JP2000280367A - Microlens manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce man-hours in manufacturing by eliminating a mask forming, mask removing, cleaning processing, etc. conventionally performed in manufacturing a microlens, and an efficient manufacturing method. With the device configuration that can realize the above, the productivity is improved and the manufacturing cost is reduced. A substrate is first subjected to a surface treatment (surface treatment step a), and then a droplet 22 made of uncured resin is dropped on a surface 20a of the substrate 20 by a discharge head 21 (droplet adhesion). Step b). At this time, a droplet 22 having a surface formed so as to bulge into a convex curved surface due to the wettability of the uncured resin or the surface tension of the uncured resin adheres to the surface 20a of the substrate 20. Then, the droplets 22 arranged on the surface 20a of the substrate 20 are cured to form the microlenses 23 (resin curing step c).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for manufacturing a microlens.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a method of manufacturing a microlens array, as disclosed in JP-A-62-96324, a surface of a transparent substrate made of glass, porous silica, or the like is covered with a mask. There is a first method in which a fine opening is provided in a mask, and ions for changing the refractive index of the substrate are diffused from the fine opening.

Further, a second method shown in FIG. 10 which uses a substrate etching process separately from the above method is also used. First, as shown in FIG. 10A, a mask 11 is attached on the surface of a transparent substrate 10, and then a minute opening 11a is formed in the mask 11, and a hemispherical concave portion 10a is formed using an etching solution such as hydrofluoric acid. I do. Next, the mask 11 is removed as shown in FIG. And FIG.
(C) As shown in FIG.
3 is bonded to the substrate 10. At this time, the concave portion 10a is filled with the transparent adhesive 12, and the transparent adhesive 12 and the transparent substrate 1 are filled.
A microlens array with an optical surface 102 is formed by a difference in refractive index of 0.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional methods, a mask forming step, a mask removing step, a cleaning step, and the like are required, and in the first method, a mask is formed on a transparent substrate. Since the refractive index is partially changed by diffusing ions and the like after the formation, the optical surface is formed by etching also in the above-mentioned second method, so that process control is difficult and it is difficult to reduce the manufacturing cost. There is a problem.

Further, it is difficult to control the process for diffusion and etching in any of the methods, so that the material of the transparent substrate to be processed is limited, and it is difficult to use an inexpensive substrate material. is there.

Further, in the first method, ion diffusion into the substrate is performed, and in the second method, since the substrate needs to be etched, a thick substrate must be used. However, there is also a problem that it is difficult to reduce the manufacturing cost.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a method for manufacturing a microlens.
By eliminating the mask formation, mask removal, cleaning process, etc., which are conventionally performed, the number of man-hours at the time of manufacturing can be reduced, and an apparatus configuration that can realize an efficient manufacturing method.
An object of the present invention is to improve productivity and reduce manufacturing costs.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for manufacturing a microlens according to the present invention, wherein droplets of an uncured resin are adhered onto a substrate, and the adhered resin is cured. A microlens manufacturing apparatus for adhering at least the liquid droplets onto the substrate, the liquid discharging head being capable of discharging the liquid droplets downward, and disposed below and facing the discharge heads. A substrate supporting body, a first moving unit configured to be movable in a substantially horizontal first direction, and configured to be positioned at a plurality of positions along the first direction; And a second moving unit configured to be movable in a second direction substantially horizontal to the first direction and to be capable of being positioned at a plurality of positions along the second direction. .

According to the present invention, the substrate on the substrate support can be moved and positioned in the first direction by the first moving means, and the discharge head can be moved in the second direction by the second moving means. The positioning allows the uncured resin droplets to be efficiently attached to any of a plurality of positions on the substrate, so that the microlenses can be easily manufactured by curing the droplets. can do. In particular, since the number of steps can be significantly reduced, the production efficiency is high, and there are few restrictions on the substrate as compared with the conventional method, the production cost can be significantly reduced and the productivity can be significantly improved.

[0010] In the above invention, the supply / discharge position of the substrate onto the substrate support may be set at a position deviated from a position below a moving path of the discharge head defined by the second moving means. preferable.

According to the present invention, the substrate supply / discharge position is the second position.
Since the discharge head is set at a position deviated from a position below the moving path of the discharge head by the moving means, the operation of the discharge head and the supply / discharge operation of the substrate can be performed independently (in parallel). Therefore, one operation is less likely to restrict the other operation, and processing can be performed efficiently.

In each of the above inventions, the discharge head is
A resin storage section for storing the supplied resin, a discharge nozzle communicating with the resin storage section, and a piezo for discharging the liquid droplets through the discharge nozzle by changing the volume of the resin storage section by deformation thereof And an element.

According to the present invention, since the volume of the resin accommodating portion is changed by the deformation of the piezo element to discharge the uncured resin droplets, a small amount of the uncured resin is accurately discharged. This makes it possible to form fine microlenses with high precision. Further, since a large number of droplets can be ejected continuously or simultaneously in parallel, productivity can be improved.

In each of the above inventions, it is preferable that the apparatus further comprises a weight measuring means for measuring the weight of the droplet discharged from the discharge head.

According to the present invention, the weight of the droplet can be accurately controlled by measuring the weight of the droplet ejected from the ejection head. For example, by controlling the ejection conditions of the ejection head based on the measured value of the weight of the droplet, the accuracy of the ejection amount of the ejection head can be improved.

