KR20080104285A - Plotting device and plotting method - Google Patents

Abstract

According to beam trace information on a laser beam applied to a photosensitive material (12), a mask data creation unit (82) creates mask data for making the number of exposure points in each area of the photosensitive material (12) is identical or reducing a difference between the numbers of exposure points in the respective regions. Raster image data read out from an image data storage unit (76) is converted into mirror data by a mirror data creation unit (78). Next, the mirror data is converted into a frame data by a frame data creation unit (80). The frame data is subjected to a masking process by the mask data created by the mask data creation unit (82). An image is exposed/recorded on to the photosensitive material (12) by driving an exposure head (30). ® KIPO & WIPO 2009

Description

Writing device and drawing method {PLOTTING DEVICE AND PLOTTING METHOD}

The present invention relates to a drawing apparatus and a drawing method for performing a drawing by relatively moving a drawing head having a plurality of drawing elements in the scanning direction of a drawing screen, and controlling the drawing elements in accordance with drawing data.

Background Art Conventionally, as an example of a drawing apparatus, various exposure apparatuses which perform image exposure with a light beam modulated in accordance with image data using a spatial light modulator such as a digital micro mirror device (DMD) have been proposed. The DMD is a mirror device in which a plurality of micro mirrors for changing the angle of the reflecting surface in accordance with a control signal are arranged two-dimensionally on a semiconductor substrate such as silicon, and the exposure head having the DMD is disposed relative to the scanning direction along the exposure surface. By moving, the image can be quickly recorded on the exposure surface.

However, it is difficult to cover an exposure area of sufficient size using a single exposure head.

Therefore, an exposure apparatus in which a plurality of exposure heads are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction is proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-9595). In this exposure apparatus, in order to improve the resolution in the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction, the DMDs in which the micromirrors are arranged in a lattice form are inclined with respect to the scanning direction. At this time, it is set so that the exposure range by adjacent DMD may overlap so that the connection part of DMD may complement each other.

However, fine adjustment of the relative position and relative installation angle between exposure heads is very difficult, and it is a little shifted from an ideal relative position and relative installation angle in many cases, and there exists a possibility that exposure unevenness may arise due to these. In addition, exposure unevenness is also generated by the effects of various aberrations of the optical system that guides the light beam to the DMD, distortion of the DMD itself, and positional shift of individual micromirrors.

Such a problem is not limited to the exposure apparatus, but may also occur in a printer or the like having, for example, an ink jet recording head which draws ink by drawing it toward a drawing screen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a drawing apparatus and a drawing method capable of very easily avoiding generation of drawing spots resulting from a setting state of a drawing head, a scanning state of a drawing screen, etc., and capable of drawing images with high accuracy. It is in doing it.

According to the drawing device and the drawing method of the present invention, the drawing screen is divided into a plurality of areas, and the difference between the areas of the number of drawing points to be written in each area, or the difference between the areas of the drawing energy applied to each area. By setting mask data for selectively rendering the drawing element so as to be small, setting states such as the inclination angle of the drawing head, the relative position between the plurality of drawing heads, various aberrations of the optical system, the positional shift of the individual drawing elements, and the scanning state It is possible to avoid the occurrence of the drawing spots due to the fluctuation of the ink very easily and to draw a desired image with high precision.

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages will become more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments, which cooperate with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the exposure apparatus which is one Embodiment of the drawing apparatus of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a scanner of the exposure apparatus of FIG. 1.

3A is a plan view showing an exposed-completed area formed on an exposed surface of a photosensitive material. 3B is a plan view showing the arrangement of the exposure areas by the respective exposure heads.

4 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of an exposure head of the exposure apparatus of FIG. 1.

5A is a top view illustrating a detailed configuration of an exposure head of the exposure apparatus of FIG. 1. 5B is a side view illustrating a detailed configuration of an exposure head of the exposure apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged view illustrating a configuration of a DMD of the exposure apparatus of FIG. 1.

7A is a perspective view for explaining the operation of the DMD in an on state. 7B is a perspective view for explaining the operation in the off state.

8 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a fiber array light source.

Fig. 9 is a front view showing the arrangement of light emitting points in the laser emitting portion of the fiber array light source.

FIG. 10 is a control circuit block diagram of the exposure apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a processing flowchart in the exposure apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Fig. 12 is a top view showing the positional relationship of the slits corresponding to the exposure regions by one DMD.

It is an upper side figure for demonstrating the method of measuring the position of the light spot on an exposure surface using a slit.

Fig. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between a linear beam trajectory by DMD and an aggregation region set in the photosensitive material.

It is explanatory drawing of the histogram of the number of exposure points calculated | required from the relationship shown in FIG.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of mask data set for uniformizing the histogram of the exposure point number shown in FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of mask data set for uniformizing the histogram of the exposure point number shown in FIG. 15. FIG.

