KR20080113121A - Apparatus for laser annealing of large substrates and method for laser annealing of large substrates - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus for laser annealing of large substrates comprising an optical device for generating a narrow illuminating line (31) on an illumination plane (36) of said substrate (32), said illumination line (31) being generated from a laser beam and having a cross-section with an expansion in a first direction and an expansion in a second direction, whereby said expansion in said first direction exceeds said expansion in said second direction by a multiple, and a scanning device being constructed for scanning a first section of said illumination plane of said substrate with said illuminating line in said second direction. According to the invention the apparatus comprises a rotating device for rotating (39) said substrate (32) relative to said illuminating line (31) by 180‹ about an axis (38) of rotation being normal to said illumination plane (36) after scanning said first section (37), whereby said scanning device is constructed for scanning a second section of said illumination plane (36) of said substrate (32) being adjacent to said first section of said illumination plane (36) of said substrate (32) with said illuminating line (31) in said second direction (y). ® KIPO & WIPO 2009

Description

Laser annealing apparatus for large substrates and laser annealing method for large substrates {Apparatus for laser annealing of large substrates and method for laser annealing of large substrates}

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for laser annealing of large substrates. The present disclosure also relates to a method for laser annealing of large substrates.

The conversion of a-Si to p-Si may be accomplished by heat treatment at approximately 1000 ° C. Such a process can only be used for a-Si on heat resistant substrates such as quartz. Such materials are expensive compared to ordinary float glass for display purposes.

Light of a-Si, in particular laser light induced crystallization, makes it possible to form p-Si from a-Si without damaging the substrate by thermal loading during the crystallization process. Amorphous silicon can be formed on substrates such as glass, quartz or composites by inexpensive processes such as sputtering or chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Subsequent laser induced crystallization processes are known as excimer laser crystallization (ELC), sequential lateral solidification (SLS) or thin beam crystallization process (TDX ™). An overview of these different manufacturing processes is given, for example, in D.S. Knowles et al. "Thin Beam Crystallization Method: A New Laser Annealing Tool with Lower Cost and Higher Yield for LTPS Panels"; Ji-Yong Park et al., "P-60: Thin Laser Beam Crystallization method for SOP and OLED application" and "LCD Panel Manufacturing Moves to the next Level-Thin-Beam Directional X'tallization," published in SID 05 Digest, 1-3. (TDX) Improves Yield, Quality and Throughput for Processing Poly -Silicon LCDs. " Polycrystalline silicon produced by one of these methods is called low temperature polycrystalline Si (LTPS).

Most of the laser crystallization processes described above have in common that the focused laser beam is scanned over the substrate by moving the stage on which the substrate is mounted and / or by moving the laser beam.

A line beam with a typical size and homogeneous intensity distribution, for example of 0.5 mm x 300 mm, is applied to silicon annealing on large substrates, for example using excimer laser crystallization (ELC). State-of-the-art optical systems use refractive optical illumination systems that include cross cylindrical lens arrays to form the desired intensity distribution. These arrays whose functionality is described in US 2003/0202251 A1 are an example of a more general group of homogenization schemes that split the input beam into multiple beams using suitably shaped sub apertures. The overlap of these multiple beams in the field plane averages the intensity variations to make the beam homogeneous. The line beam scans the substrate in the short or wide direction, ie in the less extended direction of the illumination line.

The future trend is to reduce the width or uniaxial expansion of the line beam used for the crystallization of amorphous silicon thin films as much as possible and to increase the length or long axis size. Thus, US 2006/0209310 A1, incorporated herein by reference, crystallizes a long thin beam having a size of 5-15 μm × 700 mm or more (eg 5 μm × 730 mm) for scanning the surface of the substrate in the uniaxial direction. Start with Such thin and long illumination lines having a uniform or at least predetermined intensity distribution are formed from the beam emitted from the excimer laser by a particular homogenization scheme in front of the projection / reduction optics that project / reduce the homogenized beam over the illumination plane.

