exposure, and holds a mask M having an exposure pattern movably in the x, y, and θ directions. A mask stage 10 that is to be exposed, a work stage 20 that holds the workpiece W as an exposed material so as to be movable in the x, y, and z directions, and an irradiation unit that irradiates the workpiece W with light for pattern exposure via the mask M. The illumination optical system 40 is mainly composed of.

  The workpiece W made of a glass substrate is disposed so as to be opposed to the mask M, and a photosensitive agent is applied to the surface (opposite surface side of the mask M) to expose and transfer the exposure pattern drawn on the mask M. .

  For convenience of explanation, the illumination optical system 40 will be described. The illumination optical system 40 includes, for example, a high-pressure mercury lamp 41 that is a light source for ultraviolet irradiation, a concave mirror 42 that collects light emitted from the high-pressure mercury lamp 41, and Between the two types of optical integrators 43 that are switchably arranged near the focal point of the concave mirror 42, plane mirrors 45 and 46 and a spherical mirror 47 for changing the direction of the optical path, and between the plane mirror 45 and the optical integrator 43 And an exposure control shutter 44 that controls the opening and closing of the irradiation light path.

  When the exposure control shutter 44 is controlled to be opened during exposure, the light irradiated from the lamp 41 is held on the mask M held on the mask stage 10 via the optical path L shown in FIG. The surface of the workpiece W is irradiated as light for pattern exposure, and the exposure pattern of the mask M is exposed and transferred onto the workpiece W.

  The mask stage 10 has a mask base 11 having a rectangular opening 11a formed at the center, and is mounted on the opening 11a of the mask stage base 11 so as to be movable in the x-axis, y-axis, and θ directions, and holds the mask M. A mask holding frame 12 that is a mask holding portion and a mask position adjusting mechanism 13 that is provided on the upper surface of the mask stage base 11 and is a mask moving mechanism that moves the mask holding frame 12 in the x-axis, y-axis, and θ directions. .

  The mask stage base 11 is supported by a plurality of support columns 51 erected on the apparatus base 50 on the work stage side, and a z-axis coarse movement mechanism 52 (between the mask stage base 11 and the support columns 51). 2), the mask stage base 11 can be moved up and down with respect to the apparatus base 50.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a mask suction portion 70 is integrally attached below the mask holding frame 12, and the mask suction portion 70 has a peripheral edge on which the mask pattern of the mask M is not drawn. A plurality of suction nozzles 71 for adsorbing the portion are provided on the lower surface, and the mask M is detachably held by a vacuum suction mechanism (not shown). At the same time, the mask M is accommodated in a mask adapter (exposure apparatus substrate adapter) 80 described later, and the mask adapter 80 is also held by the mask suction portion 70 by fixing the mask adapter 80 with the clamp mechanism 72.

  The mask position adjusting mechanism 13 includes an actuator such as various cylinders 13x, 13x, and 13y that drives the mask holding frame 12, and a guide mechanism (not shown) provided between the mask stage base 11 and the mask holding frame 12, and the like. The holding frame 12 is moved in the x-axis, y-axis, and θ directions.

  Further, the mask stage 10 detects a plurality of gap sensors 17 (eight in the present embodiment) that measure the gap between the opposing surfaces of the mask M and the workpiece W, and the amount of plane deviation between the mask M and the workpiece W. A plurality of alignment cameras 18 (four in this embodiment), and a masking aperture 19 that shields the mask M as necessary. The gap sensor 17 and the alignment camera 18 may be arranged so as to be driven along the side portion of the mask holding frame 12. In the drawing, the masking aperture 19 is shown only at both ends in the x direction of the opening 11a, but is also provided at both ends in the y direction.

  The workpiece stage 20 includes a workpiece holding unit 21 that holds the workpiece W, and a workpiece moving mechanism 22 that moves the workpiece holding unit 21 in the x, y, and z directions with respect to the apparatus base 50.

  The work holding unit 21 is provided with a plurality of suction nozzles (not shown) for sucking the work W on the upper surface, and detachably holds the work W by a vacuum suction mechanism (not shown).

  The work movement mechanism 22 includes a y-axis table 23, a y-axis feed mechanism 24, an x-axis table 25, an x-axis feed mechanism 26, and a z-tilt adjustment mechanism 27 below the work holding unit 21.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the y-axis feed mechanism 24 includes a linear guide 28 and a feed drive mechanism 29, and a slider 30 attached to the back surface of the y-axis table 23 is a rolling element (not shown). The y-axis table 23 is driven along the guide rail 31 by the motor 32 and the ball screw device 33.

