KR20120024393A - Exposure apparatus, exposure method, apparatus and method of manufacturing display panel substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An exposure apparatus, an exposure method, and an apparatus and a method for manufacturing a display panel substrate are provided to draw the entire surface of the substrate based on approximately uniform amount of exposure. CONSTITUTION: An exposure apparatus includes a photo beam irradiating unit(20), a scanning unit, and a detecting unit. The photo beam irradiating unit irradiates photo beam for drawing to a substrate(1) on which photo-sensitive is applied based on drawing data. The drawing process is implemented using a spatial photo modulator in which a plurality of mirrors is bidirectionally arranged. The scanning unit relatively scans the substrate and the photo beam irradiating unit. The detecting unit digitally detects the position of the scanning unit.

Description

Exposure apparatus and exposure method and display panel substrate manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method of display panel substrate {EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DISPLAY PANEL SUBSTRATE}

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention irradiates a light beam to the board | substrate to which photoresist was apply | coated in manufacture of display panel board | substrates, such as a liquid crystal display device, scans a board | substrate with a light beam, and draws a pattern on a board | substrate, and an exposure method. And a display panel substrate manufacturing apparatus or a method for manufacturing the display panel substrate using the same, and in particular, using a spatial light modulator arranged in two directions orthogonal to a plurality of mirrors, changing the angle of each mirror to irradiate the substrate. An exposure apparatus and an exposure method which modulate an optical beam, and a display panel substrate manufacturing apparatus or a manufacturing method of a display panel substrate using them.

The manufacture of TFT (Thin Film Transistor) substrates, color filter substrates, substrates for plasma display panels, substrates for organic EL (Electroluminescence) displays, and the like of liquid crystal display devices used as a display panel is performed using an exposure apparatus. It is performed by forming a pattern on a substrate by lithography technique. BACKGROUND ART As an exposure apparatus, a projection method for projecting a pattern of a mask onto a substrate using a lens or a mirror, and a proxy for forming a small gap (proxy gap) between the mask and the substrate to transfer the pattern of the mask to the substrate. There was a Mitty way.

In recent years, the exposure apparatus which irradiates a light beam to the board | substrate with which photoresist was apply | coated, scans a board | substrate with a light beam, and draws a pattern on a board | substrate is developed. In order to scan a board | substrate with a light beam and to draw a pattern on a board | substrate, an expensive mask is unnecessary. In addition, by changing the drawing data and the scanning program, it is possible to cope with various kinds of display panel substrates. As such an exposure apparatus, there exists patent document 1, for example.

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-332221

When drawing a pattern on a substrate with a light beam, DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) is used for modulation of the light beam. The DMD is configured by reflecting the light beam, arranged in two directions to irradiate the substrate, and modulating the light beam reflected on the substrate by changing the angle of each mirror. Currently commercially available DMDs have a mirror size of about 10 to 15 μm × 10 to 15 μm, and a gap of about 1 μm is formed between adjacent mirrors. When the DMD is disposed parallel to the scanning direction of the substrate by the light beam, the arrangement direction (orthogonal two directions) of each mirror becomes parallel and perpendicular to the scanning direction of the substrate, so that the gap between the adjacent mirrors and the substrate are relatively parallel. The pattern is not moved at the location corresponding to the gap. Therefore, DMD is used inclined with respect to the scanning direction of the board | substrate by a light beam, as described in patent document 1.

The light beam modulated by DMD is irradiated to the board | substrate from the head part containing the apparatus optical system of a light beam irradiation apparatus. Each light beam irradiation area corresponding to each mirror of the DMD has a square shape that is the same as that of the mirror, and the pattern drawn on the substrate is such that a small square dot is arranged.

According to the method of patent document 1, distribution of the center point of each light beam irradiation area | region in the square area of arbitrary size on a board | substrate becomes ideally like FIG.

However, in the actual apparatus, since the writing center point position by each mirror of each light beam irradiation area becomes a digital value by the resolution of the encoder of the stage which moves a board | substrate, it is not an ideal distribution as shown in FIG. It has been found that the distribution results in a periodic bias at the writing center point position as shown in Fig. 12, which may affect the exposure result.

A first object of the present invention is to disperse such that periodic biasing does not occur when converting a writing center point position of each mirror of each light beam irradiation area into a digital value, and can be drawn over the entire surface of the substrate with an almost uniform exposure dose. It is to provide an exposure apparatus or an exposure method.

