CN113448177B

CN113448177B - Drawing device, data processing device, drawing method, and drawing data generation method

Info

Publication number: CN113448177B
Application number: CN202110293334.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 鉈落信也; 八坂智; 增田胜太; 中津智史
Original assignee: Screen Holdings Co Ltd
Current assignee: Screen Holdings Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-03-24
Filing date: 2021-03-18
Publication date: 2024-10-25
Anticipated expiration: 2041-03-18
Also published as: KR20210119309A; TW202205346A; JP7463154B2; KR102566081B1; JP2021152572A; TWI792211B; CN113448177A

Abstract

The data processing device generates first division data representing the respective drawing contents of a plurality of first grid areas obtained by dividing an initial drawing area represented by the initial drawing data by an initial grid width, synthesizes the drawing contents of the respective first grid areas based on the positions of the alignment marks of the first substrate according to the positions of the respective first grid areas after the rearrangement, and generates first drawing data. The data processing device generates second division data representing each of the plurality of second grid areas obtained by dividing the first drawing area represented by the first drawing data by a grid width larger than the initial grid width, synthesizes the drawing contents of each second grid area based on the position of the alignment mark of the second substrate according to the position of each second grid area after the rearrangement, and generates second drawing data representing a second drawing area including a predetermined pattern.

Description

Drawing device, data processing device, drawing method, and drawing data generation method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a technique for forming an image on a substrate based on drawing data, and more particularly, to a technique for correcting drawing data according to the shape of the substrate.

Background

A direct writing apparatus is known in which a target surface of a substrate such as a printed board, a semiconductor substrate, or a liquid crystal substrate is scanned by a laser beam or the like to write a circuit pattern. The drawing of the circuit pattern by the direct drawing device is performed in accordance with drawing data converted from design data of the circuit pattern. The drawing data is data having a description format that can be handled by the direct drawing device.

The substrate may be slightly deformed by the processing in the preceding step, in addition to being warped or distorted. On the other hand, design data is generally produced without considering deformation of the substrate. Therefore, when the circuit pattern is drawn by directly using the converted drawing data, the yield may be lowered. Therefore, the shape of the substrate may be measured in advance based on the drawing performed by the direct drawing apparatus, and the drawing data may be corrected based on the measurement result obtained.

For example, in patent document 1, a drawing region of a substrate is virtually divided into a plurality of grid regions, and divided drawing data indicating the drawing contents of the divided grid regions is generated. At the time of drawing, the positions of the grid areas are rearranged based on the positions of the alignment marks provided on the substrate to be drawn. Then, drawing contents corresponding to the respective mesh areas after rearrangement are synthesized, and corrected drawing data is generated.

Patent document 1: japanese patent application laid-open No. 2010-204421

However, in the case of the related art, drawing data is generated by reconfiguring the grid region based on the position of the alignment mark of each substrate. The size of the mesh region is constant regardless of the degree of deformation of the substrate, and therefore, the same degree of calculation processing is required each time in generating the drawing data. Therefore, a large amount of calculation resources and calculation time are required for correction processing of the drawing data corresponding to the deformation of the substrate.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides a technique for reducing the calculation resources and the calculation time required for correction processing of drawing data corresponding to deformation of a substrate.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a first aspect provides a drawing device for drawing a predetermined pattern on a substrate. The drawing device includes: a stage for mounting a substrate having a plurality of alignment marks thereon; an imaging unit that images the alignment mark of the substrate mounted on the stage; a data processing unit for generating drawing data; and an irradiation unit that irradiates light to the substrate mounted on the stage based on the drawing data. The data processing section performs the following processing: a data acquisition process of acquiring initial drawing data indicating an initial drawing region including a predetermined pattern; a first division process of generating first division data representing each of the drawing contents of a plurality of first grid areas obtained by dividing the initial drawing area by an initial grid width, based on the initial drawing data; a first mark position determination process of determining a position of the alignment mark of the first substrate based on a captured image obtained by capturing the first substrate by the capturing section; a first reconfiguration process of reconfiguring each of the first grid regions based on a position of the alignment mark of the first substrate; and a first synthesizing process of synthesizing the drawing contents of the first mesh areas indicated by the first division data based on the positions of the first mesh areas rearranged by the first rearrangement process, and generating first drawing data indicating a first drawing area including a predetermined pattern. In addition, the data processing section performs the following processing: a second division process of generating second division data representing each of the drawing contents of a plurality of second grid areas obtained by dividing the first drawing area by a grid width larger than the initial grid width, based on the first drawing data; a second mark position determination process of determining a position of the alignment mark of the second substrate based on a photographed image obtained by photographing the second substrate by the photographing section; a second reconfiguration process of reconfiguring each of the second mesh regions based on a position of the alignment mark of the second substrate; and a second synthesizing process of synthesizing the drawing contents of the second mesh regions based on the positions of the second mesh regions rearranged by the second rearrangement process, and generating second drawing data representing a second drawing region including a predetermined pattern.

A second aspect of the present invention provides the drawing device of the first aspect, wherein the second dividing process includes: the data processing unit divides the first drawing area by a plurality of different previous mesh widths, thereby generating, for each of the previous mesh widths, previous divided data representing the drawing contents of the plurality of second mesh areas, and the second reconfiguration process includes: the data processing unit selects one piece of pre-divided data from among the plurality of pieces of pre-divided data based on the position of the alignment mark of the second substrate, and rearranges each of the second mesh areas indicated by the selected piece of pre-divided data.

A third aspect of the present invention provides the drawing device of the first or second aspect, wherein the second rearrangement processing includes: the data processing unit determines the grid width based on deformation between the alignment marks of the second substrate with respect to the first substrate.

A fourth aspect of the present invention provides the drawing device of the third aspect, wherein the second rearrangement processing includes: the data processing unit determines the mesh width based on deformation between two adjacent alignment marks.

A fifth aspect of the present invention provides the drawing device of the third or fourth aspect, wherein the second rearrangement processing includes: the data processing unit determines the mesh width based on deformation between the two alignment marks located at the corners.

A sixth aspect provides a data processing apparatus that generates drawing data used by a drawing apparatus that draws a predetermined pattern on a substrate. The data processing device includes: a processor; and a memory electrically connected to the processor. The processor performs the following processing: a data acquisition process of acquiring initial drawing data indicating an initial drawing region including a predetermined pattern; a first division process of generating first division data representing each of the drawing contents of a plurality of first grid areas obtained by dividing the initial drawing area by an initial grid width, based on the initial drawing data; a first mark position determination process of determining a position of an alignment mark of a first substrate based on a captured image obtained by capturing a first substrate; a first reconfiguration process of reconfiguring each of the first grid regions based on a position of the alignment mark of the first substrate; and a first synthesizing process of synthesizing the drawing contents of the first mesh areas indicated by the first division data based on the positions of the first mesh areas rearranged by the first rearrangement process, and generating first drawing data indicating a first drawing area including a predetermined pattern. In addition, the processor performs the following processing: a second division process of generating second division data representing each of the drawing contents of a plurality of second grid areas obtained by dividing the first drawing area by a grid width larger than the initial grid width, based on the first drawing data; a second mark position determination process of determining a position of the alignment mark of the second substrate based on a photographed image obtained by photographing the second substrate; a second reconfiguration process of reconfiguring each of the second mesh regions based on a position of the alignment mark of the second substrate; and a second synthesizing process of synthesizing the drawing contents of the second mesh regions based on the positions of the second mesh regions rearranged by the second rearrangement process, and generating second drawing data representing a second drawing region including a predetermined pattern.

