JP4467633B2 - Beam processing apparatus, beam processing method, and beam processing substrate - Google Patents

Description

  In the present invention, when a power generation system using a photoelectric effect or a device including another semiconductor element is formed on a substrate such as a glass substrate, a thin film constituting the semiconductor element or the like is patterned by a beam (laser or the like). The present invention relates to a beam processing apparatus, a beam processing method, and a beam processing substrate having a layer to be processed (thin film) processed by the beam processing apparatus.

Generally, in the production of the power generation system using a silicon-based amorphous material, a transparent electrode (for example, indium oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, etc.) layer is first formed on a large glass substrate, and then patterned. An amorphous silicon layer (photoelectric conversion layer) is formed on the substrate for patterning, and then a metal electrode is formed on the glass substrate for patterning.
A method of performing each patterning at this time by laser patterning using a laser beam instead of wet has been established.

In this laser patterning, each thin film layer sequentially formed on the glass substrate is sequentially provided with a groove (slit), and the thin film layer is electrically insulated at the groove to divide into a large number of battery cells. And is also referred to as laser scribe.
In such laser scribing, grooves are formed by irradiating a transparent electrode layer formed on a glass substrate with a laser beam from the side of the glass substrate that does not have a transparent electrode (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  That is, the laser beam is irradiated not from the surface of the glass substrate on which the layer to be processed is formed, but from the opposite surface. In this case, for example, when the laser beam is irradiated from the upper side of the glass substrate, for example, the glass substrate is placed on a table with the layer to be processed facing down. In this case, since the layer to be processed comes into contact with the upper surface of the table, the layer to be processed may be damaged or may be affected by the table (for example, temperature or laser reflection) during processing.

In view of this, laser irradiation is performed from above with the peripheral portion of the glass substrate supported and the glass substrate suspended.
In this case, the glass substrate is transported in one direction while being suspended from the peripheral portion thereof, and the laser irradiation position is moved in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport direction of the glass substrate, so that the processing layer on the glass substrate is moved. Grooves are formed in stripes.

JP 2006-54254 A

By the way, in the manufacture of a power generation system using the photoelectric effect, the manufacture of a panel display such as a plasma display, etc., the enlargement of the glass substrate is being promoted for cost reduction.
When the glass substrate is enlarged, the glass substrate is not basically thickened. Therefore, when the enlarged glass substrate is supported by the peripheral portion, the glass substrate is greatly bent downward. Thereby, the height position of the left-right side part of a glass substrate and the height position of the center part of right and left differ greatly.

  Further, when the laser is irradiated, the laser is condensed or imaged on the processing layer by the optical element. When the laser is irradiated from above, if the height position differs greatly depending on the position of the glass substrate as described above, the irradiation position can be adjusted even if the optical element is focused at any position as the irradiation position. Moving the will cause the focus to shift.

  Therefore, conventionally, in a laser beam processing apparatus for laser scribing, for example, an autofocus mechanism for always focusing on a glass substrate has been provided. That is, by measuring the height position (the distance from the objective lens as the optical element) of the laser irradiation position of the glass substrate that bends as described above, the objective lens as the optical element is moved up and down based on the measurement result. The objective lens is moved up and down so that the layer to be processed is always within the focal range of the optical element.

Here, since the direction in which the glass substrate is bent and bent (left-right direction) and the movement direction of the laser irradiation position (left-right direction) match, the objective lens always adjusts the focal position during processing. It will be in the state moved up and down.
Therefore, at the start of laser scribing, laser scribing cannot be continued without changing the height position of the objective lens after the height position of the objective lens is adjusted.

Providing such an autofocus mechanism complicates the structure of the laser beam processing apparatus that performs laser scribing and increases the cost. In addition, when performing laser scribing, the measurement of the height position of the layer to be processed and the accompanying change in the height position of the objective lens may become a bottleneck in the working speed of the laser scribing operation. The speeding up of the laser scribing operation is hindered by the autofocus mechanism.
Further, when processing a stripe shape or a matrix shape, for example, by simultaneously irradiating a plurality of laser beams at intervals, the processing time can be shortened.

  In this case, it is difficult to focus on all laser beams with high accuracy by irradiating laser beams at a plurality of different positions at the same time, and processing with one laser beam using the autofocus mechanism as described above. Compared to the case, the processing accuracy is lowered, and the quality of the final product may be lowered based on the processing accuracy. For example, in the case of the said power generation system, there exists a possibility of causing the fall of the power generation efficiency with respect to light reception of sunlight.

In addition, when a plurality of objective optical devices (objective lenses) are arranged side by side to irradiate a plurality of laser beams in an aligned state, the interval between the laser beams is limited by the diameter of the objective lens. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the interval between the plurality of laser beams.
In particular, when the objective lens has a long focal length so as to be able to face the bending of the glass substrate, the usable objective lens has a large diameter, and the interval between the plurality of laser beams cannot be reduced. This also increases the size of the objective optical device having a plurality of objective lenses, and the mechanism for moving the objective device becomes large.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when processing a layer to be processed formed on a substrate with a beam such as a laser beam, it is not necessary to constantly adjust the focal position of the beam by autofocus. It is an object of the present invention to provide a beam processing substrate, a beam processing method, and a beam processing substrate having a processing layer processed by the beam processing apparatus.

The beam processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a transparent electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a metal electrode layer as layers to be processed are formed on one surface of a substrate in this order, and a beam is applied to each layer to be processed. a the beam processing apparatus that is used in the processing of making the power generation system using a photoelectric conversion by processing by irradiating,
A moving mechanism that moves a substrate in at least one direction while supporting a side edge portion of the substrate with a layer to be processed formed on one surface of the substrate facing down;
A beam irradiation means for irradiating a beam from the upper side of the other surface of the substrate and processing the layer to be processed;
An axial condensing optical device that performs axial condensing of the beam irradiated from the beam irradiation means;
A beam irradiation position moving mechanism for reciprocating the axial condensing optical device along the other direction intersecting the movement in one direction by the moving mechanism of the substrate;
By moving the axial condensing optical device along the other direction between the two side edges of the layer to be processed that intersect the other direction by the beam irradiation position moving mechanism, the layer to be processed It is characterized by irradiating by moving an axial condensing beam for machining the substrate.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, the beam irradiating means includes an axial condensing optical device, an axicon for irradiating a so-called Bessel beam, and can irradiate a Bessel beam as an axial condensing beam. ing.

A Bessel beam, that is, an axial condensing beam, is output in a state where it is condensed axially up to a certain distance from the axicon when it is condensed by an axicon that is an optical element.
Although the depth of focus differs depending on the optical element, the depth of focus in an optical element such as a convex lens used for condensing a laser beam is about several hundred μm, for example, whereas the depth of focus by an axicon is about several mm. Although it depends on the diameter of the beam when the light is condensed, it can be about several tens of millimeters.

  Therefore, if a Bessel beam is irradiated using an axicon, even if the substrate supported on the left and right side edges is bent by its own weight as described above, the layer to be processed formed on the substrate It is possible to keep the shift in the vertical position due to the difference in the horizontal position within the depth of focus of the Bessel beam.

  This eliminates the need to move the objective optical device up and down by the autofocus mechanism when irradiating the workpiece layer formed on the substrate bent to the left and right while moving the beam. On the other hand, even if the beam is irradiated from a certain height, the layer to be processed falls within the range of the depth of focus.

  Therefore, by using an axial condensing beam, the autofocus mechanism can be omitted when condensing the laser and irradiating the layer to be processed, and the cost of the beam processing apparatus can be greatly reduced and the beam can be reduced. The structure of the focus adjustment portion of the objective optical device of the processing device can be greatly simplified.

  In addition, since there is no autofocus mechanism, work delay due to control of the autofocus mechanism does not occur, and obstructive factors for speeding up the work can be eliminated.

The beam processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a transparent electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a metal electrode layer as layers to be processed are formed on one surface of the substrate in this order, and a beam is applied to each layer to be processed. a the beam processing apparatus that is used in the processing of making the power generation system using a photoelectric conversion by processing by irradiating,
A moving mechanism for moving the substrate in at least one direction with the layer to be processed formed on one surface of the substrate facing upward;
Beam irradiation means for irradiating a beam from the lower side of the other surface of the substrate and processing the layer to be processed;
An axial condensing optical device that performs axial condensing of the beam irradiated from the beam irradiation means;
A beam irradiation position moving mechanism for reciprocating the axial condensing optical device along another direction intersecting the movement in one direction by the moving mechanism of the substrate;
Powder removing means for sucking powder generated by processing by beam irradiation of the layer to be processed;
By moving the axial condensing optical device along the other direction between the two side edges of the layer to be processed that intersect the other direction by the beam irradiation position moving mechanism, the layer to be processed It is characterized by irradiating by moving an axial condensing beam for machining the substrate.

  In the second aspect of the invention, the same effect as in the first aspect can be achieved by providing the axial condensing optical device and irradiating the processed layer of the substrate with the axial condensing beam. Further, by supporting the substrate to be processed from the lower side without bringing the processed layer into contact with other members by supporting the substrate with the supporting means from the lower side of the substrate with the processing layer on the upper side, It is possible to prevent the substrate from being bent by its own weight. Thereby, processing with higher accuracy becomes possible.

That is, even if the substrate is prevented from being bent, the irradiation position of the beam may be slightly shifted due to thickness fluctuation or distortion due to the position of the substrate. Therefore, the machining accuracy can be improved by keeping the deviation within the range of the depth of focus.
In particular, when a plurality of beams are simultaneously irradiated as described in claim 3, it is possible to improve the processing accuracy by suppressing the bending of the substrate, which causes a decrease in the processing accuracy as much as possible. Therefore, it is possible to increase the number of beams that can be irradiated simultaneously with the same processing accuracy.
In addition, when the workpiece layer is facing upward, powder (dust) generated by processing the workpiece layer may reattach to the workpiece layer, but the powder generated by the powder removal means is removed by suction. By doing so, the problem caused by the powder can be solved.

