TWI605948B - Cutting apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Cutting equipment [Cross-reference to related applications]

This patent application is based on the priority of the U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61/596,727 filed on Feb. 8, 2012, the content of which is hereby incorporated by All of them are incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for processing a sheet on a carrier, and more particularly to a flexible glass sheet on a carrier.

Today, flexible plastic substrates are made from a plastic substrate laminated with one or more polymer films. Due to their low cost, these laminated substrate stacks are commonly used in flexible packages related to photovoltaic (PV), organic light emitting diode (OLED), liquid crystal display (LCD) and patterned thin film transistor (TFT) electronic components. .

Flexible glass substrates offer several advantages over flexible plastic technology Technical advantages. One technical advantage is the ability of glass to act as a moisture or gas barrier, and moisture or gas is the primary degradation pathway for outdoor electronics. A second advantage is the potential of the flexible glass substrate to reduce overall package size (thickness) and weight by reducing or eliminating one or more package substrate layers.

As the demand for thinner/flexible substrates (thickness <0.3 mm) has driven into the electronic display industry, manufacturers face a variety of challenges in dealing with these thinner/flexible substrates.

One option is to process thicker glass sheets and then etch or polish the panels to a thin overall net thickness, which allows the use of existing panel fabrication infrastructure, but adds polishing costs at the end of the process.

The second approach is to redesign existing panel processes for thinner substrates where glass loss is a major impediment and will require significant capital investment to minimize either wafer-to-sheet or roll-to-roll processes. Processing loss in .

A third approach is to utilize roll-to-roll processing techniques for thin flexible substrates.

A fourth approach would be to use a carrier process in which a thin substrate glass is bonded to a thicker glass carrier using a binder.

What is needed is a carrier approach that utilizes the manufacturer's existing investment infrastructure to make thin glass (ie thickness) at higher processing temperatures The treatment of 0.3 mm thick does not contaminate the thin glass and the carrier or detract from the bond strength between the thin glass and the carrier, and the thin glass can be easily detached from the carrier at the end of the process.

The concept involves initially bonding a sheet (eg, a flexible glass sheet) to a carrier (eg, another glass sheet) by van der Waals, and then increasing the bonding force of certain areas while leaving the treated sheet/carrier to be in the sheet/ The ability to form a device, such as an electronic or display device, an electronic or display device component, an OLED material, a photovoltaic (PV) structure, or a thin film transistor, is then removed from the carrier. At least a portion of the thin glass is bonded to the carrier such that the process process fluid is prevented from entering between the sheet and the carrier, thereby reducing the chance of contamination of the downstream process, i.e., the bond seal between the sheet and the carrier is sealed, and preferably some In an embodiment, the seal encompasses the exterior of the article to prevent liquid or gas from invading or exiting any area of the article of sealing.

One commercial benefit of the method is that manufacturers will be able to capitalize on their existing processing equipment capital while at the same time gaining the advantages of using glass flakes for, for example, PV, OLED, LCD, and patterned thin film transistor (TFT) electronic components. In addition, the method can obtain process flexibility, including: process elasticity for cleaning and surface preparation of the glass flakes and the carrier, to facilitate bonding; process flexibility for bonding the bonding sheet between the reinforcing sheet and the carrier; The (or reduced/low strength bond) zone is free of process releasability from the carrier; and the process flexibility for cutting the flakes to facilitate removal from the carrier. Strictly speaking, the non-bonded region may include some combination between the sheet and the carrier, but the bond is weak enough to allow the sheet to be easily removed from the carrier without damaging the sheet; throughout this disclosure, it is only convenient. Therefore, such an area is referred to as a non-bonded area. In essence, the bond strength of the non-bonded regions is significantly lower than the bond strength in the bond regions.

In some device processes, temperatures and/or vacuum environments approaching 600 ° C or higher can be used. These conditions limit the materials that can be used and place high demands on the carrier/sheet. The inventors of the present invention have discovered that the ability of articles (including sheets bonded to a carrier) to survive this condition can be improved by minimizing the amount of gas trapped between the sheet and the carrier. Minimizing the trapped gas can be accomplished in several ways, for example by annealing the support/glass flakes after the support/glass flakes have been subjected to a release layer deposition process, wherein annealing minimizes subsequent degassing after the sheets are combined with the support. Annealing can be accomplished before or after placing the support/glass flakes in contact with one another; initially bonding the flakes to the carrier in a vacuum environment; providing gas from the flakes to the carrier by using, for example, a vent strip and/or a groove The path to be taken; the cleaning/etching solution is appropriately selected; and the surface roughness of the carrier and/or the sheet is controlled. Each of the foregoing methods of minimizing trapped gas may be used alone or in combination with any one or more of the other methods of minimizing trapped air and/or other gases.

Additional features and advantages will be set forth in the description which follows. Recognized by the present invention as defined in the scope of the patent application. It is to be understood that the foregoing general description and the following embodiments are merely illustrative of the embodiments of the invention

The drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the principles of the invention, and are incorporated in the drawings. The drawings illustrate one or more embodiments and, together with the It is understood that each of the present invention disclosed in the present specification and drawings can be used. The features are used in any combination and in all combinations. For example, various features of the invention may be combined in the manner set forth below.

According to a first aspect, there is provided a method of bonding a sheet to a carrier, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing a sheet and a carrier; b) binding the sheet to the carrier; c) treating the sheet with at least the carrier One, in order to minimize the gas trapped between the sheet and the carrier after bonding.

According to a second aspect, the method of the first aspect is provided, wherein step (c) is performed prior to step (b) and comprises depositing a release layer on at least one of the sheet and the carrier, and At least one of the sheet and the carrier is annealed by processing the apparatus to a temperature at a higher temperature than the desired temperature on the sheet.

According to a third aspect, the method of providing the first aspect, the method further comprising the step (d) of providing a surface treatment to at least one of the sheet and the carrier to form a non-bonded region, and wherein the step (c) A trench is provided that provides at least one of the sheet and the carrier from an outer periphery of at least one of the sheet and the carrier to the unbonded region.

According to a fourth aspect, the method of the third aspect is provided, wherein step (b) is performed in a vacuum environment, and step (c) is further included after the sheet has been bonded to the carrier but is removed from the vacuum environment The sheet and the carrier are previously sealed to the groove.

According to a fifth aspect, the method of the fourth aspect is provided, wherein the seal comprises one or more of: filling the trench with a frit and heating the frit; The trench is filled with a thermosetting resin and then the resin is heated.

According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a method of the first aspect, the method further comprising the step (d) of providing a surface treatment to the at least one of the sheet and the carrier during the step (b) to form a non-bonded region, And wherein step (c) comprises fluid cleaning the at least one of the sheet and the carrier, and rinsing the fluid minimizes residues that will be vented at subsequent processing temperatures.

