KR20240032764A - Laser processing apparatus and controlling method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a laser processing apparatus which comprises: a stage on which a substrate can be disposed; a plurality of scanners disposed to face the stage and irradiating a laser beam onto the substrate; an encoder outputting an encoder signal according to position information of the stage; a control unit receiving the encoder signal, outputting a first control signal for controlling movement of the stage based on the encoder signal, and outputting a second control signal for controlling movement of the plurality of scanners based on at least one of the encoder signal and the first control signal; and a distribution unit receiving the second control signal, and distributing the second control signal in the same number as the number of scanners to output a plurality of third control signals.

Description

Laser processing apparatus and controlling method thereof}

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a laser processing device and a control method thereof, and more specifically, to a scanner control device and a control method that can improve processing speed when processing large-area substrates.

Lasers are used for a variety of purposes in many industries, and their utilization is increasing in the manufacturing process of display devices.

For example, lasers can be used in the process of drilling holes in the substrate of a display device or cutting the mother substrate, and can also be used in the process of annealing the active layer of a thin film transistor for driving a display device from amorphous silicon to polycrystalline silicon. It can be.

However, when manufacturing large display devices, it may take too much time to process a large-area substrate using only one laser scanner. Additionally, if the movement of a single scanner is not properly controlled during the process, a problem may occur where the processing position of the entire substrate is distorted.

However, in the case of conventional laser processing devices and their control methods, there were limitations in controlling the movements of multiple scanners rather than a single scanner.

The present invention is intended to solve various problems including the problems described above, and its purpose is to provide a laser processing device and a control method thereof that can improve processing speed when processing large-area substrates. However, these tasks are illustrative and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a stage on which a substrate can be placed, a plurality of scanners arranged to face the stage and irradiating a laser beam on the substrate, and an encoder that outputs an encoder signal according to the position information of the stage. , receives the encoder signal, outputs a first control signal for controlling movement of the stage based on the encoder signal, and controls movement of the plurality of scanners based on at least one of the encoder signal and the first control signal. A control unit that outputs a second control signal to control and a distribution unit that receives the second control signal and distributes the second control signal in the same number as the number of scanners to output a plurality of third control signals. , a laser processing device is provided.

At least one of the stage and the plurality of scanners may move linearly in at least one direction.

The stage may be driven by a linear servo motor.

Each of the plurality of scanners can simultaneously move the same distance in the same direction.

The encoder may be installed on the stage.

Each of the plurality of third control signals may be the same signal.

Each of the plurality of third control signals may be the same signal as the second control signal.

It may further include a plurality of scanner controllers that receive each of the plurality of third control signals and control the movement of each of the plurality of scanners according to each of the plurality of third control signals.

According to another aspect of the present invention, arranging a plurality of scanners to face the stage, outputting an encoder signal according to the position information of the stage, and outputting a first control signal for controlling the movement of the stage based on the encoder signal. And outputting a second control signal for controlling the movement of a plurality of scanners based on at least one of the encoder signal and the first control signal, and distributing the second control signal in the same number as the number of scanners to control the plurality of third control signals. A method of controlling a laser processing device is provided, including outputting signals.

Each of the plurality of scanners can simultaneously move the same distance in the same direction.

Each of the plurality of third control signals may be the same signal.

Each of the plurality of third control signals may be the same signal as the second control signal.

Outputting the plurality of third control signals may include controlling the movement of each of the plurality of scanners according to each of the plurality of third control signals.

According to an embodiment of the present invention as described above, the processing speed of large-area substrates can be improved, and the movement of a plurality of scanners can be precisely controlled. Of course, the scope of the present invention is not limited by this effect.

Figure 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of processing a substrate using a laser processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a diagram schematically showing another example of processing a substrate using a laser processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a diagram schematically showing the control operation of the control unit of the laser processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a flowchart schematically showing a control method of a laser processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Since the present invention can be modified in various ways and can have various embodiments, specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all transformations, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention. In describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known technologies may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

Terms such as first and second used in this specification may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. Terms are used only to distinguish one component from another.

In this specification, when a part of a layer, membrane, region, plate, etc. is said to be “on” or “on” another part, this includes not only the case where it is “right on” the other part, but also the case where there is another part in between. do.