In the present invention, the weight measuring means includes:
It is desirable to be provided at a position below the movement path of the ejection head defined by the second movement means and deviated from the movement path of the substrate support defined by the first movement means. .

According to the present invention, the weight measuring means is provided below the moving path of the discharge head by the second moving means and at a position deviated from the moving path of the substrate support by the first moving means. Because the weight of the discharge amount of the discharge head can be measured independently of the operation of the substrate,
At any point in time when the weight measurement is required, the weight measurement can be performed regardless of the processing status of the substrate. An attachment process can be performed.

In each of the above-mentioned inventions, it is preferable that a head maintenance means for maintaining the ejection head is provided.

According to the present invention, by providing the head maintenance means for maintaining the ejection head, maintenance of the ejection head, for example, cleaning of the ejection head and maintenance of the state can be appropriately performed. In particular, in the case of a discharge head having fine discharge nozzles, stable operation can be ensured without lowering discharge accuracy due to maintenance of the discharge head.

In the present invention, the head maintenance means is located at a position below a moving path of the ejection head defined by the second moving means, and moves the substrate support defined by the first moving means. It is desirable to be provided at a position off the route.

According to the present invention, the first moving means is located below the moving path of the ejection head by the second moving means, and
Since the head maintenance means is provided at a position deviated from the movement path of the substrate support by the movement means, the maintenance work of the ejection head can be performed independently of the operation of the substrate. Since the weight measurement can be performed at any time regardless of the processing status of the substrate, the accuracy of the ejection head can be maintained by the maintenance work and the trouble can be reduced while suppressing the decrease in the production efficiency. In addition, it is possible to reliably perform a highly accurate droplet attachment process.

In each of the above inventions, it is preferable that the discharge head is provided with a third moving means which is configured to be movable in the vertical direction and is configured to be capable of being positioned at a plurality of positions in the vertical direction.

According to the present invention, the distance between the discharge head and the substrate surface can be adjusted by providing the third moving means for positioning the discharge head at a plurality of positions in the vertical direction. The landing distance of the droplet on the substrate surface can be changed by adjusting the falling distance of the droplet. Therefore, it is possible to more precisely control the shape of the attached droplet, and it is possible to form a highly accurate microlens.

In each of the above inventions, a control means for operating the ejection head while positioning the liquid droplets on the substrate at a predetermined interval and a predetermined arrangement while positioning the liquid droplets with the first moving means and the second moving means. It is preferable to have.

According to the present invention, since a large number of droplets can be deposited at a desired interval and arrangement by the control means, it is possible to flexibly cope with the production of various microlens structures. .

In each of the above inventions, there is provided control means for operating the ejection head while positioning the liquid droplets only on the required area on the substrate by the first moving means and the second moving means. Is preferred.

According to the present invention, since it is possible to cause the control means to apply the liquid droplet only to a required area on the substrate, it is not necessary to attach unnecessary liquid droplets, and it is possible to efficiently manufacture the microlens. It can be performed.

In each of the above-mentioned inventions, at least one of the substrate support and the ejection head is configured to be rotatable around at least one of three orthogonal rotation axes and is capable of being positioned at a plurality of rotation positions. By providing the rotating means, the positioning of the substrate and the optimization of the ejection direction in the process of adhering droplets can be further improved.

Next, the method for manufacturing a microlens of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a microlens in which droplets of an uncured resin are attached to a substrate and the attached resin is cured to form a microlens. A surface treatment step of performing a surface treatment on the surface of the substrate to adjust the wettability to the uncured resin, and sequentially or simultaneously dropping the plurality of droplets onto the surface-treated substrate. And a resin curing step of curing the liquid droplets adhered on the substrate.

According to the present invention, it is possible to more freely set the wettability between the droplet and the substrate surface by performing a surface treatment for adjusting the wettability with respect to the uncured resin on the surface of the substrate in advance. Therefore, restrictions imposed by the material properties of the substrate material and the uncured resin can be reduced, and a better microlens can be manufactured. Here, as the surface treatment,
It is not limited to the surface roughness of the substrate surface, the degree of activity of the surface itself, the adhesion of ions and other active species, hydrophilic groups and other functional groups, etc. The case of forming is also included.

In each of the above inventions, in the surface treatment step, a region where the droplet is attached and a boundary region disposed between the attached regions are set on the surface of the substrate;
Performing the surface treatment on at least one of the adhesion region and the boundary region so that the wettability of the boundary region with respect to the uncured resin is lower than the wettability of the adhesion region with respect to the uncured resin. Is preferred.

According to the present invention, the boundary region is set between the adhering regions of the droplets, and at least one of the adhering region and the boundary region is subjected to a surface treatment, so that the wettability of the boundary region is improved. By making the state lower than that, the droplets are less likely to adhere to the boundary region, so that it is possible to suppress the occurrence of defects such as displacement of the droplets and coalescence between adjacent droplets. Here, the surface treatment step includes a case where a surface treatment for reducing the wettability is performed only on the boundary region and a case where a process for improving the wettability is performed only on the adhesion region.

[0033]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a microlens manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method according to the present invention will be described in detail.

