Inspection device, inspection method, substrate processing apparatus, and article manufacturing method

Abstract

An advantageous technique is provided for efficiently inspecting multiple droplets placed on a substrate. An inspection device inspects a plurality of droplets arranged on a substrate, and the inspection device includes a control unit that determines inspection conditions for each of the plurality of droplets in accordance with arrangement information that indicates the arrangement of the plurality of droplets.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus, an inspection method, a substrate processing apparatus, and an article manufacturing method. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, attempts have been made to form patterns by depositing droplets of functional element materials onto substrates using inkjet devices. Patterning using inkjet devices has the advantages of high material efficiency due to the ability to perform on-demand patterning, relatively small manufacturing equipment due to the non-vacuum process, and the ability to deposit droplets over large areas at high speeds.

[0003] Various display methods have been proposed for display devices, and in recent years, development of display devices using organic electroluminescent (EL) elements has been actively promoted. Because organic EL materials are expensive, inkjet devices are useful because they use materials efficiently and can quickly deposit droplets over a large area. Manufacturing high-resolution panels using inkjet printing requires high-level droplet landing accuracy from liquid ejection devices. In order to test landing accuracy, droplets are ejected onto a test substrate and the volume and position of the droplets can be measured. The difference between the measured value and the target value serves as an indicator of whether the target level has been met; the smaller the difference, the higher the accuracy. Specifically, one method involves using an imaging device such as a camera to capture an image of the test substrate onto which liquid has been ejected, and then processing the captured image to measure the droplet position and size.

[0004] Patent document 1 describes that in order to reduce errors in measuring the volume of each landing dot caused by evaporation of the solvent, multiple functional droplets are ejected onto an inspection sheet, and then the volume of the functional droplets is measured after waiting for the evaporation of the solvent in the functional droplets to become minute. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-298690 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In order to inspect droplets placed on a substrate by ejecting the droplets from a nozzle, a method of waiting until only a small amount of solvent has evaporated from the droplets after ejection can take a long time to inspect the droplets.

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an advantageous technique for efficiently inspecting multiple droplets disposed on a substrate. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] One aspect of the present invention relates to an inspection device that inspects a plurality of droplets arranged on a substrate, the inspection device including a control unit that determines inspection conditions for each of the plurality of droplets in accordance with arrangement information indicating the arrangement of the plurality of droplets. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The present invention provides an advantageous technique for efficiently inspecting multiple droplets disposed on a substrate. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus. [Figure 2A] FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of an inspection device. [Figure 2B] FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating a plurality of droplets on a substrate after a predetermined time has elapsed since the end of a droplet deposition process performed by the droplet deposition device. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a reference image used for template matching. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a first example of an inspection process performed by an inspection device. [Figure 5A] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a second example of an inspection process performed by the inspection device. [Figure 5B]FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a second example of an inspection process performed by the inspection device. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a third example of an inspection process performed by the inspection device. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a third example of an inspection process performed by the inspection device. [Figure 8A] FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of a substrate processing apparatus that is a droplet placement apparatus incorporating an inspection apparatus. [Figure 8B] FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of a substrate processing apparatus that is a droplet placement apparatus incorporating an inspection apparatus. [Figure 9] 8C is a diagram illustrating the operation of the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention claimed. Although multiple features are described in the embodiments, not all of these multiple features are necessarily essential to the invention, and multiple features may be combined arbitrarily. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components, and redundant explanations will be omitted.

[0012] FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus may include a droplet placement device 1 that places multiple droplets on a substrate, an inspection device 2 that inspects the multiple droplets placed on the substrate by the droplet placement device 1, a substrate transport mechanism 3, and a data management device 4. The droplet placement device 1 and the inspection device 2 are connected by the substrate transport mechanism 3, and substrates can be transported between the droplet placement device 1 and the inspection device 2 via the substrate transport mechanism 3. The droplet placement device 1 and the data management device 4 can communicate via a communication path. Furthermore, the inspection device 2 and the data management device 4 can communicate via a communication path. Although not shown, the substrate transport mechanism 3 is connected to a device that performs a pre-step of the droplet placement process performed by the droplet placement device 1 and a device that performs a post-step of the droplet placement process.