The beam processing apparatus according to claim 3 is formed by forming a transparent electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a metal electrode layer as processing layers on one surface of a base substrate so as to overlap each other in this order. a beam processing apparatus that is used in the processing in manufacturing the power generation system using a photoelectric conversion by processing by irradiating,
A gas levitation mechanism that supports the substrate with the workpiece layer underneath by ejecting gas in a state of floating flatly;
A moving mechanism for moving the substrate in at least one direction;
A beam irradiation means for irradiating a beam from the upper side of the other surface of the substrate and processing the layer to be processed;
An axial condensing optical device that performs axial condensing of the beam irradiated from the beam irradiation means;
A beam irradiation position moving mechanism for reciprocating the axial condensing optical device along the other direction intersecting the movement in one direction by the moving mechanism of the substrate;
By moving the axial condensing optical device along the other direction between the two side edges of the layer to be processed that intersect the other direction by the beam irradiation position moving mechanism, the layer to be processed It is characterized by irradiating by moving an axial condensing beam for machining the substrate.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the beam processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, comprising a plurality of optical concentrating optical devices arranged along the moving direction of the substrate. It is characterized by .

In the invention described in claim 4, when simultaneously irradiating a plurality of laser beams, a shift in the focal position of each objective optical device (here, the axial condensing optical device) or a horizontal position on the substrate side. Due to the difference in the vertical position of the layer to be processed due to the difference in focus, the focus accuracy of each laser beam decreases, and the processing accuracy decreases based on this. However, when a Bessel beam is used, the depth of focus is deep. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a decrease in processing accuracy.
In other words, the depth of focus is so deep that the deviation of the focal position of each Bessel beam can be accommodated within the focal depth of the Bessel beam, so the deviation of the focal position does not lead to a reduction in machining accuracy and maintains the machining accuracy. can do.
Therefore, even if the layer to be processed is processed with a plurality of beams at the same time, it is possible to prevent the processing accuracy from being lowered, and to prevent the performance of a product manufactured using the beam processing from being deteriorated. it can. For example, when the product is a power generation system using a photoelectric effect, it is possible to prevent a decrease in power generation efficiency due to simultaneous processing with a plurality of beams.
In addition, it is possible to increase the number of beams simultaneously irradiated within a required processing accuracy range, and it is possible to further reduce the processing time.

  There are a plurality of types of Axicons that are optical elements for Bessel beams. In the present invention, for example, a conical lens is used. The conical lens has an outer diameter smaller than that of a normal optical lens (for example, a convex lens) used when substantially the same processing is performed. Furthermore, since the conical lens has a deep focal depth as described above and does not require autofocus, for example, it is necessary to increase the focal length so that the above-mentioned substrate bending can be handled by autofocus. In addition, it is not necessary to increase the lens diameter in order to increase the focal length as in a normal lens.

  In addition, because the processing layer on the back side of the substrate is irradiated with a Bessel beam from the surface of the substrate through the substrate, the workpiece that is sublimated and liquefied after processing the processing layer has a conical shape. Since it is on the opposite side (the other side) of the substrate with respect to the lens, it is not necessary to separate the conical lens from the work layer so that the workpiece to be resolidified does not adhere to the conical lens, and the conical lens is bent. It can be close to the extent that it does not touch the substrate. Therefore, it is not necessary to increase the diameter of the Bessel beam, and it becomes possible to use a conical lens having a considerably small diameter with respect to a normal optical lens.

Thereby, when arranging a plurality of axicons and simultaneously irradiating a plurality of Bessel beams, it is possible to narrow the interval between the Bessel beams as compared with a laser beam by an ordinary optical lens. As a result, the degree of freedom in design of the spacing between the Bessel beams is increased.
In addition, the head portion (objective optical device) including a plurality of objective optical elements can be significantly reduced in size, and the head moving mechanism and the like can be simplified as the head is reduced in size and weight, and the moving accuracy is improved and the response is improved. It becomes easy to improve.

In addition, a moving mechanism for moving the substrate in one direction, and the axial condensing light in a state in which the axial condensing optical device is moved along the moving direction of the substrate in synchronization with the movement of the substrate. A beam irradiation position moving mechanism that moves the optical device along one direction intersecting the moving direction of the substrate, and in a state where the substrate is transported by the moving mechanism, by beam irradiation by the beam irradiation means The processing layer of the substrate may be processed .

In this case, it is not necessary to repeat the start and stop of the transfer of the substrate during the beam processing of the layer to be processed of the substrate. For example, the beam can be processed while the substrate is transferred at a constant speed. The conveyance control can be simplified and the working time for beam processing can be shortened.

  As a method of performing beam processing while transporting, a method of scanning a beam using a galvanometer mirror is known. In this case, even if an fθ lens is used, the beam is irradiated at a right angle to the substrate. Is difficult, and the beam is irradiated obliquely with respect to the substrate. In this case, the processing position of the processing layer formed on the side opposite to the surface irradiated with the beam of the substrate may be shifted due to the difference in refractive index between the substrate and the surrounding air and the incident angle. Yes, high precision machining is difficult. Here, when the beam is scanned by the galvanometer mirror, it may be possible to control the irradiation position of the beam in consideration of the above-described deviation, but this is extremely difficult control.

  On the other hand, according to the present invention, it is possible to make the beam incident as close to the substrate as possible as much as possible, and because the focal depth is deep due to the axial focusing, processing with extremely high accuracy is possible.

A beam processing method according to a fifth aspect is characterized in that the layer to be processed of the substrate is processed by the beam processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

In the invention according to claim 5 , the same effect as that of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4 can be obtained.

A beam processing substrate according to a sixth aspect includes a layer to be processed processed by the beam processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.

In the invention described in claim 6 , the same effect as that of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 4 can be obtained.

  According to the beam processing apparatus, the beam processing method, and the beam processing substrate of the present invention, by using a Bessel beam having a deep focal depth, for example, the substrate is supported by the left and right side edges so that the layer to be processed is down. Even if the substrate is bent by its own weight in the suspended state, it is not necessary to adjust the focus when the irradiation position of the beam is changed with respect to the substrate. That is, even when the substrate is bent, it is not necessary to perform focusing with the movement of the irradiation position of the beam, and the autofocus mechanism can be omitted from the beam processing apparatus. Thereby, cost reduction, simplification of the structure of the beam processing apparatus, and reduction of the processing time based on the fact that no time is required for autofocus control can be achieved.

It is a top view which shows the outline of the beam processing apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the outline of the said beam processing apparatus. It is a principal part side view which shows the outline of the said beam processing apparatus. It is a top view which shows the outline of the beam processing apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the outline of the beam processing apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the outline of the beam processing apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the outline of the beam processing apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is drawing for demonstrating the beam irradiation method of 3rd Embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the beam processing apparatus of 4th Embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the beam processing apparatus of 4th Embodiment.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 to 3 show a schematic configuration of the beam processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The beam processing apparatus of this example is suitably used for, for example, a power generation system using a photoelectric effect, a plasma display, etc., and a beam (here, a thin film layer formed on a transparent substrate such as a glass substrate). A laser beam is used for patterning, and a thin film layer (working layer) on a substrate is irradiated with a laser beam to form a groove by sublimation, liquefaction, and peeling, and the thin film layer is divided by the groove. In this case, the thin film layer is formed into an arbitrary shape. Here, for example, grooves are formed in the thin film so as to have a stripe shape or a matrix shape.

In this example, a case where the final product is the power generation system using amorphous silicon will be described. In the power generation system using amorphous silicon, since a large voltage cannot be obtained, for example, a large number of cells are formed in a stripe shape on a transparent substrate such as a glass substrate, and these are connected in series. Thus, the necessary voltage can be output.
In manufacturing, since sunlight is first taken in from the glass substrate side, a transparent electrode thin film is formed on the glass substrate side. Then, by forming grooves at predetermined intervals in the thin film of the transparent electrode, a striped transparent electrode is formed. Next, a thin film of amorphous silicon is formed as a semiconductor element that performs photoelectric conversion in the form of a transparent electrode. This portion is a semiconductor element having a PN junction or a PIN junction, for example.

  Then, after forming a plurality of amorphous silicon layers as photoelectric conversion layers on the thin film layer of the transparent electrode patterned in a stripe shape, grooves are formed again by a laser beam. In addition, this groove | channel is formed so that it may adjoin to the groove | channel formed in the thin film layer of the above-mentioned transparent electrode.

  Next, a thin film layer of a metal electrode is formed, and a groove is similarly formed by a laser beam. At this time, the groove formed in the amorphous silicon layer is adjacent to the groove formed in the amorphous silicon layer and the groove formed in the transparent electrode adjacent to the groove formed in the amorphous silicon layer. A groove of the metal electrode is formed so as to be adjacent to each other. That is, the grooves of each layer are formed in the adjacent state in the order of the groove of the transparent electrode layer, the groove of the amorphous silicon layer, and the groove of the metal electrode layer.

And the beam processing apparatus of this invention is used for formation of the groove | channel on each thin film as mentioned above.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the beam processing apparatus includes a substrate moving mechanism 5 that supports left and right side edges of the glass substrate 2 (substrate) so as to be freely transportable in one transport direction (including a reverse direction); Beam irradiating means 50 is provided for irradiating a laser beam to the processing layer 3 formed on one surface of the glass substrate 2 and processing the processing layer 3.

The substrate moving mechanism 5 includes a holding slider portion (not shown) that holds and moves the left and right edges of the glass substrate 2 and a driving means (not shown) that moves the holding slider portion along the guide rails 5a and 5a.
As the driving means, for example, a mechanism that moves the workpiece in one direction, such as a ball screw mechanism, a wire, or a linear motor, can be used.

