JP2007057791A - Aligner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten the exposure processing time for an object to be exposed.
SOLUTION: A conveying means 1 for placing a color filter substrate 6 on the upper surface and conveying it in a predetermined direction, and disposed above the conveying means 1, formed in a strip shape and having a predetermined shape along its longitudinal direction. A large number of mask patterns 8 are formed at regular intervals, and the strip-shaped longitudinal central axes are arranged in a zigzag manner along a direction perpendicular to the transport direction in a plane parallel to the top surface of the transport means 1. A plurality of photomasks 2, and irradiating the plurality of photomasks 2 with exposure light simultaneously to form a series of exposure pattern rows by linking unit exposure pattern rows by the photomasks 2. Is.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  In the present invention, exposure is performed using a plurality of photomasks so that ends of adjacent exposure areas overlap with a plurality of exposure areas set on the object to be exposed, and at the boundary between the adjacent exposure areas. More particularly, the present invention relates to an exposure apparatus that attempts to shorten the exposure processing time for the exposure object.

The conventional exposure apparatus exposes a first exposure region constituting a part of the photosensitive resist film formed on the substrate by using the first photomask, whereby the first of the photosensitive resist film is exposed. By transferring a first mask pattern to the exposure region and exposing a second exposure region adjacent to and overlapping the first exposure region of the photosensitive resist film by using a second photomask; The second mask pattern is transferred to the second exposure region of the photosensitive resist film. When the first mask pattern is transferred, the boundary region where the first and second exposure regions overlap is transferred. When the first mask pattern part is transferred to a part of the pixel located and the second mask pattern is transferred, the second mask pattern part is transferred to the other part of the pixel. (For example, Patent reference 1).
JP 2000-66235 A

  However, in such a conventional exposure apparatus, streaks or unevenness at the boundary between adjacent exposure regions can be made inconspicuous, but when exposing the plurality of exposure regions, a plurality of photomasks are switched respectively. Therefore, each time a plurality of photomasks are switched, the alignment mark provided on each photomask must be aligned with the alignment mark provided in the exposure area to be exposed. In other words, the exposure process took a long time.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an exposure apparatus that addresses such problems and attempts to shorten the exposure processing time for the exposure object.

  In order to achieve the above object, an exposure apparatus according to the present invention performs exposure using a plurality of photomasks so that ends of adjacent exposure areas overlap with a plurality of exposure areas set on an object to be exposed. An exposure apparatus for forming a series of exposure pattern rows by connecting the exposure patterns by one photomask and the exposure patterns by the other photomask to each other in the overlapped exposure region, and connecting the unit exposure pattern rows by the respective photomasks A conveying means for placing the object to be exposed on the upper surface and conveying it in a predetermined direction; and a plurality of predetermined shapes arranged along the longitudinal direction of the conveying means disposed above the conveying means and formed in a strip shape. A mask pattern is formed at regular intervals, and the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the strip shape is zigzag along a direction orthogonal to the transport direction within a plane parallel to the top surface of the transport means. And a plurality of photomasks arranged in earthenware pots, in which irradiates the exposing light at the same time to the plurality of photomasks.

  With such a configuration, the object to be exposed is placed on the upper surface by the conveying means and conveyed in a predetermined direction, arranged above the conveying means, formed in a strip shape, and a large number of predetermined shapes along the longitudinal direction. A plurality of mask patterns are formed at regular intervals, and the strip-like longitudinal central axes are arranged in a zigzag manner along a direction perpendicular to the transport direction within a plane parallel to the top surface of the transport means. A plurality of unit exposure pattern rows are formed such that exposure light is simultaneously irradiated onto the photomask, and ends of the exposure areas adjacent to the plurality of exposure areas set on the object to be exposed are overlapped with the plurality of photomasks. . As a result, the exposure pattern by one photomask and the exposure pattern by the other photomask complement each other in the overlapped exposure region to form a series of exposure pattern rows.