[Basic Process] FIG. 1 is a schematic process explanatory view showing a basic process procedure in a microlens manufacturing process using the manufacturing apparatus of the present embodiment. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1A, the surface 20a of a substrate 20 made of a glass substrate, a plastic substrate, a semiconductor substrate, or the like is subjected to a surface treatment in advance (surface treatment step). Next, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
In step 1, droplets 22 made of uncured resin are dropped one by one or a plurality of droplets sequentially or simultaneously (droplet attaching step). At this time, a droplet 22 having a surface formed so as to bulge into a convex curved surface due to the wettability of the uncured resin or the surface tension of the uncured resin adheres to the surface 20a of the substrate 20. And FIG.
As shown in (c), the droplets 22 arranged on the surface 20a of the substrate 20 are cured to form microlenses 23 (resin curing step). In this case, as the curing treatment of the droplet 22, heating is performed when the resin is a thermosetting resin, and light irradiation is performed when the resin is a photocurable resin such as an ultraviolet curable resin.

In the above step, as the surface treatment step shown in FIG. 1A, a treatment for changing the wettability itself of the surface 20a of the substrate 20 may be performed.
A thin film made of a material having an appropriate wettability with respect to the uncured resin may be formed on Oa. For example, as a surface treatment for improving wettability, various active species such as ozone gas, oxygen gas, various ions, and plasma may be applied to the surface 20a.
There is a method of contacting. Among them, the atmospheric pressure plasma method of exposing plasma or active gas generated by discharge performed under atmospheric pressure to the surface 20a is most preferable as the simplest method of manufacturing and cost reduction. Also,
The above thin film may be coated with various transparent resins in advance. The resin as the thin film material is selected in consideration of the wettability to the uncured resin adhered as droplets.

The above-mentioned surface treatment step is not always necessary. For example, if a desired convex curved surface can be obtained only by the wettability between the raw material of the substrate 20 and the uncured resin and the surface tension of the uncured resin, the surface 20 of the substrate 20
This is because it is not necessary to process a.

As the resin to be deposited as the droplets and the resin to be coated on the substrate 20 in advance, various light-transmitting resins such as a silicone resin, an acrylic resin, a polycarbonate resin, and a polyimide resin can be used. In addition, in the case of this manufacturing method, the substrate and the resin of the droplet may be substantially the same material.

[Production Apparatus] Next, an embodiment of a microlens production apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the entire structure of the present apparatus. In the following description, an orthogonal coordinate system of X, Y, and Z shown in the upper left of FIG. 2 is used as an azimuth index.
The apparatus includes a Y-axis moving mechanism 40 as first moving means configured to extend in a front-rear direction (Y-axis direction) on a support board 31 of a gantry 30, and a pair of right and left columns with respect to the support board 31. An X-axis moving mechanism 50 as a second moving means, which is installed above via the X-axis 32 and extends in the left-right direction (X-axis direction), and is configured to be movable in the left-right direction by the X-axis moving mechanism 50. Discharge mechanism 60 is provided.

Inside the gantry 30, an electronic balance 33 as a weight measuring means is installed on the support board 31 on the right side of the X-axis moving mechanism 50, and on the left side of the X-axis moving mechanism 50 is a discharge head. A head maintenance unit 34, which is a maintenance means, is installed. The above-mentioned structure installed above the support board 31 is entirely covered by a safety cover 35, and is configured so that an operator can partially open and close the safety cover 35 from left, right, front and rear. A computer 36, a monitor 36a, and a keyboard 36b, which constitute a part of a control device that manages the entire apparatus, are provided on the side of the gantry 30.

FIG. 3 shows in more detail the main structure on the support board 31 in the above-described apparatus configuration. The Y-axis moving mechanism 40 includes a linear guide 41 having two guide rails in the Y-axis direction, and a slider 42 movably mounted on the linear guide 41. The linear guide 41 and the slider 42 are provided with, for example, a linear motor structure so that the slider 42 can be moved in the Y-axis direction, stopped at an arbitrary position, and positioned.

A rotating mechanism 43 indicated by a dotted line is mounted on the slider 42, and a support 44 is fixed on the rotating mechanism 43. The rotation mechanism 43 includes a θ angle adjustment motor inside, and is configured to be able to arbitrarily adjust the rotation angle of the support body 44 about the vertical line with respect to the slider 42. A substrate support plate 45 is mounted on the support 44.
A small opening for vacuum suction is provided on the surface of the substrate support plate 45, and this opening is connected to a not-shown exhaust device via a suction path formed in the support 44. For this reason, it is configured so that the substrate 20 can be suction-held on the surface of the substrate support plate 45. The support 44 has a throw-off plate 46 extending in the X-axis direction on one side of the substrate support plate 45 (in the illustrated example, at the back in the Y-axis direction, that is, at the rear end of the support 44). Installed. The discard ejection plate 46 constitutes a discard ejection area in which an ejection head of the ejection mechanism 60, which will be described later, ejects or trials a droplet. It is preferable that the discard area is formed along the X-axis direction which is the moving direction of the ejection mechanism 60 as shown in the drawing.