Fig. 18 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the relationship between the beam trajectory in a meandering state by the DMD and the aggregation region set in the photosensitive material.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of an exposure point number histogram obtained from the relationship shown in FIG. 18.

20 is an explanatory diagram of an exposure point number histogram obtained from the relationship shown in FIG. 18.

21 is an explanatory diagram of an exposure point number histogram obtained from the relationship shown in FIG. 18.

It is explanatory drawing of the histogram of the number of exposure points calculated | required from the relationship shown in FIG.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of mask data set in order to uniformize the histogram of the number of exposure points shown in FIGS. 19 to 22.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram of mask data set for uniformizing the histogram of the number of exposure points shown in FIGS. 19 to 22.

25 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the relationship between raster image data and micromirrors that constitute a DMD.

26 is an explanatory diagram of mirror data.

27 is an explanatory diagram of frame data.

28 is an explanatory diagram of a masking process for frame data.

As shown in FIG. 1, the exposure apparatus 10 which concerns on this embodiment is equipped with the flat-shaped moving stage 14 which adsorb | sucks and hold | maintains the board | substrate with which the sheet-shaped photosensitive material 12 adhered to the surface. . Two guides 20 extending along the stage moving direction are provided on the upper surface of the thick plate-shaped mounting table 18 supported by the four leg portions 16. The movement stage 14 is arrange | positioned so that the longitudinal direction may face a stage movement direction, and is supported by the guide 20 so that reciprocation is possible. In addition, the exposure apparatus 10 is provided with a stage driving device (not shown) for driving the moving stage 14 along the guide 20.

The gate-shaped gate 22 is provided in the center part of the mounting stand 18 so that the movement path of the movement stage 14 may be covered. Each end of the gate 22 is fixed to both sides of the mounting table 18. A scanner 24 is provided on one side with the gate 22 interposed therebetween, and a plurality of (for example, two) CCD cameras 26 for detecting the position of the photosensitive material 12 with respect to the mounting table 18 on the other side. ) Is installed. The scanner 24 and the CCD camera 26 are attached to the gate 22, respectively, and are fixedly arranged above the movement path of the movement stage 14. In addition, the scanner 24 and the CCD camera 26 are connected to the control circuit mentioned later. Here, for the purpose of explanation, in the plane parallel to the surface of the moving stage 14, as shown in FIG. 1, the X direction and the Y direction orthogonal to each other are defined.

A slit 28 formed in a "<" shape opening toward the -X direction is provided at the end edge portion of the upstream side (hereinafter may be referred to simply as "upstream side") along the scanning direction of the moving stage 14. Ten are formed at equal intervals. Each slit 28 is composed of a slit 28a located on the upstream side and a slit 28b located on the downstream side. The slits 28a and the slits 28b are perpendicular to each other, and the slits 28a have an angle of -45 degrees and the slits 28b have an angle of +45 degrees with respect to the X direction. In the position below each slit 28 in the movement stage 14, the single-cell type photodetector mentioned later is equipped, respectively.

The scanner 24 is equipped with ten exposure heads 30 arranged in substantially matrix form of 2 rows 5 columns as shown to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3B. In addition, below, when showing the individual exposure head 30 arrange | positioned at the nth column of m rows, it expresses with the exposure head _30mn .

Each exposure head 30 is attached to the scanner 24 so that the element column direction of the internal digital micromirror device (DMD) 36 which will be described later forms an arrow X direction and a predetermined set inclination angle θ. Therefore, the exposure area 32 by each exposure head 30 becomes a rectangular area inclined with respect to a scanning direction. As the movement stage 14 moves, a strip-shaped exposure completed area 34 is formed in the photosensitive material 12 for each of the exposure heads 30. In addition, below, when it shows the exposure area | region 32 by the individual exposure heads 30 arranged in the nth column of m rows, it expresses as exposure area | region _32mn .

3A and 3B, each of the exposure heads 30 in each row arranged in a line so that each of the stripe-shaped exposed areas 34 partially overlaps with the adjacent exposed areas 34, respectively. Are arranged so as to be shifted in the arrangement direction by a predetermined interval (natural arrangement of the long sides of the exposure area 32, twice in this embodiment). For this reason, can not be exposed between the parts of the first row of the exposure area (32 ₁₁₎ and the exposed area (32 ₁₂₎ can be exposed by exposure area (32 ₂₁₎ of the second row.

In addition, the center position of each exposure head 30 is made to correspond substantially with the said 10 slit 28 positions. In addition, the size of each slit 28 is a size which can fully cover the width | variety of the exposure area | region 32 by the corresponding exposure head 30. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 5A, and 5B, each of the exposure heads 30 is a spatial light modulator for modulating the incident light for each of the exposure regions 32 in accordance with image data, and is a DMD manufactured by Texas Instruments Inc., USA. (36) is provided. The angle of the reflecting surface of each micromirror is controlled on the DMD 36 based on the input image data.