[0013] FIG. 2A schematically illustrates the configuration of the inspection apparatus 2. The inspection apparatus 2 may be configured to inspect multiple droplets 8 arranged on a substrate 6. The inspection apparatus 2 may include a control unit 11 that determines inspection conditions for each of the multiple droplets 8 according to arrangement information indicating the arrangement of the multiple droplets 8 arranged on the substrate 6. The control unit 11 may be configured, for example, by a PLD (abbreviation for Programmable Logic Device) such as an FPGA (abbreviation for Field Programmable Gate Array), an ASIC (abbreviation for Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a general-purpose or dedicated computer with an embedded program, or a combination of all or part of these. The arrangement information may include information for controlling the process of disposing multiple droplets 8 on the substrate 6 in the droplet arrangement apparatus 1, such as a list of data indicating target positions (coordinates) on the substrate 6 where the droplets should be disposed. The arrangement information may be managed by a data management apparatus 4 and provided to the droplet arrangement apparatus 1 and the inspection apparatus 2 by the data management apparatus 4. The data management apparatus 4 may manage the arrangement information based on a process ID that manages the droplet arrangement process. When the inspection conditions for each of the plurality of droplets 8 are determined according to the arrangement information indicating the arrangement of the plurality of droplets 8 arranged on the substrate 6, the plurality of droplets 8 will include, for example, droplets that are inspected under first inspection conditions and droplets that are inspected under second inspection conditions that are different from the first inspection conditions. Alternatively, the plurality of droplets 8 may include three or more droplets that are inspected under three or more mutually different inspection conditions.

[0014] The control unit 11 can determine the inspection conditions for the droplet 8 to be inspected, depending on the position of the droplet 8 to be inspected, which is indicated by the placement information. The position of the droplet 8 indicated by the placement information can be understood as the estimated position or approximate position of the droplet 8 on the substrate 6 to be inspected by the inspection device 2. Alternatively, the control unit 11 can determine the inspection conditions for the droplet 8 to be inspected, depending on the droplets present around the droplet 8 to be inspected, which are indicated by the placement information. The position (estimated position or approximate position) of the droplet 8 to be inspected and the droplets present around the droplet 8 to be inspected can be indicated by data indicating the target position (coordinates) at which the droplet should be placed on the substrate 6. If the droplet 8 is placed at the target position by the droplet placement device 1 without error, the droplet 8 will be located at the target position. However, if the droplet 8 is placed at the target position by the droplet placement device 1 with error, the droplet 8 will be located near the target position. For example, the control unit 11 may search for the droplet 8 by setting the position (estimated position) of the droplet 8 to be inspected as the center position of a droplet search range, and inspect or measure the position of the droplet 8. Alternatively, the control unit 11 may search for the droplet 8 by setting the position (estimated position) of the droplet 8 to be inspected as the center position of a droplet search range, and measure the position of the droplet, and inspect or measure the difference between the measured position and a target position. Alternatively, the control unit 11 may search for (an image of) the droplet 8 by setting the position (estimated position) of the droplet 8 to be inspected as the center position of a droplet search range, and inspect or measure the volume of the droplet 8 based on the dimensions of (the image of) the droplet 8.

[0015] The inspection apparatus 2 may further include, for example, an imaging device 5, a driving unit 7 that drives the substrate 6, and a data holding unit 10. The driving unit 7 may be configured to drive the substrate 6 in the X and Y directions under the control of the control unit 11. The X and Y directions are the X and Y directions in an XYZ coordinate system and are directions along the XY plane (e.g., the X and Y directions). Typically, the driving unit 7 holds the substrate 6 with its surface parallel to the XY plane and drives it. The control unit 11 may control the driving unit 7 so that the estimated position of at least one droplet 8 to be inspected on the substrate 6 falls within the field of view of the imaging device 5. The driving unit 7 may further have a function to adjust the position of the substrate 6 in the Z direction.

