Laser beam machine, space transmission equipment for use in laser beam machine, and space transmission method

Abstract

To provide a laser beam machine capable of keeping processing quality in a plurality of axes constant while suppressing a change in state of laser, by simply configured space transmission equipment.SOLUTION: Space transmission equipment is used for a laser beam machine comprising a plurality of irradiation parts and a laser oscillator for oscillating a laser beam, the pulse width of which is in a picosecond order or a femtosecond order. An optical member for changing a beam diameter of the laser beam is provided on an optical path until the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator enters any one of the plurality of irradiation parts.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a laser processing machine for patterning thin-film solar cells. [Background technology]

[0002] In the manufacturing process of thin-film solar cells, a laser processing machine is used to process several hundred patterns on a film-like substrate. Normally, to improve productivity, multiple processing heads are arranged to process several patterns simultaneously, but since the number of processing heads that can be arranged is limited due to space constraints, several hundred patterns are efficiently processed by moving the film to be processed or the processing head back and forth (for example, Patent Document 1). In recent years, the development of perovskite solar cell panels has progressed in place of conventional silicon solar cell panels. In the patterning process of perovskite solar cells, high-power ultrashort pulse lasers (picosecond lasers, femtosecond lasers, etc.) are used instead of conventional nanosecond lasers in order to improve processing quality and narrow the processing line width. Ultrashort pulse lasers have less thermal impact on panels compared to nanosecond lasers, and are suitable for high-precision microprocessing. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-66281 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, ultrashort pulse lasers are prone to fiber damage and laser distortion, making them unsuitable for fiber transmission. Lasers are generally transmitted using a spatial transmission method, which results in a long optical path from the oscillator to the processing head. As described above, when using an ultrashort pulse laser in a laser processing machine equipped with multiple processing heads, the spatially transmitted laser must be split into multiple branches and transmitted to each processing head. However, since the optical path length is long, there are problems in that it is easily affected by changes in the state of the laser, and the configuration becomes complicated. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a laser processing machine that can suppress changes in the laser state while maintaining constant processing quality in multiple axes using a spatial transmission device with a simple configuration. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a spatial transmission device for use in a laser processing machine equipped with a laser oscillator that emits laser light having a pulse width on the order of picoseconds or femtoseconds and a plurality of irradiation units, characterized in that an optical element that changes the beam diameter of the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator is provided on the optical path until the laser light is incident on one of the plurality of irradiation units. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the above configuration, even when the laser light is transmitted by a spatial transmission method, it is possible to suppress changes in the state of the laser with a simple configuration and maintain approximately constant processing quality at multiple irradiation sections. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a laser processing machine 1 according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram for explaining a processing target film 51 and vertical processing and horizontal processing. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a perspective view for explaining the configuration of the laser device 3. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a top view for explaining the configuration of the laser device 3. [Figure 5] 1 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a vertical processing beam transmission unit 9a and a horizontal processing beam transmission unit 9b. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an optical path during vertical processing. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an optical path during lateral processing. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram for explaining the functional configuration of a control device 5. [Figure 9] 10 is a diagram for explaining laser processing using a plurality of vertical processing irradiation units 10a. FIG. [Figure 10] 10A and 10B are diagrams for explaining position correction of a laser irradiation position. [Figure 11] 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the laser processing machine 1 in a laser processing process. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the laser processing machine 1 in a vertical processing process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] <Summary> A spatial transmission device according to one aspect of the present invention is a spatial transmission device used in a laser processing machine that is equipped with a laser oscillator that emits laser light with a pulse width on the order of picoseconds or femtoseconds and a plurality of irradiation units, and is characterized in that an optical element that changes the beam diameter of the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator is provided on the optical path until the laser light is incident on one of the plurality of irradiation units. In a spatial transmission device according to another aspect of the present invention, the optical member includes a plurality of lenses and generates parallel light within a predetermined distance.

[0009] A spatial transmission device according to one aspect of the present invention is a spatial transmission device used in a laser processing machine that is equipped with a laser oscillator that emits laser light with a pulse width on the order of picoseconds or femtoseconds and a plurality of irradiation units, and is characterized in that it is equipped with an attenuator that changes the transmittance of the laser light on the optical path from the laser oscillator to the laser light that is incident on one of the plurality of irradiation units. In a spatial transmission device according to another aspect of the present invention, the attenuator includes a wave plate and a beam splitter, and changes the transmittance of the laser light based on the total output of the laser light required by the multiple irradiation units.