As shown in FIG. 4, the fiber array light source provided with the laser emission part arrange | positioned in the line in the light incident side of the DMD 36 along the direction which the exit end part (light emission point) of an optical fiber matches with the long side direction of the exposure area | region 32 (38), a lens system 40 for correcting laser light emitted from the fiber array light source 38 and condensing on the DMD 36, and reflecting the laser light transmitted through the lens system 40 toward the DMD 36; The mirrors 42 are arranged in this order. 4 schematically shows the lens system 40.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the lens system 40 has a light amount distribution of a pair of combination lenses 44 for parallelizing the laser light emitted from the fiber array light source 38, and the parallelized laser light. It consists of a pair of combination lens 46 which correct | amends so that it may become uniform, and the condensing lens 48 which condenses the laser light with which light quantity distribution was corrected on DMD36.

On the light reflection side of the DMD 36, a lens system 50 for imaging the laser light reflected by the DMD 36 on the exposure surface of the photosensitive material 12 is disposed. The lens system 50 is composed of two lenses 52 and 54 which are arranged such that the exposure surface of the DMD 36 and the photosensitive material 12 are in conjugated relationship.

In this embodiment, the laser light emitted from the fiber array light source 38 is substantially enlarged five times, so that light from each micromirror on the DMD 36 is throttled by the lens system 50 to about 5 mu m. It is set.

A pair of wedge-shaped prisms 53a and 53b are disposed between the lens system 50 and the photosensitive material 12. One wedge-shaped prism 53b is configured to be displaceable by the piezoelectric element 55 in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis of the laser light with respect to the other wedge-shaped prism 53a. By changing the relative positional relationship of the wedge-shaped prisms 53a and 53b by means of the piezo element 55, the focal position of the laser light with respect to the photosensitive material 12 can be adjusted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the DMD 36 is a mirror device in which a plurality of micro mirrors 58 constituting a drawing element are arranged in a lattice form on an SRAM cell (memory cell) 56. Each micromirror 58 is supported by the support | pillar, and the material with high reflectivity, such as aluminum, is deposited on the surface. In addition, in this embodiment, the reflectance of each micromirror 58 is 90% or more, and the arrangement pitch is 13.7 micrometers in both a vertical direction and a horizontal direction. The SRAM cell 56 is a CMOS of a silicon gate fabricated in a conventional semiconductor memory manufacturing line through a strut including a hinge and a yoke, and the whole is monolithic (integrated).

When an image signal expressing the density of each point constituting the desired two-dimensional pattern in binary is recorded in the SRAM cell 56 of the DMD 36, each micromirror 58 supported on the post is centered on a diagonal line. It is inclined at any one of ± α degrees (for example, ± 10 degrees) with respect to the substrate side on which 36 is disposed. FIG. 7A shows a state inclined at + α degree in which the micromirror 58 is on, and FIG. 7B shows a state inclined at -α degree in which the micromirror 58 is in the off state. Therefore, by controlling the inclination of the micromirror 58 in each pixel of the DMD 36 in accordance with the image data as shown in FIG. 6, the laser light B incident on the DMD 36 is each micromirror. It is reflected in the inclination direction of 58. 6 shows an example of a state in which a part of the DMD 36 is enlarged and each micromirror 58 is controlled at + α degrees or -α degrees.

As shown in FIG. 8, the fiber array light source 38 includes a plurality of (eg, 14) laser modules 60, and each laser module 60 has one end of the multi-mode optical fiber 62. Are combined. The other end of the multi-mode optical fiber 62 is coupled to a multi-mode optical fiber 64 having a clad diameter smaller than that of the multi-mode optical fiber 62. As shown in detail in FIG. 9, seven ends of the multi-mode optical fiber 64 opposite to the multi-mode optical fiber 62 are arranged along a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction, and they are arranged in two rows so that the laser output unit 66 is comprised.

As shown in FIG. 9, the laser output part 66 comprised by the edge part of the multi-mode optical fiber 64 is inserted and fixed to two support plates 68 with a flat surface. In addition, it is preferable that a transparent protective plate such as glass is disposed on the light exit end surface of the multi-mode optical fiber 64 for protection thereof. Although the light exit end face of the multi-mode optical fiber 64 is high in light density, it is easy to be collected and deteriorated because of high light density, but by arranging the protective plate as described above, it is possible to prevent dust from adhering to the end face and delay the deterioration. .

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the main components of the exposure apparatus 10 centered on the control circuit 70. The CAD device 72 creates a two-dimensional image for exposing and recording the photosensitive material 12 as vector data. The raster image processor server (RIP server) 74 converts the vector data supplied from the CAD device 72 into raster image data which is bitmap data, compresses it as necessary, and supplies it to the exposure apparatus 10.