To increase throughput, the future trend is to use larger substrates. In particular, in the case of a "thin beam directed crystallization (TDX ™)" process, where thin but long line beams are used, extension of length causes some problems:

Large size requires large mirrors and lenses The size is limited by the device length used in the manufacture of the lenses and mirrors and by the coating techniques.

Increasing the length requires higher effective transmission. The required transmission is proportional to the length of the line.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an alternative solution with respect to apparatus and methods for treating large substrates, in particular substrates exceeding the sizes used so far.

According to a first type, the present invention relates to an optical device for forming a narrow illumination line on an illumination plane of a substrate, the illumination line being formed from a laser beam and having an extension in a first direction and an extension in a second direction. A scanning device configured to scan a first portion of the illumination plane of the substrate with the illumination line along the second direction; An apparatus for laser annealing of a large substrate having a. In a first alternative embodiment, the optical device comprises at least two optical elements having refractive power which is an integral part of the projection / reduction optics for forming the illumination line on the illumination plane. The at least two optical elements are disposed adjacent to each other in the first direction. A second alternative embodiment includes another optical device for forming another narrow illumination line on an illumination plane of the substrate, the other illumination line being formed from a laser beam and extending in a first direction and a second one. And having a cross section with an extension in the direction, wherein the expansion in the first direction exceeds the expansion in the second direction a plurality of times. The optical device includes at least one optical element having refractive power, which is an integral part of projection / reduction optics for forming the illumination line on the illumination plane. The other optical device includes at least one other optical element having refractive power, which is an integral part of another projection / reduction optic for forming the other illumination line on the illumination plane. The at least one optical element and the at least one other optical element are disposed adjacent to each other in the first direction.

The optical elements and / or the optical element and the other optical element may be lenses or mirrors.

The optical elements and / or the optical element and the other optical element are preferably the last optical element with refractive power used in projection / reduction optics. The protective window between the projection / reduction optics and the substrate does not mean the term “optical element with refractive power,” only those optical elements that are only involved in the projection / reduction action itself.

According to a second type, the present invention relates to an optical device for forming a narrow illumination line on an illumination plane of a substrate, the illumination line being formed from a laser beam and having an extension in a first direction and an extension in a second direction. A scanning device configured to scan a first portion of the illumination plane of the substrate with the illumination line along the second direction; Another apparatus for laser annealing of a large substrate comprising a. According to the invention, the optical device comprises one last optical element with refractive power which is an integral part of the projection / reduction optics for forming the illumination line on the illumination plane. In order to increase the length dimension of the illumination line formed by the optical device, the distance between the last optical element and the illumination plane of the substrate is chosen to be greater than 500 mm.

The distance between the last optical element and the illumination plane of the substrate may also be greater than 600 mm. Preferably, the distance is larger than 700 mm, more preferably larger than 800 mm, even more preferably larger than 900 mm, most preferably larger than 1000 mm.

Alternatively or in addition, the optical device may comprise a long axis beam expanding device for expanding the laser beam in the first direction by an expanding angle greater than 7 ° for the expansion of the illumination line in the first direction. .

The expansion angle may be greater than 15 degrees. Preferably the expansion angle is greater than 20 °, more preferably greater than 25 °, even more preferably greater than 30 ° and most preferably greater than 35 °.

Most of the solutions described will result in the resulting seam at the substrate. This seam is due to the discontinuity due to the stitching of two mirrors or lenses or by a two-step processing technique. In general, the seam is not a problem because the substrate will be cut anyway. However, depending on the size of the desired panel, the cut line may be in the center of the substrate or away from the center. Thus all the described solutions have the potential to shift the position of the seam.

In the following description, the long axis refers to the axis perpendicular to the scanning direction. The short axis is an axis parallel to the scanning direction.

For simplicity, all illustrated optical elements are lenses. In general, it is advantageous if the optical element for focusing the beam in the short axis direction and the optical element for projecting the field limiting element onto the substrate are mirrors. As described in WO 2006/066687 A1, there may be a so-called bow tie error if a cylindrical mirror is used instead of a cylindrical lens.

