JPH0596777A - Production of ion-flow control head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an ion-flow control head production method in which ion flow control holes can be formed without the occurrence of deformation, crack, and the like of an electrode caused by the irradiation with an excimer laser light. CONSTITUTION:In a laminate 10 formed by providing an insulating layer 13 between at least a pair of electrode layers 11, 12 made of metal foils, ion flow pass-through holes are opened for passing an ion flow through by using an excimer laser light. In this ion-flow control head production method, an ultraviolet light reflecting layer 14 having an ultraviolet light reflectivity higher than that of the metals forming said electrode layers 11, 12 is previously provided on the surface of one of the electrode layers. After ion flow pass- through holes are formed in the ultraviolet light reflecting layer 14 and the respective electrode layers of said laminate 10 (15), an excimer laser light is emitted from the side of the ultraviolet light reflecting layer 14 to the insulating layer 13 through the ion flow pass-through holes. In this manner, ion flow control holes for controlling an ion flow are formed in the insulating layer 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an ion flow control head used as a recording head or the like in an electrostatic recording device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an ion flow control head generates ions with a high current density in an ion generator, extracts the ions to form an ion flow, and locally applies the ions to a member to be charged. Electrostatically forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of
It is configured to perform so-called ion flow recording. It is known that this ion flow control head is used as a recording head of an electrostatic recording device in the technical field of electrostatic printing and the like.

FIG. 4 (a) is a main part configuration diagram showing an example of this kind of ion flow control head. In the figure, reference numeral 4
Reference numeral 0 is a part of an ion flow control head having a function as a recording head of an electrostatic recording apparatus, and 46 is a part of a dielectric drum as a member to be charged. Reference numeral 47 is an AC power supply, 48 is a pulse generator, and 49 is a DC bias power supply.

The ion flow control head 40 comprises an ion generator 40A and an ion flow controller 40B. The ion generator 40A includes a plurality of first electrodes 41 for ion generation.
A dielectric layer 44 is interposed between (only one is shown in the drawing) and a plurality of second electrodes 42 (only one is shown in the drawing). .. The ion flow control head 40 is provided with an insulating substrate (not shown), and the plurality of first electrodes 41 are arranged substantially in parallel on the insulating substrate. The dielectric layer 44 is provided on the surface of the insulating substrate on which the first electrode is provided.

A plurality of second electrodes 42 are arranged in parallel on the surface of the dielectric layer 44 opposite to the insulating substrate so as to intersect the first electrodes 41. Thus, the first two-dimensionally arranged
The electrode 41 and the second electrode 42 form a matrix electrode. Openings 42a made of micropores are formed in the portions of the second electrode 42 corresponding to the intersections of the matrix electrodes.

The ion flow controller 40B has an insulating layer 4 on the side of the second electrode 42 opposite to the side on which the first electrode 41 is arranged.
The strip-shaped third electrode 43 is disposed via the electrode 5.
Openings 43a made of micropores are formed in the portions of the third electrode 43 corresponding to the intersections of the matrix electrodes.
Are formed. Further, openings 45a each formed of a minute hole are also formed in a portion of the insulating layer 45 corresponding to each intersection of the matrix electrodes.

The ion flow control head 40 constructed as described above operates as follows. When recording is performed by the ion flow control head 40, the first
The intersection of the matrix electrode between the electrode 41 and the second electrode 42 is appropriately selected. Then, an AC voltage from an AC power supply 47 is applied between the first electrode 41 and the second electrode 42 corresponding to the intersection of the selected matrix electrodes. As a result, positive and negative ions are generated in the region near the opening 42a of the second electrode 42 corresponding to the intersection of the selected matrix electrodes. At this time, a pulsed bias voltage is applied from the pulse generator 48 between the second electrode 42 and the third electrode 43. Therefore, only predetermined ions determined by the polarity of this bias voltage are extracted as an ion flow.

The ion flow thus extracted has an opening 45a in the insulating layer 45 and an opening 43 in the third electrode 43.
Passing a, the dielectric drum 46 is locally charged.
Therefore, a dot latent image corresponding to the selective driving of the first electrode 41 and the second electrode 42 is formed on the dielectric drum 46.

When manufacturing the above-mentioned ion flow control head 40, first, as shown in FIG.
A laminated body 50 is provided in which a film-shaped insulating layer 55 for forming the insulating layer 45 is interposed between an electrode layer 52 formed of a metal foil forming the electrode 42 and an electrode layer 53 forming the third electrode 43. .. Then, the ion flow control holes 59 penetrating the electrode layers 52 and 53 and the insulating layer 55 of the laminated body 50 are formed. The diameter of the ion flow control hole 59 varies depending on the recording density of the ion flow control head 40, but is generally about several tens to several hundreds μm. As a hole forming method for forming the ion flow control hole 59, a processing method by punching, a processing method by etching, etc. are generally adopted.

During operation of the ion flow control head 40, the ion flow passing through the opening 45a of the insulating layer 45 and the opening 43a of the third electrode 43 after being generated in the vicinity of the opening 42a of the second electrode 42. The amount of V varies depending on the magnitude of the applied voltage applied between the second electrode 42 and the third electrode 43, but the opening 42a of the second electrode 42, the opening 45a of the insulating layer 45, and the third electrode The shape of each of the openings 43a of the reference numeral 43, and the hole diameter thereof greatly change. Therefore, in order to operate the ion flow control head 40 and obtain a uniform recorded image, the ion flow control head 40
The ion flow control hole 59 formed in the laminated body 50 of
At the time of manufacturing, it is necessary to carry out drilling with a uniform opening shape and hole diameter with high accuracy.

However, in punching by punching, since a pair of electrode layers 52 and 53 and the film-like insulating layer 55 are punched at the same time by using a punch which is a punching jig, the ion flow control hole is formed. 59
Electrode layers 52, 53 and film-like insulating layer 5
There is a possibility that so-called "burrs" may occur at the peripheral portions of the openings 52a, 53a, 55a of No. 5, or the punch may be broken during the punching process to damage the ion flow control head. Therefore, there is a problem that the yield is low. Furthermore, since there is a limit to the diameter reduction of the punch, there is a problem that it is not suitable for drilling with a diameter of about 50 μm or less.

In the case of punching by etching, the electrode layers 52 and 53 of the laminate 50 are preliminarily punched with openings 52a and 53a by using the same etching technique as that used for patterning a printed circuit board. After processing, the solvent is guided to the film-shaped insulating layer 55 side through the opening 52a of the one electrode 52, and the insulating layer 55 is melted by the erosion action of this solvent, and the opening 5 is formed in the insulating layer 55.
5a is provided. In the punching process by this etching, unlike the punching process by punching, there is no possibility that "burrs" are generated at the peripheral edge of the opening and the ion flow control head is damaged due to breakage of the punch.

However, in the case of drilling by etching, it is difficult to accurately control the amount of corrosion of the insulating layer 55 by the solvent, so that there is a problem that processing defects are likely to occur due to overetching or insufficient etching. .. A non-uniform hole diameter may be mentioned as a mode of the poor hole forming process due to the poor etching. For example, as shown in FIG. 4B, the diameter of the opening 55a of the insulating layer gradually changes depending on the position of the insulating layer 55 in the thickness direction. As described above, it is difficult to form the ion flow control holes 59 formed in the stacked body 50 into a uniform and accurate opening shape and hole diameter by the hole forming processing by etching.

As the insulating layer 55, a plastic film made of, for example, a polyimide film having a thickness of about several tens to several hundreds of μm, which is excellent in electrical properties such as dielectric constant, physicochemical properties, and machinability, is used. If
Since it has excellent electrical and thermal stability as a dielectric layer and high chemical stability, it limits the kinds of solvents that can be used for etching, and has a problem that the etching rate is low and the productivity is poor. ..

As described above, there are various problems in the conventional punching method by punching and etching. As a means for solving such a problem,
For example, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-102071, there has been proposed a hole forming method utilizing a dry etching action of excimer laser light. In this method, the laminated body 50
Openings 52a and 53a are previously formed in the respective electrode layers 52 and 53 by using, for example, the above-described etching technique. Thereafter, the insulating layer 55 is irradiated with excimer laser light through the opening 52a on the side of the one electrode layer 52 to form a hole.
Thus, according to this hole forming method, the opening 55a can be formed in the insulating layer 55 with high accuracy, and the ion flow control 55 with high processing accuracy can be easily formed.

