KR20100031465A - Laser repair apparatus and laser repair method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A laser repair apparatus is provided to irradiate laser beam according to irradiation requirement. CONSTITUTION: A laser repair apparatus comprises a projection device(105), two dimensional space modulation device(126), storage means(123), recognition device, discern device(127), and control device(122,125). The projection device projects laser beam. The two dimensional space modulation device irradiates on the surface of a product by modulating space according to space pattern. A storage device stores irradiation information. A recognition device recognizes the range of defect. The control device controls the projection device by successively designating one or more space pattern.

Description

LASER REPAIR APPARATUS AND LASER REPAIR METHOD}

TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to the technique of correct | amending a defect by irradiating a laser beam to the defect in the surface of the product manufactured by laminating | stacking 1 or more types of 1 or more types of substance for forming a circuit on the surface of a board | substrate.

In the manufacturing process of a flat panel display (FPD), for example, an electrode pattern and a TFT are formed on a glass substrate by an etching technique or a sputtering technique while repeating a pattern by a photolithography process using a plurality of photomasks. (Thin Film Transistor) is formed. In particular, a TFT substrate of a liquid crystal display (LCD) includes a gate bus line layer, an insulating film layer, an amorphous silicon layer, a source-drain bus line layer, an insulating film layer, and a transparent layer. TFT substrates are fabricated using four to five masks forming electrode layers. In addition to the liquid crystal display, there are various kinds of FPDs such as plasma display panels (PDPs) and surface-conduction electron-emitter displays (SEDs).

In addition, the product itself produced by laminating various materials on the substrate may also be referred to as a "substrate", "glass substrate", "FPD glass substrate", or the like.

In the following description, the former is referred to as a "glass substrate" and the latter as a "FPD substrate" in order to distinguish between a glass substrate as a substrate on which nothing has yet been laminated, and a product in which various materials are stacked and electrode patterns and TFTs are formed. " The term " product " shall also include work-in-process during manufacture and finished products after completion of manufacture.

In the manufacturing process of the FPD, inspection and correction of defects on the FPD substrate are performed. In recent years, with increasing the size of the FPD, it has become an important problem to improve the yield by correcting a defect which is a cause of operation failure caused in each manufacturing process.

For example, defects that cause malfunctions include "short defects" in which wirings are connected, and "open defects" in which wiring is broken in the middle. Moreover, the shape defect of the resist pattern which becomes the cause of a "short defect" which may arise at the time of resist pattern shaping | molding is also a defect which should be corrected. In addition, foreign matter such as particles or resist deposited on the surface of the FPD substrate is also an example of defects to be corrected by removal. The method of correcting a defect varies depending on the type of defect, but a technique known as "laser repair" which corrects a defect by irradiation of a laser beam is well known.

For example, short defects are corrected by removing the short defects connected between the wirings formed on the FPD substrate by irradiation of a laser beam, and the factors of the operation defects such as particles and resists attached to the surface of the FPD substrate are reduced. The foreign matters to be removed are also corrected by removing them by irradiation of a laser beam. In other words, both the short defect and the foreign matter are subject to laser repair.

In laser repair, it is preferable to irradiate a laser beam suitably according to the kind, shape, etc. of each defect.

For example, in the correction of the short defect of a metal pattern, the laser beam of the wavelength (for example, 1024 nm) suitable for metal removal is irradiated with a comparatively high output. In contrast, in the removal of foreign matter, a shorter wavelength (for example, 355 nm) laser beam suitable for the removal of particles and resists other than metals is irradiated. In addition, in order to avoid damaging the pattern portions other than the defects, the irradiation range of the laser beam is set according to the shape of each defect.

Further, conventionally, correction has been performed to disable a pixel by cutting wiring, for example, to make a lighting defect in which the pixel is always lit, a non-lighting defect in which the pixel is always off. However, more advanced correction is required to correct defective pixels so as to be in a good state. Among the various correction processes, the correction is complicated after the final layer process of installing the transparent electrode is completed.

In the lower layer of the final layer, metal wiring, thin film transistor (TFT), and the like, which have been formed, are completed. In addition, since the transparent electrode is transparent, the crystal beam passes through the crystal laser beam, and as a result, the laser beam may reach the metal wiring or the TFT, and the pixel may be destroyed. Therefore, the correction after the final layer is formed requires a study for preventing the destruction of the pixel, which is complicated.

In the laser repair apparatus, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera captures an FPD substrate to be inspected to generate image information, and the image processing unit generates defect characteristic information indicating a characteristic of the defect from the image information. Based on the characteristic information, it is known that DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) shaping a laser beam (for example, refer patent document 1).

Moreover, the defect correction apparatus provided with the defect detection part which detects the defect which generate | occur | produced in the FPD board | substrate by comparison with a reference image may further comprise each of the following parts (for example, refer patent document 2).

Prohibited area setting section for setting an area for prohibiting correction for defects on a circuit element or a wiring

A defect area except for the prohibited area, and a correction area setting unit for setting a defect not related to the prohibited area as a correction area.

Priority setting section for setting the priority of the correction order for the correction area

· Correction to fix defects according to priority

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-29983

[Patent Document 2] International Publication WO 2004/099866

As described above, in the laser repair for the defects on the surface of the FPD substrate, several techniques have been developed in order to realize more appropriate irradiation of the laser beam. An object of the present invention is to more precisely control the irradiation of a laser beam in a laser repair, and to more appropriately realize the correction of a defect.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a laser repair apparatus for correcting the defect by irradiating a laser beam to a defect on the surface of a product produced by laminating one or more layers of one or more kinds of substances for forming a circuit on the surface of the substrate. Is provided. In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method performed by the laser repair apparatus.

The laser repair apparatus includes an injection means, a two-dimensional space modulation means, a storage means, a recognition means, a division means and a control means.

The injection means emits the laser beam.

The two-dimensional spatial modulation means is for irradiating onto the surface of the product by spatially modulating the laser beam emitted from the injection means in accordance with a designated spatial modulation pattern.

The storage means stores irradiation condition information corresponding to irradiation conditions according to the one or more kinds of materials laminated in one or more layers on the stacking region for each of the plurality of stacking regions on the surface of the substrate.

The recognition means recognizes the range of the defect.

The dividing means divides the range of the defect recognized by the recognizing means into one or more irradiating areas based on one of a plurality of stacked regions, based on the irradiating condition information stored in the storing means. do.

The control means is configured to irradiate the laser beam to the irradiation area under the irradiation conditions corresponding to the stacked areas overlapping the irradiation area with respect to each of the one or more irradiation areas divided by the dividing means. The ejection means is controlled while sequentially assigning one or more spatial modulation patterns to the dimensional space modulation means.

According to the present invention, the laser beam can be irradiated in accordance with the irradiation conditions on the basis of each irradiation area smaller than one defect. In other words, finer control is achieved than conventional laser repair, which determines irradiation conditions on the basis of one defect.

In addition, the irradiation of the laser beam to each irradiation area is conventionally performed by allowing the irradiation condition information to correspond to various types of irradiation conditions that are finer than alternative irradiation conditions of whether to permit or prohibit irradiation to each stacked area. Finer control.

According to the present invention, such fine control enables a more suitable laser repair.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the Example of this invention is described in detail, referring drawings.

In the following examples, the terms "glass substrate" and "FPD substrate" will be described separately as defined above. That is, a "glass substrate" is a substrate on which nothing has been laminated yet, and a "FPD substrate" is a product in which various materials are laminated on a glass substrate. When only "substrate" is referred to, it refers to a glass substrate as opposed to an FPD substrate which is a "product".

In addition, "FPD substrate" which is a "product" is an unfinished product which is being manufactured during each manufacturing process of manufacturing a gate bus line layer, an insulating film layer, an amorphous silicon layer, a source / drain bus line layer, an insulating film layer, and a transparent electrode layer. It may be sufficient as the finished product after completion of manufacture in which each layer was formed. The object of the laser repair in the following example is an FPD substrate defined as above.

1 is a block diagram of a laser repair apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The laser repair apparatus 100 of this embodiment is a device that irradiates and corrects a laser beam on a defect that is a cause of malfunction caused on the FPD substrate 101. The FPD substrate 101 is manufactured by laminating one or more kinds of materials for forming a circuit of an active matrix liquid crystal display using a TFT as a switching element on the surface of a substrate (that is, a glass substrate). It is a product. For example, LCD FPD substrates generally have a multilayer structure in which materials are laminated on the order of 4 to 5 layers. In this embodiment, the FPD substrate 101, which is an unfinished product under manufacture, is also included in the object to be processed (work) to be corrected by laser processing. Therefore, the number of layers on the FPD substrate 101 is defined as "one or more layers" as described above.

The laser repair apparatus 100 is connected to the display 102 and the defect inspection apparatus 103 directly or indirectly through a network.

The defect inspection apparatus 103 is an apparatus which inspects whether the surface of the FPD board | substrate 101 has a defect. When the defect inspection apparatus 103 detects a defect, it produces the defect information containing the coordinate which shows the position of the detected defect. The defect inspection apparatus 103 may discriminate | determine the magnitude | size, shape, a kind, etc. of the detected defect, and may include the determination result in defect information.

The defect inspection apparatus 103 outputs defect information to the laser repair apparatus 100. Therefore, the laser repair apparatus 100 can recognize where the defect exists in the FPD substrate 101 and correct the defect based on the defect information input from the defect inspection apparatus 103.

The laser repair apparatus 100 in the present embodiment includes a personal computer (104), a laser unit 105, a two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106, a stage 107, and an imaging unit ( 108) and various optical elements such as a mirror and a lens.

The PC 104 controls the operation of the laser repair apparatus 100. The laser repair apparatus 100 may include any other computer such as a workstation or a server device instead of the PC 104.

The PC 104 includes a non-illustrated nonvolatile memory such as a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), and the like, a RAM (not shown) used as a working area, for executing processing. Access memory), an external storage device such as a hard disk device, and an input device for receiving input from an operator. When the CPU executes the program, the functions of the sections described below are realized.

The program may be stored in an external storage device or ROM of the PC 104. Alternatively, the program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, provided to the PC 104 via a drive device of the storage medium, or provided to the PC 104 via a network.

The CPU realizes the functions of the respective parts shown in the PC 104 of FIG. 1 by loading the program into the RAM and executing the program while using the RAM as the work area. The function of each part in the PC 104 is mentioned later.

The laser unit 105 functions as an injection means for emitting a laser beam, a laser light source 109, a coupling unit 110, and a fiber 111 for guiding a laser beam. And a projection unit 112 for emitting the laser beam in a desired direction. The laser light source 109 is, for example, a yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) laser oscillator.

The defects which are the targets of the laser repair in this embodiment are mainly particles, resist films and the like adhering to the surface of the FPD substrate 101. Therefore, a laser light source 109 that emits a laser beam of a relatively short wavelength suitable for removing particles, a resist film, or the like is used. The wavelength of the laser beam in the present embodiment may be, for example, 355 nm or 266 nm, or may be near ultraviolet light having other wavelengths.

In addition, the laser light source 109 may oscillate or continuously oscillate. That is, the laser beam in this embodiment may be a pulsed laser beam or a CW (Continuous Wave) laser beam. In the case of a pulsed laser beam, the pulse width is, for example, 5 ns, and the pulse repetition frequency is, for example, 100 Hz.

The laser beam emitted from the laser light source 109 is emitted from the projection unit 112 through the coupling unit 110 and the fiber 111.