First preferred embodiment: rotation of the stage

A first preferred embodiment according to the present invention is described with reference to Figs. The apparatus for laser annealing of a large substrate according to the first preferred embodiment comprises an optical apparatus for forming narrow illumination lines of known type. Examples of such optical devices are disclosed, for example, in US 2006/0209310 A1. Alternative optics are disclosed in US 5,721,416 A. The annealing apparatus further includes a stage on which the substrate can be located. The stage can be moved in a linear direction so that the illumination line scans the surface of the substrate. In addition, the stage may be rotated about an axis of rotation perpendicular to the surface of the substrate.

1 schematically shows the annealing apparatus in a top view. The figure shows the illumination line 31 and the surface 36 of the substrate 32 formed by the above-mentioned optical device. The substrate 32 is rectangular in shape and has a length l and a width w. The longitudinal direction is parallel to the y-direction of the rectangular coordinate system and the width direction is parallel to the x-direction. The substrate can be, for example, a conventional pane covered by a thin layer of amorphous silicon 50 nm thick.

The illumination line 31 also has a predominantly rectangular shape within the xy-plane which also extends in the vertical x and y directions of the Cartesian coordinate system. Expansion in the y-direction is indicated by reference number A _s and expansion in the x-direction is indicated by reference number A _l . The uniaxial extension A _s may be, for example, approximately 5-7 μm, and the expansion A ₁ in the major axis direction may be 730 mm, for example. It said major axis (A _l) of lighting lines 31 are homogeneous in the direction (x), that is, assuming that the intensity can be uniform. Speed can also uniform intensity profile of the (A _s), direction (y), and the slope of the intensity at the edges can be as high as possible (top hat profile). Instead of a uniform top hat profile in the y-direction, the illumination line 31 produces a strength profile similar to that shown in FIG. 36 of US 2006/0209310 A1, i.e. a steep leading edge L compared to the trailing edge T. FIG. It may have a profile. The leading edge L and the trailing edge T of the illumination line 31 shown in FIG. 1 are both indicated by their respective reference numerals. The reference numerals used in FIG. 1 of the present application correspond to the respective reference numbers in FIG. 36 of US 2006/0209310 A1.

The idea according to the invention is to use a laser line 31 which is shorter than the width w of the substrate 32. The substrate 32 must be processed in two steps, as shown in FIGS.

- the size of the thin laser beam 31 in the longitudinal direction (A _l) may be cut to the desired size by a blade. Instead of using a blade, zoom optics can be used to adjust the size of the beam 31. The advantage of zoom optics is the possibility to increase the lifetime of the entire system without reducing laser power.

The substrate 32 is processed on only one side in the first step. For this purpose, the stage is along the scanning direction 35 such that the illumination line 31 scans the first portion of the surface 36 of the substrate 32 so that crystallization of silicon occurs in the portion. Moved linearly. 2 shows the substrate 32 and the illumination line 31 after the processing step. The crystallized portion of the substrate 32 is indicated by reference numeral 37 in FIG. 2, and the portion that is not crystallized is indicated by reference numeral 36.

The stage is then rotated 180 ° about the axis 38 of the rotation 39 (FIG. 3) and moved back to the starting position (FIG. 4). If the minor axis direction (A _s) to the beams 31 and 33 of the profile, as described above different for trailing edge (T) and the leading edge (L) of which is important. In order to obtain similar processing results, the scanning direction for processing must be the same for both steps.