In this example, the beam irradiation unit 50 includes a laser light source device and the like, and includes a laser generation unit (not shown) that generates a laser and an optical system that irradiates the glass substrate 2 with the laser beam.
In the light source device, for example, at least one of a YAG laser, a CO2 laser, other gas lasers, a solid laser, a semiconductor laser, a liquid laser, a fiber laser, a thin film disk laser, and the like can be used as a laser.
Here, for example, a YAG laser having a wavelength of 532 nm is used as the visible light laser.
In addition, the YAG laser basically has a wavelength of 1064 nm, but there is known a technique for reducing the wavelength to half of 532 nm. By making visible light of 532 nm, the glass substrate can be efficiently transmitted. .

  The light source device is not limited to the one for the YAG laser, and the wavelength of the laser beam is not limited to 532 nm, but the laser beam passes through the processing layer 3 such as the glass substrate 2. For example, in a substrate that transmits visible light and hardly transmits electromagnetic waves outside the visible light region, it is preferable to use a visible light beam. Further, in the layer 3 to be processed, it is preferable that the beam is efficiently absorbed and can be efficiently processed by the beam. The wavelength of the electromagnetic wave that is used as the beam is easy to transmit through the substrate (low absorption rate). In addition, it is necessary to select a wavelength that is easily absorbed by the layer 3 to be processed.

Further, when the substrate is transparent and the layer to be processed 3 is a transparent electrode, for example, it is visible light, and there is no absorption peak on the substrate side, and there is an absorption peak on the transparent electrode side. The wavelength may be selected, and the visible light region and its peripheral region, for example, the near-infrared region and the near-ultraviolet region may be selected such that the substrate side is easily transmitted and the processed layer 3 side is difficult to transmit. Also good.
The laser beam is preferably a pulse.

The optical system of the beam irradiating means 50 includes an objective optical device 51. The objective optical device 51 focuses the focused or focused image on the work layer and irradiates the beam.
In the present invention, an axicon (axial condensing optical element 52) for irradiating a Bessel beam as an axial condensing beam is used as the objective optical device 51. Axicon is a general term for optical elements capable of forming a Bessel beam, and in addition to a conical lens, those having a ring-shaped slit and those having a ring-shaped unevenness are known.
In this example, a conical lens is used.

  The axial condensing optical device (axial condensing optical element 52) in the objective optical device 51 is not limited to an axicon, and axial condensing can be performed with a diffractive optical element, a hologram optical element, or the like. It is also possible to output an axial focused beam using an optical element other than these axicons.

  The objective optical device 51 includes a plurality of axial condensing optical elements 52, and can irradiate a plurality of axial condensing beams simultaneously. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the objective optical device 51 includes a plurality of axial condensing optical elements 52 that are parallel to the transport direction of the glass substrate 2 and perpendicular to the moving direction of the objective optical device 51, which will be described later. They are arranged side by side. 2 and 3, the axial condensing optical element 52 is a conical optical element at the tip, and functions as an axicon.

Since each axial condensing optical element 52 has a small diameter, the objective optical device 51 can be made smaller than the case of condensing using a normal objective lens.
For example, the objective optical device 51 is movable on the glass substrate 2 while being guided by the guide rail 53 in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the glass substrate 2. Further, the objective optical device 51 can reciprocate along the guide rail 53 by a driving device (not shown). Also in this case, the same driving means as that in the substrate moving mechanism 5 for the glass substrate 2 can be used as the driving device. The guide rail 53 and the driving device constitute a beam irradiation position moving mechanism.

  The laser beam is supplied to the objective optical device 51 by, for example, irradiating a laser beam from the light source device side toward the objective optical device 51 using a mirror or a prism, and the objective optical device 51 changes the beam irradiation direction. The glass substrate 2 is directed toward the glass substrate 2 and irradiated with a beam. For example, the laser light is irradiated from the light source device along the above-described guide rail 53 via a mirror or a prism, and the objective optical device 51 moving along the guide rail 53 can be always irradiated with the laser.

In addition, when irradiating a laser to the objective optical apparatus 51, it is good also as a structure which irradiates a laser via an optical fiber.
The objective optical device 51 can adjust the focal position by a known method such as changing the height position. However, the objective optical device 51 is not provided with an autofocus function, and once the focal position is adjusted. During the laser beam machining, it is not necessary to automatically change the focus of the laser beam.

A beam processing method using the beam processing apparatus as described above will be described.
In this example, the present invention is applied to the production of the power generation system using amorphous silicon as described above, and beam processing is performed each time a transparent electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a metal electrode layer are formed on a glass substrate. Is done.
In the beam processing, the substrate moving mechanism 5 holds the left and right side edges of the glass substrate 2 so that the glass substrate 2 can be moved in the transport direction while being hung by the left and right side edges.
At this time, the glass substrate 2 is bent by its own weight.

Further, when the glass substrate 2 is set in the substrate moving mechanism 5, the layer 3 to be processed such as the transparent electrode layer, the photoelectric conversion layer, and the metal electrode layer is disposed on the lower side. That is, one surface of the glass substrate 2 on which the layer to be processed 3 is formed is directed downward, and the other surface is directed upward.
The glass substrate 2 is transported by the substrate moving mechanism 5 in the transport direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the objective optical device 51 described above.

And when the edge part used as the front end side of the conveyance direction of the glass substrate 2 reaches the first beam processing position by the objective optical apparatus 51, conveyance of the glass substrate 2 is stopped.
Then, with the laser (Bessel beam) output, the objective optical device 51 is moved in one direction along the guide rail 53 from one side edge to the other side edge of the layer 3 to be processed to form a groove. Thus, the processed layer 3 is divided by the grooves.

In this case, a plurality of grooves are simultaneously formed at intervals set by irradiating a plurality of Bessel beams at the same time.
At the time of this beam processing, the glass substrate 2 may be in a state of being bent by, for example, several millimeters or more at the left and right side edge portions and the central portion, for example. On the other hand, since the depth of focus of the Bessel beam can be about several mm or more, the deviation of the vertical height position of the layer 3 to be processed due to the bending of the glass substrate 2 is within the depth of focus of the Bessel beam. be able to.

Thereby, even when the glass substrate 2 is bent by its own weight, it is not necessary to perform focusing during the movement of the objective optical device 51, and the beam is within the depth of focus with respect to the bent layer 3 to be processed. Processing can be performed.
In the Bessel beam, if the position of the layer 3 to be processed is shifted up and down with respect to the position that becomes the focal length, that is, the position where the beam intensity is maximum, the beam intensity is slightly reduced. The cross section of the Bessel beam has a characteristic in which there is a large peak in the center within the range of the depth of focus, and the diameter of the peak portion does not change significantly as long as it is within the range of the depth of focus.

  In other words, the Bessel beam is focused on the axis, and even if the workpiece moves slightly in the perspective direction with respect to the axicon that outputs the Bessel beam, there is a large difference in machining accuracy within the depth of focus range. If the work layer 3 is within the depth of focus and the beam intensity is predetermined or higher, the machining accuracy can be maintained even if the vertical position of the work layer 3 fluctuates slightly. Can do.

Thereby, for example, when the power generation system is finally manufactured, the power generation efficiency can be improved by improving the processing accuracy. In other words, by improving the accuracy of the workpiece, it is possible to improve performance in an apparatus or the like constituted by the workpiece.
Further, even when a plurality of axicons are arranged in the objective optical device 51 and configured to irradiate a plurality of lasers at the same time, there is a positional shift of the target for each axicon, or at the irradiation positions of the plurality of lasers on the glass substrate. Even if there is a difference in the distance between each axicon of the objective optical device 51 and the glass substrate 2 due to bending or waviness, if the difference is within the range of the focal depth of the Bessel beam, the processing accuracy is lowered. The beam processing can be performed with sufficient processing accuracy without being tied. Thereby, while maintaining sufficient processing accuracy, the number of simultaneously irradiated beams can be increased, and the processing time can be greatly shortened.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the second embodiment, the substrate moving mechanism of the first embodiment is changed, and the beam irradiation means 50 is basically the same as that of the first embodiment. Therefore, the description of the beam irradiation means 50 is omitted or simplified, and the substrate moving mechanism 5 will be mainly described.

  The substrate moving mechanism 5 includes a gas levitation mechanism 10 that supports the substrate in a state where it is floated flat by ejecting gas. And a stage 11 that supports the substrate in a flat state, and a moving mechanism that moves the glass substrate 2 in at least one direction on the stage 11.

  That is, the gas levitation mechanism 10 includes, for example, a plate-like stage 11 that extends long along the conveyance direction of the glass substrate 2 to be described later, and a large number of gas jets arranged so as to be substantially evenly distributed on the stage 11. The plate 12 is disposed on both sides of the stage 11 and includes a moving mechanism 14 for engaging the left and right sides of the glass substrate 2 and for conveying the glass substrate 2 along one conveyance direction.

  Although the stage 11 is basically plate-shaped, for example, the stage 11 may have a striped configuration from a plurality of plates extending along the transport direction. The stage 11 is a portion of the linear laser beam irradiation position along the conveyance direction of the objective optical device 51 of the beam irradiation means 50, and is located at the rear side (front side) and the front side (front side) of the laser beam irradiation position in the conveyance direction. A slit portion 11c having a slit-like interval is formed between the rear stage 11a and the front stage 11b.

  The slit portion 11c is formed between the stage 11a and the stage 11b in a state where the rear stage 11a and the front stage 11b are divided. It should be noted that a slit-like opening may be provided at the laser beam irradiation position without dividing the stage 11 into two, and this may be used as the slit.

The gas ejection plate 12 described above is disposed on the stage 11.
The gas ejection plate 12 is made of a porous ceramic plate or a metal plate or a resin plate provided with a large number of holes.
And the back surface side of the gas ejection plate 12 is attached with a non-illustrated container-like back member that constitutes a sealed space except for the gas ejection plate 12 side, and a pipe for supplying compressed gas is connected. For example, a compressed gas supply unit such as a compressor or a gas cylinder is connected to the pipe to supply the compressed gas.

A gas ejection mechanism is formed from the gas ejection plate 12, compressed gas supply means for supplying compressed gas to the gas ejection plate 12, piping connecting the compressor body supply means, and the gas ejection plate 12. .
For example, air or nitrogen gas is used as the compressed gas, but a gas that does not affect the processed layer 3 to be processed is preferably used. For example, the processed layer 3 is oxidized with oxygen. In such a case, it is preferable to use an inert gas such as nitrogen gas.
In addition, the gas ejection plate 12 may be configured to have an ejection port for ejecting gas and a suction port for sucking gas, or may be configured to provide the gas suction plate 15 in addition to the gas ejection plate 12.

This is to keep the height of the floated glass substrate 2 constant by performing gas ejection and gas suction and controlling at least one of the gas ejection amount and the gas suction amount. It is the structure for controlling.
Although only the gas is ejected, the flying height of the glass substrate 2 can be adjusted to some extent by the amount of gas ejection. However, in order to control the flying height of the glass substrate 2 with high accuracy and quickly, the gas is ejected. In addition to performing the suction simultaneously, for example, when the glass substrate 2 moves upward, the glass substrate 2 can be quickly moved by sucking the gas rather than simply reducing the amount of gas ejection. Can be brought back down.

At this time, it is preferable that the gas ejection plates 12 and the gas suction plates 15 are alternately distributed, for example. Further, the gas suction plate 15 may be less than the gas ejection plate 12. Moreover, it is preferable not to arrange the gas suction plate 15 in a portion in the vicinity of the beam processing position of the glass substrate 2 so that the gas suction plate 15 does not suck powder generated during beam processing.
In the present invention, as will be described later, the slit portion 11c serving as the laser irradiation position is provided with a suction means 13 to be described later for sucking powder generated by laser beam processing. Further, the height of the glass substrate 2 at the laser irradiation position may be kept substantially constant by controlling the gas ejection amount in the gas ejection plate 12 disposed in the vicinity of the laser irradiation position.

In addition, in the height adjustment of the glass substrate 2 using gas ejection and suction, for example, the height position of the glass substrate 2 (for example, the lower side is set at or near a straight line serving as the laser irradiation position). The height position of the facing surface) is measured, and control is performed to adjust the gas ejection amount and the gas suction amount based on the height of the glass substrate 2 as the measurement result. Basically, when the height position of the glass substrate 2 tends to rise, the gas ejection amount is decreased and the gas suction amount is increased. Moreover, if it becomes a downward trend, the amount of gas ejection will be increased and the amount of gas suction will be decreased.
Moreover, the moving mechanism 14 engages with the left and right side edges of the glass substrate 2, for example, and moves the glass substrate 2 in the transport direction. As a moving method, for example, a mechanism that moves a workpiece in one direction such as a ball screw mechanism, a wire, or a linear motor can be used. That is, although it can be set as the structure similar to the board | substrate movement mechanism 5 of 1st Embodiment, since the glass substrate 2 is made into the state which floated by the gas levitation mechanism 10 which has the said stage 11, it moves It is not necessary for the mechanism 14 to completely hold the glass substrate 2 in a suspended state, and it is sufficient if the mechanism 14 is configured to hold the glass substrate 2 so that it can be pushed or pulled in the transport direction.

  The stage 11 is provided with a powder removing means 16 for sucking powder generated by the processing of the processing target layer 3 by beam irradiation in a later-described moving range of the beam irradiation position by the beam irradiation means 50. And the powder removal means 16 is provided with the suction part 13 provided in the slit part 11c provided in the above-mentioned stage 11, and attracting | sucking powder provided in the slit part 11c. That is, the slit portion 11 c is formed to suck and remove the powder, and becomes a part of the powder removing means 16.

The suction means 13 is provided with a suction port 13a disposed in the slit portion 11c, a compressor for performing suction, a pipe connecting the compressor and the suction port 13a, and a solid-gas separation provided in the middle of the pipe. A cyclone device (not shown) for performing (powder separation).
A plurality of suction ports 13 a are provided side by side in the slit portion 11 c in the length direction of the slit portion 11 c, that is, in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the glass substrate 2.

Then, the powder sucked at the suction port 13a, the sublimated gas before becoming powder, the liquefied gas (which becomes solid during suction), and the peeled material are sucked by the compressor and reach the cyclone device.
The cyclone device is a well-known cyclone for powder separation, and a solid is centrifuged from a gas by a spiral airflow, and only substantially the gas is discharged. This gas will reach the compressor.
The solid recovered by the cyclone is reused or discarded.
The beam irradiation means 50 is the same as that in the first embodiment described above.
A beam processing method using the beam processing apparatus according to the second embodiment as described above will be described.

Also in the second embodiment, the present invention is applied to the production of the power generation system using amorphous silicon as described above.
In the beam processing, the glass substrate 2 is carried into the beam processing apparatus using a transfer path having the gas levitation mechanism 10 similar to the gas levitation mechanism 10. At this time, the processed layer 3 processed by the laser beam is on the lower side of the glass substrate 2. That is, the glass substrate 2 is slightly floated on the stage 11 of the gas levitation mechanism 10 with the surface on which the layer 3 to be processed is formed facing down. In the beam processing apparatus, the glass substrate 2 is connected to the moving mechanism 14 on the stage 11 of the gas levitation mechanism 10 and is transported in a transport direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the objective optical device 51.

And the edge part used as the front end side of the conveyance direction of the glass substrate 2 reaches the above-mentioned slit part 11c of the stage 11, and the groove formation position of the to-be-processed layer 3 (for example, transparent electrode etc.) formed in the glass substrate 2 However, when the objective optical device 51 supported by the guide rail 53 is reached, the conveyance is stopped.
Then, with the laser (Bessel beam) output, the objective optical device 51 is moved in one direction from one side edge of the layer to be processed along the guide rail 53 to form a groove. The layer to be processed is divided by the groove.

  At this time, the suction means 13 of the powder removing means 16 is operated to cover the glass substrate 2 placed on the upper side from the slit portion 11c provided on the lower side of the movement range of the objective optical device 51. The gas on the processing layer 3 side is sucked. As a result, the gas or powder of the layer 3 to be processed that has been sublimated by irradiation with the laser beam is sucked into the suction means 13.

Thus, even if powder is generated by laser beam processing, the powder can be kept in a clean state without being scattered by the gas ejected and contaminating the beam processing apparatus and its surroundings.
Further, in a state where the stage 11 and the glass substrate 2 are separated by a small distance, in other words, in a state where the stage 11 and the glass substrate 2 are close to each other, the slit portion 11c side of the glass substrate 2 is moved from the slit portion 11c of the stage 11. Since the gas and powder of the processing layer 3 generated in the facing processing layer 3 can be sucked, the gas and powder can be sucked efficiently. That is, the powder can be reliably removed.

Next, the glass substrate 2 is transported and stopped by the moving mechanism 14 again until the next groove formation position becomes the laser beam irradiation position.
Then, while outputting the laser beam, the objective optical device 51 is moved along the guide rail in the direction opposite to the movement direction in the previous laser irradiation, and a groove is formed in the layer 3 to be processed.
By repeating the above operation until the grooves are formed in all the portions to be grooved of the layer 3 to be processed, the grooves for one layer 3 to be processed are formed. Subsequently, after forming the next to-be-processed layer 3 on the to-be-processed layer 3, the above-mentioned beam processing is performed again.

  Then, as described above, a transparent electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer (amorphous silicon layer), and a metal electrode layer are formed, and grooves by beam processing are formed in all of these layers. Thereby, the said power generation system divided | segmented into many cells on the glass substrate 2, and joined in series is formed.

  At this time, since the glass substrate 2 is in a state of being floated so as not to be bent, high-precision processing is possible due to a synergistic effect with the use of a Bessel beam having a deep focal depth. Become. In addition, by increasing the number of beams to be irradiated simultaneously, the focal point of each beam is slightly different due to structural focal position shift for each beam, thickness difference or undulation depending on the position of the glass substrate, etc. , They can be accommodated within the depth of focus of the Bessel beam.

Thereby, even if the number of beams irradiated simultaneously is increased, the processing accuracy can be maintained or improved.
In addition, since the conical lens (axial condensing optical element 52) as an axicon that generates a Bessel beam is small, when the number of beams is increased by increasing the number of conical lenses, the objective optical system including the conical lens is provided. It is possible to prevent the device 51 from becoming large.

  As a result, it is possible to increase the number of beams to be irradiated at the same time as compared with the prior art, further shortening the processing time, and products manufactured by processes including beam processing, such as the power generation system and the plasma display. The cost can be reduced.

6 and 7 show a schematic configuration of a beam processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the head that irradiates the beam.
In the first and second embodiments, the beam processing is performed in a state where the conveyance of the glass substrate 2 is stopped, whereas in the third embodiment, a substrate 101 similar to the glass substrate 2 is formed. Beam processing is performed without stopping in the transported state, and the mechanism for moving the beam irradiation position in the beam irradiation means is different, but the other configuration is almost the same as in the second embodiment. The description is simplified for the same components.

  The beam processing apparatus according to the third embodiment can be used in the same applications as those in the first and second embodiments and can perform the same processing. Similarly, a power generation system using the photoelectric effect can be manufactured.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the beam processing apparatus irradiates a processed layer 102 (thin film layer) formed on one surface of a substrate 101 with a beam 103, and processes the substrate 101. A transport mechanism (moving mechanism) 104 that transports in one direction, and a substrate to be processed 102 formed on one surface of the substrate 101 from the other surface side of the substrate 101 transported to the transport mechanism 104 A beam irradiation device 111 (beam irradiation means) having a head 110 that irradiates the beam 103 through the beam 101 and irradiates the beam perpendicularly to the substrate 101 at the time of beam irradiation, and the head 110 is conveyed by the conveyance mechanism 104. And a head moving device 120 which can be moved simultaneously in two directions crossing each other along a plane parallel to the substrate 101.

The substrate 101 and the processed layer 102 of the substrate 101 in this example are, for example, the same as those in the first embodiment. Further, the transport mechanism 104 is the same as the moving mechanism 14 of the gas levitation mechanism 10 in the second embodiment. Also in the third embodiment, the gas levitation mechanism 10 is used, and a stage 141 similar to the stage 11 of the second embodiment is used, and the substrate is ejected by ejecting gas. 101 is levitated.
Note that the transport direction of the substrate by the transport mechanism 104 is orthogonal to the direction of the grooves of the layer to be processed 102 formed by processing the substrate 101 in stripes.
That is, it is necessary to set the substrate 101 on the transport mechanism 104 so that the substrate 101 is transported perpendicular to the direction of the groove to be formed. In addition, it is good also as what performs the conveyance of a board | substrate using the board | substrate movement mechanism 5 similar to 1st Embodiment.

The beam irradiation device 111 having the head 110 includes a light source device 112 that generates a laser and a beam guiding system that guides the laser from the light source device 112 to the head 110.
For example, the light source device 112 outputs the same laser as that in the first embodiment.

In this example, the head 110 is configured to irradiate a plurality of laser beams onto the workpiece layer 102 at the same time, and a plurality of objective optical devices 113, for example, four objective optical devices 113 are provided. The light source device 112 also outputs four beams corresponding to the number of beams to be irradiated.
The objective optical device 113 uses the same axial condensing optical element 52 as the objective optical device 51 of the first embodiment.
In this example, the beam guiding system that guides the laser from the light source device 112 to the head 110 includes a plurality of mirrors 115, 116, 117, 128, and 129.

The beam guiding system of the beam irradiation device 111 is provided with an optical path length adjusting device 114 that keeps the optical path length of the head 110 from the light source device 112 almost constant regardless of the moving position of the head 110.
In this example, the head 110 moves a distance approximately equal to the width of the substrate 101 along the X-axis direction as the width direction of the substrate 101 orthogonal to the Y-axis direction as the transport direction of the substrate 101. In the case where the substrate 101 is a large glass substrate, the distance from the light source device 112 to the head 110 varies greatly due to the movement of the head 110.

  Here, the laser beam output from the light source device 112 is converted into parallel light by, for example, a collimator lens, but does not become completely parallel light, but is slightly diffused by diffraction or the like and the beam diameter gradually increases. Become. Accordingly, when the laser beam is guided to the head 110 using a mirror, if the head 110 has a structure that is far away from or close to the light source device 112, the head 110 is incident on the objective optical device 113 depending on whether the head 110 is separated or approached. There is a clear difference in the beam diameter of the laser beam. For example, this causes fluctuations in the focal position and fluctuations in the beam intensity, thereby hindering precise processing.

Therefore, in this example, the laser beam is detoured to the optical path length adjusting device 114 and guided.
The beam guiding system basically moves in the X-axis direction integrally with the first mirror 115 for guiding the laser beam output from the light source device 112 in the X-axis direction, and the head 110, and Y A second mirror provided on an X-axis slider 122, which will be described later, as a portion that does not move in the axial direction, and further guides the laser beam from the first mirror 115 to the head 110 by bending it by 90 degrees along the Y-axis direction. In this example, the optical path length adjusting device 114 is provided in the optical path of the laser beam between the first mirror 115 and the second mirror 116.

In this example, an optical path length adjusting device 114 is provided to adjust the optical path length with respect to the movement of the head 110 in the X-axis direction next to the light source device 112 arranged with the optical axis along the Y-axis direction. However, the direction of the laser beam incident on the optical path length adjusting device 114 and the direction of the laser beam emitted from the optical path length adjusting device 114 are not the X-axis direction but the Y-axis direction. Further, the optical path length adjusting device 114 is provided not at a position between the first mirror 115 and the second mirror 116 but at a position outside the first mirror 115 and the first mirror 115 side. Therefore, the first mirror 115 reflects the laser beam along the X-axis direction from the first mirror 115 toward the second mirror 116 not toward the second mirror 116 but toward the opposite side. ing.
Further, the laser beam reflected from the first mirror 115 is turned from the X-axis direction to the Y-axis direction by 90 degrees and is incident on the optical path length adjusting device 114 and emitted from the optical path length adjusting device 114. A fourth mirror 129 is provided that bends the laser beam along the Y-axis direction in the X-axis direction and reflects it to the second mirror 116.

  The optical path length adjusting device 114 is provided with mirrors 117 and 117 for reflecting and outputting the laser beam in a direction parallel to the direction of the guided and incident laser beam. For example, two mirrors 117 and 117 are provided. The mirror 117 reflects the incident laser beam by bending it by 90 degrees, and the bent laser beam is further rotated by 90 degrees, and combined with the aforementioned mirror 117, 180 degrees. It is designed to bend. Thus, the incident laser beam can be reflected back in a direction parallel to the incident laser beam. Note that there is a difference between the position of the incident laser beam and the position of the laser beam reflected and emitted in parallel with the incident laser beam, and the incident laser beam is the first mirror 115 and the third mirror on the light source device 112 side. The reflected laser beam 128 is sequentially reflected, and the emitted laser beam is directed to the second mirror 116 of the X-axis slider 122 that supports the head 110 via the fourth mirror 129.

  Here, the two mirrors that reflect the laser beam in the optical path length adjusting device 114 are aligned along the optical axes of the incident laser beam and the outgoing laser beam in the optical path length adjusting device 114, respectively. It is movable along the direction parallel to these laser beams, that is, along the optical axis direction.

  In other words, the optical path length adjusting device 114 includes a slider portion 118 on which the two mirrors 117 and 117 are mounted, and a rail portion 119 that guides the slider portion 118 movably in the optical axis direction (Y-axis direction). And a drive source (not shown) for moving the slider part 118 along the rail part 119. The drive source may be any device that can reciprocate the slider 118 in a linear direction, such as a rotary motor having a transmission mechanism that can convert a rotational motion such as a belt, a wire, or a ball screw into a linear motion, or a linear motor. .

  The beam guiding system having the optical path length adjusting device 114 guides the laser beam output from the light source device 112 in the X-axis direction and one of the two mirrors 117 and 117 of the optical path length adjusting device 114. The first mirror 115 and the third mirror 128 directed to 117, and the second mirror 116 and the fourth mirror 129 that direct the laser beam output from the optical path length adjusting device 114 to the objective optical device 113 are provided. If the laser beam incident on the optical path length adjusting device 114 and the laser beam emitted from the optical path length adjusting device 114 are along the X-axis direction, the laser beam is directed to the optical path length adjusting device 114 in the Y-axis direction. The third mirror 128 and the fourth mirror 129 that convert between the X axis direction and the X axis direction are not necessary. Further, instead of the mirrors 117 and 117, a retroreflective prism such as a corner cube or a retroreflector may be used.

Actually, the light reflected by the second mirror 116 is reflected in the Z-axis direction by, for example, a mirror (not shown) provided in the objective optical device 113 described above, and is reflected on the objective lens of the objective optical device 113. It will be incident.
In FIG. 6, only the optical path of one laser is shown, but here, a plurality of, for example, four lasers are spaced from the light source device 112 through the same optical path at intervals in the Z-axis direction. It is guided to the device 113 and is converted in the X-axis direction by the four objective optical devices 113, respectively. Of the light reflected by the second mirror 116, the laser beam at the lowest position in the Z-axis direction (height direction) is incident on the objective optical device 113 closest to the second mirror 116, and then the laser beam. In this order, the incident light enters the objective optical device 113 far from the second mirror 116.

  The head moving device 120 also has an X-axis moving mechanism 123 that enables the head 110 to move over a range slightly wider than the width along the X-axis direction, which is the direction of grooving of the workpiece 102 of the substrate 101. And a Y-axis moving mechanism 124 that is provided on an X-axis slider 122 provided in the X-axis moving mechanism 123 and that allows the head 110 to move along the Y-axis direction.

In this example, the X-axis moving mechanism 123 and the Y-axis moving mechanism 124 are each composed of a linear motor. For example, the movement of the head 110 can be precisely controlled by using a linear servo motor or a linear stepping motor. ing.
The X-axis moving mechanism 123 includes an X-axis guide portion 125 having a linear motor stator extending along the X-axis direction, and an X-axis slider 122 having a mover moving along the stator. Have.

The X-axis guide part 125 guides the X-axis slider 122 in the X-axis direction, and the stator drives the mover in the X-axis direction.
The Y-axis moving mechanism 124 provided on the X-axis slider 122 includes a guide portion 127 having a linear motor stator extending along the Y-axis direction, and a head having a mover moving along the stator. 110.

  With the configuration as described above, the head 110 is movable in the X-axis direction within a range including the width of the layer 102 to be processed formed on the substrate 101. Further, the distance that the head 110 can move in the Y-axis direction is such that the distance between the beam emitting portions of the head 110 is equal to the distance between the grooves formed in the processed layer 102 of the substrate 101. The distance is about the product of the number of emission parts (objective optical device 113) multiplied by the groove interval.

For example, when four grooves are simultaneously formed by four beams, before the substrate 101 is transported by a distance obtained by multiplying the distance between the grooves in the Y-axis direction by 4 as the number of beams simultaneously irradiated. It is necessary that the movement of the head 110 along the X-axis direction of the layer to be processed is finished and the processing of the four grooves is finished.
Therefore, basically, the moving distance of the head 110 in the Y-axis direction need not be longer than the length obtained by multiplying the number of beams emitted from the head 110 by the interval between grooves to be processed. Become.

  As will be described later, the movement speed of the head 110 in the Y-axis direction and the movement speed of the substrate 101 in the Y-axis direction are controlled to be equal, but the head 110 forms a groove with respect to the substrate 101 that continues to move. Each operation returns to the opposite direction and stops, and then starts moving again in the Y-axis direction (forward direction). Therefore, acceleration for accelerating the moving speed of the head 110 in the Y-axis direction to the moving speed of the substrate 101. Need a distance.