According to a seventh aspect, the method of the first aspect is provided, wherein the step (c) is performed simultaneously with the step (b), and comprises bonding the sheet to the carrier in a vacuum environment, and flowing water vapor into the vacuum environment in.

According to an eighth aspect, the method of the first aspect is provided, wherein the step (b) produces a bonding region between the sheet and the carrier, and further comprises the step (d) of heating or pressurizing the bonding region The strength of the bond between the sheet and the carrier is increased.

According to a ninth aspect, the method of the eighth aspect is provided, wherein the step (d) comprises heating the sheet and the carrier at a temperature of from 400 to 625 °C.

According to a tenth aspect, an article is provided, the article comprising: a carrier; a sheet; a bonding region having an outer periphery, the sheet being held on the carrier; a non-bonding region configured to be surrounded by the bonding region, wherein the sheet and the carrier At least one of the grooves extending from the unbonded region to the outer perimeter of the bonded region.

According to an eleventh aspect, the article of the tenth aspect is provided, wherein the groove is filled with a sealing material.

The article of the eleventh aspect is provided according to the twelfth aspect, wherein the sealing material is selected from the group consisting of: a frit; a sintered frit; a thermosetting resin; a thermosetting resin; a UV curable resin; and a UV curable resin Polyimine; a material that is melted from one of the sheets and the carrier.

According to a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a method of removing a desired portion of a sheet from a sheet bonded to a carrier by a bonding region surrounding the non-bonding region, the sheet having a thickness, the method comprising the steps of: forming a peripheral vent hole, The peripheral vent defines a perimeter of the desired portion, wherein the peripheral vent is disposed within the unbonded region and has a depth, the depth 50% of the thickness of the sheet.

The method of providing the thirteenth aspect according to the fourteenth aspect, further comprising forming two release vent holes in the non-bonding region, the two release vent holes being neither parallel to each other nor co-linear with each other.

A method for providing the thirteenth aspect according to the fifteenth aspect, the method further comprising: forming two release vents, the two release vents being parallel or co-linear, wherein each of the release vents is Extending in the bonded and unbonded regions, and extending the release vent through both the sheet and the carrier to remove a portion of the sheet from the carrier, thereby allowing the desired portion to be slid away from the carrier.

A method of providing the fourteenth aspect or the fifteenth aspect according to the sixteenth aspect, wherein the release vent hole reaches within 500 micrometers of the peripheral vent hole but does not contact the peripheral vent hole.

A method of providing a thirteenth aspect to a sixteenth aspect according to the seventeenth aspect, the method further comprising using a laser to form at least one of the vent holes.

According to an eighteenth aspect, there is provided a method of forming a sheet-based device, the method comprising the steps of: attaching a sheet to a carrier by a bonding region surrounding the non-bonding region; processing the sheet to form on the non-bonding region And removing the desired portion of the sheet according to any of the methods 13 to 17.

According to a nineteenth aspect, a cutting apparatus is provided, the cutting apparatus comprising: a showerhead having a plurality of apertures; and a laser source optically coupled to the first one of the plurality of apertures for transmitting a laser beam through a first hole; and a source of cooling fluid in fluid communication with at least the second hole and the at least third hole of the plurality of holes, wherein the first line extending from the first hole to the second hole is disposed in and The first hole extends to a second line of the third hole to form a first angle.

According to a twentieth aspect, the cutting apparatus of the nineteenth aspect, wherein the first angle is 90 degrees, wherein the cooling fluid source is also in a fourth hole of the plurality of holes and the plurality of holes The fifth aperture is in fluid communication, and further wherein the third line extending from the first aperture to the fourth aperture is substantially co-linear with the first line, and extending from the first aperture to the fifth aperture Four-line system The line is in line with the second line.

According to a twenty-first aspect, the nineteenth aspect of the cutting apparatus is provided, wherein the first angle is a degree other than 90 degrees or a multiple of 90 degrees.

According to a twenty-second aspect, a cutting apparatus is provided, the cutting apparatus comprising: a showerhead having a plurality of apertures; and a laser source optically coupled to the first one of the plurality of apertures for transmitting a laser beam Passing through the first aperture; and a source of cooling fluid in fluid communication with at least a second one of the plurality of apertures, wherein the showerhead is rotatable.

According to a twenty-third aspect, a cutting apparatus of any of the nineteenth aspect to the twenty-second aspect is provided, wherein the source of the cooling fluid is a source of compressed air.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect, the cutting apparatus of any of the nineteenth aspect to the twenty-third aspect is provided, wherein the holes have 1 mm diameter.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect, a cutting method is provided, the method comprising the steps of: providing any one of the nineteenth aspect to the twenty-first aspect, the twenty-third aspect, and the twenty-fourth aspect according to the nineteenth aspect Cutting device; transmitting a laser beam through the first hole and conveying cooling fluid through the second hole while moving the nozzle along the first line in a first direction; stopping delivery of cooling fluid through the second hole; Transporting fluid through the third aperture while moving the showerhead along the second line in a second direction; Stop delivering cooling fluid through the third orifice.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect, a cutting method is provided, the method comprising the steps of: providing a cutting device according to the second twelfth aspect; transmitting a laser beam through the first hole and conveying a cooling fluid through the second The aperture moves the nozzle in a first direction; rotating the nozzle and moving the nozzle in a second direction, the second direction forming a non-zero angle with the first direction.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect, there is provided an article comprising: a carrier; a sheet; a bonding region formed adjacent the periphery of the sheet, the sheet being held on the carrier; a release layer configured to be surrounded by the bonding region, Wherein the release layer is made of a material that does not bond to the sheet at a first predetermined temperature but combines with the sheet at a second predetermined temperature, wherein the second predetermined temperature is above the first predetermined temperature.

According to a twenty-eighth aspect, the article of the twenty-seventh aspect, wherein the release layer comprises a ruthenium film on a surface of the carrier and having a thickness of 100 to 500 nm, wherein the ruthenium film is away from The surface of the carrier has been subjected to a dehydrogenation surface treatment.

According to a twenty-ninth aspect, the article of the twenty-eighth aspect is provided, wherein the release layer further comprises a metal film on a surface of the sheet facing the carrier, wherein the metal film has 100 to 500 The thickness of nm.

According to a thirtieth aspect, the article of the twenty-ninth aspect is provided, wherein the metal is selected from A group of tellurides formed with ruthenium at a temperature of 600 ° C, resulting in Ra The grain size in 2 nm sputtering, the metal will have surface roughness.

According to a thirty-first aspect, the article of the twenty-ninth aspect or the thirtieth aspect is provided, wherein the metal is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, molybdenum, and tungsten.

According to the thirty-second aspect, the article of any one of the twenty-seventh aspect to the thirty-first aspect is provided, wherein the sheet is thick 300 micron glass.

According to the thirty-third aspect, the article of any one of the twenty-seventh aspect to the thirty-second aspect is provided, wherein the carrier is thickness 50 micron glass.