The Y-axis moving mechanism 40 is configured such that the substrate supporting plate 45 for holding the substrate by suction can be arranged at a position deviated from a moving path of a discharge mechanism 60 moved by an X-axis moving mechanism 50 described later. . The substrate supply / discharge position is set at one of the positions deviated from the movement path of the ejection mechanism 60. In the present embodiment, the substrate supply / discharge position is set at the forefront end of the moving path of the substrate support plate 45 by the Y-axis moving mechanism 40 (the portion where the substrate support plate 45 is arranged in FIG. 3). At this substrate supply / discharge position, the processed substrate 20 is removed from the substrate support plate 45, and a new substrate 20 for performing processing is placed on the substrate support plate 45.
Placed on top. Although the substrate transfer operation may be performed manually, the present embodiment is configured so that it can be automatically performed by a substrate supply / discharge mechanism (for example, a scalar robot) (not shown) as described later.

In the X-axis movement mechanism 50, a column 51 connected and fixed to a pair of columns 32 shown in FIG. 2 intersects the movement path above the Y-axis movement mechanism 40 as shown in FIG. To extend in the X-axis direction.
A linear guide 52 is attached and fixed to the column 51 so as to extend in the X-axis direction. A slider 53 is attached to the linear guide 52 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction. The slider 53 is moved in the X-axis direction by a linear motor structure formed by the linear guide 52 and the slider 53, and is stopped at an arbitrary position and positioned. It is configured to be able to.

The slider 53 is provided with a head adjustment unit 61 of a discharge mechanism 60, a discharge container 62 is mounted on the head adjustment unit 61, and a discharge head 63 is mounted below the discharge container 62. The head adjustment unit 61 includes a small motor for vertical drive (Z-axis motor), a small motor for rotation about the Z axis (α-angle motor), a small motor for rotation about the X-axis (β-angle motor), and a Y-axis. A total of four small motors, that is, small motors for rotating around (γ-angle motors) are mounted. The discharge container 62 is formed by these small motors and a guide mechanism that enables a vertical operation in the Z-axis direction, a rotation operation around the Z-axis, a rotation operation around the X-axis, and a rotation operation around the Y-axis, respectively. It is configured to be able to move in the vertical direction and to be able to rotate (swing) around the X, Y, and Z axes.
The discharge container 62 contains an uncured resin. The ejection head 63 is configured to eject uncured resin contained in the ejection container 62 as droplets by an inkjet method.

An observation camera 64 is fixed to the slider 53 at a position lateral to the head adjustment unit 61.
It is used to acquire an image on the substrate 20 and determine the ejection position of the ejection head 63. An alignment camera 47 is provided at a position on the right front side of the Y-axis moving mechanism 40.
4 is installed so that the substrate 20 on the substrate support plate 45 can be photographed from above. This alignment camera 47
Is a photograph of the alignment mark of the substrate 20 and the like.
Used to position 0.

The electronic balance 33 is placed on the support board 31 at a position immediately below the moving path of the ejection head 60 by the X-axis moving mechanism 50 and off the moving path of the Y-axis moving mechanism 40 and on the right side thereof. Has been fixed. The electronic balance 33 has a receiving container 33a mounted on the upper part, and receives the liquid droplets discharged from the discharging head 63 arranged as shown by the dotted line in the receiving container 33a, and can measure the weight of the liquid droplets. Have been. That is, in order to measure the weight of one droplet discharged from the discharge head 63, for example, 2,000 droplets are received from the discharge head 63 in the receiving container 33a.
After measuring the weight of the uncured resin corresponding to the 2,000 drops, the computer 36 calculates the weight per drop. Then, by controlling a head drive circuit described later so that the amount of the uncured resin droplets discharged from the discharge head 63 becomes an optimum value based on the calculated weight value per one droplet, the droplets are accurately transferred to the substrate. 20.

The Y-axis moving mechanism 40 is located immediately below the moving path of the ejection head 60 by the X-axis moving mechanism 50.
A head maintenance unit 34, which is a head maintenance unit, is disposed at a position on the left side of the movement path deviating from the movement path. The head maintenance unit 34 includes a discharge head 63
And a cleaning unit 34a configured to be able to clean the discharge nozzle and the like described later periodically or at any time during the droplet attaching process or during standby, and during the standby of the discharge head 63 as indicated by the dotted line in the figure. And a capping portion 34b for covering the head surface on which the discharge nozzle is formed with a cap so that the discharge nozzle does not dry.

Next, the configuration of the control system of the present apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The computer 36 shown in FIG. 2 is connected to a control panel 38 housed below the support panel 31 in the gantry 30. The control panel 38 controls and drives the linear motor of the Y-axis moving mechanism 40 and the θ-angle adjusting motor of the rotating mechanism 43, and also controls and drives the linear motor of the X-axis moving mechanism 50. The control panel 38 is also connected to four small motors of a Z-axis motor, an α-angle motor, a β-angle motor, and a γ-angle motor provided in the head adjustment unit 61, and configured to control and drive each of them. ing.

The ejection head 63 is configured to receive a drive signal from a head drive circuit 39 connected to the control panel 38 and eject droplets at appropriate timing. FIG. 5A shows a part of the structure of the ejection head 63 in an enlarged manner. The ejection head 63 has a plurality of ejection nozzles 91 formed on the head surface.
2 is provided, and a wall surface on the opposite side of the discharge nozzle 91 in the resin housing portion 92 is formed of a thin film 93 having flexibility. The resin container 92 is connected to a liquid supply path 94 connected to the discharge container 62. Further, a piezo element 95 is bonded to the outer surface of a portion of the thin film 93 facing the resin housing portion 92.