The x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis used in this specification are not limited to the three axes in the Cartesian coordinate system and can be interpreted in a broad sense including these. For example, the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis may be orthogonal to each other, but may also refer to different directions that are not orthogonal to each other.

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the description with reference to the drawings, substantially the same or corresponding components will be assigned the same drawing numbers and redundant description thereof will be omitted. do. In the drawing, the thickness is enlarged to clearly express various layers and areas. And in the drawings, the thicknesses of some layers and regions are exaggerated for convenience of explanation.

Figure 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of processing a substrate using a laser processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a diagram schematically showing an example of processing a substrate using a laser processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This diagram schematically shows another example of processing a substrate.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the laser processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a stage 110, a plurality of scanners 161 and 162, and an encoder 120. In addition, the laser processing device further includes a control unit (not shown) that controls the movement of the stage 110 and the plurality of scanners 161 and 162.

A substrate 10, an object to be processed, may be placed on the stage 110. For example, a plurality of display units 11 may be formed on this substrate 10. These display units 11 may be of various types, such as organic light emitting display units and liquid crystal display units. Although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the substrate 10 may be fixed on the stage 110 using a clamp (not shown) or the like so that the position of the substrate 10 on the stage 110 does not change.

A plurality of scanners 161 and 162 are arranged to face the stage 110. A plurality of scanners 161 and 162 radiate a laser beam onto the substrate 10 placed on the stage 110. Each of the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 may be connected to a plurality of scanner controllers 151 and 152 and controlled to be individually driven. 1 and 2, the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 are shown as including two scanners, but are not necessarily limited thereto and may include two or more N scanners.

For example, laser beams L1 and L2 emitted from each of the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 may anneal the substrate 10 as shown in FIG. 1 . At this time, each of the laser beams L1 and L2 may be irradiated to different display areas C1 and C2 to crystallize the amorphous silicon in each area into polycrystalline silicon. In order to effectively perform this annealing process, the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 send a linear laser beam extending long along the +Y direction perpendicular to the scanning direction (+X direction) to the display areas (C1 and C2). can be investigated.

As another example, laser beams L1 and L2 emitted from each of the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 may cut the substrate 10 as shown in FIG. 2 . At this time, the laser beams L1 and L2 may be irradiated to the same area of the substrate 10 to cut the substrate 10 multiple times along a single cutting line. Alternatively, the laser beams L1 and L2 may be irradiated to different areas of the substrate 10 to cut the substrate 10 along a plurality of cutting lines. In order to effectively perform this cutting process, the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 may irradiate a laser beam focused on a local area to the area between adjacent display units 11 of the substrate 10.

By processing the substrate 10 using a plurality of scanners 161 and 162 as described above, even large-area substrates can be processed quickly.

Meanwhile, at least one of the stage 110 and the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 may move in the direction in which processing is performed (+X direction) or the reverse direction (-X direction). Of course, the stage 110 and at least one of the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 may move in the +Y direction and/or -Y direction, and may rotate around the +Z axis as the case may be.

For example, the stage 110 and at least one of the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 may move linearly in at least one direction. When the stage 110 moves in a straight line, the stage 110 may be driven by a linear servo motor. Since linear servo motors do not require intermediate transmission mechanisms such as belts, pulleys, ball screws, and racks and pinions, they can be suitable for high-precision positioning using linear encoders. However, it is not necessarily limited to this, and any type such as hydraulic or electronic may be used as long as it can drive the linear movement of the stage 110.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 may move in the +X direction while the position of the stage 110 is fixed. Alternatively, contrary to the above, the stage 110 may move in the -X direction while the positions of the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 are fixed. Alternatively, the stage 110 and the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 may all move. For example, the stage 110 moves a relatively long distance and then the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 move slightly to change the processing position. can be adjusted. At this time, each of the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 can simultaneously move the same distance in the same direction. For convenience of explanation, a detailed description will be given below focusing on the case where the stage 110 and the plurality of scanners 161 and 162 both move linearly in the +X direction and/or -X direction. This also applies to the embodiments and modified examples described later.

An encoder 120 may be installed on the stage 110. The encoder 120 obtains location information of the stage 110 and outputs an encoder signal according to the location information. When the stage 110 moves in a straight line, the encoder 120 may be a linear encoder.