The 2nd object of this invention is to provide the display panel manufacturing apparatus or display panel manufacturing method which can manufacture the display panel of high quality, by applying the exposure apparatus or exposure method which can achieve a 1st objective. .

In order to achieve the first object, the present invention provides a light beam for irradiating a light beam onto a substrate to which a photoresist is applied based on writing data by means of a spatial light modulator having a plurality of mirrors arranged in two orthogonal directions. The writing center point position of each mirror in the constant drawing region so that the exposure amount in the constant drawing region to be drawn on the substrate is close to uniformity when the irradiation apparatus and the substrate are relatively scanned to detect the position of the scan digitally. Dispersion is characterized as a first feature.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that, in order to achieve the first object, in addition to the first feature, each mirror is a mirror arranged in the scanning direction.

In addition, the present invention, in order to achieve the first object, in addition to the second feature, the dispersion is performed by dispersing the dispersion pattern by the mirror arranged in the scanning direction by shifting the phase in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction. It is characterized by the 3rd thing.

Moreover, in order to achieve the said 1st objective, this invention is a 4th characteristic that the said dispersion | distribution is performed by disperse | distributing the shift | offset | difference position shift in the said constant drawing area | region produced by the said detection other than a 1st characteristic.

Moreover, in order to achieve the said 2nd objective, this invention is the 5th characteristic which manufactures a display panel board | substrate by the exposure apparatus or exposure method which has the characteristics in any one of 1st-4th.

According to the present invention, when converting the writing center point position of each mirror of each light beam irradiation area into a digital value, it is dispersed so that periodic bias does not occur, and the exposure apparatus which can draw over the whole surface of a board | substrate with the exposure amount near uniformity Alternatively, an exposure method can be provided.

Moreover, according to this invention, the above-mentioned exposure apparatus or exposure method is applied, and the display panel manufacturing apparatus or display panel manufacturing method which can manufacture a high quality display panel can be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The figure which shows schematic structure of the exposure apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.
2 is a side view of an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a front view of an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 shows a schematic configuration of a light beam irradiation apparatus;
5 is a top view of the light beam irradiation apparatus mounted on the gate;
6 is a side view of a light beam irradiation apparatus mounted on a gate;
FIG. 7 is a diagram for describing an inclination with respect to a scanning direction of a DMD. FIG.
8 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a laser length measuring system.
9 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a drawing control unit.
10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a pattern to be drawn by a light beam.
11 shows an example of an ideal distribution of each mirror drawing center point of the light beam irradiation area.
12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a distribution of each mirror drawing center point position of a light beam irradiation area when converted to a digital value by an encoder of a stage;
Fig. 13 defines the actual drawing center point position Pr of the mirror defined by the encoder output EO of the digital value, the ideal drawing center point position Pi of the mirror, and the absolute value of the difference between them, based on the drawing center position of any mirror. Table showing error Err (= │Pr-Pi│), each drawing position and drawing interval Pd.
14 is a diagram showing a processing flow according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 15 is a table showing drawing intervals, integration errors, and the like at each drawing position in one line in the scanning direction based on the processing flow of FIG. 14 under the conditions shown in FIG. 13; FIG.
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example in which each mirror drawing center point position of the light beam irradiation area is distributed close to uniformity using one embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
17 is a diagram illustrating scanning of a substrate by a light beam.
18 is a diagram illustrating scanning of a substrate by a light beam.
19 is a diagram illustrating scanning of a substrate by a light beam.
20 is a diagram illustrating scanning of a substrate by a light beam.
21 is a flowchart showing an example of a process of manufacturing a TFT substrate of the liquid crystal display device.
22 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of manufacturing a color filter substrate of a liquid crystal display device.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a side view of an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a front view of an exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The exposure apparatus includes the base 3, the X guide 4, the X stage 5, the Y guides 6 and 16, the Y stages 7 and 17, the θ stages 8 and 18, the chuck 10, Gate 11, light beam irradiation apparatus 20, linear scales 31 and 33, encoders 32 and 34, laser length measuring system, laser length measuring system control device 40, stage drive circuit 60, and main control It comprises a device 70. 2 and 3, the laser light source 41 of the laser length measuring system, the laser length measuring system control device 40, the stage driving circuit 60, and the main controller 70 are omitted. In addition to these, the exposure apparatus includes a substrate transfer robot that carries the substrate 1 into the chuck 10, and carries the substrate 1 out of the chuck 10, a temperature control unit that performs temperature management in the apparatus, and the like. have.