The control circuit 70 configures the DMD 36 from the image data storage unit 76 storing raster image data supplied from the RIP server 74 and the raster image data read from the image data storage unit 76. Frame data for creating frame data along the arrangement of the mirror data creating unit 78 for creating mirror data, which is time series data for each micromirror 58, and the micromirrors 58 constituting the DMD 36 from the mirror data. Create mask data for making a part of the micromirrors 58 constituting the DMD 36 into a non-driven state according to the creation unit 80 and the set state of the DMD 36, the conveyed state of the photosensitive material 12, and the like. Exposure which drives the DMD 36 along the mask data creation part 82 (drawing point number calculation part) to be made, and the frame data masked by the mask data, and exposes and writes the desired two-dimensional image to the photosensitive material 12. Sphere Head 30 Compared.

The control circuit 70 also includes a mirror arrangement information acquisition unit 84 (drawing point position calculation unit) for acquiring arrangement information of each micromirror 58 of the DMD 36 with respect to the mounting table 18, and a moving stage. Acquiring the meandering state of the photosensitive material 12 caused by the arrangement of the photosensitive material 12 provided in the (14), the conveyance in the arrow Y direction, the deformation of the photosensitive material 12 by compression, stretching, and the like as alignment information. Beam trajectory information creating unit 88 for creating beam trajectory information by laser light B for forming each exposure point in photosensitive material 12 based on alignment information acquisition unit 86 and mirror arrangement information and alignment information. ).

In addition, the mirror arrangement information can be detected from the position of the movement stage 14 at that time by detecting the laser beam B passing through the slit 28 formed in the movement stage 14 by the photodetector 90. . In addition, alignment information is obtained by imaging the photosensitive material 12 using the CCD camera 26, or imaging the alignment mark formed in the board | substrate to which the photosensitive material 12 adhere | attached.

The mirror data creation unit 78 creates mirror data from the image data stored in the image data storage unit 76 along the beam trajectory information created by the beam trajectory information creation unit 88.

The mask data generating unit 82 acquires the scanning position information of the photosensitive material 12 detected by the encoder 92 by the scanning position information obtaining unit 94, and the scanning position information and the beam trajectory information generating unit. Mask data is created in accordance with the beam trajectory information created by (88). In addition, the mask data creation unit 82 (drawing energy calculation unit) measures the light amount of the laser light B from each of the micromirrors 58 constituting the DMD 36 with a light amount detector 95 (drawing energy obtaining unit). Can be detected and mask data can be created based on the amount of light.

The mask data created by the mask data creating unit 82 is stored in the mask data storage unit 96 as mask data for each region described later. The mask data stored in the mask data storage unit 96 is selected by the mask data selection unit 98 in accordance with the scanning position information from the scanning position information acquisition unit 94 and supplied to the masking processing unit 99. . The masking processing unit 99 performs masking processing on the frame data supplied from the frame data creating unit 80 by the mask data supplied from the mask data selecting unit 98 and supplies the mask data to the exposure head 30.

The exposure apparatus 10 of this embodiment is comprised as mentioned above fundamentally, Next, the operation | movement and an effect are demonstrated based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the board | substrate with which the photosensitive material 12 was stuck is set to the predetermined position of the moving stage 14 (step S1).

Next, the photosensitive material 12 is imaged by the CCD camera 26 while moving the moving stage 14 to the scanner 24 side in FIG. 1, and the alignment information acquisition unit 86 acquires the alignment information ( Step S2). In this case, alignment information reads the alignment mark formed in the edge part of the photosensitive material 12, or the board | substrate to which the photosensitive material 12 adhered, with the CCD camera 26, and scans through the encoder 92. It can obtain | require as position information of the edge part or alignment mark with respect to the scanning position of the photosensitive material 12 acquired by the positional information acquisition part 94. The alignment information also includes meandering information caused by the moving stage 14 carrying the photosensitive material 12 meandering relative to the mounting table 18.

Subsequently, after moving the slit 28 formed in the movement stage 14 to the lower part of the scanner 24, the DMD 36 which comprises each exposure head 30 is controlled, and the micro of each DMD 36 is carried out. By guiding the laser light B to the slit 28 through the mirror 58, mirror arrangement information for the mounting table 18 of each micromirror 58 is acquired (step S3).

A method of acquiring mirror arrangement information of each micromirror 58 by the slit 28 and the photodetector 90 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. In addition, in the following description, the light spot by the micromirror 58 of the mth row and the nth column in the exposure area 32 shall be described as P (m, n).

FIG. 12 is a top view showing the positional relationship between the exposure areas 32 ₁₂ and 32 ₂₁ of the two DMDs 36 and the corresponding slits 28. As described above, the size of the slit 28 is a size that can sufficiently cover the width of the exposure area 32.