Although not shown in FIG. 1 , the encoder 120 may further include a scale. The scale may be fixed to a frame outside the stage 110, and the encoder 120 may be placed on the stage 110 to face the scale. Accordingly, the encoder 120 acquires the position information of the stage 110 by detecting the marks displayed on the scale when the stage 110 stops. Accordingly, the scale may be extended along the moving direction of the stage 110 to correspond to the distance the stage 110 can move. Of course, a plurality of encoders 120 and the scale may be arranged depending on the number of moving directions of the stage 110.

The encoder 120, which has acquired the position information of the stage 110 in this way, outputs an encoder signal. For example, if an encoder is provided to detect the position in the +X direction, the position in the +X direction is converted into an encoder signal. Can be printed. The output encoder signal is input to a control unit (not shown) to be described later and becomes the basis for generating control signals that later control the stage 110 and the plurality of scanners 161 and 162. Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, a method for controlling a laser processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

Figure 3 is a diagram schematically showing the control operation of the control unit of the laser processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 4 is a flow schematically showing the control method of the laser processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It's a chart.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 , a plurality of scanners 161 to 16N are first arranged to face the stage 110 (S10). At this time, each of the plurality of scanners 161 to 16N can simultaneously move the same distance in the same direction. This also applies to the embodiments and modified examples described later.

The stage 110 can be driven by a linear servo motor, and an encoder 120 is installed on one side of the stage 110 to detect the position of the stage 110. As a result, the encoder 120 acquires the position information of the stage 110.

Afterwards, the encoder 120 goes through a step (S20) in which the encoder signal (S1) is output according to the acquired position information of the stage (110). The encoder signal S1 may include various pulses representing each factor such as position coordinate value and moving speed that constitute the position information of the stage 110.

Afterwards, the control unit 130 receives the encoder signal (S1) from the encoder 120, outputs the first control signal (D0) based on the received encoder signal (S1), and controls the encoder signal (S1) and the first control. A step S30 of outputting the second control signal S2 based on at least one of the signals D0 is performed.

The control unit 130 generates the first control signal D0 based on the position information of the stage 110 transmitted by the encoder signal S1. This first control signal D0 may be transmitted to a driving unit (not shown) that drives the stage 110 to control the movement of the stage 110.

Additionally, like the first control signal D0, the control unit 130 may generate the second control signal S2 based on the position information of the stage 110 transmitted by the encoder signal S1. As another example, the control unit 130 may generate the second control signal S2 based on the pre-generated first control signal D0 as described above. As another example, the control unit 130 may generate the second control signal S2 by considering the encoder signal S1 and the first control signal D0 generated based on the encoder signal S1. This second control signal S2 is a signal for controlling the movement of the plurality of scanners 161 to 16N, and is then transmitted to the distribution unit 140 to become the basis for generating a plurality of signals.

Afterwards, a step (S40) of controlling the movement of the stage 110 according to the first control signal (D0) is performed. In this step (S40), the driving unit (not shown) that drives the stage 110 receives the first control signal (D0) from the control unit 130 and sets the stage 110 as the target according to the first control signal (D0). It is moved to a location. For example, when the stage 110 is driven to move linearly in the + When output as , the linear servo motor generates enough current to move the stage 110 by x distance.

Thereafter, the distribution unit 140 receives the second control signal (S2) from the control unit 130, distributes the received second control signal (S2) to a plurality of channels, and outputs a plurality of third control signals ( S50). In FIG. 4, this step (S50) is shown to be performed later than the previous step (S40) of controlling the movement of the stage 110, but is not necessarily limited thereto. That is, this step (S50) may be performed simultaneously with the previous step (S40) or may be performed before the previous step (S40).

When each of the plurality of scanners (161 to 16N) moves the same distance in the same direction at the same time, the second control signal (S2) determines the direction in which any scanner among the plurality of scanners (161 to 16N) moves and the moving distance. This refers to a signal that controls distance. However, there is a limit to controlling each of the plurality of scanner driving units (not shown) that drive each of the plurality of scanners 161 to 16N using only the second control signal S2. Therefore, it is necessary to individually output the same signal as the second control signal (S2) to each of the plurality of scanner driving units.