In addition, the XY direction in embodiment described below is an illustration, You may replace the X direction and Y direction.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the chuck 10 is in a transfer position at which the substrate 1 is exchanged. In the transfer position, the board | substrate 1 is carried in to the chuck 10 by the board | substrate conveyance robot which is not shown in figure, and the board | substrate 1 is carried out from the chuck 10 by the board | substrate conveyance robot which is not shown in figure. The chuck 10 vacuum-adsorbs and supports the back surface of the substrate 1. Photoresist is applied to the surface of the substrate 1.

The gate 11 is provided over the base 3 above the exposure position at which the substrate 1 is exposed. A plurality of light beam irradiation devices 20 are mounted on the gate 11. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a light beam irradiation apparatus. The light beam irradiation apparatus 20 includes an optical fiber 22, a lens 23, a mirror 24, a DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) 25, a projection lens 26, and a DMD driving circuit 27. It is composed. The optical fiber 22 introduces the light beam of ultraviolet light generated from the laser light source unit 21 into the light beam irradiation device 20. The light beam emitted from the optical fiber 22 is irradiated to the DMD 25 via the lens 23 and the mirror 24. The DMD 25 is a spatial light modulator configured by arranging a plurality of minute mirrors that reflect light beams in two orthogonal directions, and modulates the light beams by changing the angle of each mirror. The light beam modulated by the DMD 25 is irradiated from the head portion 20a including the projection lens 26. The DMD drive circuit 27 changes the angle of each mirror of the DMD 25 based on the drawing data supplied from the main controller 70.

5 is a top view of the light beam irradiation apparatus mounted on the gate. 6 is a side view of the light beam irradiation apparatus mounted on the gate. In addition, in this embodiment, although one light beam irradiation apparatus 20 is provided in the scanning direction (X direction) of the board | substrate 1 by the light beam from the light beam irradiation apparatus 20, it is two in a scanning direction. Two or more light beam irradiation apparatuses 20 may be provided. In addition, although 8 sets of light beam irradiation apparatuses 20 are provided in the direction (Y direction) orthogonal to a scanning direction in this embodiment, 7 sets or less or 9 sets or more of light beam irradiation apparatuses are a direction orthogonal to a scanning direction. You may install it.

In FIG. 5, two pairs of Y guides 16 extending in the Y direction are provided on the upper surface of the gate 11. The Y stage 17 is mounted in each of the Y guides 16, and each of the Y stages 17 moves in the Y direction along the respective Y guides 16. Each Y stage 17 is provided with a drive mechanism (not shown), such as a ball screw, a motor, and a linear motor, and each drive mechanism is driven by the stage drive circuit 60 of FIG. In FIG. 6, eight θ stages 18 are mounted in each of the Y stages 17 in the drawing depth direction, and a light beam irradiation apparatus 20 is mounted in each θ stage 18, respectively. Each θ stage 18 includes a motor and an encoder to be described later, and under the control of the main control unit 70, rotates in the θ direction shown in FIG. 5 to rotate each light beam irradiation device 20 in the θ direction. Rotate

The main controller 70 of FIG. 1 controls each θ stage 18 on which the eight light beam irradiation apparatuses 20 of FIG. 5 are mounted, respectively, and the light beam irradiation apparatus mounted on each θ stage 18 ( By rotating 20 by the same angle, the DMDs 25 of the respective light beam irradiation apparatuses 20 are inclined with respect to the scanning direction.

7 is a view for explaining the inclination with respect to the scanning direction of the DMD. FIG. 7 shows the DMD 25 of each light beam irradiation apparatus 20 of FIG. 5. The mirror portion 25a of the DMD 25 includes, for example, a square mirror having a length of 10 to 15 μm in the long side direction of the DMD 25 and 256 in the short side direction of the DMD 25. Are arranged. As an example, when the mirror size is 10 m and the gap between adjacent mirrors is 1 m, the pitch (distance between the centers of the mirrors) of the mirror is 11 m. In FIG. 7, the DMDs 25 of the light beam irradiation apparatuses 20 of FIG. 5 are disposed at an angle θ with respect to the scanning direction.

2 and 3, the chuck 10 is mounted on the θ stage 8, and a Y stage 7 and an X stage 5 are provided below the θ stage 8. The X stage 5 is mounted in the X guide 4 provided in the base 3, and moves in the X direction along the X guide 4. The Y stage 7 is mounted on the Y guide 6 provided in the X stage 5 and moves in the Y direction along the Y guide 6. The θ stage 8 is mounted on the Y stage 7 and rotates in the θ direction. The X stage 5, the Y stage 7, and the θ stage 8 are provided with a drive mechanism (not shown) such as a ball screw, a motor, and a linear motor, and each drive mechanism drives the stage shown in FIG. 1. Driven by the circuit 60.