[0016] In one example, the droplets 8 are arranged at intervals of approximately 200 μm, the field of view of the imaging device 5 is 100 μm square, and in this case, one droplet 8 is imaged in one imaging session. In another example, the droplets 8 are arranged at intervals of approximately 200 μm, and the field of view of the imaging device is 500 μm square, and in this case, four droplets 8 can be imaged in one imaging session. The control unit 11 can store image data obtained by imaging by the imaging device 5 in the data storage unit 10. The control unit 11 can also read out the image data from the data storage unit 10 and analyze the image data to inspect the droplets 8. Note that inspecting the droplets 8 can also be understood as inspecting the performance of the droplet placement device 1.

[0017] 2B is a diagram schematically illustrating a plurality of droplets 8 on a substrate 6 a predetermined time after completion of the droplet placement process by the droplet placement device 1. In a collection 9 of a plurality of droplets 8, the droplet located at the outermost periphery is droplet 8a, the droplet immediately inside the outermost droplet 8a is droplet 8b, and the droplet immediately inside droplet 8b is droplet 8c. As the droplets 8 dry, the droplets 8 located at the outermost parts of the collection 9 tend to dry more easily and tend to become smaller in size. In other words, droplet 8b is smaller than droplet 8c, and droplet 8a is smaller than droplet 8b.

[0018] A first example of an inspection process by the inspection device 2 will be described below. In this first example, the position of the droplet 8 is inspected or measured by template matching. FIG. 3 illustrates a reference image used for template matching. In one example, droplets 8a, 8b, and 8c are arranged on a test substrate and captured by the imaging device 5, thereby obtaining reference images 20a, 20b, and 20c. The reference image 20a is a reference image for detecting the droplet 8a, the reference image 20b is a reference image for detecting the droplet 8b, and the reference image 20c is a reference image for detecting the droplet 8c. The reference images 20a, 20b, and 20c are examples of reference images in which the droplets have different sizes.

[0019] Prior to inspection, the droplet placement device 1 can acquire placement information stored in the data management device 4 and place multiple droplets 8 on the substrate 6 based on the placement information. The substrate 6 on which the multiple droplets 8 have been placed is transferred from the droplet placement device 1 to the substrate transfer mechanism 3, which then transfers the substrate 6 to the inspection device 2.

[0020] FIG. 4 shows a first example of an inspection process performed by the inspection device 2. This inspection process is controlled by the control unit 11. In step S1-1, the control unit 11 determines inspection conditions for each of a plurality of droplets according to arrangement information indicating the arrangement of the droplets. More specifically, the control unit 11 determines the inspection conditions for the droplets to be inspected according to the positions of the droplets to be inspected indicated by the arrangement information. Here, an example is described in which a reference image is determined as the inspection condition, more specifically, an example in which a reference image 20a is assigned to droplet 8a, a reference image 20b is assigned to droplet 8b, and a reference image 20c is assigned to droplet 8c. Step S1-1 may be performed at any timing before step S1-4. In this first example, the control unit 11 determines the inspection conditions for the droplets to be inspected according to the positions of the droplets to be inspected indicated by the arrangement information. Specifically, in the example of FIG. 3, the control unit 11 uses a reference image 20a for inspecting droplet 8a, a reference image 20b for inspecting droplet 8b, and a reference image 20c for inspecting droplet 8c. In this case, the inspection conditions are the reference images used to identify the position of (an image of) droplet 8 by pattern matching. Other examples of inspection conditions include conditions for determining that a collection of pixels having a predetermined pixel value or more in image data acquired by imaging by the imaging device 5 is a droplet image. In this case, for example, if the number of pixels constituting the collection is within a first range, it can be determined to be droplet 8a; if the number of pixels is within a second range, it can be determined to be droplet 8b; and if the number of pixels is within a third range, it can be determined to be droplet 8c.

[0021] In step S1-2, the control unit 11 instructs the substrate transport mechanism 3 to load the substrate 6 into the inspection device 2 and places the substrate 6 on the drive unit 7. In step S1-3, the control unit 11 uses the imaging device 5 to capture an image of one or more droplets 8 to be inspected, out of all droplets 8 present on the substrate 6. The droplets 8 to be inspected may be all droplets 8 present on the substrate 6, or only a portion of them. The image of each droplet 8 to be inspected can be captured by controlling the drive unit 7 based on the placement information so that the droplet 8 falls within the field of view of the imaging device 5; in other words, so that the target position at which the droplet 8 should be placed on the substrate 6 falls within the field of view of the imaging device 5. Image data obtained by imaging using the imaging device 5 is stored in the data storage unit 10.