According to a thirty fourth aspect, the article of any one of the twenty-seventh aspect to the thirty-third aspect is provided, wherein the combination of the sheet and the carrier has a thickness of from 125 to 700 μm.

According to a thirty-fifth aspect, there is provided a method of producing a plurality of desired portions from an article according to any one of the twenty-seventh aspect to the thirty-fourth aspect, the method comprising the steps of: locally heating the release layer to The temperature of the second predetermined temperature forms a plurality of bonding contours.

According to a thirty-sixth aspect, a method of providing a thirty-fifth aspect, the method further comprising forming a device on the sheet using a process that does not cause the release layer to be at a temperature greater than the first predetermined temperature.

According to a thirty-seventh aspect, the method of the thirty-fifth aspect is provided, the method further comprising removing the desired portion according to any one of the thirteenth take-out aspect to the seventeenth take-out aspect.

According to a thirty-eighth aspect, there is provided a method of making a device on a sheet, the method comprising the steps of: processing at least a portion of the device onto a sheet of the article, wherein the article comprises the sheet, the sheet having 300 microns in thickness and bonded to a carrier having a thickness of 100 microns, and further wherein the bonding comprises a plurality of first regions and a second region, the plurality of first regions having a bonding force, the second region having a second combination significantly greater than the first bonding force Cutting the carrier of at least the article to produce a first article portion and a second article portion, wherein the first article portion includes one of the plurality of first regions and at least a portion of the second region; A further portion of the device onto the first article portion.

According to a thirty-ninth aspect, a method of the thirty-eighth aspect is provided, wherein the cutting line is performed along a line, the line being located in the second area.

According to a fortieth aspect, the method of the thirty-eighth aspect or the thirty-ninth aspect is provided, wherein the cutting is performed such that the first article portion includes at least a portion of the second region near its periphery.

According to a forty-first aspect, the method of any one of the thirty-eighth aspect to the fortieth aspect is provided, the method further comprising, according to the thirteenth aspect to the seventeenth aspect, from the first The article portion removes at least a portion of the sheet.

According to the forty-second aspect, in the first aspect to the eighteenth aspect or the twenty-seventh aspect to the forty-first aspect, the sheet is a glass piece, and the sheet The carrier is a glass piece.

2‧‧‧Products

3‧‧‧ arrow

5‧‧‧ dotted line

10‧‧‧ Carrier

12‧‧‧ thickness

14‧‧‧ line

20‧‧‧Sheet

22‧‧‧ thickness

24‧‧‧Combined thickness

30‧‧‧ release layer

40‧‧‧Combined area

41‧‧‧ interface

42‧‧‧ contour

50‧‧‧Unbonded area

52‧‧‧around

56‧‧‧ required parts

57‧‧‧around

58‧‧‧ arrow

60‧‧‧ peripheral vents

61‧‧‧ venting holes

62‧‧‧depth

63‧‧‧ venting holes

64‧‧‧ Distance

65‧‧‧ venting holes

66‧‧‧distance

67‧‧‧ venting holes

69‧‧‧ venting holes

70‧‧‧Exhaust strip

71‧‧‧Width

73‧‧‧Width

80‧‧‧ edge combination

81‧‧‧Area

90‧‧‧scribed wheel

91‧‧‧Sucker

92‧‧‧breaking rod

94‧‧‧Laser

96‧‧‧ coolant nozzle

98‧‧‧Flexible bottom plate

102‧‧‧Carrier process

104‧‧‧Process

104a‧‧‧Process

106‧‧‧Process

108‧‧‧Process

110‧‧‧Process

112‧‧‧Process

114‧‧‧Process

116‧‧‧Process

122‧‧‧Process Process

124‧‧‧cleaning process

200‧‧‧ nozzle

201‧‧‧ hole

202‧‧‧ hole

203‧‧‧ hole

204‧‧‧ hole

205‧‧‧ hole

212‧‧‧second hole

213‧‧‧ third hole

215‧‧‧ arrow

401‧‧‧ slot

402‧‧‧ slots

403‧‧‧ slot

404‧‧‧ slots

410‧‧‧cleaning steps

420‧‧‧SC1 steps

430‧‧‧Flushing steps

440‧‧‧ drying step

1801‧‧‧ line

Line 1802‧‧

Line 1803‧‧

Line 1804‧‧

Line 1901‧‧

Line 1902‧‧

Line 1903‧‧

Line 1904‧‧

2001‧‧‧ line

2004‧‧‧ line

Figure 1 is a schematic top view of an article having a sheet bonded to a carrier.

Fig. 2 is a schematic end view of the article of Fig. 1 as seen from the direction of arrow 3.

Figure 3 is a flow chart showing the steps of processing the sheet and the carrier.

Figure 4 is a schematic flow chart of the steps of cleaning the sheet.

Figure 5 is a schematic top plan view of an article having a sheet bonded to a carrier in accordance with one embodiment.

Figure 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of an article having a sheet bonded to a carrier in accordance with another embodiment.

Figure 7 is a schematic top plan view of an article having a sheet bonded to a carrier in accordance with another embodiment.

Figure 8 is a schematic top plan view of an article having the desired portion removed from the carrier.

Figure 9 is a schematic view similar to Figure 8 but including a cross section.

Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view of a product having a vent hole formed therein.

Figure 11 is a schematic top plan view of an article having a vent hole formed therein.

Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view of the desired portion 56 removed from the article.

Figure 13 is a top plan view of an article having a sheet bonded to a carrier in accordance with another embodiment.

Figure 14 is a cross-sectional view of the article of Figure 13 taken along line 14-14.

Figure 15 is a top plan view of the article having the combined profile in Figure 13.

Figure 16 is a schematic illustration of a laser and coolant delivery head.

Figure 17 is a schematic illustration of another embodiment of a laser and coolant delivery head.

Figure 18 is a graph showing the solubility of various constituent elements of glass in ammonium hydrogen fluoride.

Fig. 19 is a view showing the dissolution of aluminum in an etching solution having various constituent elements.

Fig. 20 is a graph showing the calcium concentration dissolved in an etching solution having various constituent elements.

In the following embodiments, the exemplary embodiments are set forth to provide a However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt; In addition, descriptions of well-known devices, methods, and materials may be omitted to avoid obscuring the description of the various principles of the invention. Finally, where applicable, the same reference symbols refer to the same elements.

Ranges may be expressed herein as "about" a particular value and/or to "about" another particular value. When such a range is expressed, another embodiment also includes from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value. Similarly, when values are expressed as approximations, it will be understood that the It will be further appreciated that the endpoints of each range are clearly related to the other endpoint and are distinctly distinct from the other endpoint.

The directional terms used herein, such as upper, lower, right, left, front, back, top, and bottom, are merely referenced to the drawing, and are not intended to imply absolute orientation.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, there is no intention to interpret any of the methods presented herein as a step in a particular order. Therefore, there is no intention to infer in any way when the method claims do not actually state the order in which the steps should be followed, or if the steps are not otherwise specifically stated in the scope of the patent application or the description. order. This applies to any possible, non-clearly interpreted criteria, including: logic questions regarding the configuration or operational flow of the steps; literal meaning derived from grammatical structures or punctuation; the number or type of embodiments described in the specification.