[0010] A laser processing machine according to one aspect of the present invention comprises a laser oscillator that emits laser light having a pulse width on the order of picoseconds or femtoseconds, a plurality of irradiation units that irradiate the laser light onto a workpiece, and a beam transmission unit that spatially transmits the laser light from the laser oscillator to the plurality of irradiation units, wherein the beam transmission unit comprises an optical element that changes the beam diameter of the laser light on the optical path from the laser oscillator to the laser light that is incident on one of the plurality of irradiation units. A laser processing machine according to another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it further comprises a drive mechanism that displaces the position of the optical element, and a beam diameter control unit that controls the drive mechanism to displace the position of the optical element, thereby adjusting the beam diameter of the laser light incident on any one of the plurality of irradiation units to a predetermined beam diameter.

[0011] In another aspect of the laser processing machine of the present invention, the beam transmission unit is provided with an attenuator that changes the transmittance of the laser light on the optical path from the laser oscillator until the laser light is incident on one of the plurality of irradiation units, and the laser processing machine is further characterized by having a first laser power control unit that controls the power of the transmitted laser light by changing the transmittance of the attenuator based on the total output of the laser light required by the plurality of irradiation units. In another aspect of the laser processing machine of the present invention, each of the multiple irradiation units includes a processing nozzle facing the workpiece and outputting the laser light toward the workpiece, and an adjustment mechanism that adjusts the power of the laser light output from each processing nozzle approximately evenly.

[0012] In a laser processing machine according to another aspect of the present invention, each of the adjustment mechanisms includes a wavelength plate and a beam splitter, and the laser processing machine further includes at least one power meter that measures the power of the laser light output from each processing nozzle of the plurality of irradiation units, and a second laser power control unit that adjusts the laser power of each irradiation unit by controlling the wavelength plate and the beam splitter included in the plurality of irradiation units based on the output value of the laser light measured by the power meter. In another aspect of the laser processing machine of the present invention, the multiple irradiation units are arranged in series with respect to the optical axis of the laser light, and the laser processing machine is further characterized by including a beam damper that absorbs excess laser light after laser irradiation by the irradiation unit located most downstream.

[0013] In another aspect of the laser processing machine of the present invention, the workpiece is a film composed of multiple layers stacked together, and each of the multiple irradiation units further includes a camera that captures an image of the film, and the laser processing machine further includes a laser irradiation position control unit that determines the laser irradiation position of each irradiation unit based on the laser processing line of the lower layer contained in the image captured by the camera. In another aspect of the laser processing machine of the present invention, the laser irradiation position control unit is provided with a memory, and stores in advance in the memory the specified laser irradiation positions of each irradiation unit, and corrects the specified laser irradiation positions stored in the memory so as to follow the laser processing lines of the underlying layer included in the image captured by the camera.

[0014] In another aspect of the laser processing machine of the present invention, the multiple irradiation units are spread out in a direction intersecting the film transport direction, and each unit can be moved individually in the same direction by a drive mechanism, and the laser irradiation position control unit controls the drive mechanism so that each irradiation unit processes the corrected laser irradiation position. In another aspect of the laser processing machine of the present invention, each of the multiple irradiation units is equipped with a mirror that changes the optical axis of the laser light emitted from the processing nozzle, and the laser irradiation position control unit controls the orientation of the mirror so that each irradiation unit processes the corrected laser irradiation position.

[0015] In a laser processing machine according to another aspect of the present invention, the plurality of irradiation units are spread out in a direction intersecting the scanning direction of the laser light, and each of the irradiation units is movable in the same direction, Each irradiation unit is characterized by applying a patterning process to the film in a plurality of lines parallel to the film transport direction. A laser processing machine according to another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it further comprises a second irradiation unit arranged at a position spaced apart from the plurality of irradiation units and performing patterning processing in a direction intersecting the film transport direction, and a second beam transmission unit that spatially transmits the laser light from the laser oscillator to the second irradiation unit.

[0016] In another aspect of the laser processing machine of the present invention, the second beam transmission unit is characterized in that it includes a second optical element that changes the beam diameter of the laser light, located on the optical path from the laser oscillator to the second irradiation unit. A laser processing machine according to another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it further comprises a drive mechanism that displaces the position of the second optical member, and a beam diameter control unit that adjusts the beam diameter of the laser light incident on the second irradiation unit to a predetermined beam diameter by controlling the drive mechanism to displace the position of the optical member.