[0022] In step S1-4, the control unit 11 reads out the multiple image data stored in the data storage unit 10 in step S1-3 and inspects each droplet 8 to be inspected based on the image data. The control unit 11 may identify the position (actual position) of the droplet 8 (image) to be inspected by pattern matching using a reference image (inspection conditions) determined for that droplet 8 according to the placement information, and store this in the data storage unit 10. The control unit 11 may also obtain difference information between the target position (target position on the substrate 6 where the droplet should be placed) (xt, yt) obtained from the placement information and the actual position (xm, ym) of the droplet 8 identified by pattern matching, and store this in the data storage unit 10. The difference information may be expressed as (xt - xm, yt - ym), for example.

[0023] In step S1-5, the control unit 11 instructs the substrate transport mechanism 3 to remove the substrate 6 from the inspection device 2, and in response to the instruction, the substrate transport mechanism 3 removes the substrate 6 on the drive unit 7. In step S1-6, the control unit 11 transmits the inspection results (e.g., droplet position information and / or difference information) for the multiple droplets 8 obtained in step S1-4 to the data management device 4.

[0024] Thereafter, the droplet placement device 1 can be calibrated so that droplets can be placed at target positions on the substrate 6, for example, by adjusting the timing of droplet ejection from the droplet ejection head based on the difference information.

[0025] As described above, by determining the inspection conditions for each of the plurality of droplets in accordance with the arrangement information indicating the arrangement of the plurality of droplets, it is possible to efficiently inspect the plurality of droplets on the substrate 6. This also allows efficient calibration of the droplet arrangement device 1.

[0026] A second example of the inspection process by the inspection device 2 will be described below. The second example differs from the first example only in step S1-1. In the second example, the control unit 11 also determines the inspection conditions for each of the multiple droplets in accordance with the arrangement information indicating the arrangement of the multiple droplets. However, in the second example, the control unit 11 determines the inspection conditions for the droplet to be inspected in accordance with the droplets present around the droplet to be inspected, as indicated by the arrangement information. As the second example, an example will be described in which a reference image is determined as the inspection condition, more specifically, an example in which reference image 20a is assigned to droplet 8a, reference image 20b is assigned to droplet 8b, and reference image 20c is assigned to droplet 8c.

[0027] 5A shows an example of a rule for determining inspection conditions in the second example. When the droplet of interest (the droplet to be inspected) is droplet 81a, 25 droplets exist around the droplet of interest, more specifically, in a predetermined area range 300 centered on the droplet of interest. When the droplet of interest is droplet 81b, 20 droplets exist around the droplet of interest, more specifically, in a predetermined area range 300 centered on the droplet of interest. When the droplet of interest is droplet 81c, 9 droplets exist around the droplet of interest, more specifically, in a predetermined area range 300 centered on the droplet of interest. A large number of droplets existing in a predetermined area range centered on the droplet of interest means that the droplet of interest is unlikely to dry, and a small number of droplets existing in a predetermined area range centered on the droplet of interest means that the droplet of interest is likely to dry.

[0028] For example, if the number of droplets present in a predetermined area centered on the droplet of interest is less than or equal to a first number (e.g., 15), the control unit 11 assigns reference image 20c to the droplet of interest. Also, if the number of droplets present in a predetermined area centered on the droplet of interest is greater than the first number and less than or equal to a second number (e.g., 20), the control unit 11 assigns reference image 20b to the droplet of interest. Also, if the number of droplets present in a predetermined area centered on the droplet of interest is greater than the second number, the control unit 11 assigns reference image 20a to the droplet of interest.