The singular "a" and "the", as used in the <RTIgt; Thus, for example, reference to a "component" also includes the appearance of two or more such elements unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

General description

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a carrier 10 of thickness 12 is bonded to the sheet 20 such that the sheet 20, i.e., having a thickness 22 of 300 microns or less (including but not limited to, for example, 10-50 microns, 50-100 microns, 100-150 microns and 150-300 microns thickness can be utilized in existing plant processing infrastructure. When the carrier 10 and the sheet 20 are bonded to each other, their combined thickness 24 is the same as that of the thicker sheet, and the apparatus processing apparatus was originally designed for thicker sheets. For example, if the processing device was originally designed for a 700 micron sheet and the thickness 22 of the sheet is 300 microns, the thickness 12 can be selected to be 400. Micron.

The carrier 10 can be made of any suitable material including, for example, glass or glass ceramic. If made of glass, the carrier 10 may contain any suitable composition including aluminosilicate, borosilicate, aluminoboronate, sodium calcium citrate, and the carrier 10 may be alkali-containing. Metal or alkali-free metals, depending on their final application. The thickness 12 can be from about 0.3 to 3 mm, such as 0.3 mm, 0.4 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.6 mm, 0.65 mm, 0.7 mm, 1.0 mm, 2.0 mm or 3 mm, and will depend on the thickness 22, as described above. In addition, the carrier may be made of one layer (as shown) or a plurality of layers (including a plurality of sheets) joined together.

Sheet 20 can be made of any suitable material including, for example, glass or glass ceramic. When made of glass, the sheet 20 may contain any suitable composition including aluminosilicate, borosilicate, aluminoboronate, sodium calcium citrate, and the sheet 20 may be alkali-containing. Metal or alkali-free metals, depending on their final application. The thickness 22 of the sheet 20 is 300 microns or less, as described above.

The sheet 20 is bonded to the carrier by a region 40 in which there is direct contact between the surface of the sheet 20 and the surface of the carrier 10. In the region 50, there is no bond or less strong bond between the carrier 10 and the glass sheet 20 (as described above), and for convenience of reference, the region 50 is hereinafter referred to as a non-bonded region, even though the region 50 may still have some Weak combination type. The non-bonding region 50 has a perimeter 52, and the outer region of the perimeter 52 is provided with a bonding region 40.

The concept relates to the initial bonding of the flexible sheet 20 to the carrier 10 by van der Waals, and then increases the bonding strength of certain areas while retaining the treatment. The ability of the sheet/carrier article to remove the sheet after it has been formed into a device. The concept further relates to the cleaning and surface preparation of the sheet 20 and the carrier 10 to facilitate bonding; initial bonding of the sheet 20 to the carrier 10; strengthening of the initial bond between the sheet 20 of the bonding region 40 and the carrier 10; providing in the unbonded region The ability of the sheet 20 to be released from the carrier 10; and the desired portion 56 of the sheet 20 is removed.

General process

Figure 3 illustrates the general process flow of this concept. Carrier process 102 includes selecting a suitable carrier for size, thickness, and material. The carrier is then cleaned in process 104. At 106, the carrier is processed to achieve various regions having different bonding strengths to the sheets. The carrier can then be cleaned again in process 104a, and process 104a can be the same or different than process 104. Alternatively, depending on which process is used to achieve various zones having different bonding strengths to the sheets, the cleaning process can be washed with different cleaning processes, or not at all. Then in the initial bonding process 108, the carrier is ready to be bonded to the sheet. In process flow 122, the sheets are selected in terms of the size, thickness, and material of the sheet. The size of the sheet may be about the same as the carrier, slightly larger or slightly smaller than the carrier. After the selection, the sheet is cleaned at 124. The cleaning process 124 can be the same as used in 104, or can be different. The purpose of the cleaning process is to reduce the amount of particles or other impurities on the interface between the carrier and the sheet. At 108, the bonding faces of the sheets and the carrier are in contact with each other. A process of enhancing the bond between the carrier and the sheet is performed at 110. At 112, the carrier/sheet article is processed to form a device on the sheet. At 114, alternatively, the carrier and the sheet can be cut into smaller portions and the sheet is still bonded to the carrier. The cutting at 114 (when present) may occur between process 112, before process 112, or between two different steps of process 112. At 116, at least a portion of the sheet is removed from the carrier.

Carrier and Sheet Selection - Example 1

The selected carrier has a thickness of 0.7 mm; a circular wafer with a diameter of 200 mm; and a composition of Corning Incorporated's Eagle XG® glass. The selected flakes have a thickness of 100 microns; a smaller size than the carrier; the composition of Corning's Eagle XG® glass.

Glass cleaning -104, 104a, 124

The cleaning process is primarily used to remove particles that may interfere with the bond between the sheet and the carrier. However, the cleaning process can also be used to roughen the surface of the carrier and thereby help form a non-bonded region, as described below with respect to the process of achieving different bond strengths 106. The cleaning process may occur as 104 occurs before the process 106 on the carrier (and/or sheet, if the sheet also accepts or alternately accepts the process 106), as 104a after such process 106 or before and after process 106. The cleaning process can also be performed on the sheet prior to initial bonding, even if the sheet is not subjected to a surface treatment like 106.

The cleaning process 104 typically includes up to four steps: a first step for general removal of organic matter; a second step for additional cleaning; a third step for rinsing; and a fourth step for drying.

The general removal of organics in the first step may include washing with one or more of the following: deionized (DI) water with dissolved ozone; oxygen (O ₂ ) plasma; sulfuric acid peroxide mixture; and/or ultraviolet light (UV) )ozone.

The additional cleaning of the second step may include Standard Wash-1 (SC1). SC1 may also be a "RCA cleaning" as is known in the art. This process can include an aqueous ammonia solution, as discussed below with respect to process 106, which is an aqueous ammonia solution. Some materials can be used for cleaning and surface roughening. JTB100 or Baker clean 100 (available from JT Baker Corp) can be used instead of SC1. JTB100 or Baker clean 100 does not contain an aqueous ammonia solution. Therefore, for some materials, the surface is not roughened at the same time, as well as the following Regarding the processing 106 discussed.

The rinsing can be carried out in DI water with a rapid drain flush (QDR), for example to allow water to flow through the entire sheet (carrier or sheet, as appropriate).

The fourth step is a drying step and may include a Marangoni type drying comprising isopropyl alcohol.