A seventh aspect provides a drawing method of drawing a predetermined pattern on a substrate. The drawing method comprises the following steps: a data acquisition process of acquiring initial drawing data indicating an initial drawing region including a predetermined pattern; a first division process of generating first division data representing each of the drawing contents of a plurality of first grid areas obtained by dividing the initial drawing area by an initial grid width, based on the initial drawing data; a first mark position determination process of determining a position of an alignment mark of a first substrate based on a captured image obtained by capturing a first substrate; a first reconfiguration process of reconfiguring each of the first grid regions based on a position of the alignment mark of the first substrate; a first synthesizing process of synthesizing the drawing contents of the first mesh areas indicated by the first division data based on the positions of the first mesh areas rearranged by the first rearrangement process, and generating first drawing data indicating a first drawing area including a predetermined pattern; and a first drawing process of drawing the first substrate based on the first drawing data. The drawing method includes the following steps: a second division process of generating second division data representing each of the drawing contents of a plurality of second grid areas obtained by dividing the first drawing area by a grid width larger than the initial grid width, based on the first drawing data; a second mark position determination process of determining a position of an alignment mark of a second substrate based on a photographed image obtained by photographing the second substrate; a second reconfiguration process of reconfiguring each of the second mesh regions based on a position of the alignment mark of the second substrate; a second synthesizing process of synthesizing the drawing contents of the second mesh regions based on the positions of the second mesh regions rearranged by the second rearrangement process, to generate second drawing data representing a second drawing region including a predetermined pattern; and a second drawing process of drawing the second substrate based on the second drawing data.

An eighth aspect provides a drawing data generation method for generating drawing data used by a drawing device for drawing a predetermined pattern on a substrate. The drawing data generation method includes the following processes: a data acquisition process of acquiring initial drawing data indicating an initial drawing region including a predetermined pattern; a first division process of generating first division data representing each of the drawing contents of a plurality of first grid areas obtained by dividing the initial drawing area by an initial grid width, based on the initial drawing data; a first mark position determination process of determining a position of an alignment mark of a first substrate based on a captured image obtained by capturing a first substrate; a first reconfiguration process of reconfiguring each of the first grid regions based on a position of the alignment mark of the first substrate; and a first synthesizing process of synthesizing the drawing contents of the first mesh areas indicated by the first division data based on the positions of the first mesh areas rearranged by the first rearrangement process, and generating first drawing data indicating a first drawing area including a predetermined pattern. The drawing data generation method includes the following steps: a second division process of generating second division data representing each of the drawing contents of a plurality of second grid areas obtained by dividing the first drawing area by a grid width larger than the initial grid width, based on the first drawing data; a second mark position determination process of determining a position of an alignment mark of a second substrate based on a photographed image obtained by photographing the second substrate; a second reconfiguration process of reconfiguring each of the second mesh regions based on a position of the alignment mark of the second substrate; and a second synthesizing process of synthesizing the drawing contents of the second mesh regions based on the positions of the second mesh regions rearranged by the second rearrangement process, and generating second drawing data representing a second drawing region including a predetermined pattern.

According to the drawing device of the first aspect, the second mesh region reconfigured to generate the second drawing data is larger than the first mesh region reconfigured to generate the first drawing data. Therefore, the calculation resources and the calculation time required for the process of reconfiguring each second grid region and the process of synthesizing the drawing content of each second grid region can be reduced.

According to the drawing device of the second aspect, the plurality of pieces of preliminary divided data are generated by dividing the drawing device by the plurality of pieces of preliminary mesh widths, and thus the calculation resources and the calculation time can be reduced as compared with the case where the divided data are generated for each substrate.

According to the third aspect, the first drawing data can be effectively corrected based on the distortion between the alignment marks in the second substrate.

According to the fourth aspect, the first drawing data can be effectively corrected based on the distortion between the adjacent two alignment marks in the second substrate.

According to the drawing device of the fifth aspect, the first drawing data can be effectively corrected based on the deformation between the two alignment marks located at the corners in the second substrate.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the drawing system according to the embodiment together with a flow of data.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the drawing system according to the embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between exposure resolution and a drawn pattern in the exposure apparatus.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of preparation processing executed by the data processing apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the processing performed by the first dividing section.

Fig. 6 is a diagram conceptually showing a case where a drawing area is divided into a plurality of first mesh areas.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing performed by the drawing device according to the embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing performed by the drawing device according to the embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the plurality of alignment marks Ma in the ideal state assumed in designing the circuit pattern.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an arrangement of alignment marks in a first substrate having a distortion.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing each first grid area rearranged according to the description of the rearrangement data.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing a first drawing region defined by drawing data generated by the synthesizing unit.

Fig. 13 is a diagram conceptually showing a case where the first drawing area is divided by a previous mesh width larger than the initial mesh width.

Fig. 14 is a diagram for explaining a flow of obtaining the second mesh width based on the deformation between the adjacent two points.

Fig. 15 is a diagram for explaining a flow of obtaining the second grid width based on the deformation of the entire substrate.

Description of the reference numerals:

1. Drawing device

2. Data processing apparatus

201. Processor and method for controlling the same

203 RAM

204. Storage unit

21. Conversion part

22. A first dividing part

23. Reconfiguration part

24. Synthesis unit

25. Second dividing part

3. Exposure apparatus

31. Drawing controller

32. Object stage

33. Irradiation part

34. Image pickup unit

9. 91, 92 Substrate

D20 Initial segmentation data

D21 Pre-segmentation of data sets

DD0 initial drawing data

DD1, DD2 drawing data

DM1, DM2 marks shooting data

DP pattern data

DS1, DS2 reconfiguration data

Ma alignment mark

RA0 initial delineated region

RA1 first delineated region

RA2 delineated region

RE1 first grid area

RE2 second grid area

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The constituent elements described in the present embodiment are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. In the drawings, the size, number of parts are sometimes exaggerated or simplified to be easily understood.

< Embodiment >

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the drawing system 100 according to the embodiment together with a flow of data. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the drawing system 100 according to the embodiment. The drawing system 100 includes a drawing device 1 and a pattern design device 4. The drawing device 1 is a direct drawing device that scans the target surface 9a of the substrate 9 with the laser beam LB for exposure, thereby drawing an exposure image as a circuit pattern on the target surface 9a of the substrate 9.