The size of the thin laser beam 33 must be adjusted again, for example by a blade or zoom optic as already mentioned above. The substrate 32 is processed on the other side in the second step. For this purpose, the illumination line 33 scans a second portion of the surface 36 of the substrate 32 adjacent to the first portion so that crystallization of silicon occurs in the second portion. Is linearly moved along the scanning direction 35. 5 shows the substrate 32 and the illumination line 33 after the processing step. Crystallized portions of the substrate 32 are indicated by reference numeral 37. At the edge of the laser beam 33 in the longitudinal direction (A _l) adjacent to the previously-part 37 in the crystallization, there will be a resulting seam (seam) (34). This is because the energy density drops at the edge of the beam 33. If the beam cutting blade is close to the substrate 32 and thus the resulting ramp in energy density is very small, the seam 34 may be very small.

As already mentioned, there will be seams at the boundaries of the treated areas. The positions of the seams can be moved in the major axis (A _l) direction (x) in accordance with the adjustment of the laser beam size.

A disadvantage of this solution is the implementation of the two stages and the rotating stages required for processing. Rotating stages, on the other hand, can be used in a very flexible manner. For example, rotating the stage 90 ° will affect the orientation of the Si crystals and define the preferred orientation for additional electronic components on the substrate.

Since some substrates have structures in the scanning direction or in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction, the inclination of the stage to some extent may prevent the appearance of the structures after processing.

An advantage of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention is that existing systems for 4th generation panels (730 mm x 920 mm) can be upgraded to 5th generation sizes of 1100 mm x 1300 mm. In addition, the transmittance required for the system will be the same.

Second Preferred Embodiment Stitching of Lenses and / or Mirrors

Another possibility for extending the length of the laser beam in the substrate is to join at least one of the lenses or mirrors of the optical device forming a narrow illumination line on the illumination plane of the substrate. In particular, the lens (mirror) closest to the substrate should have a large expansion in the long axis direction.

6 and 7 illustrate the main principle of an optical device capable of forming narrow illumination lines. 6 is a plan view in the xz-plane of an optical device according to the prior art. 7 is a plan view in the yz-plane of the same optical device. The optical device comprises two cylindrical lens arrays 1a, 1b forming a two-stage fly's eye homogenizer and an optically active convex cylindrical condenser lens (3). ). The optical device comprises a sliced cylindrical lens 2, a cylindrical lens 4 and projection optics consisting of multiple (three here) cylinder lens segments 2a, 2b, 2c, i.e. The reduction optics, in particular the examples shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, further comprise a cylindrical lens 5 which is optically active in the y-direction.

The homogenizer for the long axis ( _Al ) direction (x) comprises a plurality of cylindrical lenslets 1aa, 1ab, 1ac and 1ba, 1bb, 1bc, each arranged adjacent to each other and arranged in an array. The two cylindrical lens arrays 1a, 1b each having a focal length f ₁ resulting in a focal length f _array of the arrangement of (1a, 1b) and the condenser cylindrical having a focal length f ₃ It is comprised by the lens 3. The incident laser beam 10 traveling in the z-direction is divided into a plurality of beamlets corresponding to the number of cylindrical lenslets 1aa, 1ab, 1ac of the first cylindrical lens array 1a. do. Each beamlet is focused at a distance of focal length f _array to form a beam of light that diverges upon incident on the condenser lens 3. The condenser lens 3 converts the angular distribution of the beamlets into a field distribution in the plane 6 in which the substrate will be located. The size of the field depends on the focal length f ₃ of the lens 3 and the maximum angle of the angular distribution of each beamlet is brought about by the arrays 1a and 1b.