[0017] A laser processing machine according to another aspect of the present invention is further characterized in that it includes an optical path switching unit that guides the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator to either the multiple irradiation units or the second irradiation unit. A spatial transmission method according to one aspect of the present invention is a spatial transmission method used in a laser processing machine equipped with a laser oscillator that emits laser light having a pulse width on the order of picoseconds or femtoseconds and a plurality of irradiation units, and is characterized in that the beam diameter of the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator is changed on the optical path until the laser light is incident on one of the plurality of irradiation units.

[0018] A spatial transmission method according to one aspect of the present invention is a spatial transmission method used in a laser processing machine equipped with a laser oscillator that emits laser light having a pulse width on the order of picoseconds or femtoseconds and a plurality of irradiation units, and is characterized in that the transmittance of the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator is changed along the optical path until the laser light is incident on one of the plurality of irradiation units. <Embodiment> Here, a laser processing machine 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1. Thin-film solar cell manufacturing process

[0019] The laser processing machine 1 is used, for example, in a manufacturing process for thin-film solar cells. The manufacturing process for thin-film solar cells includes the following steps (a) to (f): (a) deposition of a first electrode film, (b) formation of separation grooves in the first electrode film (P1 processing), (c) deposition of a power generation layer, (d) formation of separation grooves in the power generation layer (P2 processing), (e) deposition of a second electrode film, and (f) formation of separation grooves in the second electrode film (P3 processing). The laser processing machine 1 is a device that performs the P1 processing, P2 processing, and P3 processing, and irradiates each layer deposited in the previous process with laser light to cut and form multiple separation grooves that divide the layer into cell units. Cutting and forming separation grooves using laser light is sometimes referred to as "patterning processing" or "scribing processing." In this embodiment, a film-type perovskite solar cell will be described as an example of a thin-film solar cell.

[0020] 2. Configuration of laser processing machine 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a laser processing machine 1 according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, a high-power ultrashort pulse laser is used as the laser oscillator 8. High-power ultrashort pulse lasers have high peak outputs, which make them prone to fiber damage and laser changes, making them unsuitable for fiber transmission. If a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is used, fiber transmission may be possible depending on the wavelength of the laser light used, but fiber transmission is difficult for laser light with a short wavelength of 532 nm or less.

[0021] Therefore, the laser processing machine 1 of this embodiment uses a spatial transmission method. With the spatial transmission method, the optical path length from the laser oscillator 8 to the irradiation units 10a and 10b is long, which can cause laser quality such as beam size to become unstable and the configuration of the optical equipment to become complicated. As a result, the number of objects operated by the servo motor increases, which can cause various technical issues such as insufficient servo motor capacity, optical axis misalignment due to vibration, and tact delays. In this embodiment, a laser processing machine 1 that solves these technical problems and achieves high-quality patterning processing will be described.

[0022] 1, the laser processing machine 1 is a roll-to-roll device that applies patterning processing to the upper surface of a long film 50 using a laser device 3 while transporting the film from an upstream unwinding device 2 to a downstream winding device 4. The control device 5 is a computer system that controls the unwinding device 2, the laser device 3, and the winding device 4. The unwinding device 2 includes an unwinding shaft 21 and a guide roll 22. Similarly, the winding device 4 includes a winding shaft 41 and a guide roll 42. The guide rolls 22 and 42 reduce the tension on the substrate (film 50) and act as guides when the film is transported.

[0023] In addition to these components, the unwinding device 2 and the winding device 4 may also include other components such as a servo motor, a tension measuring device, and a control panel for controlling each component. As shown in Figure 2, the laser processing machine 1 performs patterning processing on a predetermined unit of a long film 50. This predetermined unit of film 50 is referred to as the film to be processed 51. The laser processing machine 1 performs vertical processing on the film to be processed 51, cutting several hundred grooves (vertical processing lines 52) in a direction parallel to the film transport direction (X-axis direction), and horizontal processing on the film to be processed 51, cutting one or two grooves (horizontal processing line 53) in a direction intersecting the film transport direction (Y-axis direction).

[0024] 3 and 4, the laser device 3 is composed of two parallel rails 12 supported by a main body 11, a holding table 6 movable in the X-axis direction on the two rails 12, a laser oscillator 8 and a vertical processing beam transmission unit 9a fixed to a support base 13, a plurality of vertical processing irradiation units 10a movable in the Y-axis direction by being movably attached to rails attached to the support base 13, a horizontal processing beam transmission unit 9b fixed to a support base 14, and one horizontal processing irradiation unit 10b movable in the Y-axis direction by being movably attached to a rail attached to the support base 14. Note that the vertical processing beam transmission unit 9a, the horizontal processing beam transmission unit 9b, the irradiation units 10a, and the irradiation units 10b are each housed in a housing, but for ease of explanation, the top of the housing is removed in FIGS.