The drawing device 1 includes a data processing device 2 (data processing unit) that generates drawing data DD, and an exposure device 3 that performs drawing (exposure) based on the drawing data DD. The data processing device 2 and the exposure device 3 are not necessarily integrally provided, and may be physically isolated as long as they can transmit and receive data therebetween.

As shown in fig. 2, the data processing apparatus 2 has a processor 201, a ROM202, a RAM203, and a storage section 204 electrically connected to each other by a bus BS 1. The processor 201 includes a CPU or GPU, or the like. The RAM203 is a storage medium capable of reading and writing information, specifically, SDRAM. The storage unit 204 is a non-transitory recording medium capable of reading and writing information, and includes an HDD (hard disk drive) or an SSD (solid state drive). The storage unit 204 stores a program P.

The processor 201 executes the program P stored in the storage unit 204 using the RAM203 as a work area. Thereby, the data processing device 2 generates drawing data DD.

The input unit 205 and the display unit 206 are electrically connected to the bus BS 1. The input unit 205 is configured by, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, or the like, and receives input of instructions, parameters, or the like. The display unit 206 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display or the like, and displays various information such as a processing result and a message. Further, a reading device 207 is connected to the bus BS1, and the reading device 207 reads the recorded content from a recording medium RM (an optical disc, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like) having a mobility. The program P may be read out from the recording medium RM by the reading device 207 and stored in the storage unit 204. The program P may be stored in the storage unit 204 via a network.

An exposure device 3 and a pattern design device 4 are connected to the bus BS 1. The data processing device 2 generates drawing data DD to be used in the exposure device 3 based on the pattern data DP created by the pattern design device 4. The pattern data DP is design data of the circuit pattern. The pattern data DP is generally described as vector data such as a polygon. The exposure device 3 performs exposure based on the drawing data DD described as raster data. Accordingly, the data processing apparatus 2 converts the pattern data DP into raster data. As will be described later, the drawing device 1 generates drawing data DD corrected according to the deformation of the substrate 9 to be drawn. Therefore, even with the deformed substrate 9, the exposure device 3 can satisfactorily draw a circuit pattern based on the corrected drawing data DD.

The exposure device 3 performs a drawing process on a plurality of substrates 9 one by one. Accordingly, the data processing device 2 generates drawing data DD corresponding to the respective deformations with respect to the plurality of substrates 9 processed by the exposure device 3. The first substrate 9 subjected to the drawing process in the exposure apparatus 3 is referred to as a substrate 91. In addition, the substrate 9 after the second and subsequent substrates subjected to the drawing process after the substrate 91 in the exposure apparatus 3 is set as a substrate 92. As the drawing data DD for performing the drawing process on the substrate 91 and the substrate 92, the data processing device 2 generates the drawing data DD1 and the drawing data DD2.

As shown in fig. 1, the data processing apparatus 2 includes a conversion unit 21, a first division unit 22, a rearrangement unit 23, a synthesis unit 24, and a second division unit 25. The conversion section 21, the first division section 22, the reconfiguration section 23, the synthesis section 24, and the second division section 25 are functions realized in a software manner by the processor 201 executing the program P. The processing units may be realized in hardware by dedicated circuits such as ASICs (application specific integrated circuits). The pattern data DP, the initial drawing data DD0, the division condition data DC, the initial division data D20, the marker shooting data DM, the reconfiguration data DS (reconfiguration data DS1, DS 2), the drawing data DD (drawing data DD1, DD 2), and the pre-division data set D21 shown in fig. 1 are data appropriately stored in the RAM203 or the storage section 204.

The conversion unit 21 acquires pattern data DP from the pattern design device 4, and converts the pattern data DP into initial drawing data DD0. The initial drawing data DD0 is data in the form of a grid that can be processed by the exposure device 3. The first dividing unit 22 generates initial divided data D20 based on the initial drawing data DD0 and the dividing condition data DC.

The reconfiguration section 23 generates reconfiguration data DS based on the marker shooting data DM. The mark imaging data DM indicates an imaging image obtained by the imaging unit 34 of the exposure device 3 imaging the alignment mark Ma provided on the substrate 9 mounted on the stage 32. The imaging unit 34 acquires the mark imaging data DM1 obtained by imaging the alignment mark Ma of the substrate 91 and the mark imaging data DM2 obtained by imaging the alignment mark Ma of the substrate 92. The reconfiguration unit 23 generates reconfiguration data DS1 based on the marker shooting data DM 1. The reconfiguration unit 23 generates reconfiguration data DS2 based on the marker shooting data DM1 and DM2.

The synthesizing unit 24 generates drawing data DD1 based on the initial division data D20 and the reconfiguration data DS 1. The second dividing unit 25 generates a divided data set D21 in advance based on the drawing data DD1. Furthermore, the synthesizing unit 24 generates drawing data DD2 based on the rearrangement data DS2 and the divided data set D21 in advance.

In the data processing apparatus 2, details of the processing performed by the conversion section 21, the first division section 22, the reconfiguration section 23, the synthesis section 24, and the second division section 25 will be described later.

The exposure device 3 performs drawing on the substrate 9 in accordance with the drawing data DD supplied from the data processing device 2. As shown in fig. 1, the exposure apparatus 3 includes a drawing controller 31 for controlling operations of the respective units, a stage 32 for mounting the substrate 9, an irradiation unit 33 for emitting laser beam LB, and an imaging unit 34 for imaging the target surface 9a of the substrate 9 mounted on the stage 32. The type of the laser beam LB is appropriately determined according to the photosensitive material or the like applied to the target surface 9a of the substrate 9.

In the exposure apparatus 3, at least one of the stage 32 and the irradiation section 33 is movable in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction, which are horizontal biaxial directions orthogonal to each other. Accordingly, in a state where the substrate 9 is mounted on the stage 32, the exposure device 3 can irradiate the laser beam LB from the irradiation portion 33 while relatively moving the stage 32 and the irradiation portion 33 in the main scanning direction. The stage 32 may be movable in a horizontal plane by rotating it in an internal rotation manner, or the irradiation section 33 may be movable in a vertical direction.

The irradiation unit 33 includes a light source (not shown) that emits laser light, and a modulation unit 33a such as a DMD (digital micromirror device) that modulates the laser light emitted from the light source. The drawing controller 31 irradiates the substrate 9 on the stage 32 with the laser beam LB modulated by the modulating unit 33a. More specifically, the drawing controller 31 sets on/off of the irradiation of the laser beam LB for each modulation unit of the modulation unit 33a in accordance with the description content of the drawing data DD defining the presence or absence of exposure for each pixel position. Then, while the irradiation unit 33 is relatively moved in the main scanning direction with respect to the stage 32, the drawing controller 31 irradiates the substrate 9 on the stage 32 with the laser beam LB modulated based on the drawing data DD by emitting the laser beam LB from the irradiation unit 33 in accordance with the on/off setting.