The two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 spatially modulates the laser beam emitted from the laser unit 105 functioning as the injection means in accordance with a designated spatial modulation pattern, and on the surface of the FPD substrate 101 which is a target product of laser repair. It is to investigate on. In the present embodiment, the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 is a digital micromirror device (DMD) in which micromirrors are arranged in a two-dimensional array, and the reflection cross-sectional shape of the laser beam is turned on or off of each micromirror. It can form in arbitrary shapes by this. Moreover, unlike the mechanical mechanism which forms a rectangular opening by the conventional light shielding plate, DMD forms the reflection pattern collectively in arbitrary shape in several places, and the FPD board | substrate reflects the laser beam reflected by each reflection pattern. Allow them to investigate. In addition, a transmissive or reflective spatial light modulator using liquid crystal instead of DMD may be used as the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106.

The stage 107 holds the FPD substrate 101, and the imaging unit 108 picks up the surface of the FPD substrate 101. The stage 107 may support the FPD board | substrate 101 using a clamp or a suction pad, for example. In addition, the stage 107 may be a floating stage that floats air to float the FPD substrate 101.

The stage 107 is comprised so that arbitrary position on the surface of the FPD board | substrate 101 may be correct | amended, imaging, etc. can be performed. That is, the stage 107 is moved two-dimensionally in the XY direction so that the relative position of the optical path of the laser beam and the FPD substrate 101 and the relative position of the optical axis of the imaging unit 108 and the FPD substrate 101 can be arbitrarily changed. Consists of. Instead of the XY stage 107, a stage on which the FPD substrate 101 is mounted is fixed, and a gantry that extends beyond the fixed stage is provided to be movable along the fixed stage, and the laser is provided on the horizontal arm of the gantry. Repair head; The laser unit 105, the laser irradiation optical system, and the observation optical system] may be provided to be movable. In addition, the detail of the relative movement by the stage 107 is demonstrated after demonstrating the optical system in the laser repair apparatus 100. FIG.

The imaging unit 108 may be, for example, a charge coupled device (CCD) camera or a complementary metal-0xide semiconductor (CMOS) camera. In addition, the imaging unit 108 may image a color image, or may image a grayscale grayscale image called a luminance image.

As described above, the laser repair apparatus 100 forms the cross-sectional shape of the laser beam emitted from the laser unit 105 into the shape of a defect to be laser repaired by the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106, thereby forming the FPD substrate 101. By irradiating on the surface of), defects in the surface of the FPD substrate 101 are corrected. In order to realize such a laser beam irradiation, the optical system of the laser repair apparatus 100 in the present embodiment is configured and arranged as follows.

That is, the laser beam emitted from the laser unit 105 is reflected by the mirror 113 and enters the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 at a predetermined angle θin. As described above, the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 in this embodiment is a DMD in which micromirrors are arranged on a two-dimensional array.

Each micromirror of the DMD corresponds to a driving memory cell, and the mirror surface of each micromirror is driven at a different inclination angle according to the state of the driving memory cell. There are two states of a memory cell, an "on state" and an "off state." Since the signal to each memory cell is independent, each micromirror is independently driven in either the on state or the off state.

Incident light incident on the micromirror in the on state is reflected at the predetermined angle θin at the predetermined angle θout with respect to the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106. However, in the on state and the off state, since the inclination angles of the mirror surfaces of the micromirrors are different, incident light incident on the off-state micromirror at the same predetermined angle θin is reflected in a direction different from the predetermined angle θout. For example, the difference between the inclination angles of the micromirrors in the on state and the off state is 10 degrees.

In the on-mirror micromirror, the laser beam reflected at the predetermined angle θout is incident on the mirror 114, is reflected by the mirror 114 in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the imaging lens 115, and the imaging lens Beam splitter 116 is reached via 115. Then, the laser beam is reflected by the beam splitter 116, passes through the half mirror 117, and is irradiated onto the surface of the FPD substrate 101 through the object lens 118.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the laser beam reaching the beam splitter 116 from the mirror 114 along the optical axis of the imaging lens 115 is controlled by the beam splitter 116 for the optical axis of the objective lens 118. Is reflected in the direction of. Beamsplitter 116 may be, for example, a dichroic mirror.

In addition, the laser beam reflected by the micromirror in the OFF state of the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 is reflected in a direction which does not enter the mirror 114, as shown by the broken line in FIG. Therefore, the shape of the beam cross section of the laser beam incident on the mirror 114 becomes the shape of the spatial modulation pattern for driving each micromirror in the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 in an on state and an off state.

The laser repair apparatus 100 further includes an illumination light source 119 and an imaging lens 120, and the imaging unit 108 is arranged such that the optical axis of the imaging unit 108 coincides with the optical axis of the objective lens 118. It is. The illumination light emitted from the illumination light source 119 reaches the half mirror 117 through the imaging lens 120, is reflected from the half mirror 117 in the direction of the optical axis of the objective lens 118, and the FPD substrate 101. ) Is irradiated to the surface.

The laser repair apparatus 100 further includes an imaging lens 121. The optical axis of the imaging lens 121 also coincides with the optical axis of the objective lens 118. Therefore, the light reflected from the surface of the FPD substrate 101 proceeds along the optical axis of the objective lens 118 as follows. That is, the reflected light on the surface of the FPD substrate 101 enters the half mirror 117 through the objective lens 118, passes through the half mirror 117, and enters the beam splitter 116, and the beam splitter After passing through 116, an image is formed on the light-receiving surface of the imaging unit 108 through the imaging lens 121.

In this way, the beam splitter 116 has a function of joining the irradiation light path of the laser beam with the observation light path by the imaging unit 108.

In addition, the laser is placed so that the surface of the FPD substrate 101 and the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 are in the conjugate position, and the surface of the FPD substrate 101 and the light receiving surface of the imaging unit 108 are in the conjugate position. The repair apparatus 100 is configured.

The mirror 114, the imaging lens 115, the beam splitter 116, the half mirror 117, the objective lens 118, the illumination light source 119, the imaging lens 120 and the imaging lens 121, Combined, it can be one microscope unit. The microscope unit has a function of reducing the spatially modulated laser beam in the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 to project it onto the surface of the FPD substrate 101, and expanding and observing the surface of the FPD substrate 101.

The laser repair apparatus 100 configured as described above is controlled by the PC 104 as follows.

The PC 104 functions as the main control unit 122, the recipe storage unit 123, the stage control unit 124, the laser control unit 125, the spatial modulation control unit 126, and the image processing unit 127.

The main control unit 122 is realized by the CPU of the PC 104 executing a program. The main control unit 122 controls the stage control unit 124, the laser control unit 125, the spatial modulation control unit 126, and the image processing unit 127. In addition, the main controller 122 receives defect information from the defect inspection device 103, reads information for designating a correction method called "recipe" from the recipe storage unit 123, and the image processing unit 127. From the image processing result.

The recipe storage unit 123 is realized by a RAM (not shown) included in the PC 104 and stores a recipe. The recipe storage unit 123 may be implemented using both a RAM and a hard disk device.

Here, the FPD substrate 101 includes one layer of various materials for forming a circuit of a gate bus line layer, an insulating film layer, an amorphous silicon layer, a source / drain bus line layer, an insulating film layer, and a transparent electrode layer on the surface of a glass substrate. Or a product produced during or after completion of the production produced by laminating in plural layers. Although the detail of a recipe is mentioned later, in this embodiment, the reference image 300 illustrated in FIG. 3 and the irradiation condition image 400 illustrated in FIG. 4 are registered as a recipe. The irradiation condition image 400 is a pattern region (shape) of each layer of a gate bus line layer, an insulating film layer, an amorphous silicon layer, a source / drain bus line layer, an insulating film layer, and a transparent electrode layer formed on a glass substrate surface in a plurality of layers. Position), irradiation conditions information corresponding to the irradiation conditions according to the physical properties such as the reflectance, laser resistance, heat action (absorption rate, thermal conductivity) of the laser beam of a specific wavelength to the material constituting the pattern, or the laser repair prohibited region. Is an example. That is, the recipe storage unit 123 is set to the laser repair prohibition zone in order to prevent damage due to laser irradiation on the transparent electrode formed on the uppermost layer, the TFT formed on the lower layer, and the like, and the metal present in the lower layer than the transparent electrode. It functions as a storage means for storing the irradiation condition information distinguished by setting and changing the laser energy for each laser irradiation area, such as setting the laser energy weakened so that the periphery is not damaged by the heat action by the laser irradiation.

The stage control unit 124 is realized by the CPU of the PC 104 that executes the program and the interface between the stage 107 and the PC 104. In addition, the stage control unit 124 controls the stage 107 in accordance with an instruction from the main control unit 122.

That is, the stage control part 124 controls the stage 107 so that the optical axis of the objective lens 118 may intersect the surface of the FPD board | substrate 101 at the position specified from the main control part 122. FIG. Under the control of the stage control unit 124, the stage 107 relatively moves the FPD substrate 101 in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the objective lens 118.

This relative movement is for irradiating a laser beam to an arbitrary position on the surface of the FPD substrate 101, and performing imaging with an arbitrary position on the surface of the FPD substrate 101 as the center of the field of view. The specific method of relative movement differs depending on the specific configuration of the stage 107.

For example, the two axes orthogonal to each other in parallel with the bottom surface are the x and y axes, and the optical axis of the objective lens 118 is perpendicular to the bottom surface, and the stage 107 is parallel to the bottom surface. In the case of holding 101, for example, the configuration may be performed as follows (a) to (c), and the stage controller 124 operates as follows according to the configuration of the stage 107.

(a) The stage 107 is comprised so that the FPD board | substrate 101 may be moved to a x direction and a y direction by the motor which is not shown in figure.

In this case, the stage control unit 124 controls the stage 107 to move the FPD substrate 101 along the x-axis and the y-axis according to the instruction of the main controller 122.

(b) The stage 107 is comprised so that the FPD board | substrate 101 may be moved to a x direction by the motor which is not shown in figure, and it is fixed to the mount so that it may exceed this 1-axis movement stage 107. A gate-type gantry is provided.

In this case, the gantry has a horizontal beam parallel to the y axis, and a laser repair unit (laser unit 105, laser irradiation optical system, observation optical system) is provided to be movable along the horizontal beam. The stage control unit 124 instructs the motor (not shown) of the stage 107 of the amount of movement in the x direction of the FPD substrate 101 and the amount of movement of the optical unit in the y direction, and thereby the objective lens 118 and the FPD. Relative positions of the x direction and the y direction are controlled between the substrates 101.

(c) The stage 107 is fixed to a mount, and is provided with the gate type gantry which can move to a x direction along the fixed stage over both sides of this fixed stage 107. As shown in FIG.

In this case, the gantry has a horizontal beam parallel to the y axis as in the case of (b), and the laser repair unit similar to the case of (b) is provided on the horizontal beam so as to be movable. The stage control unit 124 instructs the motor (not shown) of the stage 107 of the amount of movement in the X direction of the gantry and the amount of movement in the y direction of the laser repair unit, and thus the objective lens 118 and the FPD substrate 101. ), Relative positions in the x and y directions are controlled.

For example, with the above structures (a) to (c), the laser beam is irradiated to an arbitrary position on the surface of the FPD substrate 101, and any arbitrary surface on the surface of the FPD substrate 101 is provided. Relative movement for imaging is carried out with the position as the center of the field of view.

The laser controller 125 controls the laser unit 105 in accordance with an instruction from the main controller 122. The laser controller 125 is realized by the CPU of the PC 104 that executes the program and the interface between the laser unit 105 and the PC 104. The laser controller 125 controls the following (a). The laser controller 125 further controls one or more of (b) to (h) in accordance with the specifications of the laser unit 105 and the like.

(a) Timing to start irradiation of the laser beam

(b) the output power of the laser beam (i.e. the energy intensity per unit area of the cross section of the laser beam)

(c) the wavelength of the laser beam

(d) irradiation time of laser beam

(e) If the laser beam is a pulsed laser beam, the number of pulses to be irradiated

(f) pulse repetition frequency when the laser beam is a pulsed laser beam

(g) If the laser beam is a pulsed laser beam, the pulse width

(h) Continuous oscillation or pulse oscillation

The spatial modulation control unit 126 drives the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 independently in an on state or an off state according to an instruction from the main controller 122 to thereby provide the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106. To control.