In some examples, the cleaning processes 104a and 124 performed just prior to the initial bonding of 108 may include cleaning to remove the organic material as the final step prior to initial bonding. Therefore, the process steps associated with 104 as described above will be sequential such that step 2 is after step 1. It would be preferable if there were any significant hysteresis between the cleaning steps 1 and 2, whereby the organic matter - the environment from the storage carrier and/or the sheet - was collected. However, if the time between steps 1 and 2 is not long, or the carrier/flakes are stored in an environment containing a small amount of organic particles, such as in a clean room, steps 1 and 2 may occur in this order, so it is not necessary to happen The organics were washed prior to the initial bonding of 108. In all other respects, the cleaning processes 104a, 124 are still the same as discussed above in relation to 104.

Cleaning example-1

Each carrier and sheet (from carrier and sheet selection - Example 1) was subjected to a four-step process wherein the basic process was a dissolved ozone purge step 410 in tank 403, SC1 step 420 in tank 402, at tank 403. The rinsing step 430 and the drying step 440 in the tank 404. All mixtures were formulated in volume ratios unless otherwise stated. The NH ₄ OH used here was 14.5 moles (28 wt/wt NH ₃ in water). H ₂ O ₂ used herein is 30 wt% in water. DI or DIH ₂ O refers to deionized water, and these terms are used interchangeably herein.

Figure 4 shows the configuration of the tanks used, including the relative position of each tank, the process performed in a particular tank, the process flow through the machine, and the specific parameters used. In this process, etching using the trench 401 (including hydrofluoric acid/hydrochloric acid etching) was not used. The following steps are performed in slots 402 through 404, each of which is described.

In a first step 410, into the glass containing dissolved ozone (DIO ₃₎ of the groove 403. The details are as follows: DI water with dissolved ozone

Ozone concentration: 30 ppm

Time: 10 minutes

Temperature: ambient temperature (approximately 22 ° C)

High water flow: 44 Lpm

In a second step 420, the sample is placed in a tank 402 containing an SC1 solution. The details are as follows: one part NH ₄ OH: 2 parts H ₂ O ₂ : 40 parts DI water

Temperature: 65 ° C

Time: 5 minutes

Million Hertz Ultrasonic: 350w, 850 kHz

In a third step 430, the sample is placed in slot 403 for quick platooning Water washing (QDR), the details are as follows: Time: 10 minutes

Flush: The high string flow of DI water is 44 Lpm

Temperature: ambient temperature (approximately 22 ° C)

In a fourth step 440, drying is carried out in IPA steam. The details are as follows: Time: 10 minutes (including pre-stream flushing and N ₂ /IPA low-flow drying, using Marangani type)

Time: last 2 minutes 150 ° C N ₂ high flow drying

Cleaning example-2

The carrier from the following release layer application - Example 1 was taken out and subjected to the same cleaning process as outlined in Cleaning Example-1 above.

Processing of different bonding strength areas -106

Throughout the specification, the processing to achieve different bonding-strength regions is described as being performed on a carrier for the purpose of simplifying the explanation. However, it should be noted that such a treatment may alternatively be performed on the sheet or on both the carrier and the sheet.

One way to form a non-bonded region is to deposit a material on the carrier that will not bond to the carrier due to the configuration when it is at the temperature expected during processing of the device. The deposited material thus forms a release layer between the carrier and the surface of the sheet. It is desirable that the deposited material be washable (to survive the cleaning process described herein to promote good bonding in the bond area), can be removed from the carrier, for example by etching, and can also be easily formed into a rough The surface (e.g., when the deposited material is present on the support is preferably in a crystalline form) to facilitate removal of the bond between the sheet and the carrier. For the release layer, suitable materials include, for example, zinc oxide (ZnO), zinc oxide (AZO) doped with 0.2-4.0% aluminum, zinc oxide (GZO) doped with 0.2-4.0% gallium, tin oxide (SnO _{2 )} ), aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ), gallium oxide (Ga ₂ O ₃ ), bismuth oxide (Bi ₂ O ₃ ), F-SnO ₂ , F-SiO ₂ , TiON, and TiCN. Standard materials can be used to place the materials on a carrier.

The release layer can operate on the principle of increasing the interface roughness between the sheet and the carrier, thereby forming a non-bonded region. Therefore, the release layer can include surface roughness 2 nm Ra (average surface roughness) to prevent strong binding in unbound areas. However, as the surface roughness increases, the amount of gas trapped between the sheet and the carrier also increases, resulting in processing problems as discussed herein. Therefore, there may be a practically usable upper limit for the amount of surface roughness. This upper limit will most likely depend on the processing technique used for the initial bond and the exhaust of the unbonded zone, as discussed herein by using a vent strip or trench vent.

The roughness of the surface can be adjusted by an acid etching step to increase the surface roughness. The acid etching can be performed as a separate step, or can be combined with the cleaning step by appropriately selecting a cleaning solution associated with the release layer material. However, from the viewpoint of process, it is advantageous to perform surface roughening and cleaning at the same time.

For example, using an AZO film, etching can be performed as a separate step by etching using an acid such as a HCl solution having a pH of 2 at room temperature, followed by alkaline cleaning (for example, using tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) )). Alkaline cleaning can be carried out in standard JTB 100 with H ₂ O ₂ cleaning and TMAH in carboxylic acid buffer. In one example, using JTB100 with 30% H ₂ O ₂ , TMAH in carboxylic acid buffer, the surface roughness was reduced from 2 nm to 1.1 nm. In addition, the cleaning solution can be flushed out of the AZO film immediately, advantageously resulting in a small amount of outgassing when the carrier is bonded to the sheet and/or when the article is processed by the device. Thus, the manner of surface roughening and surface cleaning may be preferred in some instances when less measurement is used to prevent gas from entering between the carrier and the sheet.

In order to perform cleaning and roughening in one step, for example, an AZO film can be cleaned using an SC1 process (40:1:2 DI:NH ₄ OH:H ₂ O ₂ ) to increase the surface roughness from 2.0 nm to 37. Nm Ra. In some instances, combined cleaning and roughening may be preferred when further measurements are taken to prevent gas from entering between the carrier and the sheet (where process simplification is desired).

Alternatively, the release layer can be operated on the principle of forming an OH-free bond with the glass flakes, and does not require special roughness to provide a non-bonded region; materials in this class can include, for example, tin oxide, TiO ₂ , Cerium oxide (SiO ₂ ), refractory, SiN (tantalum nitride), SiC, diamond-like carbon, graphitic carbon, graphene, titanium nitride, aluminum oxide, titanium dioxide (TiO ₂ ), SiON (niobium oxynitride), F -SnO ₂ , F-SiO ₂ , and/or those having a melting point <1000 ° C and/or a strain point > about 1000 ° C.

