JPH09311460A - Production of resist pattern and forming metal mold - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing a resist pattern capable of forming a resist pattern having a pattern sectional form which is fine and not rectangular (for example, taper-shaped) and to provide a method for manufacturing a forming metal mold capable of producing formed goods having fine and complex shapes in high yield. SOLUTION: A resist layer 2 is formed on a substrate 1, etching masks 3 are formed on the resist layer 2 and then the resist layer 2 is subjected to a reactive ion etching using a gaseous mixture composed of oxygen and fluorine to form pattern-shaped resist layer 2a. Then a plated layer 4a having an inverse pattern of the above pattern is formed on the substrate on which the pattern- shaped resist layers 2a are formed and the pattern-shaped resist layers 2a and the substrate 1 are removed by etching to form a metal mold composed of the plated layer 4a.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a resist pattern and a molding die, and particularly to a head of an ink jet printer which prints on a paper or the like by ejecting ink from a fine and complicated shape. shape)
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method suitable for use in forming a resist pattern and a molding die (for example, a mold for molding the printer head) having the above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ink jet printers print characters and images by adhering ink ejected from a plurality of nozzles formed in a printer head onto paper or the like. The printer head includes at least a nozzle for ejecting ink and an ink flow path for supplying ink to the nozzle. In order to improve the resolution of the printer, it is preferable to arrange a plurality of nozzles densely, but for that purpose, it is necessary to arrange a plurality of ink channels having a fine width.

Microfabrication technology is used to manufacture such a printer head. If the printer head is manufactured by injection molding, it can be manufactured at low cost, but in this case, it is necessary to finely process the injection molding die. The mold is generally manufactured by machining, but a plating method is used in the mold processing of the printer head which requires finer processing.

Here, a step of forming a resist pattern having a shape of an ink flow path forming a printer head of an ink jet printer on a substrate, and a step of forming a mold of the printer head from the substrate on which the resist pattern is formed. Is shown in FIG. First, a resist layer 2 is formed on a substrate 1, and an etching mask 3 is formed in a pattern on the surface thereof (FIG. 3a). Then, the resist layer 2 is processed into a pattern by reactive ion etching using oxygen gas to form a resist pattern (patterned resist layer).
2 '(Fig. 3b, c).

At this time, by using a material such as a metal, which has a low etching rate by oxygen, for the etching mask 3, the difference in etching rate between the etching mask 3 and the resist layer 2 can be increased, so that a thin etching mask is used. It can be used to etch thick resist layers. Through the above steps, the patterned resist layer 2'having the shape of the ink flow path is formed on the substrate. The etching mask 3 on the resist layer 2 '
May be removed.

Next, a plating film is grown on the substrate 1 on which the patterned resist layer 2'is formed by a plating method to form a plating layer 4 having a reverse pattern of the resist pattern (FIG. 3d). . By removing the resist layer 2'and the substrate 1 from the plating layer 4 by wet etching or the like, a molding die made of the plating layer 4 having a reverse pattern of the resist pattern can be obtained (FIG. 3e).

The mold of the printer head is formed by the above steps. Then, a printer head is manufactured by performing injection molding using this mold. The injection molding process (one example) is shown in FIG. A molding die made of the plating layer 4 is prepared (FIG. 4a), and a liquid molding material is poured and solidified by cooling or the like (FIG. 4b). And
The molded part 5 is obtained by peeling (mold release) the molded product from the mold 4, but in injection molding, the shape of the mold 4 must be accurately transferred to the injection molded part.

[0008]

However, in the conventional die, since the cross-sectional shape of the reversal pattern is rectangular, friction with the die when the molded product is peeled off (released from the pattern side wall portion). Therefore, there is a problem that the injection molded product is deformed or a part of the molded product is broken and a part of the molded product is clogged as a residue 6 in the mold.

That is, when molding is performed by using the above-mentioned conventional mold, defects such as deformation and breakage of the molded product are likely to occur, and it is not possible to manufacture a molded product having a fine and complicated shape with a high yield. There was a problem. Therefore,
In order to solve such a problem, in order to reduce friction with a mold at the time of exfoliation of a molded article, the rectangular cross-sectional shape is made non-rectangular (for example, a tapered shape with a tip smaller than the root), that is, It was considered to provide a side wall of a resist pattern for forming a mold with a taper.

However, in the above conventional method of forming a resist pattern by subjecting a resist layer to reactive ion etching using oxygen gas, reaction products are deposited on the sidewalls of the resist pattern during the reactive ion etching,
The reaction product thus deposited suppresses etching of the resist on the side wall. Therefore, the side wall of the formed resist pattern has a rectangular cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the substrate surface, and as a result, the pattern of the plating mold to which the shape of the resist pattern is transferred also has a rectangular cross-sectional shape, resulting in a tapered shape. I couldn't.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a method of manufacturing a resist pattern capable of forming a resist pattern having a fine non-rectangular (for example, tapered) pattern cross-sectional shape, and a fine and complicated resist pattern. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a molding die (for example, a molding die having a fine tapered pattern cross-sectional shape) capable of producing molded articles having various shapes with a high yield.