The image processing unit 127 accepts a captured image that the imaging unit 108 captures and outputs. The image processing unit 127 outputs the received captured image to the display 102, processes the received captured image, and outputs the processing result to the main control unit 122.

Further, the image processing unit 127, based on the irradiation condition information stored in the recipe storage unit 123 functioning as a storage means, depends on which region of the plurality of stacked regions overlaps the recognized defect range. It also functions as a division means for dividing into more than one irradiation area. The image processing unit 127 functioning as the division means outputs one or more irradiation areas, which are the results of the division, to the main control unit 122.

The main controller 122, the laser control section 125, and the spatial modulation control section 126 sequentially designate one or more spatial modulation patterns to the spatial modulation control section 126 as the two-dimensional space modulation means, and the laser as the injection means. It functions as a control means for controlling the unit 105. As a control means, the main control part 122, the laser control part 125, and the spatial modulation control part 126 are provided in the laminated area which overlaps with the said irradiation area with respect to each of the 1 or more irradiation areas which the image processing part 127 divided. Control is performed such that a laser beam is irradiated to the irradiation area under the corresponding irradiation conditions.

Next, the operation of the laser repair apparatus 100 according to the specific example of the FPD substrate 101 will be described. 2 to 5 are diagrams according to the specific example of the FPD substrate 101, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the laser repair apparatus 100. FIG.

2 is an example of a cross-sectional view of an FPD substrate. The FPD board | substrate 200 of FIG. 2 is a specific example of the FPD board | substrate 101 of FIG.

The FPD board | substrate 200 is an example of the product manufactured by laminating | stacking one or more types of substance for forming a circuit on the surface of the glass substrate 201. In FIG. 2, six materials are stacked in six layers on the substrate 201 to form the FPD substrate 200.

First layer: metal for gate 202

Second layer: insulating film 203

Third layer: amorphous silicon 204

Fourth layer: metal for source 205 and drain 206

Fifth layer: insulating film 207

Sixth layer: ITO (Indium Tin 0xide) for transparent electrodes (210 and 211)

In the insulating film 207, a contact hole 208 for connecting the source 205 to the transparent electrode of the ITO 210, and a drain electrode 206 for connecting the transparent electrode of the ITO 211 are provided. The contact hole 209 is formed. In this manner, by stacking various materials on the glass substrate 201, a TFT (Thin Film Translstor) circuit is formed.

In Fig. 2, the straight lines A, B and C are in the optical axis direction of the objective lens 118 perpendicular to the surface of the glass substrate 201, and the straight lines A, B or C are irradiated light paths of the laser beam depending on the position of the defect. do.

Here, the ITO 210 and the ITO 211 are transparent, and a transparent material such as silicon dioxide (SiO ₂ ) is often used for the insulating film 203, the insulating film 207, or the like. Therefore, the irradiated laser beam not only affects the transparent electrode formed on the uppermost layer, but also affects the metal wirings that are transmitted and exist in the lower layer.

Further, the inventors have obtained the knowledge that, when the metal is in the lower layer, the substance of the upper layer is more susceptible to damage than the case where the metal is not in the lower layer. For example, the straight lines A, B, and C of FIG. 2 are examples of irradiation light paths in which metals are lower, and when a laser beam is irradiated along these irradiation light paths, the material of the upper layer of metals is likely to be damaged. When the metal is in the lower layer, the reason why the material in the upper layer is susceptible to damage can be considered as the following two reasons.

The first reason is that both of the transmitted light and the reflected light are affected. For example, when the laser beam is irradiated along a straight line B, the amorphous silicon 204 is not only influenced by the laser beam irradiated from above and transmitted through the insulating film 207, but also through the respective layers to pass through the gate ( It is also believed that the laser beam reflected from the metal of 202 is affected.

Therefore, in this example, the amorphous silicon 204 is excessively affected by the irradiation of the laser beam, and therefore may be damaged. Similarly, even when the laser beam is irradiated along a straight line A or C, there is a possibility that the material of the upper layer of the metal is damaged under the influence of both transmitted light and reflected light.

The second reason is that heat is affected. When the laser beam is irradiated to the metal, it becomes high temperature. Thus, for example, when the laser beam is irradiated along the straight line C of FIG. 2, the insulating film 203 and the amorphous silicon 204 between the metal of the gate 202 and the source 205 have only a direct effect of the laser beam. Rather, it is considered to be affected by heat from the metal.

Therefore, in this example, the insulating film 203 and the amorphous silicon 204 may be damaged. Similarly, even when the laser beam is irradiated along a straight line A or B, there is a possibility that the layer adjacent to the metal layer is damaged under the influence of heat.

As such, the degree of damage easily caused by the laser beam differs depending on the material of the lower layer already laminated. Therefore, in order to irradiate a laser beam more appropriately in laser repair, it is preferable to control not only the state of the uppermost layer at the time of laser repair but also the method of irradiating the material of lower layer.

Therefore, in order to sufficiently fix the defect while suppressing the damage, in this embodiment, the laser beam is irradiated in consideration of the substance of the lower layer using the irradiation condition image 400 described later in conjunction with FIG. 4.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, description of the specific example of an FPD board | substrate is continued.

3 is an example of a reference picture. The reference image 300 of FIG. 3 is a template prepared for each kind of FPD substrate which is the object of a laser repair, and for every process of performing a laser repair. For example, the reference image 300 of FIG. 3 is prepared for laser repair at a point when the stacking of materials to the sixth layer of FIG. 2 is completed for a certain kind of FPD substrate. For example, if laser repair is required at the time when lamination of each layer is completed, it is also necessary to prepare reference images for the first to fifth layers for FPD substrates of the same variety.

The reference image 300 is prepared by the laser repair apparatus 100 or other apparatus. In the present embodiment, the laser repair apparatus 100 will be described as preparing the reference image 300.

The reference image 300 is an image obtained by image | photographing a part of FPD board | substrate without a defect. The FPD board | substrate imaged for acquiring the reference image 300 is hereafter called "reference FPD board | substrate", and is distinguished from the FPD board | substrate 101 of FIG. 1 which is a target of laser repair.

The reference image 300 of FIG. 3 is obtained by imaging the part 108 of the reference FPD board | substrate, for example in the state in which the reference FPD board | substrate was mounted in the stage 107. FIG. And when imaging for acquiring the reference image 300 is performed, the illumination light source 119 irradiates an irradiation light on the same conditions as when performing a laser repair. In addition, n is a positive integer, and when acquiring the reference image 300 for laser repair performed when the lamination of the material to the nth layer is completed, the reference FPD in which the lamination of the material to the nth layer is completed. Substrates are used.

Both the reference FPD substrate and the FPD substrate 101 are manufactured by repeatedly forming the same circuit pattern in a two-dimensional array shape on a glass substrate. Hereinafter, the minimum unit of repetition of a circuit pattern is defined as "recovery." For example, one dot in the FPD is represented by three sets of pairs corresponding to the color filters of red (R), green (G), and blue (B).

In FIG. 3, only the circuit pattern of the whole circuit pattern corresponding to each of two times, and the circuit pattern of each part of each of two times is shown on the surface relationship. However, the reference picture 300 may be an image including a range corresponding to more recalls.

In the reference image 300 obtained as described above, a TFT, a fine metal wiring of the lower layer, or the like is imaged. That is, the reference image 300 includes gate bus lines 301a and 301c, storage capacitor bus lines 301b, source / drain wirings 302a to 302c, and CS bus lines. The auxiliary wirings extending from the contact holes 303a and 303b on the 301b, the TFTs 304a to 304d formed by laminating the amorphous silicon 204, and the transparent electrodes 305a to 305d are imaged. In FIG. 3, the source / drain wirings 302a to 302c traverse the gate bus line 301a on the source 205 and the drain (above the metal of the gate 202 in FIG. 2). 206) corresponds to the lamination of the metals.

The CS bus line 301b is made of metal laminated on the first layer in the same manner as the gate bus lines 301a and 301c in order to allow sufficient current to flow through the TFTs 304a and 304b. In addition, in FIG. 3, the range of the transparent insulating film is abbreviate | omitted. In addition, although the range of the transparent electrodes 305a-305d is shown in FIG. 3, in fact, since the transparent electrodes 305a-305d are transparent, a contour is clearly image | photographed clearly in the reference image 300 as shown in FIG. It is not limited.

Such a reference image 300 is stored, for example, in a hard disk device (not shown) of the PC 104 as part of the recipe. Thereafter, the reference image 300 is read and stored in the recipe storage unit 123 realized by the RAM as necessary. The reference image 300 is also used to generate the irradiation condition image of FIG. 4.

4 is an example of an irradiation condition image. The irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4 is included in a recipe with the reference image 300 of FIG. In addition, the irradiation condition image 400 is generated based on the reference image 300. In this embodiment, the operator instructs the laser repair apparatus 100 based on the reference image 300, so that the image processing unit 127 generates the irradiation condition image 400.

First, the content and meaning of the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4 will be described, and then generation of the irradiation condition image 400 will be described. As described above, the irradiation condition image 400 is an example of irradiation condition information expressed as an image. The irradiation condition information may be expressed in a format other than an image.

The irradiation condition image 400 in this embodiment is a monochrome gray scale image called a luminance image, and luminance indicating the irradiation condition is assigned to each pixel of the irradiation condition image 400. In addition, "pixel" in description of FIG. 4 has shown the "pixel" as the minimum unit which comprises the irradiation condition image 400 itself.

For simplicity, the luminance of each pixel constituting the irradiation condition image 400 in the present embodiment is an integer value of 0 or more and 100 or less. That is, the luminance 0 of each pixel constituting the image representing the fourth conditional regions 404a and 404b formed in the shape of the TFT 504a and the transparent electrode 505a corresponds to the black color of FIG. 4, and the pattern is formed. It is assumed that the luminance 100 of each pixel constituting the image representing the first condition regions 401a and 401b that are not made corresponds to the white color of FIG. 4.

Irradiation Condition The luminance L of the pixel P in the image 400 represents irradiation conditions in the case of irradiating a laser beam to a point Q on the FPD substrate 101 corresponding to the pixel P. The larger the value of the luminance L, the stronger the laser beam is irradiated to the point Q. Although "strongly irradiated" is described, the intensity of irradiation can be controlled by various methods, as described later in conjunction with FIGS. 7 to 9.

In the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4, the plurality of pixels having the same luminance corresponds to the same irradiation condition. As shown in FIG. 4, the irradiation condition image 400 includes the first condition regions 401a and 401b whitened at luminance 100 corresponding to the first condition, and the light gray of luminance 60 corresponding to the second condition. The second condition regions 402a to 402c, the third condition regions 403a to 403c shown in dark gray with luminance 30 corresponding to the third condition, and the fourth condition regions 404a to black indicated with zero luminance in response to the fourth condition. 404h).

For example, the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4 is divided into four colors of white, light gray, dark gray, and black, respectively corresponding to four types of luminance of 100, 60, 30, and 0. FIG. Lost In the following description, for the sake of convenience, in the descriptions of FIGS. 4 to 8, irradiation conditions corresponding to luminances of 100, 60, 30, and 0 are referred to as "first condition", "second condition", "third condition", and "first". 4 conditions ". The first condition shown in white represents the strongest irradiation. The second condition represented by pale gray represents the irradiation of 60% of the intensity of the first condition, and the third condition represented by the dark gray represents 30% of the irradiation of the first condition. The fourth condition shown in black represents 0% of the irradiation of the first condition, in other words, the fourth condition represents an irradiation inhibited region which should not be irradiated with the laser beam.

