Patent ID: 9360777
Filing Date: 2016-06-07
CPC Classification: G02F,G03F

Claim Text:
1. An apparatus for an alignment processing for irradiating a substrate with two polarized lights through a photomask, to irradiate an alignment film coating the substrate, to form a plurality of first alignment regions and a plurality of second alignment regions having different alignment states adjacent to each other on the alignment film at positions corresponding to a plurality of first apertures and a plurality of second apertures, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of photomasks, each having a plurality of first apertures and a plurality of second apertures arranged alternately at a constant pitch so that the two polarized lights, that are different in incident angle to a substrate, pass through the respective apertures; a beam splitter that produces two polarized lights by splitting a polarized light; and an alignment device that moves the photomask so as to track a movement of the substrate, that is scanned under the photomask, in a direction intersecting a scanning direction of the substrate, wherein the photomasks are arranged alternately in the direction intersecting the scanning direction of the substrate so that the first and the second apertures are arranged alternately at a constant pitch in the direction intersecting the scanning direction of the substrate, wherein the widths of the first and the second apertures in the direction intersecting the scanning direction of the substrate are set so that adjacent end regions of adjacent first and second alignment regions are formed in a state in which the adjacent end regions overlap with each other with an overlapping dimension equal to an absolute value of a tracking accuracy of the alignment device over the entire exposure region of the substrate, wherein the beam splitter is disposed so that its reflective plane is at an intermediate position between the first and the second apertures of the photomask and in a plane substantially perpendicular to the photomask, to make one polarized light of the two polarized lights be incident into the first aperture at a predetermined angle, and to make the other polarized light of the two polarized lights be incident into the second aperture at an angle different from the above angle.