The thickness of the release layer should be chosen such that the release layer does not create a gap between the carrier and the bonding surface of the sheet to the extent that the sheet is over pressurized when the bonding surface is in contact. Excessive pressure in the sheet may cause damage to the sheet during attempts to bond the sheet to the carrier and/or during subsequent device processing. That is, for example, assuming that the sheet has a flat surface (ie, facing the surface of the carrier, and there are no recesses or protrusions in the region of the release layer, the release layer should not stand proudly on the bonding surface of the carrier. More than 1 micron, for example, the gap between the sheet and the bonding surface of the carrier should be, for example 1 nm, 500 nm, 200 nm, 100 nm, 50 nm, 25 nm, 15 nm, 10 nm or 5 nm. On the other hand, the release layer needs to have a sufficient thickness to prevent the sheet from bonding to the surface of the carrier. Therefore, in the case where the sheet and the carrier have mutually opposite and completely flat surfaces, the release layer should have a thickness of ≧0.2 nm. In other examples, a release layer having a thickness from 10 to 500 nm is acceptable. In other examples, release layers having a thickness from 100 to 400 nm are acceptable; these have been tested and found to allow for sufficient binding in the binding region and also provide non-bonded regions. In some examples, the release layer can be partially disposed in a recess in the carrier and/or sheet.

The release layer can be patterned into a smaller area than the entire contact area between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10 to allow the selected portion to form a non-bonded region 50 between the sheet and the carrier. See, for example, Figure 5, the non-bonded region 50 has a perimeter 52. That is, the release layer can be patterned to allow release of material and/or surface treatment to be applied to region 50 rather than region 40. The sheet 20 is bonded to the remainder of the carrier 10, i.e., the bonding area 40. Thus, by cutting along the dashed line 5, any number of other desired portions 56, or various subsets thereof, can be separated from any number of desired portions 56, and all of the desired portions 56 are still combined with the carrier 10. It is desirable to divide the article 2 into smaller subunits for further processing. In such an example, this configuration of the bonding region 40 and the non-bonding region 50 is advantageous in that the sheet 20 and the carrier The 10th section is still joined near its periphery so that process fluid will not enter between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10, the process fluid may contaminate subsequent processes, or the sheet 20 may be separated from the carrier 10.

Although illustrated in Figure 5 to bond a sheet to a carrier, a plurality of sheets 20 may be combined with a carrier 10, any of which may be combined with carrier 10, and carrier 10 having any suitable number of The non-bonded area 50 surrounded by the bonded area 40. In this case, the carrier 10 can be separated between the bonding regions 40 of the different sheets 20 when the other desired portions 56 are separated from the desired portion 56.

A second way of forming a non-bonded region is through the use of different materials having different bonding strengths between the sheet and the carrier. For example, SiNx can be used in a non-bonded region, and SiO ₂ can be used in a bonded region. In order to form these two different material regions, the following processes can be used. The SiNx film can be deposited on the entire surface of the carrier by PECVD. SiO ₂ film can then be deposited on top of the SINx by PECVD, SiO ₂ film is patterned such that the area of the SiO ₂ film is disposed on the binding required.

A third way to form a non-bonded region is to use O ₂ plasma to increase the bond strength of the material which would otherwise form a weak bond with the flakes. For example, SiNx (tantalum nitride) can be deposited on the entire surface of the carrier. A shadow mask can be used to mask the unbonded area and then O ₂ plasma is applied to the unmasked area. The SiNx treated by the O ₂ plasma will form a sufficiently strong bond to hold the glass flakes to the support while the untreated SiNx will form a non-bonded region.

A fourth way of forming a non-bonded region is by roughening the surface using a carrier, a sheet, or both. The surface roughness in the non-bonded region is increased with respect to the surface roughness in the bonded region such that the bonding of the sheet to the carrier is not formed upon heating as the device is processed or strengthened in the bonding in the bonded region. Surface roughening can be used with the techniques of the first, second or third modes of forming the unbonded regions. For example, the surface of the carrier is textured or roughened at least in the non-bonded regions. For example, an acid solution can be used to treat the surface of the support to increase the roughness of the surface of the support. For example, the acid in the solution can be H ₂ SO ₄ , NaF/H ₃ PO 4 mixture, HCl or HNO ₃ . Other surface roughening methods include, for example, sand blasting and reactive ion etching (RIE).

According to one embodiment of the fourth aspect, the roughened surface can be provided by printing a glass etch emulsion on one of the desired ones of the wafer and the carrier.

More specifically, reactive ion etching (RIE) and solution etching processes (such as Gateway) require the use of a masking process to form bonding regions and non-bonding regions. Photolithography is expensive but precise. Additional methods such as thin film deposition can also be used to form the non-bonded regions. Films deposited by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), such as fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), tantalum carbide (SiC), and tantalum nitride (SiNx) require expensive photolithographic patterning and wet etching or drying Etching to pattern the unbonded regions. Membranes deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD), such as alumina-doped zinc oxide (AZO) and indium tin oxide (ITO), can be shaded to pattern and form a non-bond in one process step region. However, all of these thin film methods require significant capital investment in vacuum deposition equipment, lithography, and etch performance.

The less capital intensive and less costly path that combines the formation of the unbonded regions with the patterning into one step is a printed glass etch emulsion that can etch and roughen the glass substrate. Glass etching emulsion using fluorine The compound salt acts as an etchant and masks the etched or "frozen" soda lime glass with an inert material. The patterned non-bonded regions can be easily formed on the support at a low cost by screen printing the emulsion. The etch emulsion method for surface roughening imparts the ability to etch a defined pattern to form a non-bonded region, and can induce roughness on the defined regions while leaving the remaining glass surface intact. In addition, the etch emulsion method for surface roughening is versatile in that the viscosity of the emulsion can be adjusted to facilitate screen printing, and the composition of the emulsion can be customized to produce the etching required for different glass compositions. Roughness.