  Further, the plurality of photomasks thins out a part of a mask pattern located in an end region adjacent to the other photomask among a plurality of mask patterns formed on the one photomask at regular intervals, Among the plurality of mask patterns formed on the photomask at a predetermined interval, the mask pattern corresponding to the mask pattern thinned out of the one photomask is left, and the mask pattern left on the one photomask is supported The mask pattern to be thinned out. As a result, of a mask pattern having a predetermined shape and formed at a constant interval, a portion of the mask pattern located in the end region adjacent to the other photomask is exposed with one photomask. A predetermined unit exposure pattern row is formed on the body, the mask pattern corresponding to the mask pattern thinned out on the one photomask is left, and the mask pattern corresponding to the mask pattern left on the one photomask is left A predetermined unit exposure pattern row by the one photomask is formed by the other thinned photomask, and a series of exposure pattern rows is formed on the object to be exposed.

  Further, the thinning of the mask pattern in the end region of the photomask is obtained by gradually increasing the thinning number from the central portion toward the end portion. Thus, the mask pattern is exposed on the object to be exposed with the photomask in which the thinning number of the mask pattern in the end region of the photomask is gradually increased from the central portion toward the terminal portion.

  The object to be exposed is a color filter substrate. Thereby, an exposure pattern row of the color filter is formed on the color filter substrate.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a unit exposure pattern row by each photomask is simultaneously formed using a plurality of photomasks in a plurality of exposure regions set on the object to be exposed while conveying the object to be exposed. A series of exposure pattern rows in which the unit exposure pattern rows are continuous can be formed. Therefore, the exposure processing time of the exposure object can be shortened.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, a series of exposure pattern sequences can be easily obtained by making the exposure pattern by one photomask and the exposure pattern by the other photomask complement each other in adjacent boundary regions of the plurality of exposure regions. Can be formed.

  Furthermore, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the unevenness of the boundary region of each unit exposure pattern row can be changed stepwise. Therefore, the unevenness of the boundary region can be made less noticeable.

  And according to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, the shading unevenness of the color of a color filter can be made inconspicuous.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual view showing an embodiment of an exposure apparatus according to the present invention. In this exposure apparatus, exposure is performed using a plurality of photomasks such that the end portions of the exposure areas overlap with a plurality of exposure areas set on the object to be exposed, and one of the photomasks is applied to the overlapped exposure areas. The exposure pattern and the exposure pattern by the other photomask complement each other to form a series of exposure pattern rows by linking the unit exposure pattern rows by the respective photomasks, and the streaks or unevenness at the boundary portions of the adjacent exposure regions are eliminated. It is intended to be inconspicuous, and includes a transport unit 1, a photomask 2, an exposure optical system 3, an imaging unit 4, and a control unit 5. Hereinafter, a case where the object to be exposed is a color filter substrate on which a black matrix is formed will be described. The exposure area is an area where a unit exposure pattern is formed by each photomask. The overlapped exposure areas are hereinafter referred to as “boundary areas”.

  The conveying means 1 is configured to place the color filter substrate 6 coated with a photosensitive color resist on the stage 7 on the upper surface 1a and convey it at a predetermined speed in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. An unillustrated transport roller for moving the stage 7, a transport drive unit such as a motor that rotationally drives the transport roller, a speed sensor that detects the transport speed of the stage 7, a position detection sensor that detects the position, and the like. I have.

  A plurality of photomasks 2 are disposed above the conveying means 1. Each of the plurality of photomasks 2 forms a unit exposure pattern, and is formed in a strip shape as shown in FIG. 2, and a plurality of mask patterns 8 having a predetermined shape are formed at regular intervals along the longitudinal direction thereof. The strip-shaped central axes in the longitudinal direction are arranged in a zigzag manner along a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction indicated by arrow A in a plane parallel to the upper surface 1a of the conveying means 1.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of photomasks 2 are arranged such that end regions adjacent to each other coincide with each other in the transport direction indicated by the arrow A, and are aligned with one photomask 9 at regular intervals. Among the plurality of formed mask patterns 8, a part of the mask pattern 8 located in the end region adjacent to the other photomask 10 is thinned out, and the plurality of mask patterns 8 formed on the other photomask 10 at regular intervals. Among them, a mask pattern 8b (shown by a solid line in the figure) corresponding to the mask pattern 8a thinned out by the one photomask 9 (shown by a broken line in the figure) is left, and the remaining photo pattern 9 is left on the one photomask 9. The mask pattern 8a corresponding to the mask pattern 8b is thinned out. In the thinning of the mask pattern 8 in the end region of the photomask 2, the thinning number is gradually increased from the central portion toward the end portion.