  In addition, if the substrate 101 advances from the groove produced by the operation for producing a single groove by the head 110 by the interval between the grooves, the next groove production by the head 110 will not be in time, so that the head 110 The movement distance in the Y-axis direction is sufficient if it is the above distance at most.

Therefore, the moving distance of the head 110 in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis moving mechanism 124 is extremely short compared to the size of the substrate 101.
A beam processing method involving the movement of the head 110 by the head moving device 120 having the X-axis moving mechanism 123 and the Y-axis moving mechanism 124 will be described.
The head movement control is performed by a movement control device (movement control means) (not shown).

The movement control device controls the X-axis movement mechanism 123 and the Y-axis movement mechanism 124 that are linear motors, and is basically controlled as well-known servo motor control or stepping motor control.
In the beam processing method, first, the substrate 101 is moved by the transport mechanism 104 at a predetermined speed SK. Further, on the substrate 101, the beam irradiation start position is set for each number of grooves corresponding to the number of beam irradiations in the head 110. The beam irradiation start position is alternately set on the left edge side and the right edge side of the layer to be processed 102.
Then, when the beam irradiation start position becomes the beam irradiation position of the beam irradiation section which is the rearmost in the beam irradiation section of the head 110, for example, with respect to the transport direction of the substrate 101, the beam irradiation in the head 110 starts Will be. Note that the laser beam is irradiated only when the processing layer 102 is processed, and the irradiation may be stopped when the head 110 is moved other than processing, but the processing layer 102 is processed. The laser beam may be kept in a stable state by keeping the laser beam output even when the laser beam is not.

At this time, the moving speed along the Y-axis direction of the head 110 and the moving speed along the Y-axis direction of the substrate 101 need to be the same and synchronized.
Therefore, in the movement control, first, the head 110 is, for example, on the left side of the substrate 101 moving in the transport direction, and the beam irradiation start position where the beam should be irradiated next to the transported substrate 101 is on the left side. And The head 110 is assumed to be at the origin position in the Y-axis direction, basically the rearmost side in the transport direction. The head 110 is assumed to be at the origin position on either the left or right side in the X-axis direction. As for the X-axis direction, there is an origin position which is the leftmost when moving the head 110 and an origin position which is the rightmost.

Further, the origin position does not need to be at the end of the structural movable range of the head 110, and may be at the end within the movement range in the groove processing. At this time, the structural movable range of the head 110 is assumed to be larger than the moving range in which the head 110 moves during groove processing.
The head 110 is moved in the Y-axis direction when the beam irradiation start position of the substrate 101 is a predetermined distance before the beam irradiation position of the beam emitting portion that is the rearmost in the transport direction of the head 110. The head 110 is accelerated until the moving speed of the head 110 becomes equal to the conveying speed of the substrate 101, and when the head 110 becomes equal, the speed is kept constant.
In addition, when the speed becomes constant, the beam irradiation start position of the substrate 101 and the beam irradiation position of the head 110 need to be equal.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, the beam irradiation position from the head 110 accelerates along the arrow Y1 in the Y-axis direction. When the moving speed of the head 110 becomes equal to the transport speed of the substrate 101, and when the beam irradiation start position becomes equal to the beam irradiation position, the beam irradiation starts and the head 110 moves along the X-axis direction. To do. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8A, the irradiation positions of the four beams irradiated from the head 110 are in a state of moving obliquely forward to the right along the arrow Y2. In addition, since an acceleration period is also required for movement in the X-axis direction, actually, it is necessary to start movement of the head 110 in the X-axis direction before the beam irradiation start position becomes equal to the beam irradiation position. There is.

The movement in the X-axis direction at this time is basically a constant speed movement, but the acceleration is required first as described above, and the deceleration is finally required. In particular, when the processing by the laser beam is affected by the difference in speed due to acceleration or deceleration, the start position and the stop position of the X-axis movement are outside the left and right edges of the layer 102 to be processed, and the X-axis movement The head 110 starts moving while accelerating in the X-axis direction at the start position, and the moving speed in the X-axis direction reaches a predetermined speed SX when reaching the side edge from the outside of the side edge of the layer 102 to be processed. After that, while the beam is irradiated onto the workpiece layer 102, it moves at a predetermined speed at a constant speed.
It is assumed that acceleration in the Y-axis direction is performed simultaneously with acceleration outside the workpiece layer 102 in the X-axis direction.

Here, the stage in which the head 110 is accelerating in the Y-axis direction and the X-axis direction is the one side edge acceleration step (left side edge acceleration step).
As described above, the stage in which the head 110 moves at a constant speed in the Y-axis direction at the transport speed SK of the substrate 101 and moves at the constant speed SX in the X-axis direction is a forward constant-speed machining process. .
Then, when the irradiation position of the laser beam reaches the side edge on the opposite side of the layer to be processed 102, the speed of movement of the head 110 in the X-axis direction may be reduced and stopped.

Then, at the stage where the constant speed movement in the X-axis direction is completed, that is, at the stage where the constant speed movement in the Y-axis direction is also finished, the head 110 is moved in the Y-axis direction in the reverse direction in the substrate 101 conveyance direction. At this time, the head 110 decelerates and stops in movement in the Y-axis direction, and moves in the opposite direction. At this time, the movement in the X-axis direction is also decelerated and stopped. The process of returning to the origin position of the head 110 is the other edge side origin return process.
At this time, on the substrate 101, the beam irradiation start position next to the beam irradiation start position where the laser beam irradiation has been performed as described above is moved at the predetermined transport speed SK.

On the other hand, the head 110 is moved in the reverse direction of the transport direction along the Y-axis direction to return to the origin position. In the X-axis direction, there are origin positions on the left and right, and the head 110 is stopped at the right origin position that is opposite to the left origin position.
At this time, as indicated by an arrow Y3 in FIG. 8A, the head 110 is returned to the origin position in the Y-axis direction along the Y-axis direction. The beam irradiation start position needs to be still behind the beam irradiation position of the head 110. When the head 110 starts moving and reaches a predetermined speed as described above, the substrate is placed at the beam irradiation position of the head 110. The beam irradiation start position 101 needs to catch up.

If acceleration and deceleration are not taken into consideration, the next beam irradiation start position of the substrate 101 is adjusted to the beam irradiation position of the head 110 in this state. The beam irradiation start position is adjusted to the beam irradiation position of the head 110 through the other edge side acceleration process of starting and accelerating the movement of the head 110 along the head. And this other side edge side irradiation position alignment process combines this other side edge side origin return process and the other side edge side acceleration process. In the other side edge acceleration step, the same processing as the one side edge acceleration step described above is performed except that the left and right positions are basically reversed.
That is, as shown by an arrow Y4 in FIG. 8B, acceleration is performed in the Y-axis direction.

Also in the X-axis direction, acceleration is similarly performed except moving from the right-side origin position to the left-side origin position at which the movement in the X-axis direction described above starts, from the right to the left in the opposite case. become.
In the other edge side acceleration step, the movement speed in the Y-axis direction becomes the transport speed SK of the substrate 101, the movement speed in the X-axis direction also becomes a predetermined speed, and the beam irradiation start position of the substrate 101 is the head 110. When the irradiation start position is reached, as the reverse direction constant speed machining step, the X direction moves in the reverse direction at the same speed as in the forward direction constant speed step, and moves at the constant speed in the Y axis direction. Processing with a laser beam. That is, it moves in the direction of arrow Y5 in FIG.

Then, the constant speed movement in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction is finished as in the case described above, and the head 110 is moved along the Y-axis direction after decelerating and stopping in the X-axis direction and decelerating and stopping in the Y-axis direction. Then, as shown by the arrow Y6, a one-side edge-side origin returning step for returning to the origin position is performed.
Then, after returning the head 110 to the opposite direction of the transport direction in the Y-axis direction to the origin position, the process returns to the first step.
The one side edge origin returning step and the first one side edge acceleration step are the one side edge irradiation position adjusting step for aligning the beam irradiation position of the head 110 with the beam irradiation start position of the substrate 101.

In the beam processing method as described above, the movement of the head 110 is a bow-tie movement as schematically shown in FIG. That is, after moving diagonally from the left side to the front right side, it returns straight to the rear side, and after moving diagonally from the right side to the left front side and then returns straight to the rear side, the moving shape becomes a bow tie shape.
In such a movement, the front side in the movement from the left side to the right front side, that is, the speed in the movement in the Y-axis direction matches the transport speed of the substrate 101, and the front side in the movement from the right side to the left front side, that is, in the Y-axis direction. Since the movement speed coincides with the conveyance speed of the substrate 101, the processed shape of the processed layer 102 of the substrate 101 is a stripe in which grooves are arranged at equal intervals.
In FIG. 8, the solid line indicates the processing in the forward direction (here, from left to right), and the broken line indicates the processing in the reverse direction (here, from right to left).

The movement control of the head 110 for performing such a beam processing method is performed by the movement control device simultaneously in the Y-axis direction and the X-axis direction, and is controlled by the following schematic steps. It will be.
Let the position of the head 110 be the Y-axis origin position and the X-axis left origin position (or the right origin position is acceptable). In the servo control, the X-axis moving mechanism 123 and the Y-axis moving mechanism 124 are provided with sensors for measuring the position of the moving element on the stator side, and the Y-axis moving mechanism 124 and the X-axis moving mechanism 123 are used by the sensors. The position of the head can be measured by measuring the position of each slider.

If it is not at the predetermined head position, the head 110 is moved. Further, during the operation of the head 110, feedback control is performed based on the position obtained by the sensor.
The substrate 101 is conveyed in conjunction with the conveyance mechanism 104, the substrate 101 is accelerated to the predetermined speed SK, and is conveyed at the predetermined speed SK.

When the above-described beam irradiation start position of the layer to be processed of the substrate 101 reaches a predetermined position, that is, the beam irradiation start position is a predetermined distance L1 before the beam start position of the head 110 at the origin position. When the position is reached, the following processing is performed.
That is, in the Y-axis moving mechanism 124, the moving element is accelerated from a speed of 0 to a predetermined speed SK, and the acceleration at this time is set to an acceleration that reaches the predetermined speed SK in a predetermined period during which the moving element moves by a predetermined distance.