By the rotation of the θ stage 8 in the θ direction, the substrate 1 mounted on the chuck 10 is rotated such that two orthogonal sides face in the X and Y directions. By the movement of the X stage 5 in the X direction, the chuck 10 moves between the exchange position and the exposure position. At the exposure position, the light beam irradiated from the head portion 20a of each light beam irradiation apparatus 20 scans the substrate 1 in the X direction by the movement in the X direction of the X stage 5. Moreover, by the movement to the Y direction of the Y stage 7, the scanning area | region of the board | substrate 1 by the light beam irradiated from the head part 20a of each light beam irradiation apparatus 20 moves to a Y direction. do. In FIG. 1, the main controller 70 controls the stage driving circuit 60 to rotate in the θ direction of the θ stage 8, move the X stage 5 in the X direction, and Y stage 7. Is moved in the Y direction.

In the present embodiment, the substrate 1 is scanned by the light beam from the light beam irradiation apparatus 20 by moving the chuck 10 in the X direction by the X stage 5. By moving the irradiation apparatus 20, you may scan the board | substrate 1 by the light beam from the light beam irradiation apparatus 20. In addition, in this embodiment, although the chuck | zipper 10 is moved to the Y direction by the Y stage 7, the scanning area | region of the board | substrate 1 by the light beam from the light beam irradiation apparatus 20 is changed, By moving the light beam irradiation apparatus 20, you may change the scanning area of the board | substrate 1 by the light beam from the light beam irradiation apparatus 20.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the base 3 is provided with a linear scale 31 extending in the X direction. A scale for detecting the amount of movement in the X direction of the X stage 5 is attached to the linear scale 31. In addition, a linear scale 33 extending in the Y direction is provided in the X stage 5. The linear scale 33 is provided with a scale for detecting the amount of movement in the Y direction of the Y stage 7.

1 and 3, an encoder 32 is attached to one side of the X stage 5 opposite the linear scale 31. The encoder 32 detects the scale of the linear scale 31 and outputs a pulse signal to the main controller 70. 1 and 2, an encoder 34 is attached to one side of the Y stage 7 opposite to the linear scale 33. The encoder 34 detects the scale of the linear scale 33 and outputs a pulse signal to the main controller 70. The main control unit 70 counts the pulse signal of the encoder 32, detects the movement amount in the X direction of the X stage 5, counts the pulse signal of the encoder 34, and counts the pulse signal of the Y stage 7. The amount of movement in the Y direction is detected.

It is a figure explaining the operation | movement of a laser length measuring system. In addition, in FIG. 8, the gate 11 and the light beam irradiation apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 1 are abbreviate | omitted. The laser length measuring system is a known laser interferometer type length measuring system and includes a laser light source 41, laser interferometers 42 and 44, and bar mirrors 43 and 45. The bar mirror 43 is attached to one side surface extending in the Y direction of the chuck 10. In addition, the bar mirror 45 is attached to one side surface extending in the X direction of the chuck 10.

The laser interferometer 42 irradiates the laser beam from the laser light source 41 to the bar mirror 43, receives the laser light reflected by the bar mirror 43, and receives the laser light from the laser light source 41. And the interference with the laser light reflected by the bar mirror 43 are measured. This measurement is performed at two places in the Y direction. The laser length measuring system control device 40, under the control of the main control device 70, is positioned and rotated in the X direction of the chuck 10 moved by the X stage 5 from the measurement result of the laser interferometer 42. Is detected.

On the other hand, the laser interferometer 44 irradiates the laser beam from the laser light source 41 to the bar mirror 45, receives the laser light reflected by the bar mirror 45, and receives the laser light from the laser light source 41. The interference between the laser beam and the laser beam reflected by the bar mirror 45 is measured. The laser length measuring system control device 40 detects the position in the Y direction of the chuck 10 that is moved by the X stage 5 from the measurement result of the laser interferometer 44 under the control of the main control device 70. do.

In FIG. 4, the main controller 70 has a drawing control unit for supplying drawing data to the DMD drive circuit 27 of the light beam irradiation apparatus 20. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the drawing control part. The drawing control unit 71 includes a memory 72, 76, a bandwidth setting unit 73, a center point coordinate determination unit 74, a coordinate determination unit 75, and a drawing data creation unit 77. have.