Each of these areas is an area classified according to how the material is laminated on the surface of the glass substrate 201, and is an example of the "laminated area". Irradiation condition image 400 is an example of irradiation condition information which corresponds to irradiation conditions according to one or more types of substances laminated | stacked one or more layers on the said laminated area with respect to each of several laminated area.

In this way, the luminance of each of the plurality of stacked regions in the irradiation condition image 400 is set to a value corresponding to the irradiation conditions corresponding to the stacked regions. For example, the irradiation condition indicates the amount of energy to be irradiated per unit area, and a value proportional to the amount of energy in each of the plurality of stacked regions is set as the luminance.

The first condition regions 401a and 401b, which are shown in white in the irradiation condition image 400, are obviously compared with the reference image 300 in FIG. 3, and the regions where neither the electrode nor the TFT nor the wiring are formed. to be.

In other words, the first condition regions 401a and 401b are regions in which only the insulating film 203 and the insulating film 207 are stacked on the glass substrate 201 in FIG. 2. Since there is little fear of damage by laser beam irradiation in such an area, you may irradiate a laser beam strongly and it is suitable for respond | corresponding to a 1st condition.

In addition, the second condition area 402a shown in light gray in the irradiation condition picture 400 is an area in which the gate bus line 301a is formed, as can be clearly seen in comparison with the reference picture 300 of FIG. 3. Among them, materials for forming other circuit elements (specifically, amorphous silicon 204, metal for source 205, metal for drain 206, ITO 210, or ITO 211) are formed on the upper layer. It is an area not laminated.

When the laser beam is irradiated to the region corresponding to the second condition region 402a in the FPD substrate 101, as described with reference to FIG. 2, due to the influence of the metal of the gate 202, the material around the upper layer or the like. There is a possibility of damage. Therefore, it is preferable to irradiate the laser beam to the second condition region 402a weaker than the first condition.

However, since only the gate bus line 301a is formed in the second condition region 402a and no other circuit elements are formed in the upper layer, the operation of the circuit may be adversely affected as compared with the region where the TFT or the like is formed. There is little risk of damage. Therefore, the irradiation of the laser beam from the FPD substrate 101 to the region corresponding to the second condition region 402a does not have to be extremely weak. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the second condition is corresponded to the second condition region 402a.

Similarly, among the CS bus line 301b and the gate bus line 301c formed in the first layer similarly to the gate bus line 301a, the material for forming other circuit elements is not stacked on the upper layer. The second condition regions 402b and 402c, which are shown in light gray in the irradiation condition image 400, respectively correspond.

In addition, the third condition regions 403a to 403c shown in dark gray in the irradiation condition image 400 are clearly compared with the reference image 300 in FIG. 3, respectively. It is an area | region in which the transparent electrodes 305a-503d are not laminated in the upper layer among the area | region where the metal for 302a-302c was laminated | stacked.

When the laser beam is irradiated to the region corresponding to the third condition regions 403a to 403c in the FPD substrate 101, as described with reference to FIG. 2, due to the influence of the metal of the source 205 or the drain 206. In addition, there is a possibility of damaging the surrounding materials such as the upper and lower layers. Therefore, it is preferable to irradiate a laser beam to the area | region corresponding to 3rd condition area | region 403a-403c in the FPD board | substrate weaker than a 1st condition.

A part of the third condition regions 403a to 403c traverses a region in which metals such as the gate bus line 301a are laminated on the lowermost layer. Therefore, when the laser beam is irradiated to the region corresponding to the third condition regions 403a to 403c in the FPD substrate 101, the influence of the laser beam that has passed through the upper layer and reaches the lowest layer also occurs. Therefore, the irradiation of the laser beam from the FPD substrate 101 to the region corresponding to the third condition regions 403a to 403c is preferably performed under a third condition that is weaker than the second condition.

Of course, each range of the source / drain wirings 302a to 302c is further refined depending on whether there is a metal of the gate bus line 301a, the CS bus line 301b, or the gate bus line 301c in the lower layer. They may be classified so as to correspond to different irradiation conditions. In the present embodiment, however, the classification is not made in more detail in consideration of the balance between the simplicity of generation of the irradiation condition image 400 and the precision of designation of the irradiation condition by the irradiation condition image 400.

In addition, in FIG. 3, an auxiliary wiring extending from the contact hole 303b to the TFT 304b is also formed in the same layer as the source 205 and the drain 206. Accordingly, the third condition corresponds to the third condition region 403a to 403c even in the part of the auxiliary wiring not overlapping with the transparent electrodes 305a to 305d, and is shown in dark gray in FIG. 4.

In addition, the fourth condition regions 404a to 404h shown in black in the irradiation condition image 400 are clear as compared with the reference image 300 in FIG. 3, and the TFTs 304a to 304d and the transparent electrode are clear. It is an area overlapping with any one of 305a to 305d. In other words, these fourth condition regions 404a to 404h are regions in which the amorphous silicon 204, the ITO 210, or the ITO 211 are stacked.

The TFTs 304a to 304d and the transparent electrodes 305a to 305d are susceptible to damage due to the irradiation of the laser beam, and the circuit is likely to fail when the damage is caused. Thus, in the present embodiment, the TFTs 304a to 304d and Irradiation of the laser beam to the region where the transparent electrodes 305a to 305d are formed is prohibited. As mentioned above, the prohibition of irradiation corresponds to the fourth condition. Therefore, the fourth condition corresponds to the fourth condition regions 404a to 404h.

As described above, the irradiation condition image 400 shows irradiation conditions when the luminance L of each pixel P irradiates a laser beam to a point Q on the FPD substrate 101 corresponding to the pixel P. FIG. The larger the value of the luminance L, the stronger the irradiation of the laser beam to the point Q.

The method of generating such irradiation condition image 400 from the reference image 300 of FIG. 3 differs depending on the embodiment. In this embodiment, the image processing unit 127 of FIG. 1 generates the irradiation condition image 400 based on the input of the operator.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, the PC 104 includes an input device including a pointing device such as a mouse, a touch sensor, a keyboard, and the like.

In the present embodiment, the operator designates the range of the source / drain wiring 302a in the reference image 300 through the input device while looking at the reference image 300 displayed on the display 102 and designates it. For the range, enter an instruction for allocating a value of " 30 " representing the irradiation condition. Since irradiation conditions in a present Example are represented by the numerical value of 0-100, it can also be said that it represents the percentage (percentage) with respect to the strongest irradiation conditions.

 Similarly for other laminated areas, the operator designates the range of each laminated area in the reference image 300 via the input device. And the operator inputs the numerical value which shows the irradiation condition to be assigned to the designated | prescribed laminated area | region through an input device.

In addition, the image processing unit 127 in this embodiment has a function of automating repetition of the same processing as a function of assisting an operator's input work.

In the reference image 300, a circuit pattern of each of a plurality of elements arranged regularly and periodically is imaged. Therefore, the image processing unit 127 reduces the input burden on the operator by applying the instruction to any one circuit pattern in the same manner to the other circuit patterns.

That is, the image processing unit 127 performs image processing for extracting the minimum unit of the repeating pattern, or inputs the main control unit 122 from the input device to the input from the operator specifying the range of one circuit pattern. The range of one circuit pattern is recognized by taking it in through.

And the image processing part 127 applies the instruction | indication of the range of each lamination | stacking area | region and the instruction | indication which corresponds to the irradiation condition to each lamination | stacking area | region made with respect to arbitrary one circuit pattern also to the circuit pattern of another circuit. do. As a result, the irradiation condition image 400 including the circuit patterns of the plurality of circuits is automatically generated from the reference image 300 including the circuit patterns of the plurality of circuits only by the operator giving instructions to one cycle. do.

The image processing unit 127 also provides functions similar to known drawing tools, photo retouch tools, and the like, to assist the operator instructing the range of the stacked area.

For example, the shape of the range of the transparent electrode 305a which will prohibit irradiation of a laser beam is an irregular hexagon as shown in FIG. The operator moves the pointer on the screen displayed on the display 102 to designate six hexagonal vertices of the transparent electrode 305a. The image processing unit 127 may select the hexagonal range of the transparent electrode 305a from the input coordinates of the six vertices.

In addition, in this embodiment, when one point in the reference image 300 is selected by the pointing device, it is input to the image processing unit 127 through the main control unit 122, and a range having the luminance of the selected point is automatically set. The irradiation conditions in accordance with the luminance are automatically set for the set area, and the operator may change the irradiation conditions in the set area. The image processing unit 127 displays the selection result on the display 102 so that an operator can modify the selection result as necessary.

The above-mentioned irradiation condition may be a numerical value previously determined by the image processing unit 127, or may be a numerical value input by the operator from an input device, or may be based on the distribution of luminance in the reference image 300 based on the image processing unit 127. May be determined by).

For example, when one point in the source / drain wiring 302a is designated by the input device, the range of the source / drain wiring 302a imaged at substantially the same brightness in the reference image 300 is selected. As a result, when the operator designates the range of the source / drain wiring 302a, it is not necessary to draw a complicated shape through an input device such as a pointing device.

In addition, when one straight line is designated on the reference image 300 by the input device, the image processing unit 127 generates a graph indicating a change in luminance on the designated straight line and displays the graph on the display 102, and the operator displays the graph. You may make it possible to select and change the irradiation conditions of each pattern area, referring.

For example, suppose the input device accepts an input specifying a straight line parallel to the CS bus line 301b between the CS bus line 301b and the gate bus line 301c. The luminance on the designated straight line differs from the portions of the source / drain wirings 302a to 302c and other portions. Therefore, the graph showing the change in luminance on the designated straight line helps the operator determine the range of the source / drain wiring 302a based on the luminance in the reference image 300.

The image processing unit 127 generates the irradiation condition image 400 from the reference image 300 on the basis of the input received by the input device while reducing the input burden on the operator by providing various auxiliary functions as described above. .

By expressing the irradiation condition information in the same gray scale image as the irradiation condition image 400, the operator can easily grasp the irradiation condition visually, and suppress human error in setting the recipe. can do.

5 is an example of a picked-up image in which a defect is picked up. The picked-up image 500 of FIG. 5 is acquired by the imaging part 108 picking up the FPD board | substrate 101 which is a laser repair object.

That is, the main control part 122 receives defect information from the defect inspection apparatus 103. Here, a defect to be corrected by laser repair will be referred to as a "target defect". The main control part 122 selects a target defect from the defect information from the defect inspection apparatus 103. Then, the main controller 122 stages the target defect so that the target defect coincides with the optical axis of the objective lens based on the positional information (defect coordinate data) of the designated defect so that the target defect enters the field of view of the objective lens 118. The stage control unit 124 is instructed to move 107 in the X and y directions. The stage controller 124 controls the stage 107 according to the command from the main controller 122.

After the relative movement described above, the imaging unit 108 captures the surface of the FPD substrate 101, outputs the captured image 500 to the display 102, and also outputs the image processing unit 127.

In the picked-up image 500 of FIG. 5 which picked up the FPD board | substrate 101 which is a laser repair object, the gate bus line 501a, CS bus line 501b, the gate bus line 501c, and the source / drain wiring 502a- 502c is imaged. The auxiliary wirings extending from the contact holes 503a and 503b on the CS bus line 501b formed on the same layer as the source / drain wirings 502a to 502c are also captured by the captured image 500. In the picked-up image 500, TFTs 504a to 504d formed by laminating amorphous silicon 204 are also picked up. Similarly to the reference image 300, since the transparent electrodes 505a to 505d are transparent, the outlines are not necessarily clear in the actual captured image 500, but the outlines of the transparent electrodes 505a to 505d are shown in FIG. 5.