The drive signal sent from the head drive circuit 39 is as shown in FIG. here,
The voltage Vh is the maximum applied voltage to the piezo element 95, and the cycle T is the cycle of the drive signal when performing a continuous ejection operation. When the applied voltage is the reference voltage V0 and the voltage rises to increase the voltage by the drive signal,
Due to the deformation of the piezo element 95, the resin housing portion 92 expands slightly, and the resin is drawn into the resin housing portion 92 from the liquid supply path 94. Next, at the time of a voltage drop that sharply reduces the applied voltage, the piezo element 95 is suddenly deformed (for example, from the state deformed by the applied voltage to return to the initial state), and the volume of the resin container 92 is reduced. The resin contained in the resin containing portion 92 is rapidly pushed out from the discharge nozzle 91. Thereafter, the voltage is again changed to the reference voltage V.
At the time of voltage restoration to increase to 0, the volume of the resin housing portion 92 increases and the discharge of the resin is stopped. By repeating such an operation cycle, minute droplets are ejected from each ejection nozzle 91 of the ejection head 63. Since the volume of the droplet can be accurately controlled to a minimum of about 5 nanoliters, the resin amount of the droplet can be limited to an amount sufficient to form a microlens having a diameter of about several tens of μm.
Alternatively, a plurality of droplets may be discharged to the same location to form droplets corresponding to one microlens. The ejection amount of the droplet can be controlled by the above-described maximum applied voltage Vh, reference voltage V0, cycle T, and the like.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the configuration of the control system of the present apparatus will be described. A thermometer 62a and a viscometer 62b are attached to the discharge container 62, and these thermometers 62a
The viscometer 62b outputs the temperature and viscosity of the uncured resin in the discharge container 62 to the resin management controller 65, respectively. The resin management controller 65 sends the output resin information relating to the temperature and viscosity to the computer 36. The computer 36 sends an appropriate control signal to the head drive circuit 39 based on the resin information received from the resin management controller 65, and the head drive circuit 39 controls the ejection head 63 under optimum conditions according to the temperature and viscosity of the resin. The driving signal for driving is output.

The electronic balance 33 shown in FIG. 3 sends the weight data of the droplets to the computer 36 at the time of measuring the weight of the droplets, which will be described later. Calculate the weight. Further, a substrate supply / discharge mechanism 70 is also connected to the computer 36. The substrate supply / discharge mechanism 70 is, for example, a supply / discharge robot disposed in front of the apparatus.
Is required to be discharged or a new substrate 20 needs to be supplied, and the substrate support plate 45 shown in FIG.
When the substrate comes to the substrate supply / discharge position, the substrate 20 is moved to the substrate support plate 4.
5, or a new substrate 20 is placed on the substrate support plate 45.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart showing the procedure for processing a standard substrate 20 of the present apparatus. As the substrate 20, a transparent substrate made of alkali glass, quartz, other various glasses, or various plastics such as acrylic resin and polycarbonate resin, a solar cell structure,
Examples include a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon wafer in which a CD (Charge Coupled Device) or the like is formed, a printed circuit board on which a light receiving element such as a photodiode or a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode is mounted. The substrate 20 is stored in advance in a substrate storage unit such as a cassette or a magazine. When a predetermined start condition is satisfied, such as activating a control program stored in the computer 36 and performing a start input or completing processing on the substrate 20 already mounted on the substrate support plate 45, the computer 36 Issues a command to the above-described substrate supply / discharge mechanism 70 (substrate supply / discharge robot), and when there is the processed substrate 20 on the substrate support plate 45, the substrate 2
0, the substrate 2 is placed on the substrate support plate 45.
If there is no 0, a new substrate 20 is directly taken out of the substrate storage unit and placed on the substrate support plate 45 (ST
1).

Next, with respect to the substrate 20 placed on the substrate support plate 45, a pair of positioning pins 44a attached to the support 44 shown in FIG. The substrate 20 is positioned by being moved by the substrate supply / discharge mechanism 70 until the end of the substrate 20 abuts (ST2). Thereafter, when the presence of the substrate 20 is confirmed, the substrate support plate 45 holds the substrate 20 by suction.

Next, the posture of the substrate 20 held on the substrate support plate 45 is set to a normal posture (for example, a posture in which the rear end of the substrate 20 is orthogonal to the Y axis, or a side end (Y The alignment of the substrate is performed using the alignment camera 47 so that the end along the axis) becomes parallel to the Y axis (ST3).

Further, the computer 36 calculates the starting position on the substrate 20 where the uncured resin droplet is to be attached, based on the image information from the alignment camera 47 and the image information from the observation camera 64 (ST4). .

On the other hand, while ST1 to ST4 are being performed as described above, the ejection head 63 holds the electronic balance 3
No. 3 is moved to a position immediately above the receiving container 33a and stopped (ST11). Next, measurement parameters such as the number of times of ejection, the driving conditions of the ejection head at the time of ejection, and the identification data of the ejection nozzle of the ejection head are loaded (ST12), and the designated ejection nozzle is selected (ST13). Is cleared (initialized) (ST14). In this way, when the preparation for measurement is completed, the droplet discharge operation is continuously performed a plurality of times (for example, 2,000 times) by the designated discharge nozzle (ST15).
The weight of the uncured resin accumulated in 3a is measured (ST1).
6). Then, the measured weight is transferred to the computer 36, and the weight value per droplet is calculated in the computer 36 (ST17). Finally, it is confirmed whether or not the measurement has been performed for all the ejection nozzles to be measured (ST18). If there is another ejection nozzle to be measured, the above measurement procedure is repeatedly performed. . When the measurement for all the measurement objects is completed, the operation of attaching the droplets to the substrate 20 is started.