[0025] Holding table 6 is rectangular in plan view, has a size equal to or larger than film 51 to be processed, and is capable of holding film 50. The laser oscillator 8 is a semiconductor laser that emits ultrashort pulse laser light with a pulse width on the order of picoseconds or femtoseconds. The wavelength of the laser light may be a blue or green laser with a wavelength of 400 nm to 523 nm, or an infrared laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm. The vertical processing beam transmission unit 9a transmits the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator 8 through space to the irradiation unit 10a. The horizontal processing beam transmission unit 9b transmits the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator 8 through space to the irradiation unit 10b. The vertical processing beam transmission unit 9a and the horizontal processing beam transmission unit 9b each include multiple optical components to prevent degradation in beam quality during spatial transmission over a long optical path.

[0026] 5, the vertical processing beam transmission unit 9a includes a power meter 31, an attenuator 32, an optical path switching mirror 33, multiple folding mirrors 34a, and a beam expander 35a, which are arranged on a substrate. The horizontal processing beam transmission unit 9b includes multiple folding mirrors 34b and a beam expander 35b, which are also arranged on a substrate. The power meter 31 receives the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator 8 and measures its output. The attenuator 32 adjusts the output by adjusting the transmittance of the incident laser light. The attenuator 32 is, for example, composed of a wave plate, a polarizing beam splitter, and a rotation mechanism that rotates the wave plate. The optical path switching mirror 33 is composed of a rotation mechanism and a mirror attached to the rotation mechanism. When the rotation mechanism is controlled by the control device 5 (described later), it switches the optical path of the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator 8. The folding mirrors 34a and 34b reflect the laser light and change the optical path by 45 degrees. The rotation mechanism can be a general mirror holder equipped with an adjustment mechanism that can be adjusted vertically and horizontally based on a fulcrum.

[0027] The beam expanders 35a and 35b include multiple lenses, expand or reduce the diameter of the incident laser beam, and form collimated beams. The beam expanders 35a and 35b are provided with a drive mechanism for displacing the positions of the multiple lenses, and the positions of the individual lenses may be displaced by the control device 5. Alternatively, if no drive mechanism is provided, the user may manually displace the lens positions. FIG. 6 shows the optical path of the laser light when the laser device 3 performs vertical processing, and FIG. 7 shows the optical path of the laser light when the laser device performs horizontal processing.

[0028] The vertical processing irradiation unit 10a is configured with multiple axes (eight axes in this embodiment), and each of the eight irradiation units 10a emits laser light to efficiently perform vertical processing on the workpiece, the film 50. The eight vertical processing irradiation units 10a are arranged in series with respect to the optical path, and laser light is transmitted in order from the most upstream irradiation unit 10a to the most downstream irradiation unit 10a. The eight irradiation units 10a are spread out in a direction (X-axis direction) intersecting the film transport direction (Y-axis direction), and each irradiation unit 10a can be moved individually in the same direction (X-axis direction) by a drive mechanism. The horizontal processing irradiation unit 10b is arranged at a position separated from the irradiation units 10a, and is responsible for laser processing in a direction (X-axis direction) intersecting the film transport direction (Y-axis direction) with one axis.

[0029] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 9, each irradiation unit 10a includes a wave plate 61 with a rotation drive mechanism, a polarizing beam splitter 62, an epi-mirror 63 that reflects the laser light and changes the optical path, a camera 64 that photographs the processing line of the underlying layer, and a processing nozzle 65. By providing each irradiation unit 10a with the wave plate 61 and the polarizing beam splitter 62, the power can be adjusted by adjusting the transmittance of the laser light emitted from the processing nozzle 65. The laser device 3 adjusts the laser power output from each axis to be approximately uniform, thereby suppressing variations in processing accuracy of each axis. Similar to the irradiation unit 10a, the horizontal processing irradiation unit 10b also includes a wave plate 61 with a rotation drive mechanism, a polarizing beam splitter 62, an epi-mirror 63 that reflects the laser light and changes the optical path, a camera 64 that photographs the processing line of the underlying layer, and a processing nozzle 65.