Moreover, the defect 506 which is a target defect is also image | photographed in the picked-up image 500. FIG. The defect 506 is, for example, a residue of a particle or a resist film attached to the surface of the FPD substrate 101, or the like. The defect 506 exists over a plurality of regions in which different materials are stacked, such as the gate bus line 501c, the source / drain wiring 502b, and the transparent electrodes 505a to 505c, respectively. According to this embodiment, the laser beam is irradiated onto the defect 506 under different irradiation conditions for each of these different regions, so that the method of irradiation of the laser beam in the defect 506 can be finely controlled.

In the above, with reference to FIGS. 2-5, the recipe and the picked-up image were demonstrated according to the specific example of an FPD board | substrate.

Next, the operation of the laser repair apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9. As described with reference to FIG. 4, the irradiation conditions indicate the strength of the irradiation, but the strength and weakness of the irradiation can be controlled in various ways. Therefore, first, with reference to FIG. 6, the common point which does not follow the method of controlling the intensity of irradiation is demonstrated, and various methods of controlling the intensity of irradiation are demonstrated concretely with reference to FIGS.

6 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the laser repair apparatus 100. And before the process of FIG. 6 starts, it is assumed that the following (a)-(c) is already processed.

(a) Process of carrying in the FPD board | substrate 101 to the laser repair apparatus 100.

(b) For example, an input device (not shown) receives information such as the type of the FPD board 101 and the identifier of the FPD board 101 and gives it to the main controller 122.

(c) The process in which the defect inspection apparatus 103 outputs defect information on the FPD substrate 101 to the laser repair apparatus 100, and the main control unit 122 reads the defect information into, for example, a RAM. .

After these (a)-(c) processes, the process of FIG. 6 starts, and after completion | finish of the process of FIG. 6, the FPD board | substrate 101 is carried out from the laser repair apparatus 100. FIG.

In step S101 of FIG. 6, the main control unit 122 reads the recipe stored in advance from the recipe storage unit 123.

Next, in step S102, the main control unit 122 reads the defect coordinates for the one target defect specified from the defect information received from the defect inspection apparatus 103.

And in step S103, the imaging part 108 picks up the target defect of the surface of the FPD board | substrate 101, and acquires the picked-up image 500 of FIG. The imaging unit 108 outputs the captured image 500 to the display 102 and the image processing unit 127.

Next, in step S104, the image processing unit 127 recognizes the range of the defect 506 based on the captured image 500 of FIG. 5 output from the imaging unit 108.

For example, the image processing unit 127 compares the picked-up image 500 with the reference image 300 of FIG. 3 included in the recipe, and then selects the target image from the difference image between the reference image 300 and the picked-up image 500. Recognize the extent of the defect. The image processing unit 127 can recognize the size, shape, position, and range of the defect 506 by a method such as binarizing the difference image using an appropriate threshold value.

And in next step S105, the image processing part 127 compares the range of the recognized defect 506 with the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4 contained in a recipe. And the image processing part 127 performs alignment of the irradiation condition image 400 produced | generated from the picked-up image 500 and the reference image 300 as a preprocessing of a comparison. Based on the result of comparing the range of the defect 506 in the picked-up image 500 after positioning with the irradiation condition image 400, the image processing unit 127 sets the range of the defect 506 to one or more irradiation areas. Separate.

That is, in the example of this embodiment shown to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the image processing part 127 divides the range of the defect 506 into the irradiation area of the following (a)-(i).

(a) A region overlapping with the white first condition region 401b.

(b) An area surrounding the fourth condition area 404b and overlapping with the white area not given with quotation marks in FIG. 4.

(c) An area surrounding the fourth condition area 404d and overlapping with the white area not given with quotation marks in FIG. 4.

(d) An area around the fourth condition area 404f and overlapped with a white area not given with quotation marks in FIG. 4.

(e) The area (divided into two areas) which overlaps with the light gray second condition area 402c.

(f) An area overlapping with the third condition area 403b of dark gray.

(g) An area overlapping the fourth black conditional area 404b.

(h) The region overlapping with the fourth black conditional region 404d.

(i) The region overlapping the fourth black conditional region 404f.

When the image processing unit 127 divides the range of the defect 506 into the plurality of irradiation areas (a) to (i) in this manner, the image processing unit 127 outputs the divided result to the main control unit 122. The process then proceeds to step S106.

In step S106, the main controller 122 generates a spatial modulation pattern corresponding to each inspection condition based on the result of the division in step S105.

In addition, each "spatial modulation pattern" is a pattern assigned to the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106. Specifically, each spatial modulation pattern is a pattern that independently specifies either an ON state or an OFF state for each micromirror of the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106.

For example, suppose M and N are positive integers, and the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 is provided with M x N microdevices. For example, if the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 is a DMD, the microdevice is a micromirror. In this case, each spatial modulation pattern can be represented by a binary image of M × N pixels in which the on state is shown in white and the off state is shown in black.

The main controller 122 determines how to control the intensity of the irradiation indicated by the irradiation conditions, and determines the spatial modulation pattern according to each irradiation condition in accordance with the method of controlling the irradiation intensity. Examples of the spatial modulation pattern will be described later in conjunction with FIGS. 7 to 9.

Subsequently, in step S107, the main controller 122 performs control for irradiating the laser beam while sequentially switching the spatial modulation pattern determined in step S106. The control in step S107 is control for causing the laser beam to be irradiated to the irradiation area with respect to the irradiation conditions corresponding to the laminated areas overlapping the irradiation area with respect to each of the one or more irradiation areas classified in step S105. .

That is, the main controller 122 inputs each spatial modulation pattern to the spatial modulation controller 126, and the laser controller 125 inputs parameters related to the irradiation of the laser beam, which is the irradiation condition, for each spatial modulation pattern. The target defect 506 is specified and corrected while changing the irradiation conditions.

Then, after the processing is performed in the above-described series of flows, in the next step S108, the main controller 122 determines whether or not information on other unprocessed defects remains. If there are other unprocessed defects, the process returns to step S102, similarly performs a process according to a series of flows, and if all the defects have been processed, the process of FIG. 6 ends.

In the above, a series of operation | movement of the laser repair apparatus 100 was demonstrated with reference to FIG.

Hereinafter, an example of a spatial modulation pattern group will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9 while relating to steps S106 and S107 of FIG. 6.

7 is a diagram illustrating a first example of a group of spatial modulation patterns. The spatial modulation pattern group 600 of FIG. 7 consists of three of the space modulation pattern 601, the space modulation pattern 604, and the space modulation pattern 607. As shown in FIG.

The spatial modulation pattern group 600 is an example of a preferable spatial modulation pattern group when the output power of the laser light source 109 is variable. In addition, although the order of the three spatial modulation patterns in the spatial modulation pattern group 600 is arbitrary, it is assumed below in order of the spatial modulation patterns 601, 604, 607.

As described above, in the case where the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 is a DMD having M × N micromirrors, each spatial modulation pattern has an M × in which the on state is shown in white and the off state is shown in black. It can be represented by a binary image of N pixels. In FIG. 7, the spatial modulation patterns 601, 604, and 607 are extracted only in portions corresponding to the vicinity of the defect 506 falling into the field of view of the objective lens 118, and are represented by a white and black binary image. .

In the following, in the spatial modulation pattern, the white region specifying the on state is referred to as an "on region", and the black region specifying the off state is referred to as an "off region". In addition, although the outline of the defect 506 is displayed in white in FIG. 7 for convenience, an on state is not specified for each micromirror.

In the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4, the spatial modulation pattern 601 is divided into an on region 602 corresponding to the third condition indicated by the luminance of "30" and an off region 603 other than that. Is done.

The on area 602 includes the irradiation area of (f) described in step S105 of FIG. 6. In addition, in the example of FIG. 7, the laser repair apparatus 100 irradiates a laser beam not only on the defect 506 but also in the vicinity of the defect 506 in order to more reliably correct the defect 506. Therefore, the ON region 602 in the spatial modulation pattern 601 is the sum of the irradiation region of (f) and the region overlapping with the third condition region 403b of FIG. 4 in the vicinity of the defect 506. .

In other words, the on region 602 is a region overlapping with the third condition region 403b in or near the defect 506. The third condition area 403b corresponds to the third condition (that is, the irradiation condition indicated by the luminance of "30").

In addition, in the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4, the spatial modulation pattern 604 is divided into the on area 605 corresponding to the 2nd condition represented by the brightness | luminance of "60", and the other off area 606. FIG. Is done. Although the on-region 605 is divided into two, it is collectively called "on-region 605".

The on area 605 includes the irradiation area of (e) described in step S105 of FIG. 6. In addition, the on area 605 includes a region overlapping with the second condition region 402c in FIG. 4 in the vicinity of the defect 506 in order to reliably correct the defect 506.

That is, the on area 605 is an area overlapping with the second condition area 402c in or near the defect 506. The second condition area 402c corresponds to the second condition (that is, the irradiation condition indicated by the luminance of "60").

In addition, in the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4, the spatial modulation pattern 607 is divided into the on-region 608 corresponding to the 1st condition represented by the brightness of "100", and the other off-region 609. FIG. Is done. Although the on-region 608 is divided into four, it is collectively called "on-region 608".

The on area 608 includes the irradiation areas of (a) to (d) described in step S105 of FIG. 6. In addition, the on-region 608 contains the area | region which overlaps with the white part which shows the 1st condition of FIG. 4 in the vicinity of the defect 506 in order to fix the defect 506 more reliably.

That is, the on region 608 overlaps with the region corresponding to the first condition indicated by the luminance of "100" (for example, the first condition region 401b) inside or near the defect 506. Area.

As described above, the spatial modulation pattern group 600 includes the spatial modulation pattern 601 corresponding to the third condition, the spatial modulation pattern 604 corresponding to the second condition, and the spatial modulation pattern 607 corresponding to the first condition. ) The spatial modulation patterns 601, 604, and 607 have a shape based on a region of a specific gradation (that is, a specific luminance) in the irradiation condition image 400, and are patterns for shaping the laser beam in the same shape. The reason why the spatial modulation pattern group 600 does not have a spatial modulation pattern corresponding to the fourth condition is that the fourth condition in the present embodiment is to indicate the prohibition of irradiation of the laser beam.

Next, how the spatial modulation pattern group 600 is used will be described. The spatial modulation pattern group 600 is used, for example, when the following (a) and (b) hold. The laser light source 109 may be continuous oscillation or pulse oscillation.

(a) The output power of the laser light source 109 is variable.

(b) In the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4, the output power P _max and the irradiation time T corresponding to the luminance of "100" representing the strongest irradiation condition are set in advance. For example, the values of the output power P _max and the irradiation time T are stored in the recipe storage unit 123 in association with the irradiation condition image 400.

If (a) and (b) holds, if the main controller 122 generates the spatial modulation pattern group 600 in step S106 of FIG. 6, then in step S107, the spatial modulation pattern group 600 is performed as follows. Irradiation of the laser beam is performed.

In order to spatially modulate the laser beam into the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 in accordance with the spatial modulation pattern 601 corresponding to the third condition indicated by the luminance of "30", the main control unit 122 performs the spatial modulation pattern. The data of 601 is output to the spatial modulation control unit 126.

Further, the main control section 122 calculates the output power P ₃ corresponding to the third condition according to the equation (1).

P ₃ = P _max × (3O / 10O)... (One)

Then, the main controller 122 instructs the laser controller 125 to perform control for continuously emitting the laser beam from the laser unit 105 at the output power P ₃ for the irradiation time T.

The main controller 122 also synchronizes the operation timings of the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 and the laser unit 105 through the spatial modulation control unit 126 and the laser control unit 125. That is, the main controller 122 controls the synchronous control so that the laser unit 105 starts emitting the laser beam at the timing at which the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 drives each of the minute mirrors according to the spatial modulation pattern 601. Is done.