Each θ stage 18 includes a motor 18a and an encoder 18b, respectively. The motor 18a is driven by the main controller 70 to rotate the θ stage 18 in the θ direction. The encoder 18b detects the amount of rotation of the motor 18a and outputs a pulse signal corresponding to the amount of rotation of the motor 18a to the main controller 70. In addition, although eight (theta) stages 18 are provided in the drawing depth direction of FIG. 5, respectively, in FIG. 9, eight (theta) stages 18 are respectively integrated and shown as one (theta) stage 18. As shown in FIG.

The θ stage 18 may be configured to rotate manually without using a motor. In that case, instead of the encoder 18b of FIG. 9, the input device which inputs the data which shows the rotation amount of the (theta) stage 18 is provided.

The design value map is stored in the memory 76. In the design value map, drawing data is represented by XY coordinates. The writing data preparation unit 77 counts the pulse signals from the encoder 18b of each θ stage 18, detects the amount of rotation of each θ stage 18, and determines the amount of rotation of each light beam irradiation apparatus 20. The inclination with respect to the scanning direction of the DMD 25 is detected. And the drawing data preparation part 77 supplies drawing data supplied to the DMD drive circuit 27 of each light beam irradiation apparatus 20 from the design value map stored in the memory 76 based on the detected inclination. Write. The memory 72 stores the drawing data created by the drawing data creating unit 77 as its address in the XY coordinates.

The band width setting section 73 determines the range of the Y coordinate of the drawing data read out from the memory 72, so that the band in the Y direction of the light beam irradiated from the head portion 20a of the light beam irradiation apparatus 20 is determined. Set the width.

The laser length measuring system control device 40 detects the position in the XY direction of the chuck 10 before starting the exposure of the substrate 1 at the exposure position. The center point coordinate determination unit 74 is the XY coordinate of the center point of the chuck 10 before starting the exposure of the substrate 1 from the position in the XY direction of the chuck 10 detected by the laser length measuring system control device 40. Determine. In FIG. 1, when scanning the substrate 1 by the light beam from the light beam irradiation apparatus 20, the main controller 70 controls the stage driving circuit 60 to the X stage 5. By moving the chuck 10 in the X direction. When moving the scanning area of the board | substrate 1, the main control unit 70 controls the stage drive circuit 60, and moves the chuck | zipper 10 to the Y direction by the Y stage 7. In FIG. 9, the center point coordinate determiner 74 counts pulse signals from the encoders 32 and 34, and the movement amount in the X direction of the X stage 5 and the movement amount in the Y direction of the Y stage 7. Is detected, and the XY coordinate of the center point of the chuck 10 is determined.

The coordinate determination unit 75 supplies drawing data to the DMD driving circuit 27 of each light beam irradiation apparatus 20 based on the XY coordinates of the center point of the chuck 10 determined by the center point coordinate determination unit 74. Determine the XY coordinates of. The memory 72 inputs the XY coordinates determined by the coordinate determination unit 75 as an address, and writes data stored in the address of the input XY coordinates to the DMD drive circuit 27 of each light beam irradiation apparatus 20. Output to.

Hereinafter, the exposure method which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. In this embodiment, in FIG. 7, the DMDs 25 of the light beam irradiation apparatuses 20 of FIG. 5 are inclined by the mirror interval with respect to the scanning direction.

It is a figure which shows an example of the pattern drawn by the light beam. In Fig. 10, gray square portions are shown in respective light beam irradiation regions 26a corresponding to the respective mirrors of the DMD 25. In Figs.

In this embodiment, the pattern 2a is drawn using the light beam irradiation apparatus 20 of FIG. When the DMD 25 of the light beam irradiation apparatus 20 of FIG. 5 is inclined by the interval of the mirror with respect to the scanning direction, any of a plurality of mirrors arranged in a direction close to the scanning direction in two orthogonal directions Since one covers the location corresponding to the clearance gap between adjacent mirrors, pattern drawing can be performed without a clearance gap. In addition, in this embodiment, although each light beam irradiation area | region 26a corresponding to each mirror of the DMD 25 of FIG. 10 adjoins each other, as another embodiment, each light beam irradiation area | region 26a may overlap each other. .

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an ideal distribution of the center point of each light beam irradiation area 26a corresponding to each mirror of the DMD 25 in a square area of any size. In order to draw (exposure) the pattern drawn (exposure) on the board | substrate 1 in high quality, the drawing center point position of each light beam irradiation area | region 26a corresponding to each mirror of DMD25 is shown in FIG. Should be evenly distributed together.

