JPH09307347A - Reflector antenna and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate to make a large aperture without the need for exposure, development processing and a dark room by making a groove on an upper face of an insulating board on which a high polymer film is formed to be a curved shape, and placing a metal and forming a conductor pattern of the reflector. SOLUTION: A 1st skin layer 15 is provided to a lower side of a reflector main body 12 to be a non mirror surface side of a core 13 with a 1st adhesive layer 14. Furthermore, an insulation board 17 is provided to an upper side to be a mirror surface side by a 2nd adhesive layer 16, and the upper face of the board 17 is coated by a protection film 18. The insulation board 17 is formed to be a curved face such as a parabolic face or a hyperbolic face with a high polymer film made of a polyimide or an epoxy and the board 17 is further covered by a caption or the like. Moreover, a groove 19 is made to the upper side of the insulation board 17 in a desired pattern along a prescribed direction. A metal 21 such as a Cu is put in the grove 19 to form a conductor pattern of a reflector 11. Thus, the reflector with a large aperture is facilitated without the need for the exposure and development processing and a dark room.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reflector antenna such as a grid reflector antenna or a frequency selective antenna which is suitable for mounting on a spacecraft such as an artificial satellite, and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an antenna system, as shown in FIG.
And the second reflectors 1 and 2 are stacked in the directional direction, and the first and second power feeding portions 3 and 4 are arranged to face each other in correspondence with the first and second reflectors 1 and 2. Are known. Such an antenna having the reflector shown in FIG. 8 is called a reflector antenna.

On the reflecting surfaces of the first and second reflectors 1 and 2, a metal pattern (grid line) 1a,
2a are provided orthogonal to each other, and as shown in FIG.
And, the V-polarized light and the H-polarized light parallel to the lines radiated from the second power feeding portions 3 and 4 are selectively reflected and radiated to the free space.

[0004] The V polarization radiated from the first feeder 3 is
It has an electric field component substantially parallel to the metal pattern 1a of the first reflector 1, and is reflected by this first metal pattern 1a. The H-polarized wave radiated from the second power supply unit 4 has an electric field component orthogonal to the metal pattern 1a of the first reflector 1 (that is, an electric field component substantially parallel to the metal pattern 2a of the second reflector 2). Component), passes through the first reflector 1, and is reflected by the second metal pattern 2a.

[0005] As a method of manufacturing such a reflector, those disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 5-57762 and 5-55764 are known. That is, in these publications, a conductive film is formed on a skin material made of an insulating substrate of a reflector main body, and a liquid photosensitive resist is applied onto the conductive film. Next, the photosensitive resist on the conductive film is irradiated with laser light to be exposed, and further developed to remove a portion not irradiated with light, and the exposed conductive film is subjected to an etching treatment to obtain a desired film. The metal pattern is formed.

By the way, in the above-mentioned manufacturing method, since a photosensitive resist has to be applied to a skin material and exposed and developed, a large-scale darkroom facility is required for manufacturing the reflector. There were some restrictions on the increase in diameter. Such a thing becomes one of the serious problems especially when measuring the large diameter of the reflector required in the field of recent space development.

In pattern formation by large-area exposure, as the diameter of the reflector increases due to lens aberration, the distortion of the transferred image in the peripheral portion of the reflector increases. Therefore, the accuracy of pattern formation is reduced. Furthermore, considering reflectors with the same curvature,
As the area becomes larger, the transferred image is blurred when the depth of focus of the exposure optical system is constant due to the curvature of the reflector in the light irradiation direction. Therefore, the accuracy of pattern formation is reduced.

[0008]

As described above, in the conventional method of manufacturing a reflector, it is difficult to increase the diameter of the reflector because a large dark room facility or the like is required to form a metal pattern. It was sometimes.

Further, there has been a problem that the pattern (grid) forming accuracy is deteriorated with the increase in the diameter of the reflector. The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to make it possible to increase the diameter without using a large-sized darkroom facility, and to form an accurate grid line even when the diameter is increased. It is to provide a reflector antenna and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reflector antenna in which a curved insulating substrate is provided, and a conductive pattern is formed on the insulating substrate. It is characterized in that a metal wire is provided in a groove formed in the insulating substrate.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a method of manufacturing a reflector antenna in which a conductive pattern is formed on a curved insulating substrate, a groove is formed on the insulating substrate in a predetermined pattern by laser light. The first step, the second step of attaching a metal charged to the opposite electric charge to the surface of the groove charged by the laser light, and the electroless plating using the metal attached to the groove as a nucleus. And a third step of providing a metal wire to be the conductive pattern in the groove.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in a method of manufacturing a reflector antenna in which a conductive pattern is formed on a curved insulating substrate, a first step of forming a groove on the insulating substrate in a predetermined pattern, A second step of providing a metal wire to be the conductive pattern in the groove is provided.