FIG. 13 is a top view illustrating a detection method when detecting the position of the light spots P (256, 512) of the exposure area 32 ₂₁ as an example. First, the moving stage 14 is moved slowly while the light spots P (256, 512) are turned on, and the slit 28 is relatively moved along the Y-axis direction, and the light spots P (256, 512) move upstream of the slit ( The slit 28 is positioned at an arbitrary position coming between 28a) and the downstream slit 28b. The coordinate of the intersection of the slit 28a and the slit 28b at this time is set to (X0, Y0). The value of these coordinates (X0, Y0) is the movement distance of the movement stage 14 to the above position indicated by the drive signal given to the movement stage 14 (for example, the scanning position information acquisition unit 94 through the encoder 92). ), And the X-direction position of the known slit 28 is recorded and recorded.

Next, the moving stage 14 is moved, and the slit 28 is relatively moved along the Y axis in the right direction in FIG. 13. And as shown by the dashed-dotted line in FIG. 13, the movement stage 14 is moved in the place where the light of the light spot P (256,512) passed through the slit 28b on the left side, and was detected by the photodetector 90. FIG. Stop it. The coordinates of the intersections of the slit 28a and the slit 28b at this time are recorded as (X0, Y1).

This time, the moving stage 14 is moved in the opposite direction, and the slit 28 is relatively moved along the Y axis in the left direction in FIG. And as shown by the dashed-dotted line in FIG. 13, the movement stage 14 is stopped in the place where the light of the light spot P (256,512) passed through the slit 28a of the right side and was detected by the photodetector 90. FIG. Let's do it. The coordinates of the intersections of the slit 28a and the slit 28b at this time are recorded as (X0, Y2).

From the above measurement results, the coordinates (X, Y) of the light spots P (256, 512) are determined by calculation of X = X0 + (Y1-Y2) / 2 and Y = (Y1 + Y2) / 2. The mirror arrangement information which is the coordinate of the light point P (m, n) formed by each micromirror 58 of the DMD 36 which comprises all the exposure heads 30 is acquired similarly.

Next, each light spot P (m, formed by each micromirror 58 based on the alignment information acquired by the alignment information acquisition part 86, and the mirror arrangement information acquired by the mirror arrangement information acquisition part 84, n)) scans the photosensitive material 12 and creates beam trajectory information for the photosensitive material 12 at the time of exposing and recording the two-dimensional image (step S4). In this case, the beam trajectory information includes the deviation of the installation position with respect to the moving stage 14 of the photosensitive material 12 obtained from the alignment information, the meandering state of the moving stage 14 with respect to the mounting table 18, and the photosensitive material 12. Information such as deformation due to expansion and contraction, positional shift of the micromirror 58 obtained from the mirror arrangement information, and the like are included.

After the beam trajectory information is created, the exposure surface of the photosensitive material 12 is divided into a plurality of areas prior to the preparation of the mask data, and an aggregation area for calculating the exposure point number histogram is set (step S5).

FIG. 14 shows a case where the beam trajectory information does not include meander information of the moving stage 14, and the beam trajectory 100 of each micromirror 58 with respect to the photosensitive material 12 is set in a straight line. Each aggregation area A1-A10 shown by hatching is set as a rectangular area having a predetermined area divided in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction of the photosensitive material 12.

The mask data generator 82 is a light point P (m, n) on the beam trace 100 corresponding to each aggregation region A1 to A10 based on the beam trace information created by the beam trace information generator 88. ) Is calculated as an exposure point number histogram (step S6). In addition, the number of light spots P (m, n) plotted in each of the aggregation regions A1 to A10 is the laser beam guided from the beam trajectory 100 and the micromirror 58 to the photosensitive material 12. It depends on the recording speed of the image by the light B and the moving speed with respect to the scanning direction of the photosensitive material 12.

15 shows an example of the number of exposure points of each calculated area A1 to A10. In the range where the exposure area | region by DMD-1 and DMD-2 overlaps, since the beam trace 100 by both micro mirrors 58 passes through the same aggregation area | region A1-A10, the number of exposure points becomes large.

Therefore, DMD-1 and DMD-2 are configured so that the number of exposure points in each aggregation area A1 to A10 is the same or the difference in the number of exposure points between each aggregation area A1 to A10 is small. Mask data for setting the specific micromirror 58 to the non-drawing state is created (step S7).

For example, when the number of exposure points is the same, when the reference value of the number of exposure points is 3 in the exposure point number histogram shown in FIG. 15, the exposure point number of the aggregation area A4 is 1 and the exposure of the aggregation area A5. The micromirror 58 in the non-drawing state may be set so that the number of points is 2, the number of exposure points of the aggregation area A6 is reduced by 2 and the number of exposure points of the aggregation area A7 is reduced by 2. In this case, if the position of the mirror number m1-m20 of the micromirror 58 which comprises each DMD-1 and DMD-2 is defined as shown in FIG. 14, DMD will show as shown in FIG. 16 and FIG. -1 and mask data 104A and 106A in which the micromirror 58 set to the non-drawing state of DMD-2 becomes "0" and the micromirror 58 driven along the drawing data becomes "1" is created. . In addition, the concept of the micromirror 58 set to the non-drawing state by these mask data 104A and 106A is illustrated by FIG.