However, as described in the problem, since the writing center point position of each light beam irradiation area is a digital value defined by the resolution of the encoder of the stage, it is not an ideal distribution as shown in FIG. It was found that the distribution resulted in periodic bias at the location of the drawing center point as shown, which may affect the drawing (exposure) result.

For example, the case where the resolution Rsl of the encoder 32 of the X stage 5 is 0.5 micrometer and the mirror pitch Pp (distance between the center point position of each mirror = clearance gap between mirror irradiation area | region and mirror) is 11.6 micrometer is demonstrated.

Fig. 13 shows the actual drawing center point position Pr of the mirror defined by the encoder output EO of the digital value, the ideal drawing center point position Pi of the mirror, and the difference between both, based on the drawing center position of any mirror under the above conditions. It is a table which shows the error Err (= | Pr-Pi |) prescribed | regulated by an absolute value, and the drawing interval Pd of each drawing (exposure) position. Drawing is performed for each encoder output EO closest to the multiple of the mirror pitch Pp. Therefore, in this example, drawing (exposure) is initially performed at a position of multiples of 11.5 占 퐉, and the difference between the exposure center point position of the mirror and the center point position Pi of the ideal mirror is integrated. However, in the fifth drawing (exposure) position number, since the integration error is 0.5 µm corresponding to the Err of the encoder resolution, the integration error is advanced by 12.0 µm to reset the integration error. This no. Drawing (exposure) of No. 5 from 1 is performed repeatedly. As a result, the drawing interval Pd, which is the distance from the writing center point position of the front mirror, is drawn at a position of 12.0 μm at which the first 4 writing (exposure) becomes 11.5 μm, and the fifth drawing is 0.5 μm further apart. Exposure). Such drawing is performed in synchronization with the mirror arranged in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction of the substrate.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 12, the distribution which generate | occur | produced the periodic skew every five drawing is made.

Therefore, in the present invention, a uniform drawing region is formed in a constant drawing region composed of a plurality of mirrors, for example, in the drawing pattern 2a shown in FIG. 10 or in a square region composed of all mirrors shown in FIG. The accumulation error is distributed and drawn (exposure) so as to obtain the exposure), that is, the periodic bias described above does not occur. As a direction to disperse, the direction or both directions perpendicular | vertical with respect to a scanning direction or a scanning direction are considered. As an example, the case where it disperse | distributes in a scanning direction is shown.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a processing flow of one embodiment, and FIG. 15 shows drawing intervals, integration errors, and the like at each drawing position of one line in the scanning direction based on the processing flow of FIG. 14 under the conditions shown in FIG. This is a table. In Fig. 14, by changing the parameters C, Imax and Imin, the method of dispersion in the scanning direction can be changed. In this embodiment, C = 0.1, Imin = -1, and Imax = 1.

First, the resolution Rsl (0.5 mu m) of the stage encoder is obtained (step 1). Next, drawing interval P (12.6 micrometers) is obtained, and the digital value Pd (12.5 micrometers) based on the resolution is obtained (step 2).

Next, the drawing interval error Err (hereinafter, simply referred to as error) is calculated based on Equation 1, and the integration error ΣErr is reset to 0 (step 3). In this example, the error Err is 0.1 µm. In practice, since the digitalization of the processing device produces superior numbers, it becomes a complicated number.

Next, code | symbol S of error Err is calculated | required by Formula (step 4). In this example, the symbol S becomes +1.

Next, at I = Imin (= -1) (step 5), each of the drawing center points Pr shown in Fig. 13 and a constant drawing area by the equation (3), for example, a plurality of drawing areas shown in Fig. 12, for each drawing interval. It calculates so that uniform drawing may be obtained in the square area | region comprised from a mirror (step 6). The integration error increases by 0.1 because the error is 0.1.

Next, the dispersion index D is calculated by the equation (4) and compared with the integration error ΣErr (step 7).

The dispersion index D is changed by changing the variable parameter I with respect to the constant parameter C, and the matching drawing position number which becomes more than integration error (Sigma) Err changes. In Fig. 15, six positions are set when I = -1, four positions are set when I = 0, and four positions set when I = 1. This fluctuation in the drawing position in the scanning direction alleviates periodic bias. As a result, more uniform drawing (exposure) is obtained for the constant drawing region.

In step 7, when the integration error ΣErr is equal to or greater than the dispersion index D, an error of resolution Rsl is assumed to occur, and as shown in Equation 5, the resolution Rsl is added to the drawing interval Pd of the drawing position to (Equation 5). The position shift is reset (step 8).

