JP2000035677A - Aligner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize consecutive exposure with high accuracy by providing a driving device rotating a cylindrical photomask so that the photomask may synchronize with an object to be exposed and carrying the object to be exposed, and a light source irradiating the object to be exposed with light by transmitting the light through the photomask. SOLUTION: The cylindrical photomask 1 on the surface of which a mask pattern is drawn is attached to rotate in a direction shown by an arrow. The photomask 1 and a work W are driven so that they may accurately synchronize with each other by a servo driving mechanism constituted of a controller 20 and the driving devices 21 and 22. Then, the exposing light source 2 is provided on a longitude passing through the rotary shaft of the photomask 1 all over a cylinder length direction inside the photomask 1. In such constitution, the work W is carried in the direction shown by an arrow, and the photomask 1 is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow synchronizing with the work W. Then, they are exposed by the light source 2 at an exposure position E. Thus, the mask pattern is consecutively printed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When manufacturing a printed circuit board or the like,
2. Description of the Related Art A method of printing a circuit pattern on a work side using a photomask on which a circuit pattern or the like is drawn to form a circuit board has been widely used, and various exposure apparatuses have been used.

[0003]

In the above-described conventional exposure apparatus, when a continuous pattern is formed on a long continuous work such as a hoop material, a fixed pattern drawn on a photomask is required. The entire exposure is performed while repeating the exposure and the work transfer for each area. However, in the case of the exposure by the above-described method, a problem occurs in the accuracy of the pattern at the boundary between adjacent exposure areas. That is, exposure may be performed in a state where the exposure areas are slightly overlapped or a gap is generated, and this is a problem that appears as a dimensional defect of the pattern. It is impossible with a conventional apparatus to perform exposure so that adjacent exposure areas do not overlap or a gap does not occur, and improvement of this point has been desired. The present invention aims to remedy the disadvantages of the prior art.

[0004]

To achieve the above object, an exposure apparatus of the present invention synchronizes a cylindrical photomask, an object to be exposed, and the cylindrical photomask with the object to be exposed. A driving device for rotating the photomask and transporting the object to be exposed, and a light source disposed in the cylindrical photomask and transmitting light to the object to be exposed through the cylindrical photomask, It is characterized by having. The cylindrical photomask may be in various forms such as a photomask itself having a cylindrical shape, or a cylinder formed of a material that transmits the exposure wavelength, and a film-shaped mask attached to the cylinder. . The photomask and the object to be exposed may be in contact with each other or may not be in contact with each other. The light source provided in the cylinder is provided with a light-shielding cover and an optical system, and irradiates light along a line parallel to the cylinder length direction toward the inside of the side peripheral surface of the cylindrical photomask. It is desirable to configure.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2, the cylindrical photomask 1 is rotatable in the direction of an arrow, and a predetermined mask pattern is drawn on the surface. A photomask may be attached to a cylindrical exposure wavelength transmitting material. The work W is transported in the direction of the arrow below the cylindrical photomask 1. A photosensitive resist is applied to the surface of the work W, and is exposed according to the mask pattern of the cylindrical photomask 1. The cylindrical photomask 1 and the workpiece W may be in contact with each other or may be non-contact. The cylindrical photomask 1 and the workpiece W are configured to be synchronously driven with high accuracy by a servo drive mechanism including a control device 20 and drive devices 21 and 22.

An exposure light source 2 is provided inside a cylindrical photomask 1 so as to irradiate light of an exposure frequency. The exposure light source 2 is provided over substantially the entire length of the cylindrical photomask 1 on a radial line passing through the rotation axis of the cylindrical photomask 1. The exposure light source 2 is provided with a reflection plate 3 so that light is reflected to a lens 6 provided below the exposure light source 2 (on the side of the work W) to become parallel light. The lens 6 is provided in the middle of the optical path of the exposure light source 2, and is provided over substantially the entire length of the cylindrical photomask 1 in the cylindrical length direction, and irradiates linear light having a predetermined area in the cylindrical length direction. It has become. The lens 6 is provided from the lower side of the exposure light source 2 so as to reach a position on the inner wall side of the cylindrical photomask 1 where the cylindrical photomask 1 and the workpiece W are in contact with or closest to each other. Light from the light source. This position is the exposure position E
In this exposure position E, a linear exposure portion corresponding to the cylindrical length of the cylindrical photomask 1 is formed. The lens 6 is configured to approach the inner wall of the cylindrical photomask 1 in a non-contact manner. The light-shielding cover 4 covers the exposure light source 2 and the reflection plate 3, and the light-shielding cover 5 covers the lens 6, so that exposure is prevented from leaking to positions other than the exposure position E. The light-shielding cover 5 is arranged so as to be as close as possible to the inner wall of the cylindrical photomask 1 so as to be in non-contact, so as to prevent intrusion of noise light and not to hinder the rotation of the cylindrical photomask 1.

A dust removing roller 7 contacts the cylindrical photomask 1 and a dust removing roller 8 contacts the work W to remove dust.

In the above configuration, the work W is transported in the direction of the arrow, and the cylindrical photomask 1 rotates in the direction of the arrow in synchronization with the transfer. Then, at the exposure position E, the light from the exposure light source 2 is used to expose the line. Since the next rotation is performed continuously even after the cylindrical photomask 1 makes one rotation, it is possible to continuously print the mask pattern drawn on the cylindrical photomask 1 on the work W,
There is no gap or overlap at the joint between the patterns, and continuous pattern formation with high precision is possible.

In the above description, the apparatus for exposing only one side of the work W has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 3, the same configuration is provided on the front and back of the work W to simultaneously expose the front and back of the work W. It is also possible to configure. In this embodiment, the control device 20 operates the drive devices 21 and 21 ′ and the drive device 22 in synchronization.

[0010]

As described above, according to the exposure apparatus of the present invention, continuous exposure of a pattern can be performed, and exposure and transfer of a work W are not performed intermittently as in the prior art. There is no gap or overlap between the patterns. As a result, continuous exposure with high precision becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: cylindrical photomask, 2: exposure light source, 3: reflection plate,
4: light shielding cover, 5: light shielding cover, 6: lens, 7: dust removal roller, 8: dust removal roller, 20: control device,
21: drive device, 22: drive device.

Claims (2)

[Claims] A cylindrical photomask; an exposure object; a driving device for rotating the photomask in synchronization with the cylindrical photomask and the exposure object and transporting the exposure object; A light source disposed in a photomask having a shape, and irradiating the exposure target with light through the cylindrical photomask. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the light source has a light-shielding cover and an optical system, and irradiates light along the length of the cylinder toward the inside of the side peripheral surface of the cylindrical photomask. Item 1. The exposure apparatus according to Item 1.