[0012]

Therefore, the first aspect of the present invention is "at least a step of forming a resist layer on a substrate and an etching mask formed on the resist layer,
A step of forming a patterned resist layer by subjecting the resist layer to reactive ion etching using a mixed gas of oxygen gas and fluorine gas (claim 1) ". provide.

The second aspect of the present invention is "at least a step of forming a resist layer on a substrate, an etching mask is formed on the resist layer, and a mixed gas of oxygen gas and fluorine gas is added to the resist layer. And a step of forming a patterned resist layer by performing the reactive ion etching used, and a step of removing the etching mask (claim 2) ".

The third aspect of the present invention is "at least a step of forming a resist layer on a substrate, forming an etching mask on the resist layer, and applying a mixed gas of oxygen gas and fluorine gas to the resist layer. A step of forming a patterned resist layer by performing the reactive ion etching used, and a step of forming a plating layer having a reverse pattern of the pattern on the substrate on which the patterned resist layer is formed; And a step of removing the patterned resist layer and the substrate by etching to form a metal mold made of a plated layer (claim 3) ".

In a fourth aspect of the present invention, "at least a step of forming a resist layer on a substrate, an etching mask is formed on the resist layer, and a mixed gas of oxygen gas and fluorine gas is added to the resist layer. By performing the reactive ion etching used, a step of forming a patterned resist layer, a step of removing the etching mask, and an inverted pattern of the pattern on the substrate on which the patterned resist layer is formed. A method of manufacturing a molding die, comprising: a step of forming a plating layer having a layer; and a step of removing the patterned resist layer and the substrate by etching to form a die made of the plating layer (claim 4). )"I will provide a.

The fifth aspect of the present invention provides "a manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 (claim 5) characterized in that CF ₄ , CHF ₃ or SF ₆ is used as the fluorine gas." . A sixth aspect of the present invention provides "a manufacturing method according to claims 1 to 5 (claim 6), characterized in that a flow rate ratio of the fluorine gas to the oxygen gas is set to 1 to 10%".

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION According to the method for producing a resist pattern of the present invention (claims 1 and 2), reactive ion etching using a mixed gas of oxygen gas and fluorine gas is performed on a resist layer formed on a substrate. Since (using an etching mask) is applied, it is possible to form a fine resist pattern having a non-rectangular (for example, tapered) pattern cross-sectional shape.

According to the method of manufacturing a molding die of the present invention (claims 3 and 4), the resist layer formed on the substrate is
By performing reactive ion etching (using an etching mask) using a mixed gas of oxygen gas and fluorine gas, a resist pattern having a fine non-rectangular (for example, tapered) pattern cross-sectional shape can be obtained. By forming a plating layer using a pattern, the molded product is easy to release and has a fine pattern cross-sectional shape (for example,
It is possible to obtain a molding die having a tapered pattern sectional shape).

Therefore, according to the molding die manufacturing method of the present invention (claims 3 and 4), it is possible to manufacture a molding die capable of manufacturing molded articles having a fine and complicated shape with a high yield. . In the production method of the present invention, the fluorine gas, which is a component gas of the mixed gas involved in the reactive ion etching, increases the degree of freedom in setting the fine non-rectangular pattern cross-sectional shape (resist pattern or molding die). , CF ₄ , CHF ₃ or SF ₆ are preferred (Claim 5), and CF ₄ is particularly preferred.

The inclination angle of the side wall in the non-rectangular pattern cross-sectional shape can be increased by increasing the flow rate ratio of fluorine gas to oxygen gas. That is, a desired sidewall angle can be obtained by selecting the mixing ratio. For example, when the flow rate ratio of fluorine gas to oxygen gas is set to 1% or more, the effect of adding fluorine gas appears and the side wall angle is inclined, and when the flow rate ratio exceeds 10%, the side wall inclination angle is 10 degrees. Will be smaller than.

Therefore, in the manufacturing method of the present invention, the mixed gas of oxygen gas and fluorine gas involved in reactive ion etching has a flow rate ratio of fluorine gas to oxygen gas of 1: 1.
The composition is preferably set to 10% (claim 6). Note that when fluorine gas is added to oxygen gas, the etching rate of the etching mask increases, and the mask may be etched and disappear during the reactive ion etching. Increase or increase the material of the etching mask that is difficult to etch (for example, copper, nickel,
Chrome etc.)