  Above the transport unit 1, a plurality of exposure optical systems 3 are arranged side by side in a direction parallel to the upper surface 1a of the transport unit 1 and perpendicular to the transport direction (arrow A direction). The plurality of exposure optical systems 3 simultaneously irradiate the plurality of photomasks 2 with exposure light to transfer an image of the mask pattern 8 of each photomask 2 onto the color filter substrate 6, as shown in FIG. 1 to form an exposure pattern sequence in which unit exposure pattern sequences by each photomask 2 are connected to each other. As shown in FIG. 1, an exposure light source 11, a mask stage 12, a projection lens 13, and a dichroic mirror 14, respectively. It has.

  The exposure light source 11 emits exposure light including ultraviolet rays, and is, for example, a high-pressure mercury lamp, a xenon lamp, an ultraviolet light emitting laser, or the like. The mask stage 12 is provided in front of the irradiation direction of exposure light emitted from the exposure light source 11 so that the photomask 2 can be placed thereon. The projection lens 13 is provided between the stage 7 and the mask stage 12 of the transport means 1 and projects the mask pattern 8 formed on the photomask 2 onto the color filter substrate 6. . The dichroic mirror 14 is provided between the mask stage 12 and the projection lens 13 and transmits ultraviolet light and reflects visible light. The dichroic mirror 14 reflects visible light from the color filter substrate 6. The imaging means 4 can receive light.

  The exposure optical system 3 is integrated with an imaging unit 4 (to be described later) by an alignment mechanism 18 and is parallel to the upper surface 1a of the transport unit 1 and orthogonal to the transport direction indicated by an arrow A in FIG. It is formed to be movable in the direction of arrow B or C. The alignment mechanism 18 can rotate the exposure optical system 3 and the imaging means 4 integrally with the center of the plurality of photomasks 2 arranged in a row as the central axis.

  An imaging unit 4 is provided on an optical path that is changed between the mask stage 12 and the projection lens 13 in a direction different from the optical path of the exposure optical system 3. The imaging unit 4 images the pixels 16 of the black matrix 15 of the color filter substrate 6 shown in FIG. 4, and the transport direction (arrows) of the color filter substrate 6 within a plane parallel to the upper surface 1 a of the transport unit 1. A large number of light receiving elements 17 are arranged in a straight line in a direction orthogonal to the (A direction), and images a position substantially the same as the exposure position by the exposure optical system 3. As shown in FIG. 1, for example, the color filter substrate 6 is illuminated from the back by an illumination light source 19 that is disposed below the stage 7 of the transport unit 1 and emits visible light. The formed pixels 16 of the black matrix 15 can be clearly imaged. When the visible light of the illumination light source 19 contains an ultraviolet component, an ultraviolet cut filter is provided in front of the illumination light source 19 to prevent the color resist applied to the color filter substrate 6 from being exposed. .

  Here, on the color filter substrate 6, as shown in FIG. 4, the reference position S <b> 1 is set in advance at the upper left corner of the leftmost pixel 16 a of the black matrix 15 in FIG. The reference position S2 is set in advance at the left edge of the left edge mask pattern 8c in FIG. Then, the reference position S1 of the color filter substrate 6 is detected by the light receiving element 17 of the image pickup means 4, and the reference light receiving element of the image pickup means 4 set in advance with a predetermined positional relationship with the reference position S2 of the photomask. The positional deviation from 17s can be corrected.