When scanning to one end of the drawing area in the main scanning direction, the drawing controller 31 moves the stage 32 a predetermined distance in the sub-scanning direction. Then, the drawing controller 31 scans the other end portion of the drawing area in the main scanning direction. In this way, the drawing controller 31 alternately repeats scanning in the main scanning direction and movement of the stage 32 in the sub-scanning direction for a predetermined number of times, thereby forming an exposure image based on the drawing data DD on the target surface 9a of the substrate 9.

The imaging unit 34 images a plurality of alignment marks Ma provided on the substrate 9 mounted on the stage 32. The photographed image of the alignment mark Ma is supplied as mark photographing data DM to the reconfiguration section 23 of the data processing apparatus 2.

The alignment mark Ma is provided on the target surface 9a of the substrate 9. The alignment mark Ma may be an alignment mark provided by machining such as a through hole, or may be a patterned alignment mark by a printing process, a photolithography process, or the like.

< Basic concept of correction Process >

Next, the correction processing performed when the data processing apparatus 2 generates the drawing data DD will be described. In general, the pattern data DP is created assuming that the substrate 9 is flat and has an ideal shape on the drawing surface without deformation. However, warpage or distortion may occur in the actual substrate 9, and deformation such as distortion may occur in accordance with the processing in the preceding step. Therefore, even if a circuit pattern is drawn on the substrate 9 in a state where the pattern data DP is held, it is difficult to obtain a desired circuit pattern. Therefore, the data processing device 2 converts the position (coordinates) of the circuit pattern described in the pattern data DP to form a circuit pattern corresponding to the shape of the substrate 9. In short, the correction processing performed when the drawing data DD is generated is coordinate conversion processing. As described below, the data processing device 2 performs correction processing in consideration of the exposure resolution in the exposure device 3.

Fig. 3 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between exposure resolution and a drawn pattern in the exposure apparatus 3. Further, an X axis corresponding to the main scanning direction and a Y axis corresponding to the sub scanning direction are shown in fig. 3.

In the exposure apparatus 3, exposure is performed by moving the stage 32 in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction with respect to the irradiation section 33. Therefore, the side of the pattern F1 shown in fig. 3 (a) inclined at the inclination angle α1 with respect to the X direction is described as being similar to the stepped pattern F2 in the drawing data DD as shown in fig. 3 (b). At this time, the step of the stepped pattern F2 corresponds to the exposure resolution in the sub-scanning direction in the exposure apparatus 3. Hereinafter, the exposure resolution in the sub-scanning direction is referred to as "δ". As shown in fig. 3 (b), the stepped pattern F2 is drawn stepwise from (1) to (8) by scanning in the main scanning direction a plurality of times.

In the correction process for generating the drawing data DD including the figure F1, the coordinate values representing the stepped figure F2 may be directly generated without generating the coordinate values representing the figure F1 faithfully.

Fig. 3 (c) shows a case where a pattern F3 having an inclination angle α2 smaller than the inclination angle α1 of the pattern F1 is approximated by a stepped pattern F4 at the exposure resolution δ. The step width (length of each step in the main scanning direction) in the step pattern F2 is set to w1, and the step width of the step pattern F4 is set to w2. Thus w2 > w1.

Fig. 3 (d) shows the case of approximating the pattern F3 with the exposure resolution δ as in fig. 3 (c). However, in fig. 3 (d), the step width w3 of the step-like pattern F5 of the approximate pattern F3 is w3=2·w1. In this case, although the approximation accuracy is inferior to that of fig. 3 (c), if δ is sufficiently small, the accuracy is practically sufficient.

When the inclination of the pattern F1 is the maximum inclination (maximum deformation error with respect to the main scanning direction) allowable for the circuit pattern, the circuit pattern whose inclination is smaller than that of the pattern F1 can be approximated by a stepped pattern having steps of an integer multiple of δ and step widths of an integer multiple of w 1. The same discussion also holds true in the sub-scanning direction (however, the exposure resolution in this case is defined by the size of the modulation unit of the modulation section 33 a). Therefore, when correction processing (coordinate conversion processing) is performed to take account of the deformation of the substrate 9, the converted circuit pattern is drawn in the main scanning direction in units of the width determined based on the exposure resolution in the sub-scanning direction and in units of the width determined based on the exposure resolution in the main scanning direction.

As described above, the data processing device 2 divides the entire circuit pattern (drawing target image) represented by the initial drawing data DD0, which is raster data obtained from the pattern data DP, into a plurality of grid areas. The grid region is rectangular, and the length of the vertical width is determined according to the exposure resolution and the allowable deformation degree of the pattern. Then, the data processing apparatus 2 acquires drawing data DD by performing coordinate conversion for each mesh region. Such a series of processes corresponds to correction processing.

< Action of data processing apparatus >

Next, the processing performed by the data processing apparatus 2 will be described in detail. The data processing apparatus 2 performs preparation processing before actually performing drawing on the substrate 9. The result of the preparation process is used for drawing the circuit pattern on the substrate 9. The preparation process will be described with reference to fig. 4.

< Preparation Process >

Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of the preparation process executed by the data processing apparatus 2. Initially, the conversion unit 21 acquires pattern data DP in the form of a vector from the pattern design device 4 (step S1 in fig. 4). The conversion unit 21 converts the acquired pattern data DP into initial drawing data DD0 in a grid format (step S2 in fig. 4). In the exposure apparatus 3, the circuit pattern represented by the pattern data DP is drawn inside a rectangular drawing region set on the target surface 9a of the substrate 9. As shown in fig. 1, the initial drawing data DD0 generated by the conversion unit 21 is transferred to the first division unit 22.

The first dividing unit 22 obtains an initial mesh width of a mesh region for generating initial divided data D20 from the initial drawing data DD0, based on the description of the dividing condition data DC (step S3). The division condition data DC includes, as data elements, information that determines the maximum deformation degree allowable for the circuit pattern at the time of correction processing, and exposure resolutions in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction in the exposure apparatus 3.

Fig. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the processing performed by the first dividing section 22. Fig. 5 shows an X axis corresponding to the main scanning direction and a Y axis corresponding to the sub scanning direction. In fig. 5, a rectangle formed by the vertices A, B, C, D indicated by a solid line indicates the initial drawing area RA0 of the circuit pattern in the pattern data DP or the initial drawing data DD 0. The coordinates of the vertex a are (X1, Y1), the coordinates of the vertex B are (X2, Y1), the coordinates of the vertex C are (X2, Y2), and the coordinates of the vertex D are (X1, Y2). When X2-x1=lx and Y2-y1=ly, lx and Ly represent the sizes of the initial drawing area RA0 in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction.