[0030] The laser device 3 may further include one or more power meters that measure the power of the laser light emitted from the processing nozzle 65 for vertical processing, a beam damper that absorbs excess laser light emitted from the most downstream irradiation section 10a, and a power meter that measures the power of the laser light emitted from the processing nozzle 65 for horizontal processing. 8 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the control device 5. As shown in the figure, the control device 5 is made up of an input unit 201, a display unit 202, a communication unit 203, a control unit 204, and a storage unit 205. Specifically, the control device 5 is a computer system equipped with hardware resources such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), a display unit, a communication interface, and input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse, and controls each device included in the laser processing machine 1.

[0031] The input unit 201 is an input device that accepts user operations such as a keyboard, a mouse, various switches, etc. Data input via the input unit 201 is stored in the storage unit 205. The display unit 202 includes a display unit, a video codec, a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a memory for screen data, etc., and generates a UI screen, etc., and displays it on the display unit. While the UI screen is displayed on the display unit 202, the user may input information about the film 50, laser processing conditions, various parameters of the laser oscillator 8, etc., via the input unit 201.

[0032] The communication unit 203 communicates information with the unwinding device 2, the laser device 3, and the winding device 4, which are connected wirelessly or by wire. The control unit 204 is composed of a CPU and a working memory such as RAM. The storage unit 205 is a so-called auxiliary storage device, and is composed of non-volatile memory such as an HDD, SSD, ROM (Read Only Memory), and flash memory. The storage unit 205 stores a computer program for controlling the laser processing machine 1 and various data input via the input unit 201. The CPU of the control unit 204 loads the computer program stored in the storage unit 205 into the working memory, RAM, and executes it, thereby controlling the unwinding device 2, the laser device 3, and the winding device 4 and performing patterning processing on the film 50.

[0033] The control unit 204 includes, as functional components, a film transport control unit 211, a beam diameter control unit 212, a first laser power control unit 213, a second laser power control unit 215, and a laser irradiation position control unit 216. Film transport control unit 211 has the function of controlling unwinding device 2, holding table 6, and winding device 4 to transport film 50. In particular, when laser processing machine 1 performs vertical processing, film transport control unit 211 moves film 50 back and forth. The beam diameter control unit 212 controls the beam expander 35a of the vertical processing beam transmission unit 9a to adjust the laser beam to a collimated beam at a predetermined distance. Here, the "predetermined distance" is preferably the same as the distance from the condenser lens of the processing nozzle 65 included in the most upstream irradiation unit 10a to the condenser lens of the processing nozzle 65 included in the most downstream irradiation unit 10a.

[0034] Furthermore, the beam diameter control unit 212 controls the beam expander 35b of the lateral processing beam transmission unit 9b to adjust the laser beam to a collimated beam at a predetermined distance. At this time, the laser diameter may be measured using a profiler or the like (not shown). The "predetermined distance" is preferably the same as the distance over which the irradiation unit 10b can move. If the control device 5 cannot automatically adjust the positions of the beam expanders 35a and 35b, the user may manually adjust the positions of the various lenses included in the beam expanders 35a and 35b.

[0035] The first laser power control unit 213 adjusts the output of the main laser beam transmitted through space by controlling the attenuator 32. In the case of vertical processing, the laser beam emitted from the most downstream irradiation unit 10a is measured with a power meter to calculate the total output required for each axis. The attenuator 32 is adjusted so that an output obtained by adding a value that takes into account the amount of attenuation by optical components to the total output can be secured. In the case of horizontal processing, the laser beam is transmitted to the processing end by the irradiation unit 10b, and the laser beam emitted from the irradiation unit 10b at that time is measured with a power meter to calculate the required output. The attenuator 32 is adjusted so that the calculated output can be secured.

[0036] The function of the second laser power control unit 214 will be described with reference to Fig. 9. As shown in Fig. 9, the eight axial irradiation units (irradiation unit 10a1 to irradiation unit 10a8) are arranged in series with respect to the laser beam L1, and therefore the power of the laser beam input to each irradiation unit 10a1, 10a2, ... attenuates in the order of L1 > L2 ... > L8. Therefore, the second laser power control unit 214 adjusts the output by rotating the wave plate 61 so that the laser beams emitted from the processing nozzles 65 of each irradiation unit 10a1, 10a2, ... have approximately equal output.

[0037] Furthermore, the second laser power control unit 214 measures the output of the laser light emitted from each nozzle 65 with a power meter 66, and uses the measured value to feedback control the amount of rotation of the automatic rotation mechanism of the wave plate 61. Here, each irradiation unit 10a performs reciprocal irradiation a predetermined number of times (for example, about 20 reciprocal irradiations) per processing of one vertical processing line 52. After the predetermined number of reciprocal irradiations is completed, the laser irradiation position control unit 215 (described later) controls the drive mechanism, so that each irradiation unit 10a moves in the Y-axis direction by a pitch feed of several millimeters. This causes the processing position to change in units of several millimeters.

[0038] The second laser power control unit 214 performs the above-mentioned feedback control, thereby making it possible to adjust the laser output after the pitch feed movement to a predetermined value. The surplus laser light after the laser light is emitted from the processing nozzle 65 of the most downstream irradiation unit 10a8 is received and absorbed by the beam damper 67. The first laser power control unit 213 controls the attenuator 32 to adjust this surplus laser light to be reduced. Note that, in FIG. 9, one power meter 66 is moved from upstream to downstream to measure the output of the laser light emitted from the eight-axis irradiation unit 10a, but the number of power meters 66 may be two or more.

[0039] The laser irradiation position control unit 215 has a function of controlling the laser irradiation position of each processing nozzle 65 so that each irradiation unit 10a follows the processing line of the lower layer. The memory or storage unit 205 of the control unit 204 stores in advance coordinate values indicating the designed processing line. 10(a), even if the designed processing lines of P1 (P2) and P2 (P3) are recorded, the actual laser processing may result in processing lines as shown by the solid lines due to the influence of heat on the film deformation and the individual characteristics of each processing nozzle. Therefore, the laser irradiation position control unit 215 photographs the processing lines of the lower layer with the camera 64 and corrects the processing position based on the photographed image data.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 10(b), the laser irradiation position control unit 215 acquires position information (coordinate values) at two or more points included in the processing line from image data captured by the camera 64. The acquired position information is used to correct the set processing position. In actual laser processing, the position of the processing nozzle 65 is adjusted by a drive mechanism such as a servo motor, and the angle of the laser light emitted from the processing nozzle 65 is adjusted by a tilt mirror (not shown), so that the laser light is irradiated at the corrected processing position. The position of the processing nozzle 65 may be adjusted by a drive mechanism, and the processing position may be precisely corrected using a tilt mirror.

[0041] 2. Operation of laser processing machine 1 Next, the flow charts of FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 and the operation of the laser processing machine 1 will be described. First, various processing conditions are input via the input unit 201 of the control device 5 (step S1). Subsequently, steps S2 to S12 are repeated for each page of the film 51 to be processed. The first laser power control unit 213 of the control device 5 measures the laser power required for vertical processing (step S3) and controls the attenuator 32 to adjust the laser power (step S4). The beam diameter control unit 212 of the control device 5 also controls the beam expander 35a to adjust the beam diameter and generate collimated light (step S5). The laser processing machine 1 then transmits the laser light through space using the vertical processing beam transmission unit 9a and processes the vertical processing line 52 using the eight-axis laser irradiation unit 10a (step S6). After the vertical processing is completed, the control device 5 rotates the optical path switching mirror 33 to switch the optical path of the laser light so that the laser light enters the horizontal processing beam transmission unit 9b (step S7).

[0042] The first laser power control unit 213 of the control device 5 measures the laser power required for lateral processing (step S8) and controls the attenuator 32 to adjust the laser power (step S9). In addition, the beam diameter control unit 212 of the control device 5 controls the beam expander 35b to adjust the beam diameter and generate collimated light (step S10). The control device 5 moves the irradiation unit 10b for lateral processing in the Y-axis direction to irradiate the laser light in the Y-axis direction, and processes the lateral processing line 53 (step S11). When the lateral processing is finished and the patterning processing for one page is completed, the next page of the film to be processed 51 is conveyed to the laser device 3, and the laser processing machine 1 returns to step S2 to continue the processing.

[0043] It is not essential that the laser power measurement, laser power adjustment, and beam diameter adjustment processes in steps S3 to S5 and steps S8 to S10 be performed for each page. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the vertical processing by each of the eight axes of the vertical processing irradiation unit 10a. This operation is a detailed example of step S6 in FIG. 11. Each irradiation unit 10a processes N vertical processing lines 52 while repeating pitch feed movement in the Y-axis direction as described above. The laser processing machine 1 repeats the processing of steps S21 to S27 from n=1 to n=N.