The invention of claim 4 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 2, the laser light is ultraviolet light. The invention of claim 5 is the same as the invention of claim 2 or 3,
The conductive pattern is characterized by containing copper.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the conductive pattern is formed by forming the groove in the insulating substrate in a predetermined pattern and providing the metal in the groove, so that the conductive pattern is formed. However, it does not require a dark room for exposure and development,
Thereby, it becomes easy to increase the diameter of the reflector.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the conductive pattern is formed by providing a metal by electroless plating in the groove of the insulating substrate formed by a predetermined pattern to form the conductive pattern. However, it does not require a dark room for exposure and development processing, which makes it easier to increase the aperture of the reflector and prevents the transfer image from blurring due to the exposure optical system, thereby forming a precise pattern. Is possible.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the insulating substrate is mounted on the substrate.
Since a metal wire is provided in the groove formed by the light in a predetermined pattern to form a conductive pattern, a dark room for exposure and development processing is not required to form the conductive pattern. Therefore, it becomes easy to increase the diameter of the reflector.

According to the invention of claim 4, since the laser light is processed with a short wavelength, it is possible to form a conductive pattern in which the roundness of the edge portion is suppressed due to the short wavelength. According to the invention of claim 5, it is possible to form a conductive pattern which is excellent in corrosion resistance, is inexpensive, and has a high electric conductivity.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 shows a reflector 11 used for a reflector antenna manufactured by the method of the first embodiment. The reflector 11 has a reflector body 12. In this reflector body 12, a first skin layer 15 is provided by a first adhesive layer 14 on the lower surface of the core 13 that is the non-mirror surface side, and an insulating substrate 17 is provided by a second adhesive layer 16 on the upper surface that is the mirror surface side. There is. The upper surface of the insulating substrate 17 is covered with a protective film 18.

The insulating substrate 17 is formed of a polymer film of polyimide or epoxy in a curved shape such as a paraboloid or a hyperboloid, and may be covered with Kapton or the like for strength reinforcement. Further, grooves 19 along a predetermined direction are formed on the upper surface thereof at a predetermined interval, that is, a predetermined pattern. A metal 21 such as Cu is provided in the groove 19, and the metal 21 forms a conductive pattern of the reflector 11.

The manufacturing method of the reflector 11 will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. First, the curved insulating substrate 17 is formed as shown in step 1 in FIG. 4 (the step is hereinafter referred to as S). Then, grooves 19 are formed on the upper surface of the insulating substrate 17 by a predetermined pattern as shown in FIG. This step is referred to as S2.

FIG. 2 shows a laser processing apparatus 25 for forming the groove 19 in the insulating substrate 17. The laser processing device 25 has a device body 26 whose side surface is L-shaped. On the upper surface of the horizontal portion of the apparatus main body 26, there is provided a holding table 27 on which the insulating substrate 17 having a curved shape is supplied and placed. The holding table 27 is adapted to be driven in the XY directions by a first driving section 28a incorporated in the apparatus body 26.

A condenser lens 29 is provided above the holding table 27.
A processing optical system 29 (a telecentric optical system in this embodiment) having a and a slit 29b is arranged.
The processing optical system 29 is vertically driven by a second drive unit 28b provided in the vertical portion of the apparatus body 26. The first drive unit 28a and the second drive unit 28b are driven by a control signal from the control unit 30.

The processing optical system 29 includes a laser oscillator 31.
The laser light L oscillated and output from is reflected by the reflection mirror 32 and enters. The laser light L incident on the processing optical system 29 is shaped by the slit 29b, so that the intensity distribution is made uniform from the state of Gaussian distribution shown in FIG. 3 (b) as shown in FIG. 3 (a). It

Here, the wavelength of an excimer laser, a triple harmonic (THG) YAG laser, a quadruple harmonic (FHG) YAG laser, or the like is 20 as a laser emitting ultraviolet light.
The thing of 0-300 nm is used.

The laser light L whose intensity distribution is made uniform by the slit 29b is condensed by the condensing lens 28a, and the insulating substrate 17 on the holding table 27 is irradiated and processed. Therefore, the holding table 27 is driven in the XY directions by the first driving unit 28a, and the processing optical system 29 is moved in the Z direction by the second driving unit 28b so as to maintain a constant distance from the upper surface of the insulating substrate 17. The laser light L is emitted while driving. As a result, the groove 19 having a rectangular cross section can be formed in the insulating substrate 17 according to the intensity distribution of the laser light L as shown in FIG. Even if the groove 19 is not a completely rectangular cross section, it has almost no influence on the formation of the antenna pattern.