Four rectangles Sq1 to Sq4 (rectangles composed of vertices A1 to A4, B1 to B4, C1 to C4, and D1 to D4, respectively) centered on each vertex A, B, C, D of the initial drawing area RA0 indicated by a dotted line represent the range of error allowable for each vertex at the time of correction processing. The error range corresponds to the maximum error range allowed by the constituent unit of the circuit pattern.

Here, the dimensions of any rectangle Sq1 to Sq4 in the X-axis direction are p·lx, and the dimensions in the Y-axis direction are q·ly (where 0 < p, q < 1). Then, a line segment connecting an arbitrary point in the rectangle Sq1 and an arbitrary point in the rectangle Sq2 is deformed so as to represent a deformed state that the side AB can obtain in accordance with the deformation of the substrate 9. At this time, the deformation of the side AB into the line segment A3B1 (or the line segment A2B 4) becomes a deformation that imparts the maximum allowable inclination of the side AB. The inclination angle α of the side A3B1 with respect to the line segment AB becomes the maximum inclination angle allowed by the side AB. Further, the inclination angle α satisfies the following expression.

Tanα= qLy/(X2-X1-pLx) = qLy +. (1-p) Lx.apprxeq. qLy/Lx. Cndot. Formula (1)

The same is true for the side CD parallel to the side AB. That is, even for the side CD, deformation up to the line segment C4D2 (or the line segment C1D 3) having the inclination angle α is allowed. That is, in the main scanning direction, deformation from a state parallel to the main scanning direction to the inclination angle α is allowed. In fig. 5, the line segment C3D1 is shown as an example of the deformation of the side CD, but since the inclination angle α' of the deformation from the side CD to the line segment C3D1 is smaller than the inclination angle α, the deformation does not take into consideration the calculation of the initial mesh width of the mesh region.

Here, assuming that the exposure resolution in the sub-scanning direction is δy, the initial grid width wx of the grid region in the main scanning direction is obtained by the following equation.

Wx=δy-tana = delta yLx qLy. Cndot. 2

As with the inclination angle α in the main scanning direction, the maximum inclination angle β allowable for the deformation of the side BC and the side DA in the sub-scanning direction satisfies the following expression.

Tanβ= pLx/(Y2-Y1-qLy) = pLx +. (1-q) Ly≡ pLx/Ly. Cndot. Formula (3)

When the exposure resolution in the main scanning direction is δx, the initial grid width wy of the grid region in the sub-scanning direction is obtained by the following equation.

Wy=δx/tan beta=δ xLy pLx 4. The main points of the design reside in the pattern

The exposure resolutions δx, δy and the error range of the vertex A, B, C, D of the exposure device 3 are provided in advance as the division condition data DC. The Lx and Ly are known values determined from the initial drawing data DD0, and may be provided as data elements of the division condition data DC, for example. In any case, these are known values. Based on these values, the first dividing unit 22 obtains initial mesh widths wx and wy of the mesh region according to the expression (3) and the expression (4).

For example, the size of the drawing region is lx=ly=500 mm, the exposure resolution is δx=δy=1 μm, and the allowable error range of each vertex of the drawing region is pLx = qLy =500 μm (that is, the allowable error range is 0.1% of the size of the drawing region). Thus, wx, wy are about 1 μm.

When the error ranges of the vertices A, B, C, D are different, the initial mesh widths wx and wy can be obtained by the same method of consideration. When the error ranges in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction of the vertex A, B, C, D are set to (2 axlx,2 ayly), (2 axlx,2 byly), (2 cxlx,2 cyly), (2 dxlx,2 dyly), respectively, the initial mesh widths wx, wy of the first mesh region RE1 are expressed as follows.

Wx≡Min { δ yLx/(ay+by) Ly, δ yLx/(cy+dy) Ly }. Cndot.cndot.formula (5)

Wy≡Min { δ xLy/(bx+cx) Lx, δ xLy/(dx+ax) Lx }. Cndot.formula (6)

Returning to fig. 4, in step S3, the first dividing unit 22 obtains initial mesh widths wx and wy of the mesh region. Thus, the first dividing unit 22 virtually divides the drawing region including the circuit pattern represented by the initial drawing data DD0 into a plurality of regions (step S4). Then, the first dividing unit 22 generates initial divided data D20 indicating the respective drawing contents of the plurality of first grid areas RE1 obtained by the division from the initial drawing data DD0 (step S5) (see fig. 1).

Fig. 6 is a diagram conceptually showing a case where the drawing area is divided into the first mesh area RE1. First, each area after the initial drawing area RA0 is divided by the initial grid widths wx and wy is set as the basic area RC1. Then, around the basic region RC1, a region to which an additional region RC2 having a width corresponding to the exposure resolutions δx and δy in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction is added is set as one first grid region RE1. In fig. 6, each rectangular region divided by a broken line is a basic region RC1, a frame-shaped region located around the basic region RC1 is an additional region RC2, and each rectangular region divided by a solid line is a first grid region RE1. As shown in fig. 6, adjacent first mesh regions RE1 overlap each other. The overlapping of the adjacent first mesh regions RE1 is to avoid a blank between the adjacent first mesh regions RE1 when the first mesh regions RE1 are moved according to the deformation of the substrate 9.

The first dividing unit 22 describes the coordinates of the reference position Ms, the information of the drawing content, and the dimensions mx and my in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction of each first mesh region RE1, which are data elements for specifying each first mesh region RE1, in the initial divided data D20. The reference position Ms can be arbitrarily set, and for example, as shown in fig. 6, the center (center of gravity) of the first grid region RE1 may be set as the reference position Ms. Since mx=wx+2δx and my=wy+2δy, the first dividing unit 22 may describe the initial grid widths wx and wy and the exposure resolutions δx and δy in the initial divided data D20 instead of mx and my. When the first dividing section 22 generates the initial divided data D20, the data processing apparatus 2 ends the preparation process.

< Flow of drawing processing >

Fig. 7 and 8 are diagrams showing a flow of processing performed by the drawing device 1 according to the embodiment. After the preparation process, the drawing apparatus 1 sequentially executes the drawing process of the plurality of substrates 9. First, as shown in fig. 7, a substrate 91 is carried onto the stage 32 of the exposure apparatus 3 (step S11 in fig. 7). The substrate 91 may be carried in by a manual work by a person or by a not-shown carrying device. When the substrate 91 is mounted on the stage 32, the imaging unit 34 images the alignment mark Ma provided on the target surface 9a of the substrate 91 (step S12 in fig. 7). The imaging region of the imaging unit 34 may be a size including the entire substrate 9 or a size including only one or a plurality of alignment marks Ma. In the latter case, the entire alignment mark Ma may be photographed by moving the stage 32 in the horizontal biaxial direction. The captured image obtained by the capturing section 34 is supplied as marker captured data DM1 to the reconfiguration section 23 (see fig. 1) through the drawing controller 31.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the plurality of alignment marks Ma in the ideal state assumed in designing the circuit pattern. As shown in fig. 9, the plurality of alignment marks Ma are arranged at equal intervals in the horizontal biaxial direction. In fig. 9, for reference, the arrangement of the reference positions Ms of the first grid region RE1 is also shown. In the case where the alignment marks Ma are arranged at equal intervals (in the ideal case), the reference positions Ms of the first grid region RE1 are also arranged at equal intervals. Further, the solid and broken lines shown in fig. 9 are for aiding understanding of the drawing, and are not observed on the substrate 9.

