JP2010010285A - Substrate already formed with pattern - Google Patents

Abstract

In particular, when detecting a defect at the outermost part of a periodic pattern, the defect is accurately detected without any special processing.
In detecting a defect of a conductor pattern, a defect may not be detected by a comparative inspection using a periodic pitch in the outermost patterns. For this reason, the dummy patterns 24, 25, 28, and 29 are formed outside the outermost patterns 22, 23, 26, and 27 at positions that are apart from the existing pitch. Thereby, since the defect which exists in the outermost pattern 22 can also be compared with the dummy pattern 24 which exists in the location away from the periodic pitch, an accurate defect can be detected.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a patterned substrate having a periodically arranged pattern such as a display panel.

  Conventionally, a so-called flat panel display device such as a liquid crystal display panel or a plasma display panel uses a periodically arranged pattern. Since this pattern defect becomes a display defect as it is, the defect of the electrode pattern for the display pixel and the flexible wiring for connecting the driver and the panel electrode need to be well inspected before assembling and are strictly inspected. An inspection method that focuses on the periodicity of the pattern is used for the inspection.

  A conventional inspection of periodically arranged patterns will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an image obtained by imaging the wiring portion including the inspection region. As a pattern on the substrate 1, the terminal electrode pattern part 2 of the terminal part is formed with a periodic pitch 3 of the terminal part, and the display electrode pattern part 4 of the display part is formed with a periodic pitch 5 of the display part. Since the terminal electrode pattern portion 2 and the display electrode pattern portion 4 are formed at an equal pitch, defect detection is performed by comparing and inspecting imaging pixels separated by a certain pitch (for example, see Patent Document 1). .

  The lead-in electrode pattern portion 6 that connects the terminal electrode pattern portion 2 and the display electrode pattern portion 4 is a wiring that connects the terminal portion and the display portion. This part has slanted wiring and it is difficult to think of a constant pitch. However, as a conventional inspection method, the pitch of an arbitrary place is determined from the amount of change in the periodic pitches 3 and 5 of the terminal electrode pattern portion 2 and the display electrode pattern portion 4. By calculating, it is possible to perform a comparative inspection at an optimum pitch (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  That is, when it is determined whether or not a certain pixel of interest A7 is a defective part, it is performed by performing comparison processing with the luminance values of two pixels of the comparison pixel B8 and the comparison pixel C9 that are separated from the pixel of interest A7 by a periodic pitch. If there is no defect in the target pixel A7, the luminance values of the target pixel A7, the comparison pixel B8, and the comparison pixel C9 are almost the same, and if there is a defect, the luminance values are greatly different. Thus, in the conventional inspection method, the luminance values are compared, and if the difference is equal to or greater than a certain threshold, the defect is detected.

Further, the pixel of interest A10 is also inspected by comparing with two pixels of the comparison pixel B11 and the comparison pixel C12 that are separated from each other by the periodic pitch 5 of the display unit.
JP 2006-029876 A JP 2002-259951 A

  However, in the conventional conductor pattern inspection, the defect present in the target pixel A13 on the pattern is compared not only with the comparison pixel C15 but also with the substrate portion of the comparison pixel B14 where no pattern exists. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 6, there is a case where a luminance difference does not occur at the time of comparison and cannot be detected. Similarly, the defect present in the target pixel A16 on the pattern may not be detected because it is compared not only with the comparison pixel C18 but also with the substrate portion of the comparison pixel B17 where no pattern exists. In other words, the outermost part of the periodic pattern (such as the pattern on the outermost peripheral portion of the panel) has a problem in that it can detect an undetectable defect or a non-defect area as a defect in order to compare with an area where no pattern exists. Only the outermost part of the periodic pattern had to be handled differently.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and in the conventional inspection method for detecting defects using periodicity, a defect that cannot be detected at the outermost part of the periodic pattern or a region that is not a defect is defined as a defect. It is an object of the present invention to provide a patterned substrate capable of preventing detection and accurately detecting defects.