18 shows a case where the beam trajectory information includes meandering information of the moving stage 14, and the beam trajectory 102 of each micromirror 58 with respect to the photosensitive material 12 is meanderingly set. In this case, since the DMD-1 and the DMD-2 are different in the scanning direction of the photosensitive material 12, the position where the DMD-1 scans the photosensitive material 12 and the DMD-2 selects the photosensitive material 12. The scanning position is different from the scanning direction.

Therefore, the exposure surface of the photosensitive material 12 is divided into a plurality of regions A to D in the scanning direction, and the aggregation regions A1 to A10, respectively, in the directions orthogonal to the scanning direction in the respective regions A to D, respectively. Light points on beam trajectories 102 corresponding to the respective aggregation areas A1 to A10, B1 to B10, C1 to C10, and D1 to D10 are set by setting B1 to B10, C1 to C10, and D1 to D10. The number of (P (m, n)) is calculated as an exposure point number histogram (step S6).

19-22 shows the example of the exposure point number of each calculated area | region A1-A10, B1-B10, C1-C10, and D1-D10. In this case, the exposure point number includes the influence of the variation in the conveyance speed of the photosensitive material 12.

Therefore, the number of exposure points in each aggregation area A1-A10, B1-B10, C1-C10, D1-D10 is the same, or each aggregation area A1-A10, B1-B10, C1-C10, The mask data which sets the specific micromirror 58 which comprises DMD-1 and DMD-2 to a non-drawing state is created so that the difference of the number of exposure points between D1-D10 may become small (step S7). In this case, as shown in FIG. 23 and FIG. 24, mask data 108A-108D and 110A-110D are created about each area | region A-D. 18 illustrates the concept of the micromirror 58 set to the non-drawing state by the mask data 108A and 110A.

Further, the beam trajectory 102 to be meandered is created as vector data, and in the part where the change in the direction of the vector data is large, the division width of the area with respect to the scanning direction is set small, and in the part where the change in the direction of the vector data is small By setting the division width of the area with respect to the scanning direction large, the optimal mask data according to the setting state of the exposure apparatus 10 can be created. In addition, the division width of the region with respect to the scanning direction may be set in accordance with the change of the conveyance speed of the photosensitive material 12.

The mask data created as described above is stored in the mask data storage unit 96 (step S8).

After the above preparation work is finished, the moving stage 14 is moved to the CCD camera 26 side, and the main exposure by the scanner 24 is started.

In this case, the CAD device 72 creates the two-dimensional image exposed and recorded on the photosensitive material 12 as vector data, and supplies it to the RIP server 74. The RIP server 74 converts the supplied vector data into raster image data which is bitmap data. The raster image data is compressed as necessary, transmitted to the control circuit 70 of the exposure apparatus 10, and stored in the image data storage unit 76.

25 is an explanatory diagram of raster image data stored in the image data storage unit 76. In the figure, raster image data in an uncompressed state is shown for ease of explanation. The range of raster image data is a hatching range, and the range includes the image of "2". Circular numbers 1 to 8 indicate the arrangement of eight micro mirrors 58 that constitute the DMD 36 with respect to the raster image data. The image data storage unit 76 stores raster image data in a state where the address continuation direction becomes the same direction as the scanning direction of each micromirror 58 indicated by the arrow.

Thus, the mirror data creation unit 78 reads raster image data from the image data storage unit 76 in the address continuous direction (step S9), and follows the beam trajectory information supplied from the beam trajectory information creation unit 88. Drawing data obtained by tracing in time series which exposes the raster image data is created as mirror data (step S10).

FIG. 26 shows mirror data created from the raster image data shown in FIG. 25 on the assumption that the photosensitive material 12 does not meander and the beam trajectory by each micromirror 58 is a straight line. In this case, the frame represents a set of mirror data supplied substantially simultaneously to each micromirror 58 constituting one DMD 36.

In an actual system, the deviation of the installation position with respect to the movement stage 14 of the photosensitive material 12, the influence of meandering by the movement of the movement stage 14, the unevenness of the conveyance speed of the movement stage 14, etc. Mirror data is created by tracing the corresponding raster image data along the beam trajectory information calculated by considering the influence, for example, the beam trajectory 102 shown in FIG.

Next, the mirror data is supplied to each of the micromirrors 58 constituting the DMD 36 and converted into frame data which is exposed and recorded at substantially the same time (step S11). In this case, the frame data can be easily created by, for example, preprocessing the rows and columns of the mirror data, as shown in FIGS. 26 and 27.