[0029] 5B, the second example is also suitable when a non-ejection region 500 exists, and the control unit 11 can appropriately determine the inspection conditions even if information indicating the non-ejection region 500 is not provided. The non-ejection region 500 is an area that occurs when a nozzle that cannot eject droplets exists in the ejection head of the droplet placement device 1. When droplet 81d is the target droplet, the number of droplets present in the specified area is 12, and according to the above example, reference image 20c is assigned to droplet 81d.

[0030] The following describes a third example of the inspection process performed by the inspection device 2. In the third example, the control unit 11 determines the inspection conditions for each of the plurality of droplets according to the arrangement information indicating the arrangement of the plurality of droplets, as well as the elapsed time from the arrangement timing (discharge timing) of each of the plurality of droplets on the substrate 6.

[0031] In FIG. 6(a), approximate curve 71a illustrates the diameter of droplet 8a as a function of the elapsed time since droplet 8a was placed on substrate 6 (discharge timing). Approximate curve 71b illustrates the diameter of droplet 8b as a function of the elapsed time since droplet 8b was placed on substrate 6 (discharge timing). Approximate curve 71c illustrates the diameter of droplet 8c as a function of the elapsed time since droplet 8c was placed on substrate 6 (discharge timing). Such approximate curves can be obtained, for example, by placing droplets on a test substrate and then measuring the diameter of the droplets at regular intervals. Approximate curves 71a, 71b, and 71c can be stored in advance in data storage unit 10.

[0032] Prior to inspection, the droplet placement device 1 acquires placement information stored in the data management device 4 and may place multiple droplets 8 on the substrate 6 based on the placement information. At this time, the droplet placement device 1 stores information indicating the ejection timing (time) at which each droplet was ejected from the ejection head in association with the position (target position) of that droplet in the placement information in the data storage unit 10. The substrate 6 on which the multiple droplets 8 have been placed is carried out of the droplet placement device 1 by the substrate transport mechanism 3, and the substrate transport mechanism 3 transports the substrate 6 to the inspection device 2.

[0033] FIG. 7 shows a first example of an inspection process performed by the inspection device 2. This inspection process is controlled by the control unit 11. In step S3-1, the control unit 11 instructs the substrate transport mechanism 3 to load the substrate 6 into the inspection device 2 and place it on the drive unit 7. In step S3-2, the control unit 11 causes the imaging device 5 to capture an image of one or more droplets to be inspected from among all droplets present on the substrate 6. The droplets to be inspected may be all droplets present on the substrate 6, or a portion of them. The image of each droplet to be inspected can be captured by controlling the drive unit 7 based on the placement information so that the droplet falls within the field of view of the imaging device 5; in other words, so that the target position at which the droplet should be placed on the substrate 6 falls within the field of view of the imaging device 5. Image data obtained by imaging using the imaging device 5 is stored in the data storage unit 10 together with information indicating the timing (time) at which the image was captured.

[0034] In step S3-3, the control unit 11 acquires information indicating the ejection timing and information indicating the imaging timing from the data storage unit 10, and based on this, calculates the elapsed time since the droplet to be inspected was placed on the substrate 6.

[0035] In step S3-4, inspection conditions for each of the droplets are determined based on the arrangement information indicating the arrangement of the droplets. Similar to step S1-1 in the first example, the control unit 11 first determines a reference image based on the position of the droplet to be inspected, as indicated by the arrangement information. More specifically, the control unit 11 assigns, for example, reference image 20a to droplet 8a, reference image 20b to droplet 8b, and reference image 20c to droplet 8c. Next, the control unit 11 calculates the diameter of the droplet at the time of inspection (time of image capture) based on the approximation curves 71a, 71b, and 71c corresponding to droplets 8a, 8b, and 8c and the elapsed time calculated in step S3-3, and reduces the reference image so that the diameter of the droplet matches the calculated diameter. Figure 6(b) illustrates a specific example of the relationship between the elapsed time and the diameter of the droplet for approximation curve 71c. The example shown in FIG. 6(b) indicates that if a droplet is imaged 5 seconds after the ejection timing, the diameter of the droplet will be 10 μm, and if a droplet is imaged 8 seconds after the ejection timing, the diameter of the droplet will be 6 μm. Therefore, in accordance with the example of FIG. 6(b), the control unit 11 reduces the original reference image 20c by 0.6 times both vertically and horizontally so that the diameter of the droplet in the reference image will be 6 μm for the inspection of droplets for which 8 seconds have elapsed. In this way, the control unit 11 determines reference images for all droplets to be inspected according to the arrangement information and elapsed time.