A possible homogenization scheme for the short axis (A _s ) is the slice lens 2, a concept already described in US 2006/0209310 A1. Speed (A _s) direction (y) with the curvature having respective cylindrical lenslets (2a, 2b, 2c) are shifted independently in -y direction to the speed (A _s). Speed (A _s) primary beam (main beam) (10a) in the direction (y) is deflected in accordance with the amount of shift. Major axis size of the lenslets (2a, 2b, 2c) in the direction of the (A _l) is a cylindrical lens element (1aa, 1ab, 1ac) of one of a size equivalent to the lens array (1a). Cylindrical in the focal plane of the local lens element 4, that is cylindrical in the lens 4, a focal length (f ₄₎ for a, the divergence of the incident beam in the width of the beam is reduced (A _s), direction (y) Depends on Due to overlap the some of the beamlets a displacement thereof by each other, and a beam profile with homogenization speed (A _s) direction (y) can be formed. Speed at the position of the focused beam on the (A _s), direction (y), a field limiting device 7, for example, a field stop (field stop) can be located. The projection optics 5 image the field limiting element 7 onto the plane of the substrate 6. A projection optical apparatus in the present case (5) is a major axis (A _l) direction (x) that do not affect the progression of the cylindrical lens beam (as an alternative may be a mirror) of the. Projection optics (5) may also be reduced by shortening the extension of the beam (A _s), direction (y).

As can be seen in Figure 6, optical element 5 has a large extension to the long axis (A _l) direction (x). Solutions of the following describe the (major axis (A _l) direction (x) as a) method that may be larger field sizes are achieved with the limited size of the optical element (5).

One possible solution for achieving larger field sizes is to join them together using two independent optical elements of the kind described above. Figure 8, illustrating the two identical devices, such as the major axis (A _l) named after each other in the direction (x), as shown in Figs. In particular, the laundry curl lens 5 cylinders are disposed adjacent to each other in the major axis (A _l) direction (x). The spacing 5g between the two cylindrical lenses 5 is such that at least partially the edge slopes of the illumination lines 6a, 6b formed on the surface of the substrate, ie on the illumination plane 6, at least partially overlap, It is predefined.

If the spacing 5g between the two adjacent cylindrical lenses 5 is further reduced, especially if the spacing 5g is substantially reduced to zero, the resulting illumination line 6a, 6b has a higher intensity. Will result in an overlapping region 9 of. With the use of cutting blades 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d arranged close to the illumination plane 6, the overlap can be adjusted as shown in FIG. 9. The controllability of the cutting blade 8 is indicated by arrows 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d in FIG. 8, respectively.

In this case, the two field distributions 11, 12 of the illumination lines 6a, 6b intersect at an intensity value of 50%. If the two curves 11, 12 have an intensity distribution with the same linear slope at the edges, then the sum of the two curves 11, 12 shown in FIG. 10 becomes a constant intensity throughout the field. Small residual deviations from the linear slope as well as residual heterogeneity in the intensity of the two field distributions 11, 12 can result in heterogeneity of the overall intensity.

A defined ramp can be achieved if the substrate plane 6 is not in the focal plane of the condenser lens 3 but slightly defocused. The advantage of this approach is that a very large field 13a can be formed.

As an alternative, it is also possible to use only one homogenizer on two narrow line generating optical systems and split the beam along the major axis A _l direction x with an axicon. This solution is not shown here.

Another possibility is to increase the overlap region (9) by increasing the distance of the imaging optics (5) for the substrate (6) by increasing the beam angle of the major axis, or (A _l) direction (x). The initial field distributions 21, 22 of the two beams are shown in FIG. 11. By cutting one or both of the beams 26a, 26b into the blades 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d, the intersection of the illumination line 6a and the illumination line 6b can be selected over a wide range. . This is exemplarily shown by the different extensions of the beam profiles 21, 22 shown in FIG. 12.

At the intersection region 9 of the two illumination lines 6a, 6b, at least one cut of the beams 26a, 26b (here both beams 26a, 26b are cut at the overlap region 9). There may be a small discontinuity 24 due to. For clarity, this situation is illustrated in FIG. 13, where the sum 23 of the intensity profiles 21, 22 in the long axis direction x is shown. This discontinuity 24 can create a seam in the substrate (not shown here, but on a principle similar to the situation shown in FIG. 5 due to the different silicon microstructures and surface morphology). The position of the seam can be moved over the entire intersection area 9 of each of the two beams 26a, 26b or the illumination lines 6a, 6b.

Another possibility for increasing the size of the field is described with reference to FIG. 14. 14 shows a top view of an optical device in an xz-plane according to the invention. The optical device includes the same optical elements as compared to those shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. In particular, the optical device comprises two cylindrical lens arrays 1a, 1b forming a two-stage fly-eye homogenizer and a convex cylindrical condenser lens 3 optically active in the x-direction. The optical device also comprises a slice cylindrical lens 2, a cylindrical lens 4 and projection optics consisting of multiple (three here) cylinder lens segments 2a, 2b, 2c, i.e. reduction optics, In particular, this example further includes a cylindrical lens 5 which is optically active in the y-direction. In addition, the field limiting the optical element, for example, a field aperture (7) is disposed in the intermediate conjugate field plane for the speed (A _s), direction (y).

The illumination is modified in such a way as to increase the size A _{1 in} the long axis direction x of the field 6. Departing from the example according to the prior art shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the last projection element 5 is divided into two elements 5a and 5b which are joined together at the stitching position 5s. The upper part of FIG. 15 is formed by the optical device shown in FIG. 14 and the illumination line 6 is the sum of the profiles 42 and 43 of the beams 26c and 26d respectively passing through the lenses 5a and 5b joined together. The intensity profile 41 is shown. In the example shown in FIG. 15, the overall field size 46 is larger than the size 47 of the substrate 40 (see substrate 40 shown at the bottom of FIG. 15). Thus, the incident laser beam 26 can be cut off on one or both sides by the respective blades 8a and 8b. Here, the blade 8a limits the expansion of the beam 26 to be the actual size 48 of the field shown at the top of FIG. 15.

The illumination line 6 with reduced extension A ₁ in the major axis direction x is scanned over the illumination plane of the substrate 40 by moving the substrate 40 along the scanning direction 45. Due to the stitching lenses 5a, 5b, the intensity profile 41 of the illumination line 6 has a discontinuity 49 in intensity. This discontinuity 49 results in seam 44 after processing of the substrate 40. Depending on the permitted position of the seam 44 after processing, the field size may be limited to the same extent on both sides, causing the seam 44 to be centered. Instead, the field may be confined on one side only, causing seam 44 to be off center. The lower part of FIG. 15 shows the seam 44 off center.

There are two possibilities for adjusting the substrate 40 relative to the field distribution 41:

The stage on which the substrate 40 is mounted can be moved in the major axis direction x as indicated by reference numeral 45a,

The stage on which the substrate 40 is mounted may be larger than the substrate 40. Substrate 40 is adjusted to the actual field using limiters 8a and 8b.

Third preferred embodiment: modifying the angular distribution and distance

Referring to Fig. 16, a third solution for increasing the size of the field in the substrate is described. FIG. 16 shows a plan view in the xz-plane for the optical device of the present invention whose functionality is known from the prior art, not a special structure. The components of the optical device are those already shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The optical device comprises two cylindrical lens arrays 1a, 1b forming a two-stage fly-eye homogenizer and an optically active convex cylindrical condenser lens 3 in the x-direction. The optical device also comprises a slice cylindrical lens 2, a cylindrical lens 4 and projection optics consisting of multiple (three here) cylinder lens segments 2a, 2b, 2c, i.e. reduction optics, In particular it further comprises a cylindrical lens 5 which is optically active only in the y-direction. The laser beam 10 emitted from the high power laser light source (not shown) is converted into narrow illumination lines 6 at the surface of the substrate.

According to the invention, the extension of the field in the last lens 5 or mirror is significantly smaller than the size of the field 6 in the substrate. The difference in field size is increased by the following actions:

-Last optical element 5 (note: the term "last optical element" means here the last lens or mirror used in projection optics. The protective window between the projection optics and the substrate is not considered here as an optical element ) And the distance d between the substrate (the position of the illumination line 6) can be increased. This is possible if the aperture of the optical element 5 increases in the minor axis direction y and / or the numerical aperture NA in the minor axis direction y in the substrate decreases. The target of the distance d is a value larger than 500 mm. Preferred distance is greater than 600mm.

The angle α of the edge beam 51 can be increased. The energy density at the substrate is reduced by the cosine law at the edge. Also if the angle α is increased, additional aberrations will require a modified design of the homogenizer. Such a design would require multiple lenses and possibly at least one aspherical cylindrical lens. The maximum angle α in the major axis direction x should be greater than 7 °. Preferably, the angle α should be greater than 15 °. That is, when the distance d between the optical element 5 and the substrate is 600 mm and the angle α is 15 °, a field A ₁ of 1100 mm may be formed of the optical element 5 having a size of 780 mm. . For an angle α of 20 °, the size of the element 5 is further reduced to 660 mm.

1 shows schematically a device according to a first embodiment in a top view showing the surface of a substrate and illumination lines.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the apparatus according to the first embodiment of FIG. 1 in a top view showing the surface of the substrate and the illumination lines after the first scanning step.

FIG. 3 schematically shows the device according to the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 in a top view showing the surface of the substrate during rotation about an axis of rotation.

4 schematically shows the device according to the first embodiment of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 in a top view showing the surface of the substrate after rotation by 180 ° about the axis of rotation.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the apparatus according to the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4 in a top view showing the surface of the substrate after the second scanning step.

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates an optical device according to the state of the art for forming narrow illumination lines on an illumination plane of a substrate, which is shown in the xz-plane of the Cartesian coordinate system.

FIG. 7 shows schematically the optical device according to FIG. 6 in the yz-plane of the rectangular coordinate system.

8 schematically shows an optical device according to the invention for forming a narrow illumination line on an illumination plane of a substrate, which is shown in the xz-plane of the Cartesian coordinate system.

9 is an intensity profile of illumination lines formed in the illumination plane by two optics forming the optical arrangement shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a sum intensity profile derived from the sum of the individual intensity profiles shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is another intensity profile of the illumination lines formed in the illumination plane by the two optics forming the optical arrangement shown in FIG. 8.

12 shows the intensity profile of the illumination lines when cutting off the beams forming the illumination lines in an adjacent area.

FIG. 13 is a sum intensity profile derived from the sum of the individual intensity profiles shown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 schematically illustrates another embodiment of an optical device according to the invention for forming narrow illumination lines on an illumination plane of a substrate, with the optical device shown in the xz-plane of the Cartesian coordinate system.

FIG. 15 schematically shows the intensity profile of the illumination line formed by the optical device according to FIG. 14 and the surface of the substrate processed by the optical device according to FIG. 14.

Figure 16 schematically shows an optical device according to the invention for forming a narrow illumination line on an illumination plane of a substrate, the optical device being shown in the xz-plane of the Cartesian coordinate system.

Claims (21)