In the case where the actual substrate 9 is not deformed, the alignment marks Ma are provided at equal intervals as shown in fig. 9. On the other hand, when the substrate 9 is deformed, the position of the alignment mark Ma is deviated from the ideal position. The degree of deformation can vary depending on the substrate 9. In the exposure apparatus 3, in order to form a desired pattern on each substrate 9, the position of the alignment mark Ma, which is an index of deformation of the substrate 9, is determined by actually measuring each substrate 9.

Returning to fig. 7, the reconfiguration unit 23 specifies the coordinates of the alignment marks Ma set on the substrate 91 based on the mark capturing data DM1, and stores the specified coordinates as first mark coordinate information in the storage unit 204. (step S13 in fig. 7). The coordinates may be determined by, for example, performing a known image processing such as binarization processing or pattern recognition on the captured image.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the alignment mark Ma in the first substrate 91 having the deformation. The alignment marks Ma of the ideal configuration shown in fig. 9 are shown with dashed lines + marks in fig. 10. The reconfiguration unit 23 rearranges the first grid areas RE1 based on the deformation of the substrate 91 based on the coordinates of the determined alignment marks Ma (step S14 in fig. 7). Specifically, the rearrangement unit 23 determines the coordinates after rearrangement of the reference position Ms of each first grid region RE1 based on the position coordinates of the alignment mark Ma located around each first grid region RE 1. That is, the rearrangement unit 23 specifies the positions of the first grid regions RE1 (see fig. 6) when the first grid regions RE1 are rearranged according to the shape of the substrate 91, with respect to the first grid regions RE1 that are arranged in order in an ideal state.

For example, the coordinates of the reference positions Ms1, ms2, ms3, ms4 after the rearrangement shown in fig. 10 are determined based on the coordinates of the alignment marks Ma1, ma2, ma3, ma4 (or a part thereof) located therearound. The reference position Ms of the reconfigured coordinates is illustrated in fig. 10. In addition, a known coordinate conversion technique can be used for determining the coordinates of the reference position Ms. As an example, focusing on the triangle composed of the alignment marks Ma1, ma2, and Ma4, a matrix showing affine transformation from the triangle in the case of the ideal arrangement shown in fig. 9 to the triangle based on the actual arrangement shown in fig. 10 was obtained. Then, the coordinate conversion of the reference position Ms may be performed using the obtained matrix.

The rearrangement unit 23 obtains the coordinates of the reference position Ms of each of the first grid regions RE1 after rearrangement, and generates rearrangement data DS1 (see fig. 1) indicating the coordinates of each of the first grid regions RE1 after rearrangement.

When the reconfiguration data DS1 is generated by the reconfiguration section 23, the synthesis section 24 generates drawing data DD1 based on the initial division data D20 and the reconfiguration data DS1 (step S15 in fig. 7). Specifically, the combining unit 24 shifts the position of each first grid region RE1 from the ideal position to the position described in the rearrangement data DS 1. Then, the combining unit 24 combines the drawing contents of the shifted first grid areas RE1 to generate one drawing data DD representing the drawing contents for the entire drawing area. Further, the shift of the first grid region RE1 is realized by moving the coordinates of the pixels constituting each first grid region RE1 in accordance with the coordinate movement (parallel movement) of the reference position Ms.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing each first mesh region RE1 rearranged according to the description of the rearrangement data DS 1. As shown in fig. 11, a portion where the drawing contents overlap is generated between adjacent first grid areas RE 1. The drawing contents of the overlapped portions are appropriately adjusted by a predetermined logical operation such as multiplication of the two.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing a first drawing area RA1 defined by the drawing data DD1 generated by the synthesizing unit 24. In fig. 12, for reference, the alignment mark Ma whose position is measured is collectively shown. Although not shown in fig. 11, in practice, a circuit pattern based on the content described in the initial division data D20 is disposed in the drawing area RA 2.

The data processing device 2 transmits the drawing data DD1 generated by the synthesizing unit 24 to the drawing controller 31. The drawing controller 31 controls the modulation unit 33a based on the drawing data DD1, thereby drawing a circuit pattern on the target surface 9a of the substrate 91 (step S16 in fig. 7). The drawing data DD1 is corrected for the initial drawing data DD0 according to the deformation of the substrate 91 based on the arrangement of the alignment marks Ma. Accordingly, the exposure device 3 can accurately draw a desired circuit pattern on the substrate 91 by performing exposure based on the drawing data DD 1.

When the drawing process of the substrate 91 is completed, the next substrate 92 is drawn. Here, when the substrate 92 belongs to the same lot as the substrate 91, there are many cases where the difference between the deformation of the substrate 91 and the deformation of the substrate 92 is small. In the case where there is no difference in deformation between the substrate 91 and the substrate 92, the drawing data DD2 for the substrate 92 can be made identical to the drawing data DD1 for the substrate 91. Even if there is a slight difference in deformation between the substrates 91 and 92, the drawing data DD1 may be corrected with a grid width larger than the initial grid widths wx and wy. From this point of view, as will be described later, the data processing device 2 performs correction processing for generating the drawing data DD2 by correcting the drawing data DD1 according to the deformation of the substrate 92.

In order to efficiently perform the correction processing, the data processing device 2 virtually divides the first drawing area RA1 represented by the drawing data DD1 by a plurality of previous grid widths larger than the initial grid widths wx and wy (step S17 in fig. 7). The size of each previous mesh width may be, for example, an integer multiple (2, 3, 4) of the initial mesh width wx, wy, but this is not required. The second dividing unit 25 generates advance division data describing the drawing content of each mesh region obtained by dividing each advance mesh width. Thereby, the second dividing unit 25 generates a pre-divided data set D21 which is a set of a plurality of divided data (step S18 in fig. 7).

Fig. 13 is a conceptual diagram showing a case where the first drawing area RA1 is divided by a previous grid width larger than the initial grid widths wx and wy. The example shown in fig. 13 is an example in which the second dividing unit 25 divides the first drawing area RA1 by the previous grid widths 2wx and 2wy which are 2 times the initial grid widths wx and wy. The second dividing unit 25 uses the regions divided by the mesh widths 2wx and 2wy as basic regions, similarly to the first dividing unit 22. Then, around the basic region, a region to which an additional region of a predetermined width is applied is set as one second mesh region RE2. Thereby, the adjacent second mesh regions RE2 overlap each other. When setting the second grid region RE2, the second dividing unit 25 determines the drawing content of each second grid region RE2 based on the drawing data DD1, and generates the advance division data describing the drawing content of each second grid region RE2. The second dividing unit 25 also acquires the pre-divided data for other pre-grid widths in the same manner as the method described in fig. 13.