[0036] In step S3-5, the control unit 11 reads the multiple image data stored in the data storage unit 10 in step S3-2 and inspects each droplet of the inspection target based on the image data. Here, the control unit 11 performs inspection by pattern matching using the inspection conditions (reference image) determined in step S3-4. As in the first example, the control unit 11 may identify the position (actual position) of the droplet 8 (image) of the inspection target by pattern matching using the reference image determined for that droplet 8 according to the placement information, and store this in the data storage unit 10. The control unit 11 may also calculate difference information between the target position (target position on the substrate 6 where the droplet should be placed) (xt, yt) obtained from the placement information and the actual position (xm, ym) of the droplet 8 determined by pattern matching, and store this in the data storage unit 10. The difference information may be expressed, for example, as (xt - xm, yt - ym).

[0037] In step S3-6, the control unit 11 instructs the substrate transport mechanism 3 to remove the substrate 6 from the inspection device 2, and in response to the instruction, the substrate transport mechanism 3 removes the substrate 6 on the drive unit 7. In step S3-7, the control unit 11 transmits the inspection results for the multiple droplets obtained in step S3-7 (e.g., droplet position information and / or difference information) to the data management device 4.

[0038] Thereafter, the droplet placement device 1 can be calibrated so that droplets can be placed at target positions on the substrate 6, for example, by adjusting the timing of droplet ejection from the droplet ejection head based on the difference information.

[0039] The control unit 11 may calculate the volume of the droplet based on the diameter or dimensions of the droplet. Because the droplet at the time of inspection is smaller due to drying than the droplet immediately after ejection, it is necessary to estimate the volume before drying. For example, as shown in FIG. 6(b), it can be estimated from the approximation curve 71c that the diameter of the droplet at elapsed time 0, i.e., the diameter of the droplet immediately after ejection, was 15 μm.

[0040] According to the third example, even if the time from discharge to inspection differs for each droplet, the droplet can be inspected.

[0041] 8A and 8B show a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus 12, which is a droplet placement apparatus incorporating an inspection device. The substrate processing apparatus 12 may include a discharge head 13, an imaging device 5, a driver 7, and a controller 11. The imaging device 5, driver 7, and controller 11 may constitute the aforementioned inspection apparatus 2. The driver 7 and controller 11 may constitute the droplet placement apparatus 1. In other words, in the example shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the driver 7 and controller 11 are shared by the droplet placement apparatus and the inspection apparatus. The discharge head 13 has one or more nozzles that discharge droplets. The controller 11 controls the discharge of droplets from the discharge head 13 and the driving of the substrate 6 by the driver 7 based on the placement information so that droplets are placed at target positions on the substrate 61. The substrate 61 may have one or more pixel array regions 201 and an inspection region 202. The inspection area 202 is an area that can be used to inspect droplets that are ejected by the ejection head 13 and placed on the substrate 61 .

[0042] 9 illustrates an example of the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 12 shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. This operation is controlled by the control unit 11. In step S4-1, the control unit 11 generates placement information for controlling the operation of placing droplets in the pixel array region 201 and the inspection region 202, and stores the information in the data storage unit 10.

[0043] In step S4-2, the control unit 11 determines the inspection conditions in the same manner as in step S1-1. In step S4-3, the control unit 11 controls the substrate transport mechanism (not shown) to load the substrate 61 into the substrate processing apparatus 12 and place it on the drive unit 7. In step S4-4, the control unit 11 controls the discharge head 13 and the drive unit 7 based on the placement information to place droplets at target positions in the pixel array region 201 and the inspection region 202 of the substrate 61.