[0044] The laser irradiation position control unit 215 photographs the processing line of the lower layer using the camera 64 (step S22). When the laser processing machine 1 is performing P2 processing, the processing line of P1 processing is photographed, and when the laser processing machine 1 is performing P3 processing, the processing line of P2 processing is photographed. The laser irradiation position control unit 215 corrects the coordinates of the processing position that has been set in advance using the photographed image data (step S23). The laser irradiation position control 215 controls the drive mechanism and tilt mirror so that the processing nozzle 65 of the irradiation unit 10a irradiates the laser light to the corrected processing position 6 (step S24). Next, the power output of the laser light emitted from the processing nozzle 65 is measured by the power meter 66 (step S25), and the amount of rotation of the wave plate 61 is feedback-controlled (step S26). When each irradiation unit 10a has finished processing N vertical processing lines 52, the laser processing machine 1 ends the vertical processing process.

[0045] 3. Effects of the embodiment The laser processing machine 1 of this embodiment transmits laser light using a spatial transmission method, which means that the optical path length from the laser oscillator 8 to the processing heads of the irradiation units 10a and 10b is long. This raises concerns about a decrease in beam quality, but in this embodiment, the decrease in beam quality is suppressed by generating collimated light using a beam expander and controlling the attenuator to ensure the necessary laser power. Furthermore, the laser processing machine 1 performs processing by arranging multiple irradiation units 10a in series, and in order to maintain uniform laser quality for each axis, each of the multiple irradiation units 10a is equipped with an attenuator (a wavelength plate with an automatic rotation function and a polarizing beam splitter) that controls the laser power, thereby making it possible to maintain approximately uniform laser quality for each axis.

[0046] 4. Other Modifications The present invention has been described based on the above embodiment, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention, including the following modifications. (1) In the above embodiment, the film 50 is supplied to the laser device 3 by a so-called roll-to-roll device, but this configuration is not essential. The film may be supplied in sheet form rather than in roll form. It is sufficient to have a transport structure that can move the film to be processed back and forth without moving the irradiation unit 10a itself back and forth during the vertical processing performed by the laser device 3.

[0047] (2) In the above embodiment, the configuration includes multiple irradiation units 10a for vertical processing and one irradiation unit 10b for horizontal processing, but this configuration is not essential. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which horizontal processing is performed using multiple irradiation units 10a for vertical processing without including an irradiation unit 10b for horizontal processing. In this case, the film is fixed and the irradiation units 10a are operated simultaneously or with a time lag. A single horizontal processing line 53 may be processed by aligning the processing start position and processing end position of each irradiation unit 10a. (3) In the above embodiment, the horizontal processing is performed after the vertical processing, but this is not a necessary configuration. The laser processing machine 1 may be configured to perform the vertical processing after the horizontal processing. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] 1. Laser processing machine 2 Unwinding device 3. Laser device 4 Winding device 5. Control device 6 Holding table 8 Laser Oscillator 9a Beam transmission section for vertical processing 9b Beam transmission section for horizontal processing 10a Vertical processing irradiation unit 10b Irradiation section for horizontal processing

Claims

1. A spatial transmission device used in a laser processing machine equipped with a laser oscillator that oscillates laser light having a pulse width on the order of picoseconds or femtoseconds and a plurality of irradiation units, an optical element for changing the beam diameter of the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator on an optical path until the laser beam is incident on one of the plurality of irradiation units; A spatial transmission device characterized by:

2. The optical member includes a plurality of lenses and generates parallel light within a predetermined distance. The spatial transmission device according to claim 1 .

3. A spatial transmission device used in a laser processing machine equipped with a laser oscillator that oscillates laser light having a pulse width on the order of picoseconds or femtoseconds and a plurality of irradiation units, an attenuator for changing the transmittance of the laser light, which is emitted from the laser oscillator and is located on an optical path until the laser light is incident on one of the plurality of irradiation units; A spatial transmission device characterized by:

4. the attenuator includes a wave plate and a beam splitter; The transmittance of the laser light is changed based on the total output of the laser light required by the plurality of irradiation units. The spatial transmission device according to claim 2.

5. a laser oscillator that emits laser light having a pulse width on the order of picoseconds or femtoseconds; a plurality of irradiation units that irradiate the workpiece with laser light; a beam transmission unit that spatially transmits the laser light from the laser oscillator to the plurality of irradiation units, The beam transmission unit includes: an optical element for changing the beam diameter of the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator on an optical path until the laser beam is incident on one of the plurality of irradiation units; A laser processing machine characterized by:

6. The laser processing machine further includes: a drive mechanism for displacing the position of the optical member; a beam diameter control unit that controls the drive mechanism to displace the position of the optical member, thereby adjusting the beam diameter of the laser light incident on any one of the plurality of irradiation units to a predetermined beam diameter.