Here, the predetermined speed SK is the same speed as the transport speed SK in the transport mechanism 104. At this time, in addition to the predetermined distance, the substrate 101 moves by the distance that the substrate 101 is conveyed at the predetermined speed SK during the predetermined period, and at this time, the beam start position becomes the beam irradiation position of the head. Is set to
Further, in the X-axis moving mechanism 123, the moving element is accelerated from the speed 0 to the predetermined speed SX. At this time, the beam irradiation position of the head 110 reaches the above-described beam irradiation start position on the side edge of the processing layer 102 from the outside of the processing layer 102.

In this state, the speed of the mover of the Y-axis moving mechanism 124 becomes the predetermined speed SK, the speed of the mover of the X-axis moving mechanism 123 becomes the predetermined speed SX, and the position of the head 110 is the beam irradiation position of the substrate 101. This is the beam irradiation start position. This control process is the one side edge acceleration control process.
In this state, the mover of the X-axis moving mechanism 123 and the mover of the Y-axis moving mechanism 124 continue to move in the above-described state until the processing end position of the other side edge of the layer 102 to be processed is reached. This is the forward direction constant speed machining control step.
When the machining end position is reached, the slider in the Y-axis moving mechanism 124 suddenly decelerates, and after stopping, suddenly accelerates in the reverse direction to return to the Y-axis origin position, and again near the Y-axis origin position. Decelerate suddenly and stop at the Y-axis origin position.
Similarly, in the X-axis moving mechanism 123, the slider is decelerated rapidly, and stops and stops at the X-axis right origin position. This is the other side edge origin return control step.

Next, the moving element acceleration process in the Y-axis moving mechanism 124 and the moving element acceleration process in the X-axis moving mechanism 123 are performed again. That is, the other side edge side acceleration control process is performed. Note that the process of combining the above-mentioned other side edge origin return control process and the other side edge side acceleration control process is a direction opposite to the transport direction of the substrate 101 on the other side edge side of the layer 102 to be processed of the substrate 101. To a predetermined distance from the portion processed by the beam emitting portion (objective optical device 113) which is the rearmost in the transport direction of the head 110 in the forward direction constant speed processing control step of the substrate 101 being transported. This is an other side edge side irradiation position alignment control step in which the beam irradiated from the beam emitting portion which is the farthest side in the transport direction of the head 110 is moved to a distant position so as to be irradiated.
In addition, the advancing direction in the X-axis moving mechanism 123 is opposite to the above-described acceleration process.
Then, the moving speed of the moving element in the Y-axis moving mechanism 124 becomes the predetermined speed SK, and the moving speed of the movement in the X-axis moving mechanism 123 becomes the predetermined speed SX. Further, the beam irradiation position of the head 110 moved by the head moving device 120 becomes the next beam irradiation start position of the substrate 101.

At this stage, similar to the above-described forward direction constant speed machining control process, processing in the reverse direction constant speed machining control process in which only the traveling direction in the X-axis direction is reversed is performed. That is, the head 110 moves at a predetermined speed SK in the Y-axis direction while irradiating a laser beam, and moves at a predetermined speed SX in the X-axis direction.
Then, when the beam irradiation position of the head 110 reaches the beam irradiation end position on one side edge of the layer 102 to be processed of the substrate 101, the one side edge side origin return is performed in the same manner as the other side edge side origin return control step described above. A control process is performed. In the X-axis moving mechanism 123, the origin is on the left and right, and the origin returns to the left and right positions opposite to the previous other edge side origin return control step.
Here, the position returns to the left origin position of the first X-axis moving mechanism 123.
And while returning to the above-mentioned first state, by repeating the above-mentioned process, groove processing can be continued further. In addition, the process which combined this one side edge origin return control process and the first one side edge acceleration control process becomes the one side edge irradiation position alignment control process similar to the above-mentioned other side edge irradiation position alignment control process. . The left and right positions in the X-axis direction are reversed between the other side edge irradiation position alignment control step and the one side edge irradiation position alignment control step.

According to the beam processing method by the beam processing apparatus as described above, by moving the head 110 as described above, it is possible to form grooves in a stripe shape in the processing layer 102 without stopping the conveyance of the substrate 101. Therefore, in the production of the power generation system and the like, the work period can be greatly shortened.
In addition, since the substrate 101 transport mechanism 104 does not frequently accelerate, decelerate, and stop, even if the substrate 101 being transported is large and heavy, the transport mechanism 104 requires high strength. The cost of the transport mechanism 104 can be reduced.
Further, it is possible to prevent a large load from being applied to the substrate 101 to be transported.

  Further, since the laser beam can be irradiated perpendicularly to the substrate 101 while moving the head 110 along the shape shown on the outer periphery of the bow tie, the other surface side of the substrate 101 is changed to the one surface side. When processing a layer to be processed by irradiating a laser beam, for example, the substrate 101 and, for example, the ambient atmosphere are compared with the case where irradiation is performed obliquely using a galvano mirror and the irradiation angle changes. There is no change in reflectivity or irradiation angle due to the refractive index at the interface with other gases, and precise and substantially constant processing is possible, thereby improving power generation efficiency in the production of the power generation system.

  In addition, since the axial condensing optical element 52 is used, when the configuration is such that a plurality of beams are irradiated at the same time, the object to be processed due to the deviation of the focus of the objective optical device 113 for each beam or the difference in the beam irradiation position. Regardless of the deviation of the Z-axis direction on the layer side, it becomes possible to fit each irradiation position on the processing layer of a plurality of beams within the depth of focus, and the processing accuracy is lowered even when a plurality of beams are irradiated simultaneously. Can be prevented, and the number of laser beams that can be simultaneously irradiated while maintaining the processing quality can be increased.

In addition, the processing time can be further shortened.
Further, when a configuration in which many linear processes in a stripe shape can be repeated at narrow intervals, the movement speed of the head 110 in the X-axis direction, the above-described deceleration in the Y-axis direction, and the movement at the origin return process are performed. The speed needs to be sufficiently higher than the transport speed of the substrate 101, but by processing a plurality of grooves using a plurality of laser beams at a time, for example, when the transport speed of the substrate 101 is constant, the head It is possible to reduce the moving speed of 110 in the X-axis direction and to increase the period required for deceleration, stop, and acceleration in the Y-axis direction, thereby reducing the cost of the head moving device 120.

Conversely, the processing speed of the substrate 101 can be increased to further shorten the processing time.
Further, in the beam processing substrate manufactured by the beam processing method in such a beam processing apparatus, it is possible to reduce the cost of manufacturing equipment by reducing the cost of the above-mentioned beam processing apparatus and the cost by shortening the manufacturing time. it can. Thus, even if the cost is reduced, precise and stable beam processing results in a high-quality beam processing substrate. For example, when applied to a panel of a power generation system using the photoelectric effect, the power generation efficiency is high. be able to.
Since the beam irradiation position moves like a bow tie, the slit portion provided on the stage 141 where the suction means is arranged corresponds to, for example, the entire bow tie beam irradiation position.

9 (a), 9 (b), and 10 illustrate an outline of a beam processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
In the first to third embodiments, the laser is irradiated from the upper side of the substrate 2 (101) with the processed layer 3 (102) side of the substrate 2 (101) as the lower side. In the embodiment mode, the substrate 101 is irradiated with laser from the lower side of the substrate 101 with the processed layer 102 (illustrated in FIG. 7) side of the substrate 101 as the upper side.

In the fourth embodiment, the structure of the transport mechanism 204 is different from that of the first to third embodiments, and the head 210 of the beam irradiation means is disposed below the substrate 101 on the transport mechanism 204. Although different from the first to third embodiments in that the moving mechanism of the head 210 and the beam guiding system for guiding the laser beam to the head 210 are arranged below the substrate 101 on the transport mechanism 204. Other than the positional relationship with respect to the substrate 101, the same beam irradiation means (beam irradiation apparatus 211) as in any of the first to third embodiments can be used.
The beam processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment can be used in the same applications as those in the first to third embodiments and can perform the same processing. Similarly, a power generation system using the photoelectric effect can be manufactured.

  The transport mechanism 204 of the fourth embodiment does not include the gas levitation mechanism 10 but includes a roller 203 as a support means. The rollers 203 are rotatably supported by roller support members 205, respectively. The roller 203 is arranged such that the center of rotation of the roller 203 is perpendicular to the transport direction of the substrate 101 by the transport mechanism 204, and supports the substrate 101 so as to be movable along the transport direction.

The rollers 203 are arranged in a plurality of rows along the conveyance direction, and are arranged in a plurality of rows along the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, so that the substrate 101 does not bend from below. I support it.
That is, the transport mechanism 204 supports the substrate 101 so as to be in a flat state. Instead of arranging a plurality of rollers 203 side by side with respect to the width direction of the substrate 101 (a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the substrate 101), the rollers 203 have the same length as the substrate 101 and the substrate 101 is bent. It is good also as a structure which prevents.

  The roller 203 comes into contact with the lower surface of the substrate 101. However, since the substrate 101 is disposed in the transport mechanism 204 with the processing layer 102 facing upward, the processing layer 102 does not come into contact with the roller 203. The layer 102 to be processed is not damaged by the contact with the roller 203. Note that all the upper ends of these rollers 203 are arranged in a substantially horizontal plane, and the substrate 101 is flatly supported with little bending.

Further, the roller 203 basically supports the substrate 101 so as to be movable in the transport direction similarly to the gas levitation mechanism 10, and the movement of the substrate 101 is illustrated in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments. Not by the moving mechanism. The moving mechanism is the same as the moving mechanism 14 of the second embodiment, for example.
In addition, the transport mechanism 204 includes a slit portion 201, similar to the gas levitation mechanism 10. The slit portion 201 is orthogonal to the transport direction and has a length equal to or greater than the width of the substrate 101.