As described above, when the laser beam emitted at the output power P ₃ during the irradiation time T is spatially modulated according to the spatial modulation pattern 601 and irradiated onto the surface of the FPD substrate 101, the main control part 122 is next. Switches the investigation method.

That is, in order to spatially modulate the laser beam in the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 according to the spatial modulation pattern 604 corresponding to the second condition indicated by the luminance of " 60 " Data of the modulation pattern 604 is output to the spatial modulation control unit 126. Further, the main control section 122 calculates the output power P ₂ corresponding to the second condition by the formula (2).

P ₂ = P _max × (60/100)... (2)

Then, the main controller 122 instructs the laser controller 125 to emit the laser beam from the laser unit 105 at the output power P ₂ during the irradiation time T. FIG. The main controller 122 also performs the same synchronous control as described above.

As described above, when the laser beam emitted at the output power P ₂ during the irradiation time T is spatially modulated in accordance with the spatial modulation pattern 604 and irradiated onto the surface of the FPD substrate 101, the main control part 122 is again Switch the investigation.

That is, in order to spatially modulate the laser beam into the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 in accordance with the spatial modulation pattern 607 corresponding to the first condition indicated by the luminance of "100", the main controller 122 is spaced. Data of the modulation pattern 607 is output to the spatial modulation control unit 126. Further, the main control section 122 calculates the output power P ₁ corresponding to the first condition by the formula (3).

P ₁ = P _max x (100/100)... (3)

Then, the main controller 122 instructs the laser controller 125 to emit the laser beam from the laser unit 105 with the output power P ₁ during the irradiation time T. FIG. In addition, the main controller 122 performs the same synchronous control as described above.

As described above, when the laser beam emitted at the output power P ₁ during the irradiation time T is spatially modulated in accordance with the spatial modulation pattern 607 and irradiated onto the surface of the FPD substrate 101, the defect 506 is removed. The modification ends. That is, the processing shifts from step S107 to step S108 in FIG.

In addition, in the above description, the length of time for which spatial modulation is performed in accordance with the spatial modulation patterns 601, 604, and 607 is equally the irradiation time T, and the output power changes to P ₃ , P ₂ , and P ₁ . . However, when the laser light source 109 continuously oscillates, or when the laser light source 109 pulses, the pulse repetition period is sufficiently short compared to the irradiation time T, and it can be seen that the number of pulses is proportional to the irradiation time. The following control in step S107 is also possible.

That is, the main control section 122 calculates the third condition spatial modulation pattern irradiation time while performing the spatial modulation by the 601 to irradiate the laser beam corresponding to T ₃ according to the equation (4).

T ₃ = T × (30/100)... (4)

The main controller 122 controls the laser unit 105 indirectly through the laser control unit 125 so as to continuously emit the laser beam at the output power P _max for the irradiation time T ₃ . The main controller 122 also outputs the data of the spatial modulation pattern 601 to the spatial modulation control unit 126 while performing the same synchronous control as described above.

After the irradiation time T _{3 has} elapsed, the main control unit 122 applies irradiation time T ₂ to irradiate the laser beam with equation (5) while performing spatial modulation by the spatial modulation pattern 604 corresponding to the second condition. Calculate by

T ₂ = T × (60/100)... (5)

Then, the main controller 122 controls the laser unit 105 indirectly through the laser control unit 125 so as to continuously emit the laser beam at the output power P _max for the irradiation time T ₂ . The main controller 122 also outputs the data of the spatial modulation pattern 604 to the spatial modulation control unit 126 while performing the same synchronous control as described above.

After the irradiation time T _{2 has} elapsed, the main control unit 122 applies irradiation time T ₁ to irradiate the laser beam with equation (6) while performing spatial modulation by the spatial modulation pattern 607 corresponding to the first condition. Calculate by

T ₁ = T × (100/100)... (6)

Then, the main controller 122 controls the laser unit 105 indirectly through the laser control unit 125 so as to continuously emit the laser beam at the output power P _max for the irradiation time T ₁ . In addition, the main controller 122 outputs the spatial modulation pattern 607 to the spatial modulation control unit 126 while performing the same synchronous control as described above.

As mentioned above, the main control part 122, the laser control part 125, and the spatial modulation control part 126 function as a control means as follows. That is, each unit as the control means sequentially applies a plurality of spatial modulation patterns to the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 so that the laser beam is irradiated for each time in the one or more irradiation areas corresponding to the irradiation conditions corresponding to the irradiation areas. The laser unit 105 is controlled while designating as.

In addition, even if any of output power and irradiation time is changed, each part functioning as a control means output power so that the energy irradiated per unit area in each of one or more irradiation areas may correspond to irradiation conditions corresponding to the said irradiation area. Are sequentially assigned to the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 while controlling the laser unit 105 to emit a laser beam.

Incidentally, in the above-described example, each part serving as a control means further includes timing and laser unit 105 in which the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 switches the method of spatial modulation according to a plurality of spatial modulation patterns that are sequentially designated. The timing for switching the output power is controlled to be synchronized.

As described above, the main controller 122 sequentially assigns three spatial modulation patterns 601, 604, and 607 to the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 through the spatial modulation control unit 126, and the laser controller 125. The laser unit 105 is controlled through the. Then, the main controller 122 performs control to fix one of the irradiation time and the output power and change the other, so that the appropriate laser beam for each of the irradiation regions (a) to (i) described in step S105 of FIG. Investigation is realized.

In other words, the fine laser beam irradiation is controlled in units of the irradiation areas (a) to (i) which are areas smaller than one defect 506. In the present embodiment, the laser beam is additionally irradiated to the small area near the defect 506, but as described above, the small area near the defect 506 is also set corresponding to each stacked area. Therefore, according to this embodiment, a laser beam is irradiated to each of the irradiation areas (a) to (i) under irradiation conditions corresponding to the stacked areas overlapping the irradiation areas.

Further, conventionally, a method of using a physical mechanism such as a slit to form a beam cross-sectional shape of a laser beam is known. In this embodiment, an electrically driveable DMD is used as the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106. .

Therefore, in this embodiment, the time required for switching the spatial modulation pattern can be regarded as 0 (zero). Therefore, in this embodiment, the irradiation of the laser beam can be finely and appropriately controlled in an area smaller than one defect 506 in a much shorter time than the conventional method using the physical apparatus.

In addition, since the irradiation of the laser beam can be prevented by fine control, as a result, the laser beam does not cause unnecessary stress on the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 or other optical elements. Therefore, the lifetime of the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 or the like is not shortened more than necessary.

8 is a diagram illustrating a second example of a group of spatial modulation patterns. The spatial modulation pattern group 700 of FIG. 8 is composed of three of the spatial modulation pattern 701, the spatial modulation pattern 704, and the spatial modulation pattern 707. The order of the three spatial modulation patterns in the spatial modulation pattern group 700 is arbitrary, but in the following, the spatial modulation patterns 701, 704, and 707 are used.

Similarly to FIG. 7, FIG. 8 also extracts only the portions corresponding to the vicinity of the defect 506 that falls within the field of view of the objective lens 118 from the spatial modulation patterns 701, 704, and 707. The image is shown. In addition, the viscosity which showed the outline of the defect 506 for convenience is the same as that of FIG.

The spatial modulation pattern 701 is composed of an on region 702 and another off region 703 for driving a corresponding micromirror in an on state.

The on-region 702 is a region corresponding to the third condition indicated by the luminance of "30" in the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4 in the defect 506 or its vicinity. Both the region corresponding to the second condition indicated by and the region corresponding to the first condition indicated by the luminance of "100" are overlapped regions. In other words, the on region 702 includes the sum of the irradiation regions of (a) to (f) described in step S105 of FIG. 6. In addition, the on-region 702 includes the area | region in which the area | region in the irradiation condition image 400 corresponding to all the 1st-3rd conditions overlapped in the vicinity of the defect 506. As shown in FIG.

Similarly, the spatial modulation pattern 704 is composed of an on region 705 and an off region 706. Although the on-region 705 is divided into two, it is collectively called "on-region 705".

The on-region 705 is a region corresponding to the second condition indicated by the luminance of "60" in the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4 in the defect 506, and the luminance of "100". Each region corresponding to the first condition indicated by is an overlapping region. In other words, the on area 705 includes the sum of the irradiation areas of (a) to (e), and each area in the irradiation condition image 400 corresponding to the first to second conditions overlaps. It includes.

The spatial modulation pattern 707 overlaps with the area corresponding to the first condition indicated by the luminance of "100" in the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4 in the defect 506 or its vicinity. It consists of an area 708 and other off areas 709. In other words, the on area 708 includes the sum of the irradiation areas of (a) to (d) and includes an area overlapping with the area in the irradiation condition image 400 corresponding to the first condition. In addition, although the on area | region 708 is divided into four pieces, it is collectively called "on area | region 708."

That is, the on area 702 includes the on area 705, and the on area 705 includes the on area 708.

Next, the method of using the spatial modulation pattern group 700 will be described. The spatial modulation pattern group 700 can be used even when the output power of the laser light source 109 is constant. In addition, the laser light source 109 may oscillate continuously or pulse oscillate. The spatial modulation pattern group 700 is used, for example, when the following (a) or (b) holds.

(a) When the laser light source 109 continuously oscillates, the irradiation time T _max (= T) corresponding to the luminance of "100" representing the strongest irradiation condition in the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4 is preset. have. For example, the value of the irradiation time T _max is stored in the recipe storage unit 123 in association with the irradiation condition image 400.

(b) When the laser light source 109 pulses, the pulse number N _max corresponding to the luminance of "100" representing the strongest irradiation condition in the irradiation condition image 400 of FIG. 4 is preset. For example, the value of the pulse number N _max is stored in the recipe storage unit 123 in association with the irradiation condition image 400.

If (a) or (b) holds, if the main controller 122 generates the spatial modulation pattern group 700 in step S106 of Fig. 6, then in step S107, the spatial modulation pattern group 700 is performed as follows. Irradiation of the laser beam is performed.

The main controller 122 outputs data of the spatial modulation pattern 701 to the spatial modulation control unit 126 in order to spatially modulate the laser beam in the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 according to the spatial modulation pattern 701. . In the spatial modulation pattern 701, the areas corresponding to the plurality of irradiation conditions are included in the on-region 702 from the third condition which is the weakest irradiation condition to the first condition which is the strongest irradiation condition.

Therefore, calculated from the laser light source 109 is continuous if the oscillation, the irradiation time corresponding to the main control unit 122, a third condition represented by the brightness of the "30" T ₃ in the formula (4). Or, if the laser light source 109, the pulse emission, the main control unit 122, is calculated by the number of pulses N ₃ corresponding to the third term in equation (7).

N ₃ = N _max x (30/100)... (7)

And, when the laser light source 109 is continuous wave, the main control unit 122, the irradiation time indirectly controls the laser unit 105 during the T ₃ to continue to emit the laser beam through the laser controller 125. Alternatively, when the laser light source 109 pulses, the main controller 122 controls the laser unit 105 indirectly through the laser control unit 125 so as to irradiate the pulse N ₃ times.

At the same time, the main controller 122 performs synchronous control as described in FIG. 7 so that spatial modulation by the spatial modulation pattern 701 is performed while the laser unit 105 emits the laser beam.

After the irradiation time T _{3 has} elapsed or after irradiation with N ₃ pulses, the main control unit 122 switches the irradiation method.

That is, the main controller 122 transmits the data of the spatial modulation pattern 704 to the spatial modulation control unit 126 in order to spatially modulate the laser beam in the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 according to the spatial modulation pattern 704. Output In the spatial modulation pattern 704, an area corresponding to the second condition and the first condition is included in the on area 705. In addition, the on region 705 is included in the on region 702.