  A control unit 5 is connected to the transport unit 1, the exposure light source 11, the imaging unit 4, and the illumination light source 19. The control means 5 detects a reference position S1 preset in the pixel 16 of the black matrix 15 based on the image data of the image acquired by the imaging means 4, and performs exposure based on the reference position S1. The exposure light source drive unit 20, the alignment mechanism controller 21, the image processing unit 22, the transport unit controller 23, the illumination light source drive unit 24, the storage unit 25, the calculation unit 26, and the control unit 27. And.

  Here, the exposure light source driving unit 20 drives the exposure light source 11 to turn on. The alignment mechanism controller 21 controls driving of the alignment mechanism 18. Further, the image processing unit 22 processes the image acquired by the imaging unit 4 to create image data, and also describes the image data and a lookup table (hereinafter referred to as “LUT”) stored in the storage unit 25. ) And a reference position S1 preset in the pixel 16 of the black matrix 15 of the color filter substrate 6 is detected. Furthermore, the transport means controller 23 moves the stage 7 of the transport means 1 in a predetermined direction at a predetermined speed. The illumination light source drive unit 24 drives the illumination light source 19 to turn on. Further, the storage unit 25, for example, the LUT for detecting the reference position S1 set in the pixel 16 of the black matrix 15 of the color filter substrate 6 shown in FIG. 5 or the cell number of the reference light receiving element 17s of the imaging means 4 is used. Etc. are stored. Furthermore, the calculation unit 26 calculates a deviation amount between the reference light receiving element 17s of the imaging unit 4 and the light receiving element 17 that has detected the reference position S1 set in the pixel 16 of the black matrix 15 of the color filter substrate 6. Is. And the control part 27 controls drive of said each part appropriately.

Next, the operation of the exposure apparatus configured as described above will be described.
First, when a start switch (not shown) provided in the apparatus is turned on, the control means 5 is activated, the illumination light source 19 is turned on by the illumination light source driving unit 24, and the imaging means 4 starts imaging. Further, the transport unit 1 is in a standby state with the color filter substrate 6 coated with a color resist placed on a predetermined position on the stage 7. Next, when an exposure start switch (not shown) is turned on, the stage 7 of the transport unit 1 is controlled by the transport unit controller 23 to start moving in the direction of arrow A at a predetermined speed.

  When the color filter substrate 6 is conveyed by the stage 7 of the conveying means 1 and the pixels 16 of the black matrix 15 formed on the color filter substrate 6 reach the imaging position of the imaging means 4, the image of the pixel 16 is captured by the imaging means. 4 is obtained. In this case, when the reference position S1 of the color filter substrate 6 is set at the upper left corner of the leftmost pixel 16a of the black matrix 15, the control unit 5 stores the image data of the image acquired by the imaging unit 4 and the image data. The LUT read from the unit 25 is compared by the image processing unit 22, and when the two match, the upper left corner of the pixel 16 is determined as the reference position S1. Then, the cell number of the light receiving element 17 of the imaging unit 4 that has detected the reference position S1 is compared with the cell number of the reference light receiving element 17s stored in the storage unit 25 in advance. The amount of deviation is calculated by the calculation unit 26, and the alignment mechanism 18 is driven and controlled by the alignment mechanism controller 21 so that the amount of deviation becomes zero. The imaging means 4 and the exposure optical system 3 are moved together in the direction of the arrow B or C orthogonal to the arrow A shown in FIG. Thereby, when the reference light receiving element 17s of the imaging means 4 is positioned at the reference position S1 of the color filter substrate 6, the reference position S2 of the photomask 2 having a predetermined positional relationship with the reference light receiving element 17s and the color filter substrate 6 As the reference position S1 matches, the stripe-shaped exposure pattern 28 can be formed at the target position as shown by hatching in FIG.