The substrate on which the resist pattern is formed is made of a material having a high etching resistance as a substrate material so that it is difficult to be etched by reactive ion etching, or a film of a metal or the like having a small etching rate is formed on the substrate surface (for example, Copper, nickel, chromium, etc.) are preferably formed. Further, in the method of manufacturing a molding die, it is preferable that the film formed on the surface of the substrate is made of the same material as the plating layer forming the die, because the plating layer is likely to grow on the substrate.

In the step of forming the resist layer on the substrate, a liquid resist may be applied by a spin coater or the like, or a solid resist (for example, a dry film resist) may be attached. To further adjust the thickness, the resist may be applied or deposited in multiple layers.
Here, an example of a method of manufacturing a resist pattern and a molding die according to the present invention, a step of a method of manufacturing a resist pattern having a shape of an ink flow path forming a printer head of an inkjet printer, and the ink flow path The steps of the method for manufacturing the molding die of the printer head using the resist pattern having the above shape are shown (see FIG. 1).

First, a substrate 1 on which a metal film (for example, a nickel film) having a small etching rate for reactive ion etching described later is formed on a silicon wafer is prepared, and a resist layer 2 is formed on the substrate 1. Furthermore, an etching mask 3 was formed on the surface in a pattern (see FIG. 1).
a). Next, the resist layer 2 was subjected to reactive ion etching to obtain a resist pattern 2a (FIGS. 1b and 1c).
At this time, a mixed gas obtained by adding fluorine to oxygen was used as the reaction gas. By adding fluorine to the reaction gas, the resist pattern layer 2a having a non-rectangular pattern cross-sectional shape (tapered shape with inclined sidewall) was obtained.

The etching mask 3 on the resist pattern layer 2a may be removed. Through the above steps, a resist pattern having the shape of the ink flow path forming the printer head of the inkjet printer was obtained. A process of manufacturing a mold for a printer head from the substrate 1 on which the resist pattern layer 2a is formed will be described below.

First, a plating film is grown on a substrate 1 on which a resist pattern layer 2a having a non-rectangular pattern cross-sectional shape is formed by a plating method to form a plating layer 4 having a reverse pattern of the resist pattern layer 2a. Formed (FIG. 1d). Next, the resist pattern layer 2a and the substrate 1 were removed from the plating layer 4a by wet etching or the like to obtain a molding die including the plating layer 4a having a reverse pattern of the resist pattern layer 2a (FIG. 1).
e).

The obtained molding die had a non-rectangular pattern cross-sectional shape (tapered side wall), and the inclination angle of the side wall was substantially the same as the inclination angle of the side wall of the resist pattern 2a. Through the above steps, the mold for the printer head could be manufactured. Further, FIG. 2 shows a process (one example) of molding a printer head using this molding die.

First, a molding die 4a made of a plated layer is prepared (FIG. 2a), and a liquid molding material is poured into the die,
It was solidified by cooling or the like (Fig. 2b). Then, the molded part (printer head) 5a could be obtained by releasing the molded product from the mold 4a (FIG. 2c). here,
Since the side wall of the molding die 4a is inclined so as to spread outward, the frictional resistance when the molded product is released from the molding die 4a can be sufficiently reduced.

Therefore, the shape of the molded product 5a is not distorted, and a molded product (a molded product having a fine and complicated shape) in which the shape of the mold is accurately transferred can be manufactured with a high yield. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail by way of examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[0030]

FIG. 1 is an example of a method of manufacturing a resist pattern and a molding die according to this embodiment, which is a step of a method of manufacturing a resist pattern having a shape of an ink flow path forming a printer head of an inkjet printer. And a step of a method for manufacturing a molding die for the printer head by using a resist pattern having the shape of the ink flow path.

Further, FIG. 2 shows a step (one example) of molding a printer head using the molding die. First, a substrate 1 on which a metal film (for example, a nickel film) having a small etching rate for reactive ionic etching described later is formed on a silicon wafer is prepared, a resist layer 2 is formed on the substrate 1, and the surface thereof is further formed. Then, an etching mask 3 was formed in a pattern (FIG. 1a).

Here, the resist layer 2 was adhered and formed on the substrate by using a dry film resist having a thickness of 70 μm, and after the adhesion, it was annealed to enhance the adhesion strength. The etching mask 3 is formed by patterning a copper thin film having a thickness of 3 μm, and the minimum pattern size is 10 μm. The pattern of the copper thin film was prepared by forming a resist pattern on the surface of the copper thin film formed on the dry film by a photolithography process and etching the copper by argon ion milling.

Next, the resist layer 2 was subjected to reactive ion etching to obtain a resist pattern layer 2 '(FIG. 1).
b, c). At this time, when a mixed gas of CF ₄ added to oxygen is used as a reaction gas and the flow rate ratio of CF ₄ gas to oxygen gas is set to 2%, the sidewall has a non-rectangular pattern cross-sectional shape inclined by about 10 degrees. A resist pattern layer 2a was obtained.