Therefore, in the irradiation of the laser beam according to the spatial modulation pattern 704, the main control part 122 irradiates on the basis of the second condition which is a weaker irradiation condition among the two irradiation conditions corresponding to the on-region 705. Calculate the time or number of pulses. That is, the main controller 122 receives the difference between the irradiation energy required under the second condition and the irradiation energy by the laser beam that is already irradiated on the surface of the FPD substrate 101 while receiving the spatial modulation by the spatial modulation pattern 701. The calculation according to the above is performed.

When the laser light source 109 continuously oscillates, the main control part 122 calculates irradiation time T _a by Equation (8), and pulses by Equation (9) when the laser light source 109 pulses. Calculate the number N _a .

T _a = T × ((60-30) / 100)... (8)

N _a = N _max × ((60-30) / 100)... (9)

And when the laser light source 109 makes continuous oscillation, the main control part 122 controls the laser unit 105 to inject a laser beam during irradiation time T _a . Alternatively, when the laser light source 109 pulses, the main controller 122 controls the laser unit 105 indirectly through the laser control unit 125 so as to irradiate the pulse N _a times.

At the same time, the main controller 122 performs synchronous control such that spatial modulation by the spatial modulation pattern 704 is performed while the laser unit 105 emits a laser beam.

After the irradiation time T _{a has} elapsed or after irradiation of N _a pulses, the main control unit 122 switches the irradiation method.

In other words, the main controller 122 transmits the data of the spatial modulation pattern 707 to the spatial modulation control unit 126 in order to spatially modulate the laser beam in the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 according to the spatial modulation pattern 707. Output In the spatial modulation pattern 707, only the region corresponding to the first condition is included in the on region 708, and the on region 708 is included in both the on region 702 and the on region 705. have.

Therefore, the irradiation time or the number of pulses to be calculated by the main controller 122 in the irradiation of the laser beam according to the spatial modulation pattern 707 is a value corresponding to the difference between the irradiation energy required under the first condition and the energy that has already been irradiated. to be. That is, when the laser light source 109 continuously oscillates, the main control part 122 calculates irradiation time T _b by Formula (10), and when the laser light source 109 makes pulse oscillation, it uses Formula (11). The pulse number N _b is calculated by this.

T _b = T × ((100-60) / 100)... 10

N _b = N _max × ((100-60) / 100)... (11)

And, when the laser light source 109 is continuous wave, the main control unit 122, the irradiation time indirectly controls the laser unit 105 during the T _b to continue to emit the laser beam through the laser controller 125. Alternatively, when the laser light source 109 pulses, the main controller 122 controls the laser unit 105 indirectly through the laser control unit 125 so as to irradiate the pulse N _b times.

At the same time, the main controller 122 performs synchronous control such that spatial modulation by the spatial modulation pattern 707 is performed while the laser unit 105 emits a laser beam.

In the above description, the main controller 122 explicitly controls the irradiation time or the number of pulses corresponding to each of the spatial modulation patterns 701, 704, and 707 through the laser controller 125. Doing. However, the main control part 122 may only notify the laser control part 125 of the irradiation start timing and irradiation time T of a laser beam. Even in that case, after the irradiation time T _{3 has} elapsed from the irradiation start point of the laser beam and after the irradiation time T ₂ = (T ₃ + T _a ) has elapsed from the irradiation start point of the laser beam, the main controller 122 controls the spatial modulation control unit. By only changing the spatial modulation pattern through 126, the laser repair apparatus 100 operates as described above. This is because the time required for switching the spatial modulation scheme in the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 can be viewed as zero (zero).

As apparent from the equations (4) to (11), according to the above-described control, when the laser light source 109 continuously oscillates, the laser beam is irradiated to the areas corresponding to the first to third conditions, respectively. the sum of the time that is a respective T, T _2, T _3. In addition, according to the control described above, when the laser light source 109 pulses, the sum of the number of pulses irradiated to the regions corresponding to the first to third conditions, respectively, is N _max , N _max × (60 / 100), N ₃ .

Therefore, according to the above-described control using the spatial modulation pattern group 700, each of the irradiation areas (a) to (f) described in step S105 of FIG. 6 is subjected to the corresponding irradiation condition (that is, the irradiation condition image ( At an intensity proportional to the luminance at 400), the laser beam is irradiated.

As mentioned above, when the laser light source 109 pulses, the main control part 122, the laser control part 125, and the spatial modulation control part 126 function as a control means as follows. That is, each part as a control means has a plurality of spatial modulation patterns to the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 such that the pulse laser beam is irradiated by the number of pulses corresponding to the irradiation conditions corresponding to the irradiation area in each of the one or more irradiation areas. The laser unit 105 is controlled while designating sequentially.

In addition, in the example of FIG. 8, the main control part 122 may perform control which changes output power other than irradiation time and the number of pulses. That is, the main controller 122 corresponds to the spatial modulation patterns 701, 704, and 707 through the laser controller 125, respectively, and output power P ₃ , (P ₂ -P ₃ ), and (P ₁ -P _2). ), The laser unit 105 may be controlled so that the laser beam is irradiated. In this case, the irradiation time length is the same for each spatial modulation pattern, for example, the irradiation time T.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the spatial modulation pattern group is classified into a plurality of spatial modulation patterns has been described. However, a region having different irradiation conditions may be divided into a plurality of space modulation patterns to form one spatial modulation pattern.

9 is a diagram illustrating a third example of a spatial modulation pattern group. The example of FIG. 9 is an example of the laser repair which used the recipe different from what was shown to FIG. 3 and FIG.

The conceptual diagram 800 superimposed on FIG. 9 is a diagram conceptually showing the division of the defect 801 into the irradiation area in the picked-up image obtained by photographing the FPD substrate 101 that is the object of the laser repair. In addition, the spatial modulation pattern 900 of FIG. 9 adjusts the power of the laser beam according to the division | segmentation of the conceptual diagram 800 superimposed.

In the superimposed conceptual diagram 800, the first condition region 802, the second condition region 803, the third condition region 804, and the first condition region 802, corresponding to the range of the defect 801 and the four irradiation conditions, are respectively divided. Four condition areas 805 are shown, respectively. As in the example of FIG. 4, in the example of FIG. 9, irradiation conditions are represented by integers of 0 to 100. FIG. Each irradiation condition in the example of FIG. 9 is represented by the following numerical value.

First condition: 50

Second condition: 75

Third condition: 100

Fourth condition: 0

The first condition region 802 is a rectangular region on the left side, the second condition region 803 is a rectangular region on the lower right side, the third condition region 804 is an L-shaped region on the right side, and the fourth condition region 805. ) Is the rectangular area in the upper right corner.

As shown in the conceptual diagram 800 superimposed, the defects 801 are distributed over these four different irradiation areas. Therefore, in step S105 of FIG. 6, the image processing unit 127 divides the range of the defect 801 into four irradiation areas. That is, the range of the defect 801 is the first irradiation region 806 overlapping the first condition region 802, the second irradiation region 807 overlapping the second condition region 803, and the third condition region. A third irradiation area 808 overlapping with 804 and a fourth irradiation area 809 overlapping with the fourth condition area 805 are divided.

Based on the irradiation areas thus divided, in step S106 of FIG. 6, the main controller 122 generates a group of spatial modulation patterns composed of only one spatial modulation pattern 900. In step S107, the main controller 122, the laser controller 125, and the spatial modulation controller 126 perform control for irradiating a laser beam while performing spatial modulation by the spatial modulation pattern 900.

As in FIGS. 7 and 8, the spatial modulation pattern 900 includes only a portion of the binary image of the M × N pixel corresponding to the DMD having M × N micromirrors corresponding to the vicinity of the defect 801. Excerpts are shown. And in the example of FIG. 9, the irradiation of the additional laser beam to the vicinity of the defect 801 is not performed.

In addition, for convenience of illustration, the boundary line between different irradiation areas and the outline of the defect 801 are shown in the spatial modulation pattern 900. However, these boundary lines and outlines do not exist in the actual binary image representing the spatial modulation pattern 900.

Further, the small squares in the spatial modulation pattern 900 are one pixel in the binary image representing the spatial modulation pattern 900 and correspond to each micromirror. Each pixel corresponding to each micromirror is shown in white indicating an on state or black indicating an off state.

Within the range corresponding to the first irradiation area 806 in the spatial modulation pattern 900, a white pixel showing an on state and a black pixel showing an off state are mixed. The ratio of the number of the white pixels and the black pixels is expressed by an integer of 0 to 100, and the first condition corresponding to the first irradiation area 806 is represented by a numerical value of "50". As shown in equation (12).

50: (100-50) = 1: 1... (12)

Similarly, within the range corresponding to the second irradiation area 807 in the spatial modulation pattern 900, the white pixel showing the on state and the black pixel showing the off state are mixed. In the ratio of the number of white pixels to black pixels, the irradiation condition is represented by an integer of 0 to 100, and the second condition corresponding to the second irradiation area 807 is represented by a value of "75". It is as shown in Formula (13).

75: (100-75) = 3: 1... (13)

In addition, within the range corresponding to the third irradiation area 808 in the spatial modulation pattern 900, there are only white pixels showing the on state. This is because the third condition corresponding to the third irradiation area 808 is represented by the maximum value used to represent the irradiation condition of "100". In other words, the ratio of the number of white pixels to black pixels within the range corresponding to the third irradiation area 808 in the spatial modulation pattern 900 is as shown in equation (14).

100: (100-100) = 1: 0... (14)

On the contrary, within the range corresponding to the fourth irradiation area 809 in the spatial modulation pattern 900, there are only black pixels indicating the off state. This is because the fourth condition corresponding to the fourth irradiation area 809 is represented by the minimum value used for indicating the irradiation condition that "0" is used. In other words, the ratio of the number of white pixels to black pixels within the range corresponding to the fourth irradiation area 809 in the spatial modulation pattern 900 is expressed by equation (15).

0: (100-0) = 0: 1... (15)

Irradiation of the laser beam according to the group of spatial modulation patterns consisting only of the spatial modulation pattern 900 is particularly suitable when the area on the surface of the FPD substrate 101 to which the laser beam is irradiated corresponding to one micromirror is sufficiently small. Do. In this case, if the laser beam is irradiated with spatial modulation according to the spatial modulation pattern 900 and averaged in one irradiation area, each irradiation area is applied to each condition area of the irradiation condition image shown in FIG. This is because the laser beam is irradiated under the corresponding irradiation conditions.

For example, the first condition is displayed at a value of 50% with respect to the value of "100" representing the strongest irradiation condition, and the laser beam is displayed at 50% of the first irradiation area 806 as shown in Equation (12). This is investigated. Therefore, if the area on the surface of the FPD substrate 101 to which the laser beam is irradiated corresponding to one micromirror is sufficiently small, " averaging the inside of the first irradiation area 806, 50% of the strongest irradiation conditions The laser beam is irradiated so as not to be uneven in intensity. " The same applies to other irradiation areas.

That is, the example of FIG. 9 can be outlined as follows.

The two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106, which is arranged in a two-dimensional array type, each of which can be driven at least for the first and second inclination angles (that is, the inclination angles corresponding to the on state and the off state, respectively) (M × N pieces) of micro mirrors.

The spatial modulation pattern 900 designated by the spatial modulation control unit 126 as a control means to the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 is a pattern in which each of the first number of minute mirrors corresponds to an on state and an off state. to be.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible. Some examples are described below.

The method of lamination of materials for constructing a circuit in an FPD substrate is different depending on the embodiment. 2 is one example of a specific example, and an FPD substrate may be manufactured by stacking a material different from that of FIG. 2 onto the glass substrate 201. In such a case as well, in the same manner as in the above embodiment, it is possible to realize appropriate laser beam irradiation on the basis of the recipe according to the laminated material.