When the drawing process of the substrate 91 is completed, the substrate 91 is carried out from the exposure apparatus 3, and the next substrate 92 is carried into the exposure apparatus 3 (step S20 in fig. 8). Then, the photographing section 34 photographs the alignment mark Ma of the substrate 92, thereby acquiring the mark photographing data DM2 (step S21 in fig. 8). The reconfiguration section 23 determines the coordinates of the alignment mark Ma of the substrate 92 based on the mark photographing data DM2, and saves the determined coordinates as second mark position information in the storage section 204 (step S22 in fig. 8).

Further, the reconfiguration unit 23 determines the second grid width based on the first marker coordinate information and the second marker position information stored in the storage unit 204 (step S23). The second mesh width is a mesh width required for correcting the relative deformation of the substrate 92 with respect to the substrate 91 (hereinafter simply referred to as deformation of the substrate 92) using the drawing data DD 1. The process of obtaining the second mesh width will be described below with reference to fig. 14 and 15.

< Calculation of second mesh width based on deformation between adjacent two points >

Fig. 14 is a diagram for explaining a flow of obtaining the second mesh width based on the deformation between the adjacent two points. First, the rearrangement unit 23 obtains the deformation of the substrate 92 from the positional relationship between two alignment marks Ma adjacent to each other in the main scanning direction or the sub-scanning direction. For example, as shown in fig. 14, attention is paid to two alignment marks Ma11, ma12 adjacent in the main scanning direction. If the vector between the alignment marks Ma11 and Ma12 obtained from the first mark coordinate information is a and the vector between the alignment marks Ma11 and Ma12 obtained from the second mark coordinate information is b, the distortion between the alignment marks Ma11 and Ma12 is obtained as the difference (Δx1, Δy1) between the components of the vectors a and b in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction (i.e., the size of b-a). Consider the mesh widths wx1, wy1 required for correcting the deformation between the two points of the alignment marks Ma11, ma12 in the substrate 92.

Here, the mesh widths wx1 and wy1 for correcting the deformation amounts (Δx1 and Δy1) between the alignment marks Ma11 and Ma12 of the substrate 92 are studied. First, when the main scanning direction is studied, the distance that can move the divided grid region in order to maintain the drawing accuracy is set to the exposure resolution δx at the maximum. Therefore, the minimum division number between the alignment marks Ma11, ma12 is a value obtained by dividing the deformation amount Δx1 by the exposure resolution δx. The sub-scanning direction is a value obtained by dividing the deformation amount Δy1 by the exposure resolution δy. Assuming that the distance between the alignment marks Ma11 and Ma12 on the substrate 92 is L11, the mesh widths wx1 and wy1 required for correcting the deformation between the alignment marks Ma11 and Ma12 on the substrate 92 are obtained by the following equation.

Wx1=l11- (DeltaX1- δx) · pressure-sensitive adhesive tape (7)

Wy1=l11- (DeltaY1- δy) · pressure-sensitive adhesive tape (8)

The rearrangement unit 23 obtains the mesh widths wx1 and wy1 required for correcting the distortion between the adjacent alignment marks Ma in the above-described manner. Then, the minimum mesh widths wx1m and wy1m, which are the smallest among all the obtained mesh widths wx1 and wy1, are stored in the storage unit 204 as the first candidates of the second mesh width.

< Calculation of second mesh width based on deformation of the substrate 92 as a whole >

Fig. 15 is a diagram for explaining a flow of obtaining the second grid width based on the deformation of the entire substrate 92. As shown in fig. 15, the overall deformation is obtained, for example, based on the distance between two points selected from among the alignment marks Ma21, ma22, ma23, ma24 at four points of the corners among all the alignment marks Ma and the deformation of the substrate 92 between the two points selected, to obtain the grid widths wx2, wy2. At least one alignment mark Ma exists between the alignment marks Ma21, ma22, ma23, ma 24.

For example, when the distance between the alignment marks Ma21 and Ma22 is L21 and the deformation amounts between the alignment marks Ma21 and Ma22 on the substrate 92 are Δx2 and Δy2, the mesh widths wx2 and wy2 of the alignment marks Ma21 and Ma22 on the substrate 92 are obtained by the following expression.

Wx2=l21- (Deltax2- δx) · pressure-sensitive adhesive tape (9)

Wy2=l21- (Δy2- δy) · pressure-sensitive adhesive tape (10)

The rearrangement unit 23 also obtains the grid widths wx2 and wy2 with respect to the other two alignment marks Ma in the same manner. The rearrangement unit 23 stores the smallest grid width wx2m, wy2m, which is the smallest among all the grid widths wx2, wy2, in the storage unit 204 as a second grid width candidate.

The rearrangement unit 23 selects the smaller one of the minimum grid widths wx1m and wx2m obtained in the main scanning direction as the second grid width wx2. The rearrangement unit 23 selects the smaller one of the minimum grid widths wy1m and wy2m obtained in the sub-scanning direction as the second grid width wy2.

Returning to fig. 8, when determining the second grid widths wx2 and wy2 in step S23, the reconfiguration unit 23 determines whether or not the second grid widths wx2 and wy2 are smaller than the minimum previous grid width (step S231 in fig. 8). When the second mesh widths wx2 and wy2 are smaller than the minimum previous mesh width (no in step S231), it is difficult to correct the drawing data DD1 matching the distortion of the substrate 92 using the previous division data set D21. Accordingly, the data processing apparatus 2 returns to step S14 to generate the drawing data DD2 for the substrate 92 using the initial division data D20.

When the second mesh widths wx2 and wy2 are larger than the minimum previous mesh width (yes in step S231), the reconfiguration unit 23 determines whether or not the second mesh widths wx2 and wy2 are larger than the maximum previous mesh width (step S24 in fig. 8). When the second grid widths wx2 and wy2 are larger than the maximum previous grid width (yes in step S24), the data processing device 2 directly transmits the drawing data DD1 to the drawing controller 31. Thus, the drawing controller 31 draws the substrate 92 using the drawing data DD1 (step S25 in fig. 8).

When it is determined that the second mesh widths wx2 and wy2 are equal to or smaller than the maximum previous mesh width (no in step S24), the rearrangement unit 23 decides the previous split data to be used from the previous split data set D21 (step S26 in fig. 8). Specifically, the rearrangement unit 23 selects, from the pre-divided data set D21, pre-divided data generated by the largest pre-grid width among the pre-grid widths smaller than the second grid width. By selecting the preliminary divided data having the largest possible preliminary mesh width in this way, the amount of computation required for the process of rearranging the second mesh region RE2 (step S27) and the process of synthesizing the drawing contents of the second mesh regions RE2 (step S28) described later can be reduced.