Through the above steps, a resist pattern having the shape of the ink flow path forming the printer head of the ink jet printer was obtained. A process of manufacturing a mold for a printer head from the substrate 1 on which the resist pattern layer 2a is formed will be described below. First, on the substrate 1 on which the resist pattern layer 2a having a non-rectangular pattern cross-sectional shape is formed, a plating film is grown by electrolytic plating to form a plating layer 4a having a reverse pattern of the resist pattern layer 2a. (Fig. 1d).

Next, the resist pattern layer 2a and the substrate 1 are removed from the plating layer 4a by wet etching or the like to obtain a molding die made of the plating layer 4a having a reverse pattern of the resist pattern layer 2a (see FIG. 1
e). The obtained molding die had a non-rectangular pattern cross-sectional shape (tapered shape in which the side wall was inclined), and the inclination angle of the side wall was substantially the same as the inclination angle of the side wall of the resist pattern 2a.

Through the above steps, the mold for the printer head could be manufactured. Further, FIG. 2 shows a process (one example) of molding a printer head using this molding die. First, a molding die 4a made of a plated layer was prepared (FIG. 2a), a liquid molding material was poured into the mold, and solidified by cooling or the like (FIG. 2b). Then, the molded product is a mold 4
By releasing from a, a molded part (printer head) 5a could be obtained (FIG. 2c).

Here, since the side wall of the molding die 4a is inclined so as to spread outward, the molded product is molded into the molding die 4
It was possible to sufficiently reduce the frictional resistance when releasing from a. Therefore, the shape of the molded product 5a was not distorted, and a molded product (a molded product having a fine and complicated shape) in which the shape of the mold was accurately transferred could be manufactured with a high yield.

Also, the molded part (printer head) 5
When a was used for an inkjet printer, high resolution and high quality printing could be performed. On the other hand, when injection molding is performed using the mold manufactured by the conventional method,
Since the molded product was distorted and the transfer accuracy of the fine pattern portion was particularly poor, it was not possible to manufacture a printer head that could be used.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A resist pattern having a fine non-rectangular (for example, tapered) pattern cross-sectional shape can be formed. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to manufacture a molding die capable of manufacturing a molded product having a fine and complicated shape with a high yield.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process drawing of a manufacturing method for forming a resist pattern and a molding die according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a process drawing of molding a printer head using the molding die according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a process drawing of a conventional method for manufacturing a molding die.

FIG. 4 is a process diagram of molding a printer head using a molding die manufactured by a conventional method.

[Explanation of symbols for main parts]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Substrate 2 ... Resist layer 2 '... Patterned resist layer (by conventional method) 2a ... Patterned resist layer (by manufacturing method according to the present invention) 3 ... Etching mask 4 ... Plating layer (molding die, by conventional method) 4a ... Plating layer (molding die, by manufacturing method according to the present invention) 5 ... Injection molded product (printer head, by conventional die) 5a ... injection molded product (printer head, mold according to the present invention) 6 ... molding residue

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. At least a step of forming a resist layer on a substrate, an etching mask is formed on the resist layer, and reactive ion etching using a mixed gas of oxygen gas and fluorine gas is performed on the resist layer. And a step of forming a patterned resist layer by applying the resist pattern. 2. At least a step of forming a resist layer on a substrate, an etching mask is formed on the resist layer, and reactive ion etching using a mixed gas of oxygen gas and fluorine gas is performed on the resist layer. A method of manufacturing a resist pattern, comprising: a step of forming a patterned resist layer by performing the step; and a step of removing the etching mask. 3. At least a step of forming a resist layer on a substrate, an etching mask is formed on the resist layer, and reactive ion etching using a mixed gas of oxygen gas and fluorine gas is performed on the resist layer. A step of forming a patterned resist layer by applying, a step of forming a plating layer having a reverse pattern of the pattern on the substrate on which the patterned resist layer is formed, and the patterned resist layer And a step of removing the substrate by etching to form a mold made of a plating layer,
A method of manufacturing a molding die including: 4. At least a step of forming a resist layer on a substrate, an etching mask is formed on the resist layer, and reactive ion etching using a mixed gas of oxygen gas and fluorine gas is performed on the resist layer. By applying, a step of forming a patterned resist layer, a step of removing the etching mask, and a plating layer having a reverse pattern of the pattern is formed on the substrate on which the patterned resist layer is formed. And a step of removing the patterned resist layer and the substrate by etching to form a mold made of a plating layer,
A method of manufacturing a molding die including: 5. CF ₄ , CHF ₃ as the fluorine gas
Alternatively, SF ₆ is used, and the manufacturing method according to claim 1. 6. The flow rate ratio of the fluorine gas to the oxygen gas is set to 1 to 10%.
5. The production method according to 5.