When the above preparation is completed, the ejection mechanism 60 moves to the start position of the ejection operation on the substrate 20 (ST5),
The ejection head 63 is driven to eject droplets onto the substrate 20. At this time, a plurality of discharge nozzles may be operated simultaneously. When the ejection is completed, next, the Y-axis moving mechanism 40 feeds the substrate 20 in the Y-axis direction, and the X-axis moving mechanism 50 feeds the ejection head 63 in the Y-axis direction. Droplets are attached (ST6). The feeding procedure of the Y-axis moving mechanism 40 and the X-axis moving mechanism 50 is such that, for example, with the substrate 20 fixed at a predetermined position in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis moving mechanism 40, The droplets are ejected to a plurality of locations in the X-axis direction while being stepped in the axial direction, and the droplets are attached to all desired locations in the X-axis direction. The operation of discharging droplets at a plurality of locations in the direction is repeated. Here, the feed relationship between the X-axis moving mechanism 50 and the Y-axis moving mechanism 40 may be reversed. Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described feeding operation.
The positioning at a predetermined position in the axial direction is performed, and the positioning at the predetermined position in the X-axis direction sent by the X-axis moving mechanism 50 performs the discharge head at a position on a predetermined plane of the substrate 20. It suffices if droplets are ejected from 63.
In this manner, the droplets of the uncured resin fall and adhere to the surface of the substrate 20 one after another.

When it is confirmed that all of the droplets have adhered to the predetermined droplet attachment positions on the surface of the substrate 20 (ST7), the substrate 20 is moved to the substrate supply / discharge position by the Y-axis moving mechanism 40. Then, the suction of the substrate 20 held on the substrate support plate 45 is released, and the substrate 20 is removed from the substrate support plate 45 by the substrate supply / discharge mechanism 70 (ST).
8).

In the above apparatus, since the moving path of the discharge mechanism 60 by the X-axis moving mechanism 50 intersects with the moving path of the substrate 20 by the Y-axis moving mechanism 40, the discharge path is moved to an arbitrary position on the surface of the substrate 20. The droplets can be ejected from the head 63 and attached. Further, the discharge mechanism 60 can be independently moved by the X-axis moving mechanism 50 irrespective of the movement of the substrate 20.
0 on the moving path of the ejection mechanism 60 and the substrate 20
Since the electronic balance 33 and the head maintenance unit 34, which are weight measuring means, are arranged at positions deviated from the movement path of the liquid, the measurement of the ejection weight of the ejection head 63 can be performed at any time even during the droplet attaching process. Cleaning, capping, and the like can be performed. The supply / discharge position of the substrate 20 is as follows.
Since it is set on the moving path of the Y-axis moving mechanism 40 and at a position deviating from the moving path of the discharging mechanism 60 by the X-axis moving mechanism 50, regardless of the state of the discharging mechanism 60, it is appropriate and moreover. The transfer (supply and discharge) of the substrate can be performed smoothly and easily.

When the step of attaching the droplets onto the substrate 20 is completed, the substrate 20 is moved to, for example, a heating furnace or a light irradiator, and the process proceeds to a resin curing step of curing the droplets. In this case, it is necessary to move the substrate 20 in a substantially horizontal state so as not to affect the adhesion state and the attachment position of the droplet. Therefore, it is preferable to perform the resin curing step in the above-described apparatus, particularly, in a state where the resin is held by suction on the substrate support plate 45. For example, as described above, the Y-axis moving mechanism 4
In the case where the front end of the movement path of the substrate by 0 is set to the substrate supply / discharge position, the rear end of the movement path (of course, from the movement path of the discharge mechanism 60 by the X-axis movement mechanism 50) It is preferable to provide a heating furnace or a light irradiating section at a position where the resin is hardened, and to shift to the resin curing step only by the moving operation of the Y-axis moving mechanism 40.

Next, the shape of the uncured resin droplet 22 adhered on the substrate 20 and the shape of the microlens 23 formed by curing the droplet 22 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 7A, the attachment shape of the droplet 22 on the substrate 20 includes the contact angle θ with the substrate 20, the outer diameter Da of the droplet 22, and the height (thickness) of the droplet 22. It can be almost grasped by Ha. The contact angle θ and the outer diameter Da
And the height Ha are the weight, surface tension, specific gravity,
It is determined by the wettability to the surface of the substrate 20 or the like. When the droplet ejected from the ejection nozzle lands on the substrate 20 with such a strong impact that the attached shape cannot be restored, the attached shape changes depending on the collision speed of the droplet with the substrate 20. . This collision speed is
Initial velocity of the droplet 22 when discharged from the discharge head 63,
It is affected by the distance between the ejection head 63 and the surface of the substrate 20, and the like. Therefore, by setting all of the above-described elements, the attached shape of the droplet 22 can be controlled.