The distribution unit 140 distributes one second control signal (S2) to a plurality of third control signals (S31 to S3N) and outputs them. The number of third control signals (S31 to S3N) generated in this way is equal to the number of scanners (161 to 16N). Additionally, each of the plurality of third control signals (S31 to S3N) may be the same as each other, and may all be the same as the second control signal (S2). That is, the distribution unit 140 copies one second control signal S2 as many times as N equal to the number of scanners 161 to 16N and outputs them through N different channels, thereby creating one second control signal S2. N third control signals (S31 to S3N) distributed from the control signal (S2) are generated.

Thereafter, a step (S60) of controlling the movement of each of the plurality of scanners (161 to 16N) according to each of the plurality of third control signals (S31 to S3N) is performed. In this step (S60), each of the plurality of third control signals (S31 to S3N) can be input to each of the plurality of scanner controllers (151 to 15N) that control the operation of each of the plurality of scanner driving units (not shown). there is. Accordingly, each of the plurality of scanner controllers 151 to 15N moves each of the plurality of scanners 161 to 16N to the target position through each of the plurality of scanner driving units. Of course, the target position of each of the plurality of scanners 161 to 16N is determined according to the commands of each of the plurality of third control signals S31 to S3N.

As another example, each of the plurality of third control signals (S31 to S3N) may be output directly to each of the plurality of scanner driving units without going through the plurality of scanner controllers (151 to 15N). For example, when each of the scanners 161 to 16N is driven by a linear servo motor and moves in a straight line, the scanner controllers 151 to 15N may be omitted.

As described above, by using the laser processing device and its control method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the processing speed of large-area substrates can be improved while the movement of a plurality of scanners can be precisely controlled. . In addition, by using multiple scanners, the risk of the processing position of the entire substrate being distorted due to improper control of a single scanner can be reduced.

As such, the present invention has been described with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings, but this is merely an example, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and variations of the embodiment are possible therefrom. Therefore, the true scope of technical protection of the present invention should be determined by the technical spirit of the attached patent claims.

10: substrate 11: display unit
110: stage 120: encoder
130: control unit 140: distribution unit
151, 152, … 15N: Scanner controller 161, 162, … 16N: Scanner

Claims (9)

A stage on which a substrate can be placed;
a plurality of scanners arranged to face the stage and radiating a laser beam onto the substrate;
An encoder that outputs an encoder signal according to the position information of the stage;
Receives the encoder signal, outputs a first control signal that controls movement of the stage based on the encoder signal, and controls movement of the plurality of scanners based on at least one of the encoder signal and the first control signal. a control unit that outputs a second control signal;
a distribution unit that receives the second control signal and outputs a plurality of third control signals by distributing the second control signal to a number equal to the number of scanners; and
A plurality of scanner controllers that receive each of the plurality of third control signals and control the movement of each of the plurality of scanners in accordance with each of the plurality of third control signals,
The plurality of scanners move in the direction in which processing is performed or the reverse direction,
A laser processing device, wherein each of the plurality of third control signals is the same signal. According to claim 1,
A laser processing device, wherein at least one of the stage and the plurality of scanners is capable of linear movement in at least one direction. According to claim 1,
The stage is a laser processing device driven by a linear servo motor. According to claim 1,
A laser processing device wherein each of the plurality of scanners simultaneously moves the same distance in the same direction. According to claim 1,
The encoder is a laser processing device installed on the stage. According to claim 1,
Each of the plurality of third control signals is the same signal as the second control signal. Arranging a plurality of scanners to face the stage;
Outputting an encoder signal according to the position information of the stage;
Outputting a first control signal for controlling the movement of the stage based on an encoder signal, and outputting a second control signal for controlling the movement of a plurality of scanners based on at least one of the encoder signal and the first control signal; and
A step of distributing the second control signal to the same number as the number of scanners and outputting a plurality of third control signals,
The step of outputting the plurality of third control signals includes:
and controlling the movement of each of the plurality of scanners according to each of the plurality of third control signals,
The plurality of scanners move in the direction in which processing is performed or the reverse direction,
A method of controlling a laser processing device, wherein each of the plurality of third control signals is the same signal. According to claim 7,
A method of controlling a laser processing device, wherein each of the plurality of scanners simultaneously moves the same distance in the same direction. According to claim 7,
A method of controlling a laser processing device, wherein each of the plurality of third control signals is the same signal as the second control signal.