  Thereafter, the alignment mechanism 18 is controlled based on the image data acquired by the imaging unit 4, and the reference position S <b> 2 of the photomask 2 is positioned at the upper left corner of the left end pixel 16 a that is the reference position S <b> 1 of the color filter substrate 6. The exposure proceeds. When the color filter substrate 6 is rotationally displaced during conveyance, the alignment mechanism 18 is controlled so that the exposure optical system 3 and the imaging unit 4 are integrated with the center of the photomask 2 as the central axis. (Θ) to adjust the rotational deviation. As a result, the photomask 2 moves following the color filter substrate 6 being conveyed while swinging from side to side, and the exposure pattern 28 is accurately formed at the target position as shown in FIG. Become.

  In this way, on the black matrix 15 of the color filter substrate 6, the unit exposure pattern row by the mask pattern 8 of one and the other photomasks 9 and 10 corresponds to the pixel 16 as shown in FIG. Overlapping areas are formed side by side in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction (arrow A direction), forming a series of exposure pattern rows. As a result, in the boundary region, a series of exposure pattern rows is formed by complementing the exposure patterns in which the exposure pattern 28a by the one photomask 9 and the exposure pattern 28b by the other photomask 10 are thinned out. As a result, there is no boundary between adjacent unit exposure pattern rows, and the color shading unevenness of the boundary region becomes inconspicuous.

  The alignment as described above may be performed by individually moving the plurality of exposure optical systems 3, or may be performed by moving all the exposure optical systems 3 integrally.

  In the above description, the case where the object to be exposed is the color filter substrate 6 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the object to be exposed is, for example, glass coated with Cr for forming the black matrix 15. It may be a substrate, or any other substrate. In this case, when the object to be exposed is an opaque substrate, the illumination light source 19 is preferably disposed above the transport means 1 for epi-illumination.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the imaging position by the imaging unit 4 and the exposure position by the exposure optical system 3 coincide with each other has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the front side in the transport direction of the exposure position by the exposure optical system 3 is described. The imaging means 4 may be disposed so as to be the imaging position.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows embodiment of the exposure apparatus by this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the arrangement | positioning state of the one and the other photomask used for the said exposure apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the exposure pattern row | line formed with the said one and the other photomask. It is explanatory drawing which shows the alignment adjustment in the said exposure apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Conveyance means 1a ... Upper surface of conveyance means 2 ... Photomask 3 ... Exposure optical system 6 ... Color filter substrate (exposed body)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 8 ... Mask pattern 8a ... Thinned-out mask pattern 8b ... Remaining mask pattern 9 ... One photomask 10 ... Other photomask 28 ... Exposure pattern 28a ... Exposure pattern by one photomask 28b ... Other photomask Exposure pattern by A ... Conveying direction

Claims (4)

Exposure is performed using a plurality of photomasks such that ends of adjacent exposure areas overlap with a plurality of exposure areas set on the object to be exposed, and an exposure pattern by one photomask is overlapped with the overlapped exposure areas. An exposure apparatus for forming a series of exposure pattern rows by complementing each other with an exposure pattern by the other photomask and connecting unit exposure pattern rows by the respective photomasks,
Conveying means for placing the object to be exposed on the upper surface and conveying the object in a predetermined direction;
A large number of mask patterns having a predetermined shape are formed at regular intervals along the longitudinal direction of the strip, which are arranged above the transport unit and formed in a strip shape, and the central axis in the longitudinal direction of the strip shape is the upper surface of the transport unit A plurality of photomasks arranged in a zigzag manner along a direction orthogonal to the transport direction in a plane parallel to
An exposure apparatus that irradiates the plurality of photomasks with exposure light simultaneously.   The plurality of photomasks thins out part of a mask pattern located in an end region adjacent to the other photomask among a plurality of mask patterns formed on the one photomask at regular intervals. A mask corresponding to the mask pattern remaining on one of the photomasks, leaving a mask pattern corresponding to the mask pattern thinned out of the one of the plurality of mask patterns formed on the mask at regular intervals. 2. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is thinned out.   3. The exposure apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the thinning of the mask pattern in the end region of the photomask is gradually increased from the central portion toward the terminal portion. The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object to be exposed is a color filter substrate.

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