[0044] In step 4-5, the control unit 11 causes the imaging device 5 to capture an image of one or more droplets 8 to be inspected out of all droplets 8 present on the inspection area 202 of the substrate 6. The image of each droplet 8 to be inspected can be captured by controlling the driving unit 7 based on the placement information so that the droplet 8 falls within the field of view of the imaging device 5, in other words, so that the target position at which the droplet 8 should be placed on the substrate 61 falls within the field of view of the imaging device 5. Image data obtained by imaging by the imaging device 5 is stored in the data storage unit 10.

[0045] In step S4-6, the control unit 11 reads out the multiple image data stored in the data storage unit 10 in step S4-5, and inspects each droplet 8 to be inspected based on that image data. Here, the control unit 11 can determine inspection conditions for each of the multiple droplets 8 to be inspected in accordance with the placement information, inspect each droplet 8 in the inspection area 202 according to these inspection conditions, and store the inspection results in the data storage unit 10. The inspection conditions can be determined according to, for example, any of the first, second, and third examples.

[0046] In step S4-7, the control unit 11 instructs a substrate transport mechanism (not shown) to unload the substrate 61 from the substrate processing apparatus 12, and in response to the instruction, the substrate transport mechanism unloads the substrate 61 from the drive unit 7. Thereafter, the substrate processing apparatus 12 can be calibrated so that droplets can be placed at target positions in the pixel array region 201 of the substrate 61, for example, by adjusting the ejection timing of droplets from the droplet ejection head based on the difference information.

[0047] Next, an article manufacturing method for manufacturing an article using the above-described substrate processing apparatus will be described. The article manufacturing method may include a step of disposing a plurality of droplets on a substrate using the substrate processing apparatus, and a step of processing the substrate on which the plurality of droplets has been disposed to obtain an article. The material of the droplets may be, for example, a material for forming an organic film for manufacturing an OLED. In this case, the manufactured article may be an OLED. Alternatively, the material of the droplets may be a curable composition (imprint material) for forming a film or pattern by an imprint method, or a curable composition for forming a planarization film. In this case, the manufactured article may be a device such as a semiconductor device.

[0048] This specification and the accompanying drawings include the following disclosure: (Item 1) 1. An inspection apparatus for inspecting a plurality of droplets disposed on a substrate, comprising: An inspection device comprising: a control unit that determines inspection conditions for each of the plurality of droplets in accordance with arrangement information that indicates an arrangement of the plurality of droplets. (Item 2) the placement information includes information for controlling a process of placing the plurality of droplets on the substrate; 2. The inspection device according to item 1, (Item 3) the control unit determines an inspection condition for the droplet to be inspected in accordance with the position of the droplet to be inspected, which is indicated by the arrangement information. 2. The inspection device according to item 1, (Item 4) the control unit determines inspection conditions for the droplet to be inspected in accordance with droplets present around the droplet to be inspected, which are indicated by the arrangement information. 2. The inspection device according to item 1, (Item 5) The periphery of the droplet to be inspected is a predetermined area range centered on the droplet to be inspected. 5. The inspection device according to item 4, (Item 6) the control unit determines inspection conditions for the droplet to be inspected further in accordance with the elapsed time since the droplet to be inspected was placed on the substrate. 6. The inspection device according to any one of items 1 to 5, (Item 7) the plurality of droplets include droplets that are inspected under first inspection conditions determined in accordance with the arrangement information, and droplets that are inspected under second inspection conditions determined in accordance with the arrangement information; the first inspection condition and the second inspection condition are inspection conditions different from each other; 7. The inspection device according to any one of items 1 to 6, (Item 8) Further, an imaging device is provided for imaging the plurality of droplets, the control unit inspects each of the plurality of droplets in accordance with determined inspection conditions based on image data obtained by imaging by the imaging device. 8. The inspection device according to any one of items 1 to 7, characterized in that (Item 9) The control unit inspects the position of each of the plurality of droplets. 9. The inspection device according to item 8, (Item 10) the control unit inspects a difference between a target position and a position identified based on the image data for each of the plurality of droplets; 9. The inspection device according to item 8, (Item 11) the control unit inspects the volume of each of the plurality of droplets; 9. The inspection device according to item 8, (Item 12) The control unit searches for each of the plurality of droplets by pattern matching. 12. The inspection device according to any one of items 8 to 11, (Item 13) determining the inspection conditions includes determining a reference image to be used for the pattern matching; Item 13. The inspection device according to item 12. (Item 14) the control unit determines different reference images according to the layout information; The different reference images have different droplet sizes in the reference images. Item 14. The inspection device according to item 13. (Item 15) a droplet placement device for placing a plurality of droplets on a substrate; 15. The inspection device according to any one of items 1 to 14, which inspects the plurality of droplets deposited by the droplet deposition device; A substrate processing apparatus comprising: (Item 16) Item 16. Placing a plurality of droplets on a substrate by the substrate processing apparatus according to Item 15; processing the substrate having the plurality of droplets disposed thereon to obtain an article; A method for manufacturing an article, comprising: (Item 17) 1. A method for inspecting a plurality of droplets disposed on a substrate, comprising: An inspection method comprising: determining inspection conditions for each of the plurality of droplets in accordance with arrangement information indicating the arrangement of the plurality of droplets. (others) The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following claims are appended to apprise the public of the scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] 1: liquid placement device, 2: inspection device, 3: substrate transport mechanism, 4: data management unit, 5: imaging device, 6: substrate, 7: drive unit, 8: droplet, 9: droplet collection, 10: data storage unit, 11: control unit, 13: ejection head