Incidentally, the product targeted for laser repair in the above embodiment is not limited to the FPD substrate. As the laser repair target other than the FPD substrate, the above embodiment can be applied to products such as a large scale integration (LSI) chip or a printed wiring board.

In addition, the arrangement | positioning of each optical element shown in FIG. 1 is only an example. For example, it is clear that the mirror 113 can be omitted by changing the arrangement of the laser unit 105. In addition, various modifications are possible.

In addition, in step S104 of FIG. 6, the image processing unit 127 may recognize the luminance of the defect 506 in the captured image 500 based on the position and the range of the recognized defect 506. The image processing unit 127 may recognize the type of the defect 506 based on the luminance of the defect 506, and may determine the necessity and the need for correction according to the type of the defect 506. When the image processing unit 127 determines that correction is not necessary, the following steps S105 to S107 can be omitted.

In addition, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9, specifically, the spatial modulation pattern group including the spatial modulation pattern group is varied depending on the embodiment. Typically, as shown in FIGS. 7-9, each spatial modulation pattern is any one of following (a)-(d), but other patterns may be sufficient as it.

(a) spatial modulation pattern representing one of the one or more irradiation regions;

(b) Spatial modulation pattern which shows the sum of one irradiation area | region represented by said spatial modulation pattern of said (a), and the area | region of the vicinity of this irradiation area | region

(c) Spatial modulation pattern representing the sum of a plurality of irradiation areas among one or more irradiation areas

(d) Spatial modulation pattern which shows the sum of the some irradiation area | region represented by the spatial modulation pattern of said (c), and the area | region near this some irradiation area | region

In addition, the control method for irradiating a laser beam to each irradiation area according to each irradiation condition is not limited to the method illustrated in FIGS. For example, depending on the switching of the spatial modulation pattern, both output power and irradiation time may be changed.

Alternatively, in the DMD which realizes the two-dimensional spatial light modulator 106 while the laser light source 109 continuously oscillates, the driving speed of the micromirror is sufficiently fast (that is, a time short enough compared with the irradiation time T _o of the laser beam). If the micromirror can be driven), the following control is also possible.

That is, the laser control unit 125 controls the laser light source 109 is a CW laser beam having a constant output power to the injection during the irradiation time T _o. In parallel with this, the spatial modulation control unit 126 determines that each of the micromirrors has a ratio (that is, a duty cycle) in which the time in the on state occupies the irradiation time T _o . To be proportional, for example, it is driven by PWM (Pu1se Width Modulation). The main controller 122 instructs the laser control unit 125 and the spatial modulation control unit 126 to perform the above-described control.

In addition, when intensity | strength of irradiation conditions is represented by the total amount of energy irradiated per unit area, energy per unit area according to irradiation conditions may be irradiated to each irradiation area finally. Therefore, for example, the switching timing of the output power and the switching timing of the spatial modulation pattern do not necessarily have to match.

For example, when irradiation conditions are represented by the integer of 0-100, the laminated area corresponding to the irradiation conditions represented by "0" or "100" does not necessarily need to exist. That is, all the laminated regions may correspond to intermediate irradiation conditions. Of course, the range of the numerical value which shows irradiation conditions may not be O-100 like the said Example, and can be arbitrarily determined previously.

For example, by appropriately determining the range of numerical values indicating irradiation conditions in accordance with the specifications of the laser unit 105, the multiplication in formulas (1) to (11) is eliminated, and a constant such as P _max is stored in the recipe. The unit 123 may not need to store it. For example, when the numerical value in the range of 0 to P _max can be set as the luminance in the irradiation condition image 400, the numerical value representing the irradiation condition itself is the value of the output power to be designated to the laser unit 105. Value. Therefore, calculation of Formulas (1) to (3) becomes unnecessary. The same is true for the other equations.

In the above embodiment, the irradiation condition image 400 is generated based on the reference image 300 obtained by actually photographing the reference FPD substrate. However, instead of the reference image 300, the irradiation condition image 400 may be generated based on the design data of the FPD substrate 101. A specific example of the design data is CAD (Computer Aided Design) data of a mask pattern for photolithography. When using CAD data, correction of the slight difference between the shape of the material actually laminated and the shape of the mask pattern may be necessary.

Further, in the above embodiment, irradiation conditions are set based on the input from the operator, but the physical properties such as the reflectance, laser resistance, and thermal action (absorption rate, thermal conductivity) of the laser beam of a specific wavelength with respect to the material laminated on the respective layers. You may automatically set a condition area according to a characteristic or design data, such as the thickness of the layer of the material laminated | stacked on each layer, and calculate a irradiation condition for each condition area, and create a recipe automatically.

1 is a block diagram of a laser repair apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is an example of a sectional view of an FPD substrate.

3 is an example of a reference picture.

4 is an example of an irradiation condition image.

5 is an example of a picked-up image in which a defect is picked up.

6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the laser repair apparatus for one FPD substrate.

7 is a diagram illustrating a first example of a group of spatial modulation patterns.

8 is a diagram illustrating a second example of a group of spatial modulation patterns.

9 is a diagram illustrating a third example of a spatial modulation pattern group.

[Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings]

100: laser repair device 101: FPD substrate

102: display 103: defect inspection apparatus

104: PC 105: laser unit

106: two-dimensional spatial light modulator 107: stage

108: imaging unit 109: laser light source

110: coupling unit 111: fiber

112: projection unit 113, 114: mirror

115, 120, 121: imaging lens 116: beam splitter

117: half mirror 118: objective lens

119: light source 122: main control unit

123: recipe storage unit 124: stage control unit

125: laser control unit 126: spatial modulation control unit

127: image processing unit 200: FPD substrate

201: glass substrate 202: gate

203 and 207 insulating film 204 amorphous silicon

205: source 206: drain

208 to 209: contact holes 210 to 211: ITO

300: reference image

01a, 301c, 501a, 501c: gate bus lines

301b, 501b: CS bus line

302a to 302c, 502a to 502c: source / drain wiring

303a to 303b, 503a to 503b: contact holes

304a to 304d, 504a to 504d: TFT

305a to 305d and 505a to 505d: transparent electrode

400: irradiation condition image 401a-401b: 1st condition area

402a-402c: second condition region 403a-403c: third condition region

404a to 404h: fourth condition region 500: captured image

506, 801: Defect 600, 700: group of spatial modulation patterns

601, 604, 607, 701, 704, 707, 900: spatial modulation pattern

602, 605, 608, 702, 705, 708: whole area

603, 606, 609, 703, 706, 709: off area

800: overlapping conceptual diagrams 802 to 805: first to fourth conditional regions

806 to 809: first to fourth irradiation areas

Claims (11)

Laser repair apparatus for correcting a defect by irradiating a laser beam to a defect on the surface of a product manufactured by laminating one or more kinds of materials for forming a circuit on the surface of a substrate. as, Injection means for emitting the laser beam; Two-dimensional spatial modulation means for irradiating onto the surface of the product by spatially modulating the laser beam emitted from the injection means in accordance with a designated spatial modulation pattern; Storage means for storing irradiation condition information corresponding to irradiation conditions according to the one or more kinds of materials stacked on the stacking area on one or more layers for each of the plurality of stacked areas on the surface of the substrate; Recognition means for recognizing a range of the defect; A division means for dividing the range of the defect recognized by the recognition means into one or more irradiation areas based on one of the plurality of stacked areas based on the irradiation condition information stored in the storage means; And The two-dimensional spatial modulation means such that the laser beam is irradiated to the irradiation area with the irradiation conditions corresponding to the stacked area overlapping the irradiation area with respect to each of the one or more irradiation areas classified by the dividing means. Control means for controlling the injection means while sequentially designating one or more spatial modulation patterns Laser repair device comprising a. The method of claim 1, The irradiation condition information is represented as an image, The luminance of each of the plurality of laminated regions in the image is set to a value according to the irradiation condition corresponding to the laminated region. The method of claim 2, The said irradiation condition shows the amount of energy irradiated per unit area, In each of the plurality of stacked regions, a value proportional to the amount of energy is set as the luminance. The method of claim 1, The said irradiation condition is a laser repair apparatus which shows the amount of energy irradiated per unit area. The method of claim 1, The laser beam is a pulsed laser beam, The control means applies a plurality of spatial modulation patterns to the two-dimensional spatial modulation means such that the pulsed laser beam is irradiated by the number of pulses corresponding to the irradiation conditions corresponding to the irradiation area in each of the one or more irradiation areas. The laser repair apparatus which controls the said injection means, designating sequentially. The method of claim 1, The control means sequentially applies a plurality of spatial modulation patterns to the two-dimensional spatial modulation means such that the laser beam is irradiated for a time corresponding to the irradiation condition corresponding to the irradiation area in each of the one or more irradiation areas. A laser repair apparatus for controlling the injection means while designating. The method of claim 1, The control means injects the injection means so as to emit the laser beam by sequentially switching output power so that the energy irradiated per unit area in each of the one or more irradiation areas corresponds to the irradiation condition corresponding to the irradiation area. And a plurality of spatial modulation patterns are sequentially assigned to the two-dimensional spatial modulation means while controlling. The method of claim 7, wherein The control means performs control such that the timing at which the two-dimensional spatial modulation means switches the spatial modulation method and the timing at which the ejection means switches the output power are synchronized according to the plurality of spatial modulation patterns that are sequentially specified. , Laser repair device. The method of claim 1, Said two-dimensional space modulating means having a first number of micromirrors arranged in a two-dimensional array shape and each of which is capable of driving at least a first tilt angle and a second tilt angle, Each of the one or more spatial modulation patterns designated by the control means to the two-dimensional spatial modulation means is a pattern that corresponds to each of the first number of micromirrors to the first inclination angle or the second inclination angle, The control means, The micromirrors respectively driven at the first inclination angle and the second inclination angle in the second number of the micromirrors corresponding to the irradiation area of the first number of micromirrors with respect to each of the one or more irradiation regions. The two-dimensional spatial modulation pattern in which the first inclination angle or the second inclination angle is corresponded to each of the second number of micromirrors so that the ratio of the number of? Becomes the value corresponding to the irradiation condition corresponding to the irradiation area. The laser repair apparatus which designates to a space modulation means. The method of claim 1, Each of the one or more spatial modulation patterns that the control means sequentially assigns to the two-dimensional spatial modulation means, A first spatial modulation pattern representing one of the one or more irradiation regions, A second spatial modulation pattern representing the sum of the one irradiation region represented by the first spatial modulation pattern and the region in the vicinity of the irradiation region, A third spatial modulation pattern representing a plurality of sums of the one or more irradiation regions, or a third representing a sum of the plurality of irradiation regions represented by the third spatial modulation pattern and an area near the plurality of irradiation regions. The laser repair apparatus, which is a four spatial modulation pattern. A laser repair apparatus is a method of correcting a defect by irradiating a laser beam to a defect on a surface of a product manufactured by laminating one or more layers of one or more kinds of materials for forming a circuit on the surface of a substrate, Reading irradiation condition information corresponding to irradiation conditions according to the one or more kinds of materials stacked on at least one layer on each of the plurality of laminated areas on the surface of the substrate; Recognizing the extent of the defect; Based on the read irradiation condition information, dividing the recognized defect range into one or more irradiation areas depending on which one of the plurality of stacked areas overlaps; And By sequentially switching one or more spatial modulation patterns for spatial modulation while emitting the laser beam, each of the one or more irradiation regions is irradiated with the irradiation conditions corresponding to the stacked regions overlapping the irradiation regions. Irradiating the surface of the product by spatially modulating the emitted laser beam sequentially in a different manner so that the laser beam is irradiated onto the area. Laser repair method comprising a.

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