The display glass composition is made to have a high strain point, strong chemical durability, and high rigidity because it can be used for sheets and/or carriers. These properties make the etch rate of the display glass in the etched emulsion much lower than the etch rate of the soda lime glass in the etched emulsion. In addition, multi-component glasses, such as display glasses, may not be uniformly etched. The solubility of multi-component glass can be estimated from the equilibrium solubility theory. Corning's Eagle XG ^TM glass (available from Corning Incorporated in Corning, NY) is a calcium aluminum boron silicate. Estimation Eagle XG ^TM solubility of various compositions using a high concentration of the etching ChemEQL. (http://www.eawag.ch/research_e/surf/Researchgroups/sensors_and_analytic/chemeql.html) - and assumes contact with an infinite solid composed of terminal members that allow precipitation. Figure 18 illustrates calcium (line 1801, triangle data points), aluminum (line 1802, x data points), boron (line 1803, square data points), and enthalpy (line 1804, diamond-shaped data points) in ammonium hydrogen fluoride. The solubility is a function of pH. When the pH is 5 or more, the solubility of calcium is much lower than that of other oxide components. Since emulsion etching is typically close to a neutral pH for improved safety and handling, it is expected that selective etching of the calcium aluminum borosilicate glass leaves calcium oxide and salt precipitate on the etched surface. Figure 19 illustrates the effect of various etched emulsion components on the solubility of aluminum. Substitution of ammonium hydrogen fluoride (line 1902, triangular data points) with ammonium hydrogen fluoride (line 1901, square data points), and partial replacement of ammonium hydrogen fluoride with ammonium chloride (line 1903, x data points) showed little change in solubility to aluminum. Substitution of ammonium with only one monovalent cation has minimal effect (compare lines 1901 and 1902). The addition of chlorine (line 1903) slightly inhibited the dissolved aluminum concentration. However, the addition of sulfuric acid and barium sulphate (as used in the Armour etch emulsion, line 1904, diamond shaped data points) showed a decrease in the solubility of aluminum (compared to line 1901 of ammonium hydrogen fluoride). Furthermore, as seen from Figures 19 and 20, as the total amount of dissolved aluminum decreases (line 1904), the addition of barium sulfate and sulfuric acid (line 2004, diamond-shaped data points) appears to have a significant increase in dissolved calcium total. The amount, as compared to the case of ammonium hydrogen fluoride (line 2001, square data points). Thus, acid-etched emulsions containing acid barium sulfate and sulfuric acid significantly reduce the preferential etching of calcium aluminum borosilicate glass, as compared to etching using only ammonium hydrogen fluoride. Sulfate is a good choice because most of the sulfates are highly soluble except for barium sulfate and barium sulfate, so barium sulfate can be added as a masking material. In addition, it should be noted that the solubility of calcium increases strongly as the pH decreases, so that preferential etching (where calcium is less etched) can be reduced by simply adjusting the pH with sulfuric acid (so that calcium is etched more) And thus more uniform with the remaining glass composition).

Glass-etched emulsions have been shown to produce non-bonded regions. By roughening the surface of the carrier to create a non-bonded area, the carrier (0.63 mm Eagle XG) In combination with thin glass (0.1 mm Eagle XG) and creating a bond area, the van der Waals bonding of the original glass surface of the bond area is allowed before annealing at 500 °C produces strong covalent bonding. In this example, a photoresist mask was patterned by lithography and a commercially available etch emulsion (Armour etch emulsion) was used (10 minutes of etching time) to create a non-bonded region. The calcium aluminum borosilicate glass was etched using an etching emulsion under the conditions used to produce the above examples, and it was found that the surface roughness can be increased from 0.34 nm to 0.42 nm. A typical bonding process was used to combine 0.1 mm glass flakes with a non-bonded central area and strongly bonded edges. This bonded carrier has passed through a vacuum cycle of 70 mTorr, a thermal process up to 600 °C, and a wet process typically LTPS process.

The etch emulsion can be applied to a defined pattern by various printing processes, such as screen printing, ink jet printing, or transfer printing, which apply an etch paste to the area of the carrier to create a non-bonded area. Screen printing is a stencil printing process in which an etched emulsion is forced through an open area of the stencil to reach the carrier via a filling blade or rubber roller during rubber roller striking. The etch emulsion is applied for a predetermined period of time to achieve the desired roughness. The roughness can be varied by varying the application time, temperature or composition of the etched emulsion. For example, the application time at room temperature can be from 2 to 20 minutes. The carrier is washed after the emulsion is etched, typically using a heated aqueous alkaline solution with or without mechanical agitation such as brushing, ultrasonic or megahertz ultrasonic agitation. After rinsing, the substrate is additionally cleaned in a standard wash 1 (SC1) solution consisting of DI water, a base such as ammonium hydroxide or tetramethylammonium hydroxide, and hydrogen peroxide. The carrier is then contacted with a thin glass portion to form a van der Waals bond, and heat treated at 450 ° C or higher (eg, 500 ° C) to A covalent bond is produced between the thin glass and the carrier.

According to a second embodiment of the fourth mode, atmospheric pressure reactive ion etching (AP-RIE) can be used. The glass carrier region can be roughened by using the AP-RIE by using a shadow mask method or a polymer photoresist method. These thin film methods require significant capital investment. If the manufacturer already owns the processing equipment, the manufacturer can leverage the capital investment in existing processing equipment while gaining the manufacturing advantages of glass flakes for PV, OLED, LCD, and other applications.

AP-RIE is a technology used in microfabrication. This process uses chemically reactive plasma to remove material from the substrate. In this process, the plasma is generated by an electromagnetic field using a low pressure (typically a vacuum). High energy ions from the plasma attack the surface of the substrate and create surface roughness. The AP-RIE is delivered using a plasma gun or nozzle directed to the area defined for roughening (ie where a non-bonded area is required). The plasma is attached to the exposed area using two methods. Suitable reactive gases for this purpose are NF ₃ , CF ₄ , C ₂ F ₆ , SF ₆ or any general fluorine gas. The shadow mask method and the polymer photoresist method for performing AP-RIE will now be described. In the description of these methods, the carrier is described as being etched to form a roughened region for the unbonded region. However, depending on the final application of the sheet, the sheet may also or alternatively be etched to form a suitable surface roughness for the unbonded regions.

Shadow mask method

The cost of the shadow mask method is lower than that of the polymer photoresist method, at least in part, because there are fewer process steps and less equipment is required. The mask material can be of several types that are not easily etched, such as metal, plastic, polymerization. Object or ceramic. However, the shadow mask method may be inaccurate than the photoresist method and, therefore, is not suitable for some applications. More specifically, the definition of the exposed edge produced by the shadow mask method is not as well defined as the edge produced by the polymer photoresist method.

The procedure for performing the shadow mask method is as follows. The mask was placed on a glass carrier and the exposed glass carrier region was etched using an AP-RIE plasma. The mask is then removed from the glass carrier. And finally, the glass carrier is cleaned to remove particles that interfere with bonding between the glass sheet and the carrier in the bonding region, the bonding regions being adjacent to the unbonded regions thus created.

Polymer photoresist method

The cost of the polymer photoresist method is higher than the shadow mask method, at least in part, because it involves more capital investment and more process steps. However, this method is more accurate than the shadow mask method and, therefore, can be better adapted to certain applications. The exposed edge produced by the polymer photoresist method is more clearly defined than the exposed edge produced by the shadow mask method. The procedure for performing the polymer photoresist method is as follows. The polymer is photoresist deposited on a glass carrier to mask the desired bonding area. Photolithography (exposure and development photoresist) is performed to define the pattern of the desired bonding area where the surface of the carrier will be roughened. The AP-RIE plasma etching is performed on the exposed area of the glass carrier. Exposure can be done from the front or back of the glass. In either case, the polymer system protection will be the area of the bonding zone.

The polymer is then removed with a polymeric photoresist remover such as an oxygen ash or a sulfur hydroperoxide (SPM) mixture. Finally, the glass carrier is cleaned to remove particles that interfere with the bonding between the glass flakes and the carrier in the desired bonding area.