Claims

1. 1. An inspection apparatus for inspecting a plurality of droplets disposed on a substrate, comprising: An inspection device comprising: a control unit that determines inspection conditions for each of the plurality of droplets in accordance with arrangement information that indicates an arrangement of the plurality of droplets.

2. the placement information includes information for controlling a process of placing the plurality of droplets on the substrate; 2. The inspection device according to claim 1.

3. the control unit determines an inspection condition for the droplet to be inspected in accordance with the position of the droplet to be inspected, which is indicated by the arrangement information.

2. The inspection device according to claim 1.

4. the control unit determines inspection conditions for the droplet to be inspected in accordance with droplets present around the droplet to be inspected, which are indicated by the arrangement information.

2. The inspection device according to claim 1.

5. The periphery of the droplet to be inspected is a predetermined area range centered on the droplet to be inspected.

5. The inspection device according to claim 4.

6. the control unit determines inspection conditions for the droplet to be inspected further in accordance with the elapsed time since the droplet to be inspected was placed on the substrate.

2. The inspection device according to claim 1.

7. the plurality of droplets include droplets that are inspected under first inspection conditions determined in accordance with the arrangement information, and droplets that are inspected under second inspection conditions determined in accordance with the arrangement information, the first inspection condition and the second inspection condition are different inspection conditions.

2. The inspection device according to claim 1.

8. Further, an imaging device is provided for imaging the plurality of droplets, the control unit inspects each of the plurality of droplets in accordance with determined inspection conditions based on image data obtained by imaging by the imaging device.

2. The inspection device according to claim 1.

9. The control unit inspects the position of each of the plurality of droplets.

9. The inspection device according to claim 8.

10. the control unit inspects a difference between a target position and a position identified based on the image data for each of the plurality of droplets; 9. The inspection device according to claim 8.

11. the control unit inspects the volume of each of the plurality of droplets; 9. The inspection device according to claim 8.

12. The control unit searches for each of the plurality of droplets by pattern matching.

9. The inspection device according to claim 8.

13. determining the inspection conditions includes determining a reference image to be used for the pattern matching; 13. The inspection device according to claim 12.

14. the control unit determines different reference images according to the layout information; The different reference images have different droplet sizes in the reference images.

14. The inspection device according to claim 13.

15. a droplet placement device for placing a plurality of droplets on a substrate; an inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, which inspects the plurality of droplets deposited by the droplet deposition device; A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

16. disposing a plurality of droplets on a substrate by the substrate processing apparatus of claim 15; processing the substrate having the plurality of droplets disposed thereon to obtain an article; A method for manufacturing an article, comprising:

17. 1. A method for inspecting a plurality of droplets disposed on a substrate, comprising: An inspection method comprising: determining inspection conditions for each of the plurality of droplets in accordance with arrangement information indicating the arrangement of the plurality of droplets.

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