Then, below the slit portion 201, the head 210 is movable in the Y-axis direction that is the transport direction of the substrate 101 and the X-axis direction that is orthogonal to the transport direction, as will be described later.
In addition, a suction unit 207 having substantially the same configuration as that of the second embodiment is provided above the slit portion 201. This suction means 207 is the powder removing means of the fourth embodiment.

  The suction unit 207 is the same as that of the second embodiment, but performs suction near the processing target layer 102 of the substrate 101 from the upper side of the substrate 101 instead of the lower side of the substrate 101. Yes. The suction means 207 is disposed on the upper side of the slit portion 201. Further, the slit portion 201 is disposed so as to cover the entire portion processed by the beam of the layer to be processed 102 by irradiation of the laser beam from the lower side. Accordingly, the powder (dust) generated as described above is sucked and removed by the laser beam irradiation, so that the dust is reattached to the processing layer 102 of the substrate 101 or the processing layer 102 is soiled. Can be prevented. The suction means 207 is fixedly provided so that the powder can be sucked over the entire moving range of the head 210 (the range in which the substrate 101 receives laser irradiation in the transport mechanism 204). The suction means 207 may be moved corresponding to the movement.

  The beam irradiation apparatus 211 in the fourth embodiment is basically the same as the beam irradiation apparatus 111 in the third embodiment, and includes a light source apparatus 212 that generates a laser beam and a head from the light source apparatus 212. A beam guiding system for guiding a laser beam to 210 is provided.

  9 and FIG. 10, the beam guiding system will be described. The laser beam emitted from the light source device 212 along the X-axis direction is directed by the mirror 215 in the Y-axis direction. The optical path length adjusting device 214 is the same as the optical path length adjusting device 114 of the third embodiment. The direction of the laser beam introduced into the optical path length adjusting device 214 is changed by the mirror 216 from the Y-axis direction to the X-axis direction. A retro-reflector 217 of the optical path length adjusting device 214 is disposed on the front side of the mirror 216 in the X-axis direction so as to be movable in the X-axis direction. The retro reflector 217 is supported on the optical path length adjustment stage 213 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction.

  The retro-reflector 217 is provided in place of the two mirrors 117 and 117 of the optical path length adjusting device 114 according to the first embodiment. When light enters from a predetermined direction, the retro-reflector 217 becomes parallel to the incident light. Thus, the light is reflected and emitted. The retroreflector 217 moves in the direction of light (emitted light) incident on the retroreflector 217 as the head 210 moves, so that the optical path length of the laser beam is kept substantially constant.

The light emitted from the retro-reflector 217 is applied to the mirror 219 via the mirror 218, and the mirror 219 applies light to the head 210 along the X-axis direction.
The head 210 is supported so as to be movable along the X-axis direction on an X-axis stage 209 provided below the slit portion 201 of the transport mechanism 204. The head 210 moves below the slit portion 201 of the transport mechanism 204 along the X-axis direction, but the state in which the laser beam is irradiated from the mirror 219 is maintained on the head 210.
Further, the beam irradiation device 211 made up of these components is in a state of being placed on the base 220 and housed in the transport mechanism 204, and as described above, the head 210 is moved in the X-axis direction. The X-axis stage 209 to be moved is arranged directly below the slit portion 201 of the transport mechanism 204.

The head 210 moves in the Y-axis direction by a slight distance as in the third embodiment described above. However, in FIGS. 9 and 10, the head 210 is configured to move in the Y-axis direction. Omitted. Further, the head 210 may irradiate a plurality of laser beams at the same time. At this time, the laser beams are aligned in the Y-axis direction.
The head 210 uses the above-described axial condensing optical element, and an effect obtained by using the axial condensing optical element having a deep focal depth with the first to third embodiments can be obtained. It will be.

  The beam processing method in the beam processing apparatus of this example is such that the substrate 101 faces the layer to be processed 102 and the head 210 is disposed on the lower side of the substrate 101 so that the substrate 101 is moved upward from the lower side. This is performed in the same manner as in any of the first to third embodiments, except that the laser beam is irradiated toward.

  That is, similarly to the first and second embodiments, the transport mechanism 104 repeatedly stops and transports the substrate 101, and the substrate 101 is stopped and the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the substrate 101. By moving the laser beam while moving, a groove can be formed on the stripe in the processed layer 102 of the substrate 101.

Similarly to the third embodiment, the laser beam irradiation position by the head 210 as described above is synchronized with the transfer of the substrate 101 while the transfer mechanism 104 is transferring the substrate 101 at a constant speed. It is good also as a structure which moves to a bow-tie shape.
In this example, by disposing the substrate 101 with the workpiece layer 102 on the upper side, the substrate 101 can be supported from the lower side without damaging the workpiece layer 102, and bending of the substrate 101 can be prevented. Further, by irradiating the laser beam from the lower side of the substrate 101, the layer to be processed 102 can be processed with the laser beam that has passed through the substrate 101.

Therefore, by supporting the substrate 101 from the lower side, laser processing can be performed with the substrate 101 held flat, so that the focal range by the axial condensing optical element is widened and the processing accuracy is improved. Further improvement can be achieved, and the number of laser beams that can be irradiated at one time can be increased without lowering the processing accuracy, thereby shortening the manufacturing time.
In addition, when the workpiece layer 102 is turned up, there is a risk that the powder generated by the processing of the workpiece layer 102 may adhere to the substrate 101, but by sucking and removing the powder from the upper side of the substrate 101, It is possible to prevent the adhesion of powder generated by processing the layer 102 to be processed to the substrate 101.
As a result, the processing layer 102 can be processed without causing a problem even when the processing layer 102 on the upper surface side of the substrate 101 is processed from the lower side of the substrate 101.
Further, by using a beam processing method similar to that of the third embodiment, the same operational effects as those of the third embodiment can be achieved.
The member that supports the lower side of the substrate 101 may be any member as long as it can prevent the substrate 101 from being bent and can be smoothly moved in the transport direction without damaging the substrate 101. Further, the structure may be such that it is conveyed by a belt.

2 Glass substrate (substrate)
5. Substrate moving mechanism 50 Beam irradiation means 52 Axial condensing optical element (axial condensing optical device)
53 Guide rail (beam irradiation position moving mechanism)
101 Substrate 102 Work Layer 110 Head 111 Beam Irradiation Device (Beam Irradiation Means)
112 Light source device 120 Head moving device (beam irradiation position moving mechanism)
123 X-axis moving mechanism 124 Y-axis moving mechanism 104 Transport mechanism (substrate moving mechanism)
141 Stage 203 Roller (support means)
204 Conveying mechanism 207 Suction means (powder removing means)
210 Head 211 Beam irradiation device (beam irradiation means)
212 Light source device

Claims (6)

A transparent electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a metal electrode layer as layers to be processed are stacked in this order on one surface of the substrate, and photoelectric conversion is used by irradiating each processed layer with a beam . a the beam processing apparatus that is used for processing in the manufacture of power generation systems had,
A moving mechanism that moves the substrate in at least one direction while supporting a side edge portion of the substrate, with a layer to be processed formed on one surface of the substrate facing down;
A beam irradiation means for irradiating a beam from the upper side of the other surface of the substrate and processing the layer to be processed;
An axial condensing optical device that performs axial condensing of the beam irradiated from the beam irradiation means;
A beam irradiation position moving mechanism for reciprocating the axial condensing optical device along the other direction intersecting the movement in one direction by the moving mechanism of the substrate;
By moving the axial condensing optical device along the other direction between the two side edges of the layer to be processed that intersect the other direction by the beam irradiation position moving mechanism, the layer to be processed A beam processing apparatus for moving and irradiating an axial condensing beam for processing a laser beam. A transparent electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a metal electrode layer as layers to be processed are stacked in this order on one surface of the substrate, and photoelectric conversion is used by irradiating each processed layer with a beam . a the beam processing apparatus that is used for processing in the manufacture of power generation systems had,
A moving mechanism for moving the substrate in at least one direction with the work layer formed on one surface of the substrate facing upward;
Beam irradiation means for irradiating a beam from the lower side of the other surface of the substrate and processing the layer to be processed;
An axial condensing optical device that performs axial condensing of the beam irradiated from the beam irradiation means;
A beam irradiation position moving mechanism for reciprocating the axial condensing optical device along another direction intersecting the movement in one direction by the moving mechanism of the substrate;
Powder removing means for sucking powder generated by processing by beam irradiation of the layer to be processed;
By moving the axial condensing optical device along the other direction between the two side edges of the layer to be processed that intersect the other direction by the beam irradiation position moving mechanism, the layer to be processed A beam processing apparatus for moving and irradiating an axial condensing beam for processing a laser beam. A transparent electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, and a metal electrode layer as layers to be processed are stacked in this order on one surface of the substrate, and photoelectric conversion is used by irradiating each processed layer with a beam . a the beam processing apparatus that is used for processing in the manufacture of power generation systems had,
A gas levitation mechanism that supports the substrate with the workpiece layer underneath by ejecting gas in a state of floating flatly;
A moving mechanism for moving the substrate in at least one direction;
A beam irradiation means for irradiating a beam from the upper side of the other surface of the substrate and processing the layer to be processed;
An axial condensing optical device that performs axial condensing of the beam irradiated from the beam irradiation means;
A beam irradiation position moving mechanism for reciprocating the axial condensing optical device along the other direction intersecting the movement in one direction by the moving mechanism of the substrate;
By moving the axial condensing optical device along the other direction between the two side edges of the layer to be processed that intersect the other direction by the beam irradiation position moving mechanism, the layer to be processed A beam processing apparatus for moving and irradiating an axial condensing beam for processing a laser beam.   The beam processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a plurality of optical concentrating optical devices arranged along the moving direction of the substrate. The beam processing method characterized by processing the to-be-processed layer of the said board | substrate with the beam processing apparatus of any one of Claims 1-4. 5. A beam processing substrate comprising a layer to be processed processed by the beam processing apparatus according to claim 1.

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