An apparatus for laser annealing of large substrates, An optical device for forming a narrow illumination line 6, 6a above the illumination plane of the substrate, the illumination line 6, 6a being formed from the laser beam 10 and extending in a first direction x ( A _l ) and a cross section having an expansion A _{s in} a second direction y, wherein the expansion A _{l in} the first direction x is an expansion A in the second direction y an optical device that exceeds _s ) multiple times A scanning device configured to scan the first portion of the illumination plane of the substrate along the second direction y in the illumination lines 6, 6a, The optical device comprises at least two optical elements 5a, 5b having refractive power, which is an integral part of the projection / reduction optics for forming the illumination line 6 on the illumination plane, wherein the at least two The optical elements 5a and 5b are disposed adjacent to each other in the first direction x, Optical device for forming another narrow illumination line 6, 6b above the illumination plane of the substrate, wherein the other illumination line 6b is formed from a laser beam and extends in a first direction x A _l . And a cross section having an expansion A _{s in} the second direction y, wherein the expansion A _{l in} the first direction x represents the expansion A _{s in} the second direction y. At least one optical element having refractive power, which is an integral part of the projection / reduction optics for forming the illumination line 6a on the illumination plane (5), wherein the other optical device comprises at least one further optical element (5) having refractive power, which is another projection / reduction optic for forming the other illumination line (6b) on the illumination plane. Including the at least one optical element 5 and the One of the other optical element (5) is an annealing apparatus, characterized in that arranged adjacent to each other in the first direction (x). The method of claim 1, An annealing apparatus, characterized in that the optical elements (5a, 5b) and / or the optical element (5) and the other optical element (5) are lenses or mirrors. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The optical elements 5a, 5b and / or the optical element 5 and the other optical element 5 are the last optical elements 5, 5a, 5b having refractive power used for projection / reduction optics. An annealing device characterized in that. An apparatus for laser annealing of large substrates, - an optical device for forming a narrow lighting line (6) over the lamp plane of the substrate, wherein the illumination line (6) extension to this is formed from the laser beam 10, the first direction (x) (A _l) and It has a cross section having an expansion (A _s ) in a second direction (y), the expansion A _{l in} the first direction (x) is a plurality of expansions (A _s ) in the second direction (y) Optical device to exceed times, A scanning device configured to scan the first part of the illumination plane of the substrate into the illumination line 6 along the second direction y, The optical device comprises one last optical element 5 with refractive power, which is an integral part of the projection / reduction optics for forming the illumination line 6 on the illumination plane, the last optical element 5 And the distance d between the illumination plane of the substrate is greater than 500 mm. The method of claim 4, wherein Annealing device, characterized in that the distance (d) between the last optical element (5) and the illumination plane of the substrate is greater than 600 mm. The method of claim 5, wherein Annealing device, characterized in that the distance d between the last optical element and the illumination plane of the substrate is greater than 700 mm. The method of claim 6, Annealing device, characterized in that the distance d between the last optical element (5) and the illumination plane of the substrate is greater than 800 mm. The method of claim 7, wherein Annealing device, characterized in that the distance (d) between the last optical element (5) and the illumination plane of the substrate is greater than 900 mm. The method of claim 8, Annealing device, characterized in that the distance d between the last optical element (5) and the illumination plane of the substrate is greater than 1000 mm. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 9, The optical device extends the laser beam 10 by the expansion angle α in the first direction x for the expansion A _l of the illumination line 6 in the first direction x. An annealing device, characterized in that the extension angle [alpha] is greater than 7 [deg.]. The method of claim 10, And said expansion angle [alpha] is greater than 15 [deg.]. The method of claim 11, And said expansion angle [alpha] is greater than 20 [deg.]. The method of claim 12, And said expansion angle [alpha] is greater than 25 [deg.]. The method of claim 13, And said expansion angle [alpha] is greater than 30 [deg.]. The method of claim 14, And said expansion angle [alpha] is greater than 35 [deg.]. An apparatus for laser annealing of large substrates, - an optical device for forming a narrow lighting line (6) over the lamp plane of the substrate, wherein the illumination line (6) extension to this is formed from the laser beam 10, the first direction (x) (A _l) and It has a cross section having an expansion (A _s ) in a second direction (y), the expansion A _{l in} the first direction (x) is a plurality of expansions (A _s ) in the second direction (y) Optical device to exceed times, A scanning device configured to scan the first portion of the illumination plane of the substrate into the illumination line 6 along the second direction, The optical device extends the laser beam 10 by the expansion angle α in the first direction x for the expansion A _l of the illumination line 6 in the first direction x. for the major axis (a _l) a beam expanding device (1a, 1b, 3), the extension angle (α) includes the annealing apparatus is larger than 7 °. The method of claim 16, And said expansion angle [alpha] is greater than 15 [deg.]. The method of claim 17, And said expansion angle [alpha] is greater than 20 [deg.]. The method of claim 18, And said expansion angle [alpha] is greater than 25 [deg.]. The method of claim 19, And said expansion angle [alpha] is greater than 30 [deg.]. The method of claim 20, And said expansion angle [alpha] is greater than 35 [deg.].

Images