Suitable cleaning methods after the above AP-RIE method may include Detergent cleaning or RCA type cleaning (as is known in the art). These conventional cleaning methods can be employed after the etching is completed. The cleaning process is primarily used to remove particles that may interfere with the bond between the sheet and the carrier in the desired bonding area. Cleaning processes typically involve removal of organics, additional cleaning, rinsing, and drying.

Detergent cleaning removes particles and light residues in the ultrasonic waves using a cleaning agent such as KG Wash, Parker 225 or Parker 225X. Submicron particles can be removed in a megahertz ultrasonic wave by a cleaning agent such as KG Wash, Parker 225 or Parker 225X. Flushing can include DI water rinsing in ultrasonic or megahertz ultrasonic waves at room temperature to 80 °C. Flushing can also include flushing with IPA. After rinsing, the carrier glass is dried. The carrier of the shadow mask can be dried with an air knife using compressed air. The carrier formed by the polymer photoresist can be dried with nitrogen. In either case, drying can be carried out in a Marangani dryer.

The RCA cleaning process consists of three washing steps, rinsing and drying. The first cleaning step can be performed with SPM to remove heavy organic matter. The second cleaning step may include Standard Wash 1 (SC1) in which aqueous ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, and DI aqueous solutions, as needed, are used with or without ultrasonic or megahertz ultrasonic oscillations. This cleaning step removes small particles from sub-micron particles. After this second cleaning step, the rinsing can be carried out in DI water with or without ultrasonic or megahertz ultrasonic oscillations. Alternatively, washing using a brush may be performed during this second washing step. The material of the brush can be nylon, PVA or PVDF. If brushing is used, then another rinse with DI water can be carried out in an ultrasonic or megahertz ultrasonic oscillation at room temperature to 80 °C. The third cleaning step includes Standard Cleaning 2 (SC2) to remove metal contaminants. SC2 includes HCL:H ₂ O ₂ :DI or HCL:DI solutions with ultrasonic or megahertz ultrasonic oscillations at room temperature to 80 ° C for any desired amount of time. After the third cleaning step, the sample is rinsed in DI water with or without ultrasonic or megahertz ultrasonic oscillations. Finally, the sample was dried with an air knife using compressed air. Alternatively, the sample can be dried in a Marangani dryer using nitrogen.

A fifth way to form a non-bonded region involves the use of a photolithography process. A material that forms a weak bond with the sheet is deposited on the carrier; for example, SiNx can be used for this material. The SiNx is patterned, for example by photolithography, to remove SiNx in the bonded regions, thereby allowing the wafer to contact and bond with the surface of the carrier.

Any of the above methods of forming a non-bonded region can be used in conjunction with the edge bond 80. Referring to Fig. 6, the edge bond 80 can be formed by laser fusing the sheet 20 with the carrier 10, or by applying a frit or polyimine (e.g., between the edge of the sheet 20 and the surface of the carrier 10). The adhesive of the temperature during the expected processing of the device) forms the edge bond 80. As illustrated, the edges of the sheet 20 are recessed from the edges of the carrier 10 to help prevent damage to the sheet 20 by processing equipment or otherwise. The edge bond 80 can extend down to the edge of the carrier, such as above the region 81, to reduce the chance of process fluid entering between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10, and the flow of treatment between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10 will increase the release of the sheet 20 from the carrier. 10 risks. The edge bond 80 may be useful in cases where the sheet 20 is curved, otherwise the sheet 20 may not fully conform to the surface topography of the carrier 10 at the edges; this may be the condition in which the vent strip 70 is used. In any case, the use of edge bonds 80 helps to improve the reliability of the product. degree. Although Figure 6 illustrates the release layer 30 between the sheet and the carrier, this practice can be used with any other means of forming a non-bonded region. Further, the edge bond 80 can provide a complete bond between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10, or can complement other bond areas between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10, such as a bond area formed as described herein.

Release Layer Application - Example 1

The carrier from Cleaning Example 1 was taken out and AZO was sputtered onto the unbonded areas of the carrier. That is, a mask is used to block the sputtered AZO from being applied to the bonding region of the carrier. AZO was deposited from a 0.5 wt% AZO target by RF sputtering at an argon gas flow of 10 mT, 1% O ₂ and an RF power density of 2.5 W/cm ₂ (at the target).

AZO was chosen because AZO can be easily reactively sputtered from low cost metal targets to form crystalline AZO, which can be easily roughened, cleaned, and removed (patterned). The grain structure of the crystallized AZO can provide an appropriate surface roughness. Further, AZO can be immediately roughened or removed by either an acidic solution or an alkaline solution. Specifically, the roughening after deposition can be performed by either an alkaline etching followed by an alkaline etching or an alkaline etching which simultaneously cleans and removes organic matter. The etching was carried out at room temperature using a pH 2 HCl solution with a surface roughness increased from 2.9 nm Ra to 9.0 nm Ra with an etch time of 5 seconds.

Initial bonding process 108

In order to prepare for the initial bonding of the sheet (sheet and/or carrier) having the release layer thereon, a pre-heating step can be used. One purpose of the pre-heating step is to drive off any remaining volatiles after the cleaning and/or release layer is formed. Preheating step Advantageously, the sheet is heated at a temperature that is near or above the temperature during the subsequent processing of the combined carrier/sheet product. If the temperature used in the pre-heating process is lower than the expected device processing temperature, additional volatiles may be driven away during the processing of the device, causing the gas to accumulate in the unbonded region, and thus may be in some instances. The sheet is detached from the carrier or the sheet is broken. Even if the sheet is not separated or broken, such a gas may cause the sheet to bulge, making the sheet unsuitable for processing in, for example, an apparatus or method that requires some kind of sheet flatness.

A heating step can be used to minimize or prevent the formation of adsorbed water on the bonding surface before being combined, which greatly improves the performance at vacuum and high temperatures and allows for a strong bond between the carrier and the thin glass.

The trapped gas, such as air, water or volatiles, induced during the combined process will expand during the custom process due to temperature rise (150 ° C - 600 ° C) or vacuum environment, which will cause the thin glass to decay or Separation, cracking, or bulging in a manner that interferes with custom processes or process equipment. However, a hydroxyl terminal surface is required to bond the glass surface to achieve a bond between the thin glass and the carrier. There is a delicate balance between the sterol termination groups required to remove the physically adsorbed and chemisorbed water from the unbound (roughened) regions without removing the bound regions to maintain the bond between the thin glass and the support.

This balance can be achieved by preparing the following bonding surfaces. The carrier and the thin glass are first cleaned in an existing cleaning line with an alkaline detergent and ultrasonic agitation and DI water rinse. This was followed by O ₂ plasma cleaning and in a diluted SC1 bath at 75 ° C (40:1:2 DI: NH ₄ OH:H ₂ O ₂ or 40:1:2 DI:JTB100:H ₂ O ₂ ) Take 10 minutes. Depending on the nature of the non-bonded surface, the support and the thin glass can be baked at 150 ° C for 1 minute with hot plates to remove physically adsorbed water, or