The created frame data is supplied to the masking processing unit 99, and masking processing is performed in accordance with the mask data selected by the mask data selecting unit 98 (step S12).

FIG. 28: is explanatory drawing at the time of masking process of frame data of DMD-1 using the mask data 104A shown in FIG. 16 created based on the exposure point number histogram shown in FIG. In this case, masked frame data is created as a logical product of the mask data 104A and the frame data. Frame data of DMD-2 is similarly created.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 18, the photosensitive material acquired by the scanning position information acquisition part 94 when the beam trajectory 102 meanders, or when there exists an unevenness in the conveyance speed of the photosensitive material 12. Moreover, as shown in FIG. Mask data corresponding to each of the areas A to D is selected from the mask data storage unit 96 by the mask data selection unit 98 and supplied to the masking processing unit 99 according to the scanning position information of (12), The masking process for the frame data is switched in accordance with the respective areas A to D.

When the masked frame data is supplied to the exposure head 30, the micromirrors 58 of the DMD 36 constituting each of the exposure heads 30 are controlled on and off by the masked frame data, and the laser light ( B) is irradiated to the photosensitive material 12, and an image is exposed and recorded (step S13).

The exposure recording using the frame data masked on the photosensitive material 12 is performed as described above. In this case, in each divided area | region A1-A10 (FIG. 14) or each aggregation area | region A1-A10, B1-B10, C1-C10, D1-D10 (FIG. 18) of the photosensitive material 12 which were divided. Is set to be equal to the number of exposure points, or the difference in the number of exposure points between the respective aggregation areas A1 to A10 or between each of the aggregation areas A1 to A10, B1 to B10, C1 to C10, and D1 to D10. Since it is set to become small, it originates in the deviation of the inclination angle of the DMD 36, the error of the installation position of the micromirror 58 which comprises the DMD 36, the setting error of the overlapping range of adjacent DMD 36, etc. The occurrence of density unevenness in the image can be avoided.

In addition, in embodiment mentioned above, mask data is created so that the number of exposure points in aggregation area | regions A1-A10 may become the same, or the difference of the exposure point number between aggregation area | regions A1-A10 becomes small, for example. However, the mask data may be created so that the exposure amount is the same or the difference in the exposure amount is small.

For example, the light amount detector 95 detects in advance the light amount of the laser light B guided from the micromirrors 58 constituting the DMD 36 to the photosensitive material 12, and the respective aggregation regions A1 to ... Non-imaging state so that the sum total of the light quantity of laser beam B guided to A10 may become the same between each aggregation area | region A1-A10, or so that the difference of the said sum total between aggregation area | regions A1-A10 may become small. Mask data for setting the micromirrors 58 to be set can be created, and the frame data is processed using the mask data to record an image without exposure unevenness in the photosensitive material 12.

Moreover, although the DMD which modulates the light beam for every pixel was used as said pixel embodiment in the said embodiment, it is not limited to this, Light modulation elements, such as liquid crystal arrays other than DMD, and a light source array (for example, LD array, organic EL array) Etc.) may be used.

Moreover, the operation form of the said embodiment may be a form which continuously performs exposure, moving the exposure head all the time, and the form which performs an exposure operation by stopping an exposure head at the position of each moving destination, moving a exposure head step by step. .

In addition, this invention is not limited to an exposure apparatus and an exposure method, For example, it is applicable also to the inkjet printer or the inkjet printing method.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described in detail, these embodiment is only an illustration and needless to say that the technical scope of this invention should be defined only by a claim.

Claims (14)