On the other hand, the attached shape of the droplet 22 does not necessarily represent the shape of the microlens 23, particularly the shape of the optical surface. As shown in FIG. 7B, the shape of the microlens 23 after curing changes with respect to the attached shape of the droplet 22 due to the characteristics of the uncured resin constituting the droplet 22. In many cases, the attached shape of the droplet 22 contracts due to the curing treatment, and the outer diameter Db and the height Hb of the microlens 23 are reduced.
Are slightly smaller than the outer diameter Da and the height Ha, respectively. The outer edge of the microlens 23 and the substrate 2
The angle φ with the surface of 0 may also be larger than the contact angle θ.

Therefore, as described above, a plurality of conditions affecting the attached shape of the droplet 22 are set in consideration of the shape changes (Da and Db, Ha and Hb, θ and φ) before and after curing, respectively. , The shape of the microlens 23 can be controlled.

Next, a case where a microlens is formed on a transparent substrate 200 for a liquid crystal panel by the above manufacturing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The transparent substrate 200 shown in FIG. 8 has a panel area 2 for forming a liquid crystal panel.
00a. Each panel region 200a of the transparent substrate 200 constitutes one of the panel substrates of the liquid crystal panel. Each panel area 20
In 0a, there is a display surface area 200b corresponding to the drive display area (area where pixels are formed) of the liquid crystal panel. In the display surface area 200b, by forming microlenses corresponding to each pixel of the liquid crystal panel, light is condensed at the opening of the pixel of the liquid crystal panel, and the aperture ratio of the liquid crystal panel is substantially improved. be able to. On the other hand, the surrounding area 200 extending outside the display surface area 200b
In the case of c, since it is arranged outside the drive display area of the liquid crystal panel, it is meaningless to form a microlens. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 8, the droplets are adhered only inside the display surface area 200b as described above, and are cured to form microlenses. Here, the display surface area 2 where droplets are attached to form a microlens
The portion of 00b is shown with diagonal lines.

In the case where the droplets are selectively deposited on the surface of the transparent substrate 200 as described above, in the above-described manufacturing apparatus, the discharge positions of the droplets are stored in the computer 36 in advance, and the above-described peripheral region 200 c The droplets can be attached only to the display surface area 200b without attaching the droplets to the surface. Therefore, the operation of attaching the droplets can be performed efficiently. Note that FIG. 8 shows a state in which droplets are being sequentially attached downward from the upper side of the substrate 200 in the drawing.

Finally, with reference to FIG. 9, one embodiment of the surface treatment of the substrate 210 in the case where a droplet is made to adhere to the surface of the transparent substrate 210 made of glass or the like will be described. In this embodiment, before the droplet of the uncured resin is applied, the boundary region 210b indicated by a dotted line extending to the upper right in the drawing is not subjected to the surface treatment on the surface of the transparent substrate 210, and only the uncured region 210a is uncured. Surface treatment for improving the wettability to the resin is performed. Border area 210b
When an attachment area 210a for attaching a droplet on the surface of the transparent substrate 210 is set,
This is set so as to keep the interval between droplets during 10a. The reason why the boundary region 210b is set is that when adjacent droplets come into contact with each other, both droplets are united, and a microlens having a desired shape cannot be obtained.

The surface treatment applied only to the attachment region 210a is performed, for example, according to the following procedure. First, a photosensitive resist is applied on the surface of the transparent substrate 210, and exposure and development are performed to leave a portion covering the boundary region 210b on the surface of the resist.
The resist is removed only from above 0a. Next, the transparent substrate 2
10 is introduced into a chamber of an atmospheric pressure plasma apparatus, and a mixed gas of, for example, an oxygen gas and an inert gas is activated by electric discharge, and is then flowed over the substrate surface. By doing so, the adhesion region 210 which is not covered with the resist and is exposed
The wettability of the surface of a is improved, and at the same time, silicone resin,
The wettability to an uncured resin such as a polyimide resin can also be improved. Finally, the resist layer remaining on the surface of the transparent substrate 210 is peeled or removed.

The uncured resin droplets are deposited by the above-described manufacturing apparatus on the surface of the transparent substrate 210 which has been subjected to the surface treatment only on the deposition region 210a. At this time,
The droplets are ejected so as to adhere to the above-mentioned attachment region 210a. In this case, even if the landing position of the droplet is slightly shifted with respect to the attachment region 210a, the droplet adheres to the attachment region 210a that has not been subjected to the surface treatment because the surface of the boundary region 210b has relatively poor wettability. I do. Further, even if the landing positions of the adjacent droplets are closer than the initial setting, since the boundary region 210b is formed therebetween, the droplets are suppressed from contacting the adjacent droplets, It is possible to prevent occurrence of a defect that a microlens having a desired shape cannot be obtained by being combined with an adjacent droplet.

In the above embodiment, the surface treatment for improving the wettability only on the adhesion region 210a is performed on the substrate having poor wettability with respect to the uncured resin. Area 2
Only 10b may be subjected to a surface treatment for reducing the wettability to the uncured resin.

The apparatus and method for manufacturing a microlens according to the present invention are not limited to the illustrated examples described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. is there.

[0072]

As described above, according to the present invention, the substrate on the substrate support can be moved and positioned in the first direction by the first moving means, and the discharge head can be moved by the second moving means. By moving and positioning in the second direction, it becomes possible to efficiently attach uncured resin droplets to any of a plurality of positions on the substrate. Thus, a microlens can be easily manufactured. In particular, since the number of steps can be significantly reduced, the production efficiency is high, and there are few restrictions on the substrate as compared with the conventional method, the production cost can be significantly reduced and the productivity can be significantly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process explanatory view schematically showing a basic procedure of an embodiment of a microlens manufacturing method according to the present invention (a).
(C).

