JPH0628223B2 - Pattern printing method - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pattern printing method, and more particularly to a pattern printing method suitable for overprinting or division exposure of a pattern on a long substrate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In a lithographic process of a semiconductor manufacturing process, a pattern printing apparatus that prints and transfers a pattern onto a substrate using a mask is used. In recent years, a pattern printing apparatus has been developed which divides a pattern to be transferred onto a substrate and performs exposure printing in order to cope with an increase in the diameter of the substrate and the production of a large-sized liquid crystal display panel.

[Prior Art] The structure of a conventional long pattern printing apparatus for manufacturing electrodes of a large-sized liquid crystal display panel will be described with reference to FIGS. The pattern A of the mask 1a is exposed and baked on the long substrate 4 mounted on the rotary table 3 through the imaging optical system 2 (FIG. 5). Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the mask 1a is replaced with the mask 1b on which another pattern B is formed. 180 turntable 3
The pattern B is printed by rotating the substrate by an angle of ∘ and arranging an adjacent portion of the pattern A on the long substrate 4 on the optical axis of the imaging optical system 2. Conventionally, the patterns A and B are divided and sequentially exposed and printed on the long substrate 4 in this manner.

However, in the above conventional pattern printing apparatus,
Since the divided patterns are formed on different masks and the masks are exchanged for each pattern to perform exposure and printing, it takes time for the masks to be replaced, resulting in a decrease in productivity and a plurality of masks. Therefore, mask management was also troublesome.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and improves productivity by eliminating the mask replacement work in the case of divided exposure and forms a divided pattern on one mask. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pattern printing method that facilitates mask management as much as possible.

To achieve this object, according to the present invention, a relatively short first division pattern and second division pattern that form a part of the long pattern are prepared by dividing the long pattern into a plurality of pieces in the longitudinal direction. A second region adjacent to the first region in the longitudinal direction of the elongated substrate by the imaging optical system after the first segmented pattern is printed on the first region of the elongated substrate by a system. In a pattern printing method for printing a long pattern on a long substrate, including a step of baking, a mask in which the first and second divided patterns are arranged in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the long pattern is used. After the first division pattern of the mask and the first region of the long substrate are aligned and the first division pattern is printed on the first region, the mask is formed into the long region. The second division pattern of the mask is aligned with the imaging optical system by moving the pattern in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the pattern, and the second division pattern of the mask and the second region of the long substrate. And the second division pattern is printed on the second area.

According to this, since the pattern is printed using the mask in which the first and second divided patterns forming the long pattern are arranged in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the long pattern, the long pattern is formed. Even if each of the constituent divided patterns is formed on the same mask, the mask becomes relatively short.
Therefore, it is not necessary to replace the mask without increasing the size of the exposure apparatus, or the frequency of mask replacement is reduced.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show the configuration of a pattern printing apparatus for carrying out the pattern printing method according to the present invention. This apparatus divides and prints patterns A and B as shown in FIG. 3 on a long substrate 4. Divided pattern A,
B are formed in parallel on the same mask 1 in opposite directions. The mask 1 is mounted on the mask table 5. A rotary table 3 is disposed below the mask table 5 via an imaging optical system 2. The long substrate 4 on which the patterns A and B are to be printed is mounted on the rotary table 3. The mask 5 is connected to the motor 7 via the rack and pinion mechanism 6 and can reciprocate in a direction parallel to the mask mounting surface as indicated by an arrow C.

Division exposure of a long substrate using such a pattern printing apparatus is performed as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the pattern A is exposed at the exposure position (on the optical axis) of the imaging optical system 2.
The pattern A is exposed and baked on the long substrate 4. Next, the motor 7 is driven to move the mask table 5 via the rack and pinion mechanism 6 to align the pattern B with the exposure position of the image forming optical system 2 (FIG. 2). The rotary table 3 is rotated 180 °, the portion of the long substrate 4 adjacent to the pattern A is aligned with the irradiation position, and the pattern B is exposed and baked on this portion.
In this manner, the divided exposure printing of the patterns A and B on the long substrate 4 as shown in FIG. 3 is performed.

FIG. 4 shows a procedure for carrying out overprinting using the pattern printing apparatus according to the present invention. Patterns 7a, 7b, 7c (pattern shapes are not shown) are formed on one mask 1, and this mask 1 is mounted on a mask table (not shown). The elongated substrate 8 is arranged at the irradiation position below the imaging optical system 2. First, the pattern 7a is printed on the long substrate 8 (FIG. 4 (a)). Next, the mask base is driven to drive the mask 1.
Is moved and the pattern 7b is overlaid on the long substrate 8 and baked.
(Fig. 4 (b)). Next, the mask base is driven to further move the mask 1 and the pattern 7c is overlaid on the long substrate 8 and baked (FIG. 4 (c)). In this way, the entire surface of the long substrate can be collectively baked by the repeated baking.

In the above embodiment, the motor and the rack and pinion mechanism are used as the mask table driving mechanism, but other suitable means (cylinder, belt, etc.) may be used. Alternatively, the mask table may be moved manually.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, pattern printing is performed using a mask in which first and second divided patterns forming a long pattern are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the long pattern. Since this is done, the mask can be made relatively short even if each divided pattern forming the long pattern is formed on the same mask. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the need for mask replacement without increasing the size of the exposure apparatus, or to reduce the frequency of mask replacement.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are explanatory views showing respective separate steps of divided exposure by the pattern printing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a pattern formed by the divided exposure step shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. FIG. 4 is a top view of a long substrate having a pattern, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of an overprinting process using the pattern printing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIGS. It is explanatory drawing which shows the process of. 1 ... Mask, 2 ... Imaging optical system, 3 ... Rotating table, 4 ... Long substrate, 5 ... Mask base, 6 ... Rack and pinion mechanism, 7 ... Motor, 8 ... Long substrate .

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A relatively short first division pattern and a second division pattern which form a part of the long pattern are prepared by dividing the long pattern into a plurality of pieces in the longitudinal direction, and the first optical pattern is formed by an imaging optical system. Baking the divided pattern on the first region of the long substrate, and then baking the second divided pattern on the second region adjacent to the first region in the longitudinal direction of the long substrate by the imaging optical system. In the pattern printing method for printing a long pattern on a long substrate, a mask in which the first and second divided patterns are arranged in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the long pattern is used, and the first of the masks is used. Dividing pattern and the first of the long substrate
After the regions are aligned and the first divided pattern is printed on the first region, the mask is moved in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the divided pattern to bond the second divided pattern of the mask with the second divided pattern. The position of the image optical system is aligned and the second divided pattern of the mask and the second region of the long substrate are aligned to print the second divided pattern on the second region. Pattern printing method.