In the drawing apparatus 10 which draws by moving the drawing head 36 which has several drawing elements 58 to the scan direction of the drawing surface 12, and controls the drawing element 58 according to drawing data. In: A drawing point position calculation unit 84 for calculating a position of a drawing point by the drawing element 58 with respect to the drawing surface 12; A drawing point number calculating unit 82 for dividing the drawing screen 12 into a plurality of areas and calculating a drawing point number of the drawing points included in the respective areas based on the calculated positions of the drawing points; A mask data creating unit (82) for creating mask data for setting the drawing element to be in a non-drawing state in order to make the difference in the number of drawing points between the respective regions less than or equal to a predetermined value; The drawing apparatus performs drawing by controlling drawing elements other than the drawing element (58) set to the non-drawing state by the said mask data according to drawing data. The mask data creating unit 82 creates the mask data for each of the regions obtained by dividing the drawing screen 12 into the scanning direction and the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. Drawing device. 3. The mask data storage unit (96) according to claim 2, further comprising: a mask data storage portion (96) for storing the mask data of the respective regions divided in the scanning direction; A scanning position information acquisition unit 94 for acquiring information of a scanning position of the drawing element 58 in the scanning direction; A mask data selector (98) for selecting the mask data according to the obtained information of the scanning position from the mask data storage (96); And a part of the drawing element (58) is set to a non-drawing state by the selected mask data. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of said drawing heads 36 arranged in a direction orthogonal to said scanning direction, wherein drawing ranges are set to overlap each other, And the mask data creating unit (82) creates the mask data for each of the regions obtained by dividing the drawing screen in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. In the drawing apparatus 10 which draws by moving the drawing head 36 which has several drawing elements 58 to the scan direction of the drawing surface 12, and controls the drawing element 58 according to drawing data. In: A drawing energy acquisition unit 95 for acquiring drawing energy applied to the drawing screen 12 by the drawing elements 58; A drawing point position calculation unit 84 for calculating a position of a drawing point by the drawing element 58 with respect to the drawing surface 12; The drawing screen 12 is divided into a plurality of areas, and based on the calculated position of the drawing point and the drawing energy of the obtained drawing point, the drawing energy imparted by the drawing points included in the respective areas. A drawing energy calculation unit 82 for calculating the total for each of the regions; A mask data creation unit (82) for creating mask data for setting the drawing element (58) in a non-drawing state in order to reduce the difference in the total sum of the drawing energies between the respective areas; The drawing apparatus is performed by controlling the drawing elements (58) except the drawing elements (58) set to the non-drawing state by the mask data according to the drawing data. The mask data preparation unit 82 generates the mask data for each of the regions obtained by dividing the drawing screen 12 into the scanning direction and the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. Drawing device. The mask data storage unit 96 according to claim 6, further comprising: a mask data storage unit 96 for storing the mask data of the respective regions divided in the scanning direction; A scanning position information acquisition unit 94 for acquiring information of a scanning position of the drawing element 58 in the scanning direction; A mask data selector (98) for selecting the mask data according to the obtained information of the scanning position from the mask data storage (96); And a part of the drawing element (58) is set to a non-drawing state by the selected mask data. 6. The drawing head according to claim 5, further comprising a plurality of said drawing heads 36 arranged in a direction orthogonal to said scanning direction, wherein drawing ranges are set to overlap each other, And the mask data creating unit (82) creates the mask data for each of the regions obtained by dividing the drawing screen in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. In the drawing method in which the drawing head 36 having the plurality of drawing elements 58 is moved relatively in the scanning direction of the drawing screen 12, and the drawing elements 58 are controlled in accordance with the drawing data. Calculating a position of a drawing point by the drawing element (58) relative to the drawing surface (12); Dividing the drawing screen (12) into a plurality of areas and calculating the number of drawing points of the drawing points included in the respective areas based on the calculated positions of the drawing points; Creating mask data for setting the drawing element (58) to be in a non-drawing state in order to make the difference in the number of drawing points between the respective regions less than or equal to a predetermined value; And And a drawing element except for the drawing element (58) set to a non-drawing state by said mask data, in accordance with drawing data. The writing method according to claim 9, wherein the position of the drawing point is calculated as a position in each of the areas obtained when the drawing head (36) is relatively moved in the scanning direction. 10. The method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising the steps of: creating the mask data for the respective areas obtained by dividing the drawing screen (12) in the scanning direction and in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction; Acquiring information of a scan position in the scanning direction of the drawing element (58); Selecting the mask data according to the acquired information of the scanning position; And And a step of setting a part of the drawing element (58) to a non-drawing state by the selected mask data and performing a drawing process. In the drawing method in which the drawing head 36 having the plurality of drawing elements 58 is relatively moved in the scanning direction of the drawing screen, drawing is performed by controlling the drawing element 58 according to the drawing data. Obtaining drawing energy imparted to the drawing screen (12) by the drawing elements (58); Calculating a position of a drawing point by the drawing element (58) relative to the drawing surface (12); The drawing screen 12 is divided into a plurality of areas, and based on the calculated position of the drawing point and the drawing energy of the obtained drawing point, the drawing energy imparted by the drawing points included in the respective areas. Calculating a total for each of the areas; Creating mask data for setting the drawing element (58) to be in a non-drawing state in order to make the difference in the total sum of the drawing energies between the respective areas less than or equal to a predetermined value; And And a drawing element (58) except for the drawing element (58) set in the non-drawing state by the mask data, according to the drawing data. 13. The drawing method according to claim 12, wherein the position of the drawing point is calculated as a position in each of the areas obtained when the drawing head (36) is relatively moved in the scanning direction. The method according to claim 12, further comprising the steps of: creating the mask data for each of the areas obtained by dividing the drawing screen (12) in the scanning direction and in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction; Acquiring information of a scan position in the scanning direction of the drawing element (58); And Selecting the mask data according to the acquired information of the scanning position; And a step of setting a part of the drawing element (58) to a non-drawing state by the selected mask data and performing a drawing process.

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