When the groove 19 is processed by the laser light L on the insulating substrate 17 made of a polymer film, the electric potential on the surface of the groove 19 is positively charged {Appl. Phys. Vol.
60, No21 p2697 to 2699 (1992)}, and insulate the surface of the groove 19 in a solution containing a metal salt containing a negatively charged metal, for example, Pd (palladium), as shown in FIG. 5 (b). By immersing the substrate 17, the metal is deposited to form a metal film 33. This step is indicated by S3 in FIG.

Next, the groove 19 is formed using the metal film 33 as a nucleus.
Perform electroless plating on. This electroless plating is a method of performing plating without passing through an electric field as disclosed in JP-A-1-281792, for example. That is, the metal film 3
After the insulating substrate 17 on which No. 3 is formed is pulled out from the solution containing the metal salt, it is immersed in the electroless plating solution. As the electroless plating liquid, a first liquid mixed with formalin, copper sulfate and other liquids, and a second liquid mixed with caseiso-da, sodium cyanide and other liquids at a predetermined ratio. A mixture is used.

As a result, Cu as the metal 21 is deposited on the metal film 33 of the groove 19 as shown in FIG. 5C, and this Cu becomes the conductive pattern 34. This step is indicated by S4 in FIG.

Since the surface of the conductive pattern 34 formed by electroless plating has irregular irregularities as shown in FIG. 5 (c), the reflection direction of radio waves is not fixed. Therefore, if the conductive pattern 34 is formed by electroless plating, the conductive substrate 34 is pulled out from the electroless plating solution, dried, and then the insulating substrate 17 is placed on the holding table 27 of the apparatus body 26 again to form the groove 19. Laser light L of energy capable of melting the metal 21 on which the conductive pattern 34 is formed.
Are scanned and irradiated along each groove 19. The irradiation diameter of the laser light is the width of the conductive pattern 34 (about 0.2 mm in this case).
It is. As a result, the surface of the conductive pattern 34 is flattened, and the reflection direction of radio waves can be determined. This step is shown as S5 in FIG.

After the insulating substrate 17 is formed in this manner, the insulating substrate 17 is adhered to the upper surface of the reflector main body 12 by the second adhesive layer 16, and then the upper surface is covered with the protective film 18, whereby the reflector is formed. It will be 11. This assembling process is shown by S6 in FIG.

According to such a reflector 11, a reflector is provided.
The conductive pattern 34 can be formed in the groove 19 formed in the insulating substrate 17 by the light L by electroless plating.
Since the electroless plating does not involve exposure and development processing, a large-scale dark room for exposing the entire insulating substrate 17 to light is unnecessary, and further, it is possible to prevent blurring of the transferred image due to the exposure engineering system, and it is possible to perform precise patterning. Since the reflector 11 can be formed, it is easy to increase the diameter of the reflector 11.

Moreover, since the conductive pattern 34 formed by electroless plating can have a shape without a break (seam), its shape accuracy can be improved. In other words, conventionally, a plurality of tiles having a conductive pattern formed thereon have been attached to the upper surface of the insulating substrate 17, but in that case, a seam is formed in the conductive pattern, so that the shape accuracy is improved. Was sometimes reduced.

However, according to the above-described method of the present invention, the conductive pattern 34 can be formed without a seam, so that its shape accuracy can be improved. 6 and 7 show a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows a reflector 41 made by the method of this second embodiment. Incidentally, the reflector 1 of the first embodiment
The same parts as 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. That is, in the reflector 41 of this embodiment, the second adhesive layer 16 and the skin layer 40 are provided on the upper surface of the core 13 of the reflector main body 12 with the insulating substrate 17 formed of the same material as that of the first embodiment in a predetermined curved shape. Fixed through.

Next, this reflector main body 12 is shown in FIG.
When the groove 19 is formed on the upper surface of the holding table 27 of the laser processing apparatus 26 shown in FIG. 1 by a predetermined pattern, a conductive metal wire 42 such as Cu is inserted into the groove 19. Then, fix it with adhesive. Here, although an adhesive may be used for adhesion fixing, a material having adhesiveness to the insulating substrate 17 itself is used here. As a result, the metal wire 42 forms a conductive pattern 43. After forming the conductive pattern 43, the reflector 41 is formed by covering the upper surface of the insulating substrate 17 with the protective film 18. In addition, the groove 19
It is preferable from the viewpoint of accuracy that the laser is formed by using a laser, but the insulating substrate 17 may be simultaneously formed by a mold or the like, or may be formed by cutting.