The rearrangement unit 23 rearranges the second mesh regions RE2 described in the divided data in advance based on the deformation of the substrate 92 relative to the substrate 91 determined based on the first mark coordinate information and the second mark coordinate information, using the divided data selected in advance (step S27). The process of the rearrangement by the rearrangement unit 23 is performed in the same manner as in step S14 shown in fig. 7. The rearrangement unit 23 generates rearrangement data DS2 (see fig. 1) indicating the positions of the grid areas after the rearrangement.

When the reconfiguration unit 23 generates the reconfiguration data DS2, the synthesis unit 24 generates the drawing data DD2 based on the division data in advance and the reconfiguration data DS2 (step S28 in fig. 8). The pre-divided data is selected from the pre-divided data set D21 by the reconfiguration unit 23 in step S26. The process of generating the drawing data DD2 by the synthesizing unit 24 is performed in the same manner as in step S15 shown in fig. 7.

The data processing device 2 transmits the drawing data DD2 generated by the synthesizing unit 24 to the drawing controller 31. The drawing controller 31 draws a circuit pattern on the target surface 9a of the substrate 92 by controlling the modulation unit 33a based on the drawing data DD2 (step S29 in fig. 8).

Next, the data processing apparatus 2 determines whether or not the drawing process is completed (step S30). When there is a substrate 9 to be drawn, the data processing apparatus 2 returns to step S20, and repeats the processing after step S20. Thereby, the drawing process on the next substrate 9 is performed.

As described above, in the drawing apparatus 1, the drawing data DD2 for the second and subsequent substrates 9 is generated by correcting the drawing data DD1 for the first substrate 9. When the distortion of the second and subsequent substrates 9 with respect to the first substrate 9 is small, the correction amount for the drawing data DD1 is small, and therefore, the calculation resources and the calculation time required for generating the drawing data DD2 can be reduced.

The size of the second mesh region RE2 reconfigured in step S27 is larger than the size of the first mesh region RE1 reconfigured in step S14. Therefore, the number of the second mesh regions RE2 is smaller than the number of the first mesh regions RE 1. Therefore, the calculation resources or the calculation time required for the reconfiguration process in step S27 and the process of synthesizing the drawing content in step S28 can be reduced in number of steps.

In the drawing device 1, the first drawing region RA1 represented by the drawing data DD1 is divided in advance by the mesh width of the advance having different sizes, thereby generating the advance divided data set D21. Therefore, compared with the case where the division data is generated for each substrate 9, the calculation resources or the calculation time can be reduced.

The present invention has been described in detail, but the above description is illustrative in all aspects, and the present invention is not limited thereto. It is to be understood that numerous modifications not illustrated can be envisaged without departing from the scope of the invention. The configurations described in the above embodiments and modifications may be appropriately combined or omitted as long as they are not mutually contradictory.

Claims

1. A drawing device for drawing a predetermined pattern on a substrate,

The device comprises:

a stage for mounting a substrate having a plurality of alignment marks thereon;

an imaging unit that images the alignment mark of the substrate mounted on the stage;

a data processing unit for generating drawing data; and

An irradiation unit that irradiates light to the substrate mounted on the stage based on the drawing data;

The data processing section performs the following processing:

a data acquisition process of acquiring initial drawing data indicating an initial drawing region including a predetermined pattern;

A first division process of generating first division data representing each of the drawing contents of a plurality of first grid areas obtained by dividing the initial drawing area by an initial grid width, based on the initial drawing data;

A first mark position determination process of determining a position of the alignment mark of the first substrate based on a captured image obtained by capturing the first substrate by the capturing section;

a first reconfiguration process of reconfiguring each of the first grid regions based on a position of the alignment mark of the first substrate;

A first synthesizing process of synthesizing the drawing contents of the first mesh areas indicated by the first division data based on the positions of the first mesh areas rearranged by the first rearrangement process, and generating first drawing data indicating a first drawing area including a predetermined pattern;

a second division process of generating second division data representing each of the drawing contents of a plurality of second grid areas obtained by dividing the first drawing area by a grid width larger than the initial grid width, based on the first drawing data;

A second mark position determination process of determining a position of the alignment mark of the second substrate based on a photographed image obtained by photographing the second substrate by the photographing section;

a second reconfiguration process of reconfiguring each of the second mesh regions based on a position of the alignment mark of the second substrate; and

And a second synthesizing process of synthesizing the drawing contents of the second mesh regions based on the positions of the second mesh regions rearranged by the second rearrangement process, and generating second drawing data representing a second drawing region including a predetermined pattern.

2. The drawing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,

The second dividing process includes the following processes: the data processing unit divides the first drawing area by a plurality of different previous mesh widths, thereby generating, for each of the previous mesh widths, previous divided data representing the drawing contents of the plurality of second mesh areas,

The second reconfiguration process includes the following processes: the data processing unit selects one piece of pre-divided data from among the plurality of pieces of pre-divided data based on the position of the alignment mark of the second substrate, and rearranges each of the second mesh areas indicated by the selected piece of pre-divided data.

3. The drawing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

The second reconfiguration process includes the following processes: the data processing unit determines the grid width based on deformation between the alignment marks of the second substrate with respect to the first substrate.

4. The drawing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein,

The second reconfiguration process includes the following processes: the data processing unit determines the mesh width based on deformation between two adjacent alignment marks.

5. The drawing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein,

The second reconfiguration process includes the following processes: the data processing unit determines the mesh width based on deformation between the two alignment marks located at the corners.

6. A data processing apparatus for generating drawing data used by a drawing apparatus for drawing a predetermined pattern on a substrate,

Comprising the following steps:

A processor; and

A memory electrically connected with the processor,

The processor performs the following processing:

A first mark position determination process of determining a position of an alignment mark of a first substrate based on a captured image obtained by capturing a first substrate;

a second mark position determination process of determining a position of the alignment mark of the second substrate based on a photographed image obtained by photographing the second substrate;

7. A drawing method for drawing a predetermined pattern on a substrate, wherein,

The drawing method comprises the following steps:

a first drawing process of drawing the first substrate based on the first drawing data;

a second mark position determination process of determining a position of an alignment mark of a second substrate based on a photographed image obtained by photographing the second substrate;

A second reconfiguration process of reconfiguring each of the second mesh regions based on a position of the alignment mark of the second substrate;

A second synthesizing process of synthesizing the drawing contents of the second mesh regions based on the positions of the second mesh regions rearranged by the second rearrangement process, to generate second drawing data representing a second drawing region including a predetermined pattern; and

And a second drawing process of drawing the second substrate based on the second drawing data.

8. A method for generating drawing data for a drawing device for drawing a predetermined pattern on a substrate, wherein,

The drawing data generation method comprises the following steps: