KR19980023344A - Electrode Formation Method of Flat Panel Display Device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses an improved method of forming an electrode of a flat panel display device.

The electrode constituted by the printing method has a problem in that the conductivity is poor, the harmful substances are mixed, and the shape of the substrate is limited.

In the present invention, the conductive layer is coated on the entire surface of the substrate and then selectively etched to form the electrode, thereby forming an electrode having excellent conductivity and a clean electrode on any type of substrate.

Description

Electrode Formation Method of Flat Panel Display Device

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a DC PDP as an example of a flat panel display device;

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a printing method by a conventional electrode forming method,

3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a problem of electrode formation by a printing method,

4 (a) to (f) are sequential cross-sectional views showing an electrode forming method according to the present invention,

5 (a) and 5 (b) are cross-sectional views showing the structure of the conductive layer of the present invention, respectively.

＊ Description of symbols for main parts of the drawings ＊

P; P1, P2: substrate

E; E1, E2: electrode

1: conductive layer

2: photosensitive layer

G1: functional particles

G2: calcined particles

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the manufacture of flat panel display devices, and more particularly to a method of forming electrodes.

BACKGROUND ART A flat panel display device is a type of flat panel device that forms a thin layer by forming a functional layer on a substrate, and flat panel display devices having various configurations such as LCDs and PDPs have been put into practical use.

FIG. 1 shows a DC-type PDP as an example. In the two substrates P1 and P2, electrodes E1 and E2 facing each other are arranged so as to cross each other and partition into partitions B and between the partitions B. The phosphor F is filled in the pixel.

In such a flat panel display device, each functional layer such as the electrodes E1 and E2 is formed by a printing method as shown in FIG. 2, which is squeezed through a screen S on the substrates P1 and P2. A method of forming a functional layer by printing a paste (T) with squeeze (S) and then baking it.

Accordingly, the state of the paste T printed on the substrates P1 and P2 is the functional particles G1 for achieving the function of the functional layer and the sintered particles during firing to fix the functional particles G1. (G2) is in a state dispersed in a solvent (V; Vehicle).

This printing method is widely used in the manufacturing process of flat panel display devices because the printing process is relatively simple and the film formation can be performed in a pattern state and thus the labor is reduced. There are a number of problems that are not appropriate.

That is, in the case of the electrodes E1 and E2, the functional particles G1 become conductive metal powders, and the content of the sintered particles G2 is not high enough to exhibit sufficient conductivity. It is impossible to print on the side surfaces of the substrates P1 and P2 or the substrates P1 and P2 having curved surfaces and irregularities.

In addition, a large amount of solvent (V) is used in the paste (T) for printing, and fiber is used to maintain the shape of the electrodes (E1, E2), all of which are harmful to the function of the electrodes (E1, E2). Organic components remain.

In view of such a conventional problem, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrode formation method in which no harmful components remain unless the conductivity is high and the substrate shape is not limited.

In order to achieve the above object, the method according to the present invention is characterized in that after forming the conductive layer on the substrate, the electrode is formed by selectively etching the conductive layer.

The conductive layer may be formed by a sintering method of fixing a metal film or metal powder with sintered particles. The former method is sputtering or thermal spraying of metal, and the latter method is powder printing or It can be made by a general printing method.

Such specific features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 4A, the entire surface of the conductive layer 1 is formed on the substrate P with the required thickness of the conductive layer 1. The whole surface formation of the conductive layer 1 is preferably formed by the method of FIG.

On the conductive layer 1, the photosensitive layer 2 is formed like FIG. 4 (b). Here, the method of mixing and patterning the photosensitive material on the conductive layer 1 will be easier, but it is preferable to form a separate photosensitive layer 2 to maintain the conductive performance of the conductive layer 1 as much as possible. Do.

Then, the photosensitive layer 2 is exposed on the photosensitive layer 2 through the mask M in the form of an electrode E, as shown in FIG. 4 (d). The photosensitive layer 2 exposed on (1) remains.

After etching with an etching solution such as an acid solution, only the conductive layer 1 under the photosensitive layer 2 remains as shown in FIG. 4E, and after removing the photosensitive layer 2 by firing or the like. The electrode E is formed on the board | substrate P like FIG.

Meanwhile, as a method of forming the entire surface of the conductive layer 1, a method of forming a metal film on the substrate P may be used as shown in FIG. 5A. The metal film may be composed of sputtering of a conductive metal. For this purpose, since a high vacuum deposition chamber and a high purity metal target are required, the metal film is preferably formed by thermal spraying.

The thermal spraying method is a structure in which when a molten metal is sprayed through a nozzle, the metal droplets collide with the surface of the substrate P to be cooled to form a metal layer on the substrate P. Thus, a considerably thicker film is formed than sputtering. ) But is not required to form a high vacuum atmosphere or a high purity target, which is suitable for the practical production of flat panel display devices.

On the other hand, the conductive layer 1 may also be formed by a firing method as shown in FIG. 5 (b), in which the functional particles G1 such as conductive metal powder are mixed with the firing particles G2 to form a substrate ( After coating on P), the sintered particles G2 are sintered to fix the functional particles G1.

In this case, since the functional particles G1 and the calcined particles G2 are completely coated on the substrate P, the functional particles G1 and the calcined particles G2 may be easily applied by a powder printing method including no solvent such as roll coating. Then, the functional particles G1 and the calcined particles G2 are held by molecular force such as van der Waals forces with respect to the substrate P, and the calcined particles G2 are sintered by heating to form the conductive layer 1. .

On the other hand, it may be formed by a general printing method of the conductive layer 1, that is, a method of dispersing the functional particles (G1) and the calcined particles (G2) in a solvent (V of 3 degrees) to print and then fire.

In particular, in the case of using the printing method, the difference from the conventional printing method is not the pattern printing but the front printing, so that a very small amount of the solvent (V) can be used, and it is not necessary to include the components such as fiber for maintaining the shape. to be. In addition, it is possible to fix the functional particles (G1) even with a small amount of calcined particles (G2) according to the front surface printing to increase the content of the functional particles (G1), accordingly the conductive layer (1) and the electrode (E) composed therefrom The conductive properties can be greatly improved.

Another advantage of the electrode (E) of the present invention is that since the screen (S in FIG. 2) is not used, the electrode (E) can be formed even if the substrate (P) is curved or the substrate (P) is curved. In the case where the connecting end of E) is to be drawn out to the side of the substrate P, the drawing electrode can be formed at the same time.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that the electrode having excellent conductivity and no mixing of harmful substances can be configured without limitation on the shape of the substrate.

Claims (5)

In the method of forming an electrode in a predetermined pattern on a substrate of a flat panel display device, After forming a conductive layer on the substrate, Selectively etching the conductive layer to form the electrode An electrode forming method of a flat panel display device characterized in that. The method of claim 1, The conductive layer is formed of a metal film by sputtering of metal An electrode forming method of a flat panel display device characterized in that. The method of claim 1, The conductive layer is formed of a metal film by the thermal spraying of the metal An electrode forming method of a flat panel display device characterized in that. The method of claim 1, The conductive layer is formed by printing and firing An electrode forming method of a flat panel display device characterized in that. The method of claim 4, wherein The printing of the conductive layer consists of main body printing An electrode forming method of a flat panel display device characterized in that.