[0016]

As described above, the hole forming method utilizing the dry etching action of excimer laser light is a very excellent processing method as compared with other methods. However, there are the following problems to be solved.

That is, the metal material used for the electrode layer is
As shown in the spectral reflectance characteristics below, ultraviolet rays are generally highly absorptive.

"Spectral reflectance of stainless steel (SUS302) with respect to each wavelength of ultraviolet rays" Wavelength 240 [nm] ... 6.0 [%] Wavelength 260 [nm] ... 6.0 [%] Wavelength 280 [nm] ... 6. 3 [%] Wavelength 300 [nm] ... 6.5 [%] "Spectral reflectance of copper for each ultraviolet ray wavelength" Wavelength 240 [nm] ... 39.0 [%] Wavelength 260 [nm] ... 35.5 [% ] Wavelength 280 [nm] ... 33.0 [%] Wavelength 300 [nm] ... 33.6 [%] Stainless steel is particularly excellent in durability as an electrode, and the material cost is low, which makes it suitable as an electrode. It can be called a material. However, as described above, since it has a very high absorption of ultraviolet rays, there is a problem that when it is irradiated with excimer laser light, which is a type of ultraviolet light, it is easily damaged by the thermochemical action of the excimer laser light.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5A, the electrode layer 55 is deformed and bent, and as shown in FIG. 5B, a crack 61 is generated around the ion control hole 59. .. The damaged electrode layer is liable to cause poor electrical continuity of the electrode, which may cause malfunction. Therefore, when stainless steel is used as the electrode layer 55, there is a problem that it is not possible to make use of the highly accurate processing technique of the ion flow control hole by irradiation of excimer laser light.

On the other hand, copper has a lower ultraviolet absorption than stainless steel and has a much higher thermal conductivity than stainless steel as shown below.

"10 of stainless steel (SUS302) and copper
Thermal conductivity at 0 ° C ”Stainless steel (SUS302) ………… 16 [W / mK] Copper ………………………… 396 [W / mK] For this reason, copper excimer laser light Irradiation damage is less than stainless steel (SUS302). However, when copper is used as the electrode layer of the ion flow control head 40, the electrode is corroded within a short time as a result of being exposed to a high-density ion flow during use, and as shown in FIG. The compound 62 may be generated, and the electrode layers 52 and 53 may be short-circuited.
Therefore, it is extremely difficult to put it into practical use as a product.

The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and an object thereof is not only to obtain an ion flow control head having practically no trouble but also to irradiate excimer laser light during manufacturing. There is no deformation or cracks in the electrode layer due to ionization, and it is possible to make full use of the high-precision hole processing technology using excimer laser light, and the ion flow control can easily and accurately form the ion flow control hole. It is to provide a method of manufacturing a head.

[0023]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, the present invention takes the following means. That is, an ion flow control in which an ion flow passage hole for passing an ion flow using an excimer laser beam is opened in a laminated body in which an insulating layer is disposed between at least a pair of electrode layers made of metal foil. In the method of manufacturing the head,
In advance, on the surface of one of the electrode layers, a step of providing an ultraviolet reflective layer having a higher ultraviolet reflectance than the metal forming the electrode layer, and after providing the ultraviolet reflective layer by this step, the ultraviolet reflective layer and the above A step of forming an ion flow hole in each electrode layer of the laminate, and after forming an ion flow hole in this step, an excimer laser is formed on the insulating layer through the ion flow hole from the side where the ultraviolet reflection layer is provided. Irradiating light and forming an ion flow control hole for controlling the ion flow in the insulating layer.

[0024]

The following actions will be brought about by taking the above means.

On the surface of the electrode layer on the side where the excimer laser light is irradiated, an ultraviolet reflecting layer which reflects ultraviolet rays efficiently is formed in advance. Therefore, when an excimer laser beam is applied to the insulating layer in order to form an ion flow control hole in the insulating layer through the ion flow passage hole formed in the ultraviolet reflection layer and the electrode layer, the metal material forming the electrode layer. Is not directly exposed to the excimer laser light. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the electrode layer from being deformed or cracked due to the thermochemical action of the excimer laser light. Therefore, the ion control holes can be efficiently formed with high precision.