According to such a reflector 41, the reflector is
The conductive pattern 43 can be formed by inserting and fixing the metal wire 42 into the groove 19 formed in the insulating substrate 17 by the light L. The length of the metal wire 42 is preferably the same as the length of the groove 19 so that there is no seam. Also, the insertion device or a person performs it. Therefore, since the conductive pattern 43 is formed without exposure or development processing, a dark room is not required and the diameter of the reflector 41 can be easily increased.
Here, regarding the metal wire 42, it is preferable that the reflection surface facing the protective film 18 is curved similarly to the insulating substrate 17, and as a result, the surface of the reflector 41 is smooth. If not, in the first embodiment. It is preferable that the plane of the conductive pattern 43 is flattened by the laser light L after the conductive pattern 43 is formed, as in the embodiment. This is to determine the reflection direction of radio waves.

Further, the groove 19 is processed in the insulating substrate 17 after the reflector body 12 is assembled. Since the reflector body 12 having the sandwich structure is usually assembled by autoclave molding, the insulating substrate 17 may be deformed under the influence of heat. However, since the groove 19 is formed in the insulating substrate 17 after the reflector body 12 is assembled, the groove 1
It is possible to prevent the dimensional accuracy (grid accuracy) of 9 from decreasing.

Furthermore, since the metal wire 42 can be seamlessly provided in the groove 19, the shape accuracy of the conductive pattern 43 can be improved. The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments and can be variously modified. For example,
In the first embodiment, the metal electrolessly plated is Cu.
However, other metals may be used as long as electroless plating is possible and conductivity is provided. Further, the metal wire provided in the groove in the second embodiment is not limited to Cu, and may be another metal as in the first embodiment.

[0038]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the conductive pattern of the reflector is formed by forming the groove in the insulating substrate with a predetermined pattern and providing the metal in the groove. Therefore, since the exposure and development processes are not required to form the conductive pattern, a dark room is not needed, and the reflector can be easily increased in diameter.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the conductive pattern is formed by providing metal by electroless plating in the groove of the insulating substrate formed by the laser light in a predetermined pattern.

According to the third aspect of the invention, a metal wire is provided in the groove formed in the insulating substrate by a predetermined pattern to form a conductive pattern. Therefore, claim 2
According to the third aspect of the invention, since the conductive pattern is not required to be exposed and developed in a dark room, it is easy to manufacture a reflector having a large diameter. Moreover, since the seamless conductive pattern can be formed, the accuracy of the grid shape can be improved.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the conductive pattern can be formed without immersing the reflector in a liquid such as an etching liquid, the etching liquid does not deteriorate the material of the reflector member. .

According to the invention of claim 4, since the laser light is processed with a short wavelength, a conductive pattern in which the roundness of the edge portion is suppressed due to the short wavelength can be formed. According to the invention of claim 5, it is possible to form a conductive pattern which is excellent in corrosion resistance, is inexpensive, and has a high electric conductivity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a part of a reflector according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a processing apparatus which similarly processes a groove on an insulating substrate.

FIG. 3 (a) is a laser beam before being formed by a slit.
FIG. 3B is an explanatory view of the intensity distribution of the laser light, FIG. 3B is an explanatory view of the intensity distribution of the laser light after being shaped, and FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view of a groove similarly formed in the insulating substrate.

FIG. 4 is a manufacturing process drawing of the same reflector.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of each manufacturing process of the reflector.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing a part of a reflector according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a manufacturing process drawing of the same reflector.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a general reflector.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a positional relationship between a reflector and a power feeding unit in the same manner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 17 ... Insulating substrate 19 ... Groove 21 ... Metal 33 ... Metal film 34 ... Conductive pattern 42 ... Metal wire.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Koichi Furukawa 1 Komukai Toshiba Town, Komukai-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Komu Factory, Toshiba Corporation (72) Mitsuaki Orikasa Komukai, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Toshiba Town No. 1 Inside the Toshiba Komukai factory

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A reflector antenna having a curved insulating substrate, wherein a conductive pattern is formed on the insulating substrate, wherein the conductive pattern has a metal wire in a groove formed in the insulating substrate. A reflector antenna, which is provided and formed. 2. A method of manufacturing a reflector antenna in which a conductive pattern is formed on a curved insulating substrate, the first step of forming a groove on the insulating substrate by a laser beam in a predetermined pattern, The second step of adhering the metal charged with the opposite electric charge to the surface of the groove charged by the laser light, and the electroconductivity to the groove by electroless plating using the metal attached to the groove as a nucleus. And a third step of providing a metal wire serving as a pattern. 3. A method of manufacturing a reflector antenna in which a conductive pattern is formed on a curved insulating substrate, comprising: a first step of forming a groove on the insulating substrate in a predetermined pattern; and a conductive pattern on the groove. A second step of providing a metal wire serving as a pattern, the method of manufacturing a reflector antenna. 4. The method of manufacturing a reflector antenna according to claim 2, wherein the laser light is ultraviolet light. 5. The method of manufacturing a reflector antenna according to claim 2, wherein the conductive pattern contains copper.