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an entire configuration of a microlens manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a main part of the manufacturing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a configuration block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a control system of the manufacturing apparatus of the embodiment.

5A is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a partial structure of a discharge head of the manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment, and FIG. 5B is an explanatory view showing a relationship between a drive signal of the discharge head and an operation state.

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart showing an outline of an operation procedure of the manufacturing apparatus of the embodiment.

7A and 7B are an enlarged explanatory view schematically showing the shape of a droplet adhered on a substrate and an enlarged explanatory view schematically showing the shape of a microlens after curing in the same embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which droplets are deposited on a transparent substrate for a liquid crystal panel in another embodiment of the method for manufacturing a microlens according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged partial plan view showing a part of the surface of a transparent substrate in still another embodiment of the method for manufacturing a microlens according to the present invention.

10A to 10C are schematic process explanatory views showing an example of a conventional method for manufacturing a microlens array.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Substrate 21 Discharge head 22 Droplet 23 Microlens 30 Mount 31 Support board 32 Support 33 Electronic balance 34 Head maintenance unit 35 Safety cover 36 Computer 40 Y-axis moving mechanism 41 Linear guide 42 Slider 43 Rotation mechanism 44 Support body 45 Substrate support plate 46 Discarding plate 47 Alignment camera 50 X-axis moving mechanism 51 Column 52 Linear guide 53 Slider 60 Discharge mechanism 61 Head adjustment unit 62 Discharge container 63 Discharge head 64 Observation camera 70 Substrate supply / discharge mechanism 91 Discharge nozzle 92 Resin storage unit 93 Resin supply path 94 Thin film 95 Piezo element 200, 210 Transparent substrate 200a Panel area 200b Display surface area 200c Peripheral area 210a Adhesion area 210b Boundary area

Claims (12)

[Claims] Claims: 1. An uncured resin droplet is deposited on a substrate,
An apparatus for manufacturing a microlens for forming a microlens by curing the adhered resin, the microlens being configured to adhere at least the droplet onto the substrate, wherein the ejection head is capable of ejecting the droplet downward. A substrate support opposingly disposed below the discharge head; and a substrate support configured to be movable in a substantially horizontal first direction and to be capable of being positioned at a plurality of positions along the first direction. A first moving unit that moves the discharge head, and a second, substantially horizontal crossing the discharge head in the first direction.
And a second moving means configured to be movable in a plurality of directions and to be capable of being positioned at a plurality of positions along the second direction. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a supply / discharge position of the substrate onto the substrate support is set at a position deviated from a position below a movement path of the discharge head defined by the second moving means. A microlens manufacturing apparatus. 3. The discharge head according to claim 1, wherein the discharge head includes a resin storage portion that stores the supplied resin, a discharge nozzle that communicates with the resin storage portion, and a deformation of the resin storage portion. A piezo element that discharges the droplet through the discharge nozzle while changing the volume of the microlens. 4. One of claims 1 to 3
10. The microlens manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a weight measuring unit for measuring a weight of the droplet discharged from the discharge head. 5. The substrate support defined in claim 4, wherein the weight measuring means is located below a moving path of the ejection head defined by the second moving means, and is defined by the first moving means. An apparatus for manufacturing a microlens, which is provided at a position deviated from a movement path of a body. 6. One of claims 1 to 4
9. The microlens manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a head maintenance unit for maintaining the ejection head. 7. The substrate supporting apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the head maintenance unit is located below a movement path of the ejection head defined by the second movement unit, and is defined by the first movement unit. An apparatus for manufacturing a microlens, which is provided at a position deviated from a movement path of a body. 8. One of claims 1 to 7
Item 3. An apparatus for manufacturing a microlens according to claim 1, further comprising a third moving unit configured to move the discharge head in the vertical direction and to be positioned at a plurality of positions in the vertical direction. 9. Any one of claims 1 to 8
In the above paragraph, there is provided control means for operating the discharge head while positioning the liquid droplets on the substrate at a predetermined interval and a predetermined arrangement while positioning the liquid droplets with the first moving means and the second moving means. An apparatus for manufacturing a microlens, comprising: 10. The positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second moving units position the droplet so that the liquid droplets adhere only to a necessary area on the substrate. An apparatus for manufacturing a microlens, comprising a control means for operating the discharge head while operating. 11. A method for manufacturing a microlens, wherein droplets of an uncured resin are adhered on a substrate, and the adhered resin is cured to form a microlens, wherein the uncured resin is formed on a surface of the substrate. A surface treatment step of performing a surface treatment for adjusting wettability to a resin; a resin attachment step of sequentially or simultaneously dropping a plurality of the droplets onto the substrate that has been subjected to the surface treatment; and adhering to the substrate. And a resin curing step of curing said droplets. 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein, in the surface treatment step, an area where the droplet is attached and a boundary area disposed between the areas are set on the surface of the substrate, and The surface treatment is performed on at least one of the adhesion region and the boundary region so that the wettability to the uncured resin is lower than the wettability of the adhesion region to the uncured resin. Manufacturing method of micro lens.