  The x-axis feed mechanism 26 has the same configuration as the y-axis feed mechanism 24 and drives the x-axis table 25 in the x direction with respect to the y-axis table 23. Further, the z-tilt adjusting mechanism 27 has one movable wedge mechanism formed by combining the wedge-shaped moving bodies 34 and 35 and the feed driving mechanism 36 at one end side in the x direction and two at the other end side. Consists of. The feed drive mechanisms 29 and 36 may be a combination of a motor and a ball screw device, or may be a linear motor having a stator and a mover. Further, the number of z-tilt adjustment mechanisms 27 installed is arbitrary.

  Thereby, the workpiece moving mechanism 22 feeds and drives the workpiece holding portion 21 in the x direction and the y direction, and moves the workpiece holding portion 21 in the z-axis direction so as to finely adjust the gap between the mask M and the workpiece W. Fine adjustment and tilt adjustment.

  Bar mirrors 61 and 62 are respectively attached to the x-direction side and the y-direction side of the work holding unit 21, and a total of three laser interferometers are installed at the y-direction end and the x-direction end of the apparatus base 50. 63, 64, 65 are provided. As a result, the laser light is irradiated from the laser interferometers 63, 64, 65 to the bar mirrors 61, 62, the laser light reflected by the bar mirror 62 is received, and the laser light and the laser light reflected by the bar mirrors 61, 62 are received. The position of the work stage is detected by measuring the interference.

  In the exposure apparatus configured as described above, the mask position adjusting mechanism 13 is driven and controlled to adjust the alignment of the mask M with respect to the work holding unit 21 based on the detection signals of the alignment camera 18 and the laser interferometers 63, 64, and 65. At the same time, the z-tilt adjustment mechanism 27 is driven and controlled based on the detection signal of the gap sensor 17 to adjust the gap between the mask M and the workpiece W. After these adjustments, the exposure pattern of the mask M is moved by the irradiation optical system 40 by the irradiation optical system 40 by opening the exposure control shutter 34 for a predetermined exposure time in a state where light is irradiated from the light source of the irradiation optical system 40. Is transferred by exposure. Thereafter, the work holding unit 21 is stepped in the x and y directions by the work moving mechanism 22 and the same operation as described above is repeated to perform step exposure.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the mask adapter 80 is made of metal and is provided on the periphery of the opening 81 a and the frame portion 81 that forms the opening 81 a surrounding the periphery of the mask M, and the periphery of the mask M. A holding portion 82 that holds the mask M in contact with the mask, and a step portion 83 that is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the frame portion 81 and is an engaging portion that can be engaged with the clamp mechanism 72 provided on the mask suction portion 70. .

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the holding portion 82 projects inwardly at the peripheral edge of the opening 81 a on one end side (lower end side) of the frame portion 81 in the plate thickness direction. The holding portion 82 has a tapered surface 82a having an inclination angle substantially equal to that of the chamfered portion Ma formed on the peripheral portion of the mask, and the width H2 of the tapered surface 82a in the plate thickness direction of the frame portion 81 is the plate thickness. Smaller than the width H1 of the chamfered portion Ma in the direction

  The clamp mechanism 72 includes a clamp member 73 and a drive mechanism 74, and a plurality (two in this embodiment) are provided on two opposing sides of the mask holder 80. The clamp member 73 has a stepped portion 75 that is a receiving portion that engages with a stepped portion 83 that is an engaging portion provided at the peripheral portion of the mask adapter 80 at the tip, and the rotation shaft 76 of the drive mechanism 74 is the center thereof. It is inserted and fixed to. Further, the clamp member 73 is disposed on the lower surface of the mask suction portion 70 so as not to be positioned below the lowermost surface of the mask M, and is driven to rotate so that the stepped portion 75 at the tip can contact and separate from the stepped portion 83 of the mask adapter 80. Is done. The drive mechanism 74 includes a drive motor 77, and a rotation shaft 76 of the drive mechanism 74 is fixed to the clamp member 73 through the mask suction portion 70 and the center of the clamp member 73. As the drive motor 76 rotates, the clamp member 73 rotates integrally therewith, and the stepped portion 75 of the clamp member 73 and the stepped portion 83 of the mask adapter 80 are engaged and disengaged.

  Therefore, when the mask M is mounted on the mask suction portion 70 of the mask holding portion, first, as shown in FIG. 5A, the mask M has its tapered surface Ma on the holding portion 82 of the mask holder 80. It is held by the mask M in a contacted state and is conveyed below the mask suction unit 70. Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, the mask holder 80 holding the mask M is moved to a position in contact with or close to the lower surface of the mask suction portion 70 (see FIG. 5B), and then clamped. The drive mechanism 74 of the mechanism 72 is driven to rotate the clamp member 73, and the stepped portion 75 of the clamp member 73 is engaged with the stepped portion 83 of the mask adapter 80 (see FIG. 5C). Thereafter, by driving the vacuum suction mechanism and sucking the mask M by the suction nozzle 71, the mask M is held by the mask holding portion as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, even if the suction of the mask M is removed due to a malfunction of the vacuum suction mechanism, the mask M is supported by the tapered surface 82a of the mask adapter 80 as shown in FIG. It can prevent and damage accidents.

  As described above, according to the mask adapter 80 of the present embodiment, the frame 81 that forms the opening 81a that surrounds the peripheral portion of the mask M and the peripheral portion of the opening 81a are provided in contact with the peripheral portion of the mask. Since the mask M is held by the mask adapter 80 in the entire peripheral area when the mask M is held during exposure, the mask M can be safely held. it can. Of course, also in the holding of the mask M during the transfer of the mask M, the mask M is safely transferred while being held by the mask adapter 80 over the entire periphery.

  Further, since the holding portion 82 has a tapered surface 82a having an inclination angle substantially equal to that of the chamfered portion Ma formed on the peripheral edge portion of the mask M, a vacuum is used during the transfer of the mask M and the holding of the mask M during the exposure. Even if the suction of the mask M is removed due to a malfunction of the suction mechanism, the mask M is supported by the taper surface 82a, so that it can be prevented from dropping onto the structure under the apparatus and a damage accident can be prevented. Further, since the width H2 of the tapered surface 82a in the plate thickness direction of the frame portion 81 is smaller than the width H1 of the chamfered portion Ma in the plate thickness direction, the mask adapter 80 and the workpiece W are held in the holding of the mask M during the mask suction exposure. Is prevented from touching. In particular, by controlling the gap between the mask M and the workpiece W, the contact between the mask adapter 80 and the workpiece W can be reliably prevented.

  Further, a stepped portion 83 that can be engaged with the clamp mechanism 72 provided in the mask suction portion 70 that constitutes the mask holding portion of the exposure apparatus PE is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the frame portion 81, so that the mask adapter 80 is The exposure work can be performed while the mask M is fixed to the mask holding unit of the exposure apparatus PE and the mask M is attached to the mask adapter 80.

  In addition, the exposure apparatus PE of the present embodiment includes a workpiece holding unit 21 that holds a workpiece W as an exposed material, a mask holding unit that holds a mask having an exposure pattern, and light for pattern exposure via a mask M. And an illumination optical system 40 for irradiating the workpiece W, and the mask holding unit holds the mask M using the mask adapter 80, so that an apparatus capable of holding the mask M safely can be configured. it can.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a substrate adapter for exposure apparatus and an exposure apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the part equivalent to 1st Embodiment, and description is abbreviate | omitted or simplified.

  The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the configuration of the clamp mechanism attached to the mask suction portion of the mask holding frame 12. As shown in FIG. 7, the clamp mechanism 90 includes a clamp member 91 and a drive mechanism 92. The clamp member 91 has a stepped portion 93 that is a receiving portion that engages with a stepped portion 83 that is an engaging portion provided at the peripheral portion of the mask adapter 80 at the tip, and is not positioned below the lowermost surface of the mask M. Are arranged as follows. The clamp member 91 is positioned in a recess 70 a provided on the lower surface of the mask suction portion 70 and is guided by the guide member 94 so that the stepped portion 93 at the tip can contact and separate from the stepped portion 83 of the mask adapter 80. It is mounted so as to be movable. The drive mechanism 92 includes an air cylinder mechanism, and is disposed in a recess 70 a provided on the lower surface of the mask suction portion 70 so that the lower surface of the cylinder 95 is not positioned below the lowermost surface of the mask M. The rear end portion of the clamp member 91 is fixed to the front end portion of the piston rod 96 of the drive mechanism 92. As the piston rod 96 advances and retracts, the clamp member 91 moves integrally therewith, and the stepped portion 93 of the clamp member 91 and the stepped portion 83 of the mask adapter 80 are engaged and disengaged.

Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.
Further, the drive mechanism 92 is not limited to the air cylinder mechanism, and is driven such that the clamp member 91 can come into contact with and separate from the stepped portion 83 at the outer peripheral edge of the mask adapter 80, such as a hydraulic cylinder mechanism or an electric cylinder mechanism. Any configuration can be applied.

  As a modification of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, when the concave portion 83 a is formed as an engaging portion provided at the peripheral edge portion of the mask adapter 80, it is provided at the tip of the clamp member 91. A stepped portion 93a that is a receiving portion is formed in a shape that can be engaged with and disengaged from the recessed portion 83a.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to this embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, it can change suitably.

  The exposure apparatus of the present invention is not limited to a stepped proximity exposure apparatus, and includes a work holding unit, a mask holding unit, and an irradiating unit, and an arbitrary exposure pattern for exposing and transferring a mask exposure pattern to a substrate by the irradiating unit. Applicable to the device.

In the present embodiment, the clamp mechanisms 72 are provided on two opposite sides of the mask holder 80, but may be provided on each side, and may be provided in a necessary number according to the holding force.
The shape of the receiving portion of the clamp member can be arbitrarily set according to the shape of the engaging portion of the mask adapter 80. For example, when the engaging portion is tapered, the receiving portion is also an inclined portion. It is good.

It is a partial exploded perspective view for demonstrating the division | segmentation successive proximity exposure apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the division | segmentation successive proximity exposure apparatus shown in FIG. The state which fixed the board | substrate adapter with which the mask was mounted | worn to the mask holding part of the proximity exposure apparatus which concerns on this invention is shown, (a) is the bottom view, (b) is the sectional drawing, (c) FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of part III of (b). The board | substrate adapter with which the mask of this invention was mounted | worn is shown, (a) is the top view, (b) is the sectional drawing. It is a figure which shows the process in which a board | substrate adapter is fixed to the mask holding part of the proximity exposure apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the mask is dropped while the substrate adapter is fixed to the mask holding part of FIG. 3, (a) is a sectional view thereof, and (b) is an enlarged view of the VI part of (a). It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the state by which a board | substrate adapter is fixed to the mask holding part which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows the state by which a board | substrate adapter is fixed to the mask holding part which concerns on the modification of 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

PE division sequential proximity exposure system (exposure system)
W Glass substrate (material to be exposed)
M Mask Ma Tapered surface 10 Mask stage 11 Mask stage base 12 Mask holding frame (mask holding part)
13 Mask position adjustment mechanism (mask movement mechanism)
17 Gap sensor 18 Alignment camera (detection means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Work stage 21 Work holding part 22 Work moving mechanism 24 Y-axis feed mechanism 26 x-axis feed mechanism 27 z-tilt adjustment mechanism 30 Illumination optical system 50 Device base 52 Z-axis movement mechanism 70 Mask adsorption part 72 Clamp mechanism 80 Mask adapter 81 Frame part 81a Opening 82 Holding part 82a Tapered surface 83 Step part (engagement part)

Claims (3)

A frame part that forms an opening surrounding a peripheral part of the glass substrate;
A holding portion that is provided at the periphery of the opening and holds the glass substrate in contact with the periphery of the glass substrate;
I have a,
The holding portion has a tapered surface having an inclination angle substantially equal to a chamfered portion formed at a peripheral portion of the glass substrate, and the width of the tapered surface in the plate thickness direction of the frame portion is in the plate thickness direction. A substrate adapter for an exposure apparatus, wherein the substrate adapter is smaller than a width of the chamfered portion. 2. The exposure apparatus substrate adapter according to claim 1 , wherein an engagement portion that can be engaged with a clamp mechanism provided in a mask holding portion of the exposure apparatus is formed on an outer peripheral portion of the frame portion. A workpiece holding unit that holds a workpiece as a material to be exposed; a mask holding unit that holds a mask having an exposure pattern; and an irradiation unit that irradiates the substrate with light for pattern exposure through the mask, An exposure apparatus that exposes and transfers an exposure pattern of the mask to the substrate by the irradiation means,
The mask holding portion, an exposure apparatus characterized by holding the mask using the adapter according to claim 1 or 2.

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