In addition, the integration error ΣErr is corrected as in Equation 6 only by the change to the drawing position (step 9).

1 is added to I (step 10), and the process proceeds to step 11.

On the other hand, when dispersion | distribution index D is smaller than integration error (Sigma) Err, it judges that the drawing interval correction is still fast, and it goes to step 11. In step 11, it is determined whether further calculation of the center point position is necessary, and if not necessary, the process ends. If necessary, the fluctuation parameter I judges whether the fluctuation range has reached the upper limit, and if it is the upper limit, goes to step 5, resets it to the value of the lower limit, and if not, goes to step 6 and repeats the processing from step 6.

By such a process, FIG. 15 is obtained. Fig. 15 shows data of part of one line in an arbitrary scanning direction.

In Fig. 14, the same processing is performed on each line, so that the same data appears at the same drawing position of each line. Even in such a state, sufficiently uniform drawing (exposure) is obtained when viewed from any constant drawing region.

In addition, in FIG. 16, the drawing position calculated by FIG. 15 is shifted | deviated from the adjacent line, and more constant averaging of the drawing area is aimed at.

In this embodiment, when converting the drawing center point position of each mirror of each light beam irradiation area | region (drawing area) into a digital value, it disperse | distributes so that a periodic bias may not arise, and it writes over the whole board | substrate with an exposure amount near uniform. Can be. Thereby, it becomes possible to manufacture a display panel of high quality.

17-20 is a figure explaining scan of the board | substrate by a light beam. 17 to 20 show an example in which the entire substrate 1 is scanned by scanning four times in the X direction of the substrate 1 using the eight light beam irradiation apparatuses 20. 17-20, the head part 20a of each light beam irradiation apparatus 20 is shown with the broken line. The light beam irradiated from the head part 20a of each light beam irradiation apparatus 20 has a bandwidth W in the Y direction, and moves the board | substrate 1 by the movement to the X direction of the X stage 5. Scan in the direction indicated by.

FIG. 17 shows the first scan, and the pattern is drawn in the scan region shown in gray in FIG. 17 by the first scan in the X direction. When the first scanning is completed, the substrate 1 is moved in the Y direction by the same distance as the band width W by the movement in the Y direction of the Y stage 7. FIG. 18 shows the second scan, and the pattern is drawn in the scan region shown in gray in FIG. 18 by the second scan in the X direction. When the second scan is completed, the substrate 1 is moved in the Y direction by the same distance as the band width W by the movement in the Y direction of the Y stage 7. FIG. 19 shows the third scan and the pattern is drawn in the scan region shown in gray in FIG. 19 by the third scan in the X direction. When the third scan is completed, the substrate 1 is moved in the Y direction by the same distance as the band width W by the movement in the Y direction of the Y stage 7. FIG. 20 shows the fourth scan, and by the fourth scan in the X direction, the pattern is drawn in the scan region shown in gray in FIG. 20, and the scanning of the entire substrate 1 is finished.

By performing the scanning of the substrate 1 in parallel with the plurality of light beams from the plurality of light beam irradiation apparatuses 20, the time taken for scanning the entire substrate 1 can be shortened, thereby reducing the tact time. Can be.

In addition, although the example which scans the whole board | substrate 1 by performing the scan of the board | substrate 1 in the X direction four times was shown in FIGS. 17-20, the number of times of scanning is not limited to this, Scanning in the X direction may be performed three times or less or five times or more to scan the entire substrate 1.

According to the embodiment described above, the center point of the light beam irradiation area 26a can be distributed so that periodic bias does not occur in the constant drawing area of the board | substrate 1, and drawing quality can be improved.

By exposing the substrate using the exposure apparatus or the exposure method of the present invention, the drawing quality can be improved by drawing with an exposure amount close to uniform over the entire pattern surface, so that a high quality display panel substrate can be manufactured. .

For example, FIG. 21 is a flowchart which shows an example of the manufacturing process of TFT board of a liquid crystal display device. In the thin film formation step (step 101), a thin film such as a conductor film or insulator film, which becomes a transparent electrode for driving liquid crystal, is formed on a substrate by a sputtering method, a plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, or the like. In a resist coating process (step 102), a photoresist is apply | coated by a roll coating method etc., and a photoresist film is formed on the thin film formed in the thin film formation process (step 101). In an exposure process (step 103), a pattern is formed in a photoresist film using an exposure apparatus. In the developing step (step 104), the developer is supplied onto the photoresist film by a shower developing method or the like to remove unnecessary portions of the photoresist film. In an etching process (step 105), the part which is not masked with the photoresist film is removed from the thin film formed in the thin film formation process (step 101) by wet etching. In a peeling process (step 106), the photoresist film which finished the role of the mask in an etching process (step 105) is peeled with a peeling liquid. Before or after each of these processes, the board | substrate washing | cleaning / drying process is performed as needed. These processes are repeated several times to form a TFT array on a substrate.