  In order to achieve the above object, the patterned substrate according to claim 1 according to the present invention is the same pitch interval at the outermost part in the periodic pitch direction of the pattern in which the dummy patterns of the electrical conductors are periodically arranged. A dummy pattern is provided so that the pattern is not electrically short-circuited.

  The patterned substrate according to any one of claims 2 to 5 is the patterned substrate according to claim 1, wherein the dummy pattern is formed of the same material and method as the pattern, and the dummy pattern is an electric conductor. In addition, the present invention is characterized in that a cut portion is provided so as not to electrically short-circuit the pattern, and a cut portion provided in the dummy pattern is defined.

  According to the substrate, when a pattern periodically arranged on the panel is inspected, it is possible to accurately inspect the outermost part of the periodic pattern without performing a special process.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a patterned substrate on which a periodically arranged pattern can be inspected without performing special processing at the outermost portion.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing periodically arranged patterns in the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, corresponding components corresponding to those described in FIG. 5 showing the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the same applies to the following drawings.

  In FIG. 1, the conductor patterns 20 and 21 are originally necessary portions of the electrode patterns periodically arranged on the panel. The conductor patterns 20 and 21 include a terminal electrode pattern portion 2 in which the conductor pattern of the terminal portion is repeated at a periodic pitch 3, a display electrode pattern portion 4 in which the conductor pattern of the display portion is repeated at a periodic pitch 5, and a display electrode pattern. It consists of a lead-in electrode pattern part 6 in which the periodic pitch changes linearly from the part 4 to the terminal electrode pattern part 2 from the periodic pitch 5 to the periodic pitch 3.

  In the conductor patterns 20 and 21, the outermost patterns 22, 23, 26, and 27 that are the outermost parts of the periodic patterns may not be able to detect defects in the comparative inspection using the periodic pitch as described above. Therefore, in the present embodiment, dummy patterns 24, 25, 28, and 29 are formed outside the outermost patterns 22, 23, 26, and 27 at positions separated by a periodic pitch in the respective pattern portions. By forming the pattern in this way, the dummy portion 31 that exists in the outermost pattern 22 as shown in FIG. 2 is also present at a location separated by the same periodic pitch 32 as the periodic pitch in the lead-in electrode pattern portion 6. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect defects.

  The dummy patterns 24, 25, 28 and 29 described here are preferably made of the same material and the same construction method as the conductor patterns 20 and 21. That is, it is created simultaneously when the conductor patterns 20 and 21 are formed. As a result, the characteristics (optical characteristics, etc.) of the dummy patterns 24, 25, 28, 29 in the inspection are the same as those of the conductor patterns 20, 21, and the change (thinning and thickness) of each pattern depending on the formation conditions is the same. It can be. The line width of the pattern is generally 50 to 100 μm, but there are various line width dimensions depending on the screen size, screen definition, and lighting method.

  The dummy pattern short-circuit portion 30 in FIG. 1 will be described in the second embodiment.

(Embodiment 2)
In the second embodiment, when the dummy patterns 24, 25, 28, and 29 shown in FIG. 1 are formed according to the first embodiment, the dummy patterns 25 and 28 cross each other like the dummy pattern short-circuited portion 30. In some cases, the outermost patterns 23 and 26 may be short-circuited via the dummy patterns 25 and 28. When such a short circuit between the dummy patterns 25 and 28 becomes a problem, as shown in FIG. 3, the dummy patterns 25 and 28 obtained by cutting a portion short-circuited between the dummy patterns 25 and 28 by providing a cutting portion 33. It is possible to eliminate the influence on the product performance due to the short circuit of the dummy patterns 25 and 28.

  However, since the cutting part 33 of the second embodiment is an area deviating from the periodicity of the pattern, it may be detected as a defect, and measures such as removal from the final defect information are required. .