6. The laser processing machine according to claim 5.

7. The beam transmission unit includes: an attenuator for changing transmittance of the laser light on an optical path from the laser oscillator to the laser light incident on any one of the plurality of irradiation units; The laser processing machine further includes: a first laser power control unit that controls the power of the laser light to be transmitted by changing the transmittance of the attenuator based on the total output of the laser light required by the plurality of irradiation units; 6. The laser processing machine according to claim 5.

8. Each of the plurality of irradiation units is a processing nozzle facing the workpiece and outputting the laser light toward the workpiece; and an adjustment mechanism for adjusting the power of the laser light output from each processing nozzle to be approximately equal.

6. The laser processing machine according to claim 5.

9. each of the adjustment mechanisms includes a wave plate and a beam splitter; The laser processing machine further includes: at least one power meter for measuring the power of the laser light output from each processing nozzle of the plurality of irradiation units; a second laser power control unit that adjusts the laser power of each of the irradiation units by controlling the wave plates and the beam splitters included in the plurality of irradiation units based on the output value of the laser light measured by the power meter; 9. The laser processing machine according to claim 8.

10. the plurality of irradiation units are arranged in series with respect to the optical axis of the laser light, The laser processing machine further includes: Equipped with a beam damper that absorbs excess laser light after laser irradiation from the irradiation unit located at the most downstream 6. The laser processing machine according to claim 5.

11. The workpiece is a film formed by laminating a plurality of layers, Each of the plurality of irradiation units further includes a camera that captures an image of the film, The laser processing machine further includes: A laser irradiation position control unit is provided that determines the laser irradiation position of each irradiation unit based on the laser processing line of the underlying layer included in the image captured by the camera.

6. The laser processing machine according to claim 5.

12. The laser irradiation position control unit A memory is provided, and predetermined laser irradiation positions by each irradiation unit are stored in the memory in advance, The specified laser irradiation position stored in advance in the memory is corrected so as to follow the laser processing line of the underlying layer included in the image captured by the camera. The laser processing machine according to claim 11.

13. the plurality of irradiation units are spread apart in a direction intersecting the film transport direction, and are individually movable in the same direction by a drive mechanism; The laser irradiation position control unit controls the drive mechanism so that each irradiation unit processes the corrected laser irradiation position. The laser processing machine according to claim 12.

14. Each of the plurality of irradiation units includes a mirror that changes the optical axis of the laser light emitted from the processing nozzle, The laser irradiation position control unit controls the orientation of the mirror so that each irradiation unit processes the corrected laser irradiation position. The laser processing machine according to claim 12.

15. the plurality of irradiation units are spread out in a direction intersecting the scanning direction of the laser light, and each of them is movable in the same direction, Each irradiation unit applies a patterning process to the film in a direction parallel to the film transport direction.

6. The laser processing machine according to claim 5.

16. The laser processing machine further includes: a second irradiation unit that is disposed at a position spaced apart from the plurality of irradiation units and that performs patterning processing in a direction intersecting the film transport direction; a second beam transmission unit that spatially transmits the laser light from the laser oscillator to the second irradiation unit; The laser processing machine according to claim 15.

17. The second beam transmission unit includes: a second optical member for changing a beam diameter of the laser beam, the second optical member being provided on an optical path from the laser oscillator to the second irradiation unit; The laser processing machine according to claim 16.

18. The laser processing machine further includes: a drive mechanism for displacing the position of the second optical member; a beam diameter control unit that controls the drive mechanism to displace the position of the optical member, thereby adjusting the beam diameter of the laser light incident on the second irradiation unit to a predetermined beam diameter.

18. The laser processing machine according to claim 17.

19. The laser processing machine further includes: an optical path switching unit that guides the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator to either the plurality of irradiation units or the second irradiation unit; The laser processing machine according to claim 16.

20. A spatial transmission method used in a laser processing machine equipped with a laser oscillator that oscillates laser light having a pulse width on the order of picoseconds or femtoseconds and a plurality of irradiation units, The beam diameter of the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator is changed on the optical path until the laser light is incident on one of the plurality of irradiation units. A spatial transmission method.

21. A spatial transmission method used in a laser processing machine equipped with a laser oscillator that oscillates laser light having a pulse width on the order of picoseconds or femtoseconds and a plurality of irradiation units, The transmittance of the laser light emitted from the laser oscillator is changed along an optical path until the laser light is incident on one of the plurality of irradiation units. A spatial transmission method.

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