22 is a flowchart which shows an example of the manufacturing process of the color filter substrate of a liquid crystal display device. In a black matrix formation process (step 201), a black matrix is formed on a board | substrate by processes, such as resist coating, exposure, image development, etching, and peeling. In a coloring pattern formation process (step 202), a coloring pattern is formed on a board | substrate by a dyeing method, a pigment dispersion method, etc. This process is repeated with respect to the coloring patterns of R, G, and B. In a protective film formation process (step 203), a protective film is formed on a coloring pattern, and in a transparent electrode film formation process (step 204), a transparent electrode film is formed on a protective film. Before, during or after each of these steps, a substrate cleaning / drying step is performed as necessary.

In the manufacturing process of the TFT substrate shown in FIG. 21, in the exposure process (step 103), in the manufacturing process of the color filter substrate shown in FIG. 22, the black matrix forming step (step 201) and the coloring pattern forming step (step 202). In the exposure treatment of, the exposure apparatus or the exposure method of the present invention can be applied.

1: substrate
2a: pattern
3: base
4: X guide
5: X stage
6, 16: Y guide
7, 17: Y stage
8, 18: θ stage
10: Chuck
11: gate
20: light beam irradiation device
20a: head part
21: laser light source unit
22: optical fiber
23: lens
24: mirror
25: DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) (Spatial Light Modulator)
25a: mirror portion
26: shooting lens
26a: light beam irradiation area
27: DMD drive circuit
31, 33: linear scale
32, 34: Encoder
40: laser length measuring system control device
41: laser light source
42, 44: laser interferometer
43, 45: Bar Mirror
60: stage driving circuit
70: main controller
71: drawing control unit
72, 76: memory
73: bandwidth setting unit
74: center point coordinate determination unit
75: coordinate determination unit
77: drawing data creation unit

Claims (13)

An optical beam irradiator for irradiating a light beam onto a photoresist-coated substrate based on imaging data by a spatial light modulator arranged in two directions orthogonal to a plurality of mirrors, and writing the substrate and the optical beam irradiator An exposure apparatus having a scanning means for scanning relatively and a detecting means for digitally detecting a position of the scanning means,
And a dispersing means for dispersing the positions of the writing center points of the mirrors in the constant drawing region so that the exposure amount in the constant drawing region to be drawn on the substrate is close to uniformity. The method of claim 1,
And each mirror is a mirror arranged in the scanning direction. The method of claim 2,
And said dispersing means is means for dispersing a dispersion pattern by mirrors arranged in said scanning direction by shifting a phase in a direction perpendicular to said scanning direction. The method of claim 1,
The dispersing means is a means for dispersing a biased positional shift in the constant drawing region generated by the detecting means. The method of claim 1,
And a stage which mounts and rotates the light beam irradiating device and inclines the spatial light modulator of the light beam irradiating device with respect to the scanning direction. The method according to claim 1 or 5,
The spatial light modulator of the light beam irradiation apparatus is disposed inclined by the interval of the mirror with respect to the scanning direction. The substrate is relatively scanned by a light beam irradiation device for irradiating a light beam onto a photoresist-coated substrate based on the drawing data by a spatial light modulator arranged in two directions orthogonal to the plurality of mirrors, and the substrate, and scanning An exposure method for digitally detecting the position of
And a writing center point position of each of the mirrors in the constant drawing region so as to be uniform in the exposure amount in the constant drawing region to be drawn on the substrate. The method of claim 7, wherein
Each mirror is a mirror arranged in the scanning direction. The method of claim 8,
And the dispersion is performed by dispersing a dispersion pattern by mirrors arranged in the scanning direction by shifting phases in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction. The method of claim 7, wherein
The said dispersion | distribution is performed by disperse | distributing the shift | offset | difference position shift of the said constant drawing area which arises by the said detection. Exposure of a board | substrate is performed using the exposure apparatus in any one of Claims 1-5, The display panel substrate manufacturing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. Exposure of a board | substrate is performed using the exposure apparatus of Claim 6, The display panel substrate manufacturing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. Exposure of a board | substrate is performed using the exposure method in any one of Claims 7-10, The manufacturing method of the display panel substrate.

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