(Embodiment 3)
In the third embodiment, the short-circuit between the outermost patterns 23 and 26 and the dummy patterns 25 and 28 is prevented instead of the cutting portion 33 provided for cutting the dummy pattern short-circuit portion shown in the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the cutting position 34 is cut at the location where the outermost pattern 23 and the dummy pattern 28 intersect and short-circuits, and the outermost pattern 26 and the dummy pattern 25 intersect at the location where short-circuiting occurs. Even if the portion 35 is provided, the same effect can be obtained.

  With the configuration of the present embodiment, even when the dummy patterns 25 and 28 are thin and it is difficult to provide the cutting portion 33 of FIG. 3, or when the inclination angle of the pattern at the lead electrode pattern portion is steep. It is possible.

  In this embodiment, the dummy patterns 25 and 28 are short-circuited. However, the short-circuiting of the dummy patterns has little influence on the product performance.

(Embodiment 4)
In the fourth embodiment, the size of the cut portion provided to prevent the pattern from being short-circuited by the formation of the dummy pattern shown in the second and third embodiments will be described using specific numerical values. Consider a size that is the objective of the present invention, sufficiently small to a level that is not optically detected as a defect, and sufficiently large to a level that can be stably formed in the process.

  In such a case, the defect information that must be finally removed as described in Embodiment 2 does not appear. For example, in the case of inspection for detecting a defect of 10 μm or more, if the cutting size is 1 to 2 μm in width, it is not detected as a defect.

  As described above, according to each embodiment of the present invention, in the conventional inspection method that detects defects using periodicity, there are cases where defects that cannot be detected at the outermost part of the periodic pattern exist. In some cases, a non-defect area is detected as a defect, but the defect can be detected accurately without performing such detection.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the cut portion is provided in the dummy pattern so that the pattern is not short-circuited. However, if the insulation can be provided instead of providing the cut portion, the same can be achieved. The effect can be obtained. However, considering that the pattern is actually applied, it is possible to provide the cut portion with the least effort.

  The patterned substrate according to the present invention can inspect a periodically arranged pattern without performing a special process at the outermost part of the periodic pattern, and is useful as a substrate having a periodically arranged pattern such as a display panel. It is.

The figure which shows the pattern periodically arranged in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which shows the defect part of the pattern arranged periodically in this Embodiment 1. The figure which shows the cutting part of the pattern periodically arranged in Embodiment 2 of this invention The figure which shows the cutting part of the pattern periodically arranged in Embodiment 3 of this invention The figure which shows the image which imaged the wiring part containing the conventional test | inspection area | region The figure which shows the image which imaged the wiring part of the conventional outermost inspection area

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2 Terminal electrode pattern part 3, 5, 32 Periodic pitch 4 Display electrode pattern part 6 Lead-in electrode pattern part 7, 10, 13, 16 Attention pixel A
8, 11, 14, 17 Comparison pixel B
9, 12, 15, 18 Comparative pixel C
20, 21 Conductor patterns 22, 23, 26, 27 Outermost patterns 24, 25, 28, 29 Dummy pattern 30 Dummy pattern short-circuit location 31 Defective portion 33, 34, 35 Cut portion

Claims (5)

  A dummy pattern of electrical conductors is formed in a pattern in which the same pitch interval is provided at the outermost part in the periodic pitch direction of the periodically arranged patterns so that the pattern is not electrically short-circuited substrate.   The patterned substrate according to claim 1, wherein the dummy pattern is formed of the same material and the same method as the pattern.   3. The patterned substrate according to claim 1, wherein a cut portion is provided in the dummy pattern.   4. The patterned substrate according to claim 3, wherein the cut portion provided in the dummy pattern is a portion where the plurality of dummy patterns intersect.   4. The patterned substrate according to claim 3, wherein the cut portion provided in the dummy pattern is a portion where the dummy pattern and the pattern intersect.

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