[0026]

1 and 2 are process charts showing a manufacturing process of an ion flow control head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1A is a sectional view showing the structure of the laminated body 10 before the opening of the ion flow control holes of the ion flow control head. In the figure, 11 is an ion flow focusing electrode layer, 12 is an ion flow controlling electrode layer, and 13 is a film-like insulating layer. The film-shaped insulating layer 13 is made of a polyimide film having a thickness of 100 μm,
The ion flow focusing electrode layer 11 and the ion flow control electrode layer 12 are each formed of a metal foil made of stainless steel having a thickness of 20 μm, for example.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, the ultraviolet reflection layer 14 is coated on the surface of the electrode layer 11 for ion flux focusing of the laminated body 10 of FIG. 1A, and the laminated body 15 is formed.
To form. The ultraviolet reflection layer 14 shown in FIG.
An aluminum layer having a thickness of about 1 μm is formed by vacuum vapor deposition.

Ultraviolet reflective layer 14 made of an aluminum layer
The spectral reflectance characteristic of each of the wavelengths of ultraviolet rays is as shown below.

[Spectral reflectance of aluminum for each wavelength of ultraviolet rays] Wavelength 240 [nm] ... 91.5 [%] Wavelength 260 [nm] ... 92.2 [%] Wavelength 280 [nm] ... 92.3 [%] Wavelength 300 [nm] ... 92.3 [%] Therefore, by providing the ultraviolet reflection layer 14 made of an aluminum layer, the absorption rate of ultraviolet rays can be suppressed to 10% or less.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1C, the ultraviolet reflection layer 14 and the electrode layers 11 and 12 of the laminated body 15 of FIG. (For example, a photolithography method of etching after patterning with a photoresist)
Use to drill holes. After that, the reflective layer 14,
Each of the electrode layers 11, 12 has an ion flow passage hole 14a, 11
a and 12a are formed respectively.

In FIG. 1C, the ion flow passage hole 1
The diameters of 4, 11, and 12 are set to 100 μm, and the pitches adjacent to each other are set to 200 μm.

As shown in FIG. 2D, the insulation layer 13 is irradiated with the ion passage hole 14a of the ultraviolet reflection layer 14 through the ion flow passage hole 11a of the electrode layer 11 to perforate the insulation layer 13. Thus, the insulating layer 13 has a pattern (e) of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, an ion flow passage hole 13a having the same shape as the ion flow passage hole 11a on the electrode 11 side is formed.

After passing through the above processing steps, the ultraviolet reflecting layer 1
4 by removing the UV-reflecting layer 14 composed of aluminum using a chemical etching technique (for example, a method of dissolving metal using phosphoric acid or a mixed solution of phosphoric acid and a strong acid other than phosphoric acid). An ion flow control head as shown in (f) of 2 is obtained.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a laser device 20 for generating excimer laser light. Device 2 shown
0 is, for example, Xe with a wavelength of 308 nm and a pulse width of 20 ns
The laser tube 30 is mainly configured to emit Cl excimer laser light. The laser tube 30 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a pair of main discharge electrodes 31 and 32 are provided facing each other with a space therebetween. A preionization gap 33 is formed between the terminals of the main discharge electrodes 31 and 32.
And a capacitor 34 in series, and a preionization gap 35 and a capacitor 36 in series.

Reference numeral 37 is a gas (ArF or the like) sealing tube, and 38 is a fan for stirring the atmosphere.

A resonance circuit consisting of a coil 21 and a capacitor 22 is connected to the laser tube 30. A switching element 23 for excitation made of, for example, a thyratron is connected to both ends of this resonance circuit. The switching element 22 is turned on / off by the switching control unit 24.
Controlled. The switching control unit 24 is controlled by a main control unit 25 including, for example, a microcomputer and peripheral circuits.

When a pulse signal having a cycle corresponding to the frequency command from the main controller 25 is applied to the switching controller 24, the controller 24 switches the switching element 23.
A switching signal is supplied to. When punching the insulating layer 13 of the laminated body 15,
From the laser tube 30, for example, 1 pps (pulse separator)
The ON / OFF operation control of the switching element 23 is performed by the main control unit 25 so that the excimer laser light having the pulse frequency from the second) to 100 pps is irradiated. In this embodiment, the energy density per pulse on the irradiation surface of the excimer laser light is 1 J / c.
m ² , pulse frequency 10 pps, irradiation time 20 se
Under the condition of c, the insulating layer 13 was irradiated with excimer laser light so that the ion flow passage hole 31a was perforated.

When the excimer laser device 20 is driven, the excimer laser light (pulse light) emitted from the laser tube 30 by the main controller 25 is focused by the optical system 26,
It is incident on the incident end of the laser guide 27. The excimer laser light propagating in the laser guide 27 is emitted perpendicularly to the laminated body 15 from the emission end of the laser guide 27. Then, the excimer laser light emitted from the emission end of the laser guide 27 irradiates the insulating layer 13 of the laminated body 15 with the excimer laser light from the reflective layer 14 side so that the insulating layer 13 has the ion flow passage hole 13a (see FIG. 3). Is not shown).

When the punching device is in operation, X
The-Y stage 28 moves based on the position information stored in the controller for the XY stage. Therefore, all the ion flow passage holes 14a formed on the electrode 11 side,
The insulating layer 13 is irradiated with excimer laser light through 11a, and an ion flow passage hole is similarly formed in the insulating layer 13.

According to the experiment, by using the above-described method of manufacturing the ion flow control head, even if a metal material that is easily damaged by the thermochemical action of excimer laser light is used for the electrode layer of the ion flow control head. It was confirmed that the ion flow hole can be opened without causing bending or cracking in the electrode layer.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the ultraviolet reflection layer 14 is formed by vacuum vapor deposition is shown, but sputtering,
A method of using a thin film forming apparatus such as ion plating, a method of using chemical plating, a method of adhering a sheet-like ultraviolet reflection, or the like may be used. Of course, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0043]

According to the present invention, an ion flow passage hole for passing an ion flow by using an excimer laser beam is opened in a laminated body in which an insulating layer is arranged between at least a pair of electrode layers made of metal foil. In the method for manufacturing the ion flow control head, the surface of one of the electrode layers is previously
An ultraviolet reflection layer having a higher ultraviolet reflectance than the metal forming the electrode layer is provided, and after forming ion flow holes in each electrode layer of the ultraviolet reflection layer and the laminate, the side provided with the ultraviolet reflection layer Since the insulating layer is irradiated with excimer laser light through the ion flow passage hole, an ion flow control hole for controlling the ion flow is formed in the insulating layer, so that there is no problem in practical use. Not only the head can be obtained, but the electrode layer is not deformed or cracked due to the irradiation of the excimer laser light during manufacturing, and the high-precision hole machining technology using the excimer laser light can be fully utilized. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing an ion flow control head that can form control holes easily and with high precision.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process drawing showing a part of a manufacturing process of an ion flow control head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process drawing showing another part of the manufacturing process of the ion flow control head according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a laser device and a laser tube that generate excimer laser light according to the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a main part configuration diagram showing an example of a general ion flow control head according to a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a defect in a method of manufacturing an ion flow control head according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of Codes] 10, 15 ... Laminated body, 11 ... Electrode layer for ion flow focusing,
12 ... Electrode layer for controlling ion flow, 13 ... Film-like insulating layer, 14 ... UV reflecting layer, 11a, 12a, 13a,
14a ... Ion flow passage hole, 20 ... Laser device, 30 ... Laser tube.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A laminated body in which an insulating layer is disposed between at least a pair of electrode layers made of a metal foil is provided with an ion flow passage hole for passing an ion flow using excimer laser light. In the method of manufacturing an ion flow control head, a step of previously providing an ultraviolet reflecting layer having a higher ultraviolet reflectance than the metal forming the electrode layer on the surface of one of the electrode layers, and providing the ultraviolet reflecting layer by this step After that, a step of forming ion flow holes in this ultraviolet reflection layer and each electrode layer of the laminate, and after forming ion flow passage holes in this step, the ion flow from the side provided with the ultraviolet reflection layer Irradiating the insulating layer with excimer laser light through the through hole to form an ion flow control hole for controlling the ion flow in the insulating layer, and the ion comprising: Method of manufacturing a control head.