JPH0438347B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a developing device for a recording information substrate, and in particular, a recording information substrate development device that monitors the progress of development and terminates the development by utilizing the diffraction phenomenon of laser light. It relates to a developing device.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, when developing a circular substrate on which information has been recorded by irradiation with light, first spray pure water onto the surface of the rotating substrate to wet the substrate surface and wash the substrate surface. Next, development is carried out for a predetermined time while spraying a developer of a specified concentration, and then the spraying of the developer is stopped. Next, pure water is sprayed with another nozzle to wash away the developing solution and clean the surface of the substrate, after which the substrate is rotated at high speed for centrifugal dehydration, and the development is completed by draining and drying. Also, recently, pre-development is sometimes performed using a dilute developer solution with a concentration of 1/10 to 1/20 of the specified developer concentration instead of the initial pure water spray.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, it is difficult to wet the entire surface of the substrate with the developer at the same time, and there is a time difference in which parts of the substrate are wetted with the developer, and this time difference causes the development to proceed differently and cause uneven development. Cause. Moreover, this development unevenness is sometimes clearly visible on the surface of the substrate, resulting in a deterioration in the quality of the information recording substrate. For this reason, although it may be improved to some extent by performing pre-development, such development unevenness cannot be completely eliminated because the difference in concentration between the pre-development and main development solutions is stepwise.

The present invention has been made in order to eliminate the risk of occurrence of such uneven development.

(Means for Solving the Problems) That is, in the present invention, a developer having a low concentration at the initial stage of development is used, and the concentration is gradually and continuously increased to perform development.

(Function) If the density is gradually increased from a low density in this way, even if parts with different degrees of development occur on the substrate surface, the transition will be smooth and uneven development will not be noticeable.

(Example) FIG. 1 shows an example of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a graph of the relationship between the development time and the diffracted light intensity ratio (I ₁ /I ₀ ) indicating the degree of progress of development. In FIG. 1, when a weak reproducing laser beam is applied from the laser oscillation tube 5 to the substrate 1 on which signals have been recorded by light irradiation, as development progresses, 0th-order and 1st-order diffraction lights I ₀ and I ₁ are generated.
The intensity of changes. This is detected by the detectors 6 and 7, and the arithmetic circuit 9 calculates the intensity ratio of these and applies it to the control circuit 10. A control signal from the control circuit 10 is applied to a motor 13 which connects the spigots 12 and 1.
Control 5. Pure water and a developer with a specified concentration from the pure water tank 16 and the developer tank 17 enter the flowmeters 11 and 14 through channels 18 and 19, respectively, and then flow through the plugs 12 and 15 to the nozzle 4.
is supplied and sprayed onto the substrate 1. 3 is a motor for controlling the spray position of the nozzle 5.

The plugs 12 and 15 for adjusting the developer concentration are, for example, integral with each other as shown in FIG. The channels 12-1 and 15-1 to be connected are arranged so as to cross each other.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, the lower flow path 15
-1 and the lower flow path 19 in FIG. Further, as the plugs 12 and 15 are rotated in the direction of arrow a, the upper channels 12-1 and 18 increase their bonding area with each other, while the lower channels 15-1 and 19 decrease their bonding area with each other. As a result, the concentration of the developer sprayed from the nozzle 4 decreases.
The plugs 12 and 15 are further rotated to open the upper channel 12.
- When 1 and 18 are completely joined, the lower flow path 1
5-1 and 19 are separated, and pure water is sprayed from the nozzle 4.

To explain the actual development with the above configuration, first, while the substrate 1 is rotated by the motor 2, the nozzle 4 (the nozzle 4 is swung by the motor 3 and moves back and forth between the periphery on the substrate surface and the center of rotation). do)
According to a time-concentration curve as shown in FIG. 3, the concentration is gradually increased from 100% pure water at the beginning, and at time _t1 , a developer of a specified concentration (AZ Developer, manufactured by Hoechst) is used. During this time, the concentration is controlled by reading the signals from the flowmeters 11 and 14 with the control circuit 10, so that the plugs 12 and 15 are controlled so that the mixing ratio of the concentration is pre-specified as shown in FIG. 3 for the elapsed time.
is controlled by the control circuit 10. Next, from time t ₁ onwards, the concentration is maintained at the first specified concentration, which is optimal for development, and the ratio I ₁ /I ₀
At time t2, when the value reaches 0.133 as shown at point A in FIG. ₂ , a signal is sent from the arithmetic circuit 9 to the control circuit 10,
The plugs 12 and 15 are controlled so that the concentration of the developer is gradually reduced with a gradient as shown from time _t2 onward in FIG.
When the developing signal reaches the slow second specified density, the second specified density is maintained from time _t3 onwards as shown in FIG. Thereafter, development is terminated when I ₁ /I ₀ reaches 0.2 as at point B, so this time t ₄ is determined by the arithmetic circuit 9.
detects it and sends a signal to the control circuit 10, and the stopper 12,
15, the developing solution is set to 0 and pure water is set to 100, and the process proceeds to the water washing step.

In this manner, at the initial stage of development, since the developer concentration increases smoothly and is not stepwise, there is little development unevenness, and even if there is development unevenness, a good developed substrate with no noticeable boundaries can be obtained. Further, since uneven development is not noticeable in this way, a developer with a high concentration can be used during development, thereby making it possible to shorten the development time. Furthermore, since development and washing can be performed with one nozzle, the mechanism is simple. Time t ₄ in the above example
When rinsing afterwards, you can use a separate rinsing arm to spray out a large amount of pure water in the form of a shower. In this way, the washing time can be shortened.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, good development with little development unevenness can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the progress of development, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing changes in developer concentration, FIG. Figure B is an explanatory diagram of the operation. 1... Board, 4... Nozzle, 6, 7... Detector, 10... Control circuit, 16... Pure water tank, 1
7... Developer tank, 12, 15... Plug.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a developing device having a means for applying a developer to a recording medium having a photosensitive resin layer on which signals are exposed and recorded in a concentric or spiral manner, and a means for detecting completion of development and terminating the application of the developer. A recording information developing apparatus characterized in that a low-concentration developer is used in the initial stage of development, and the developer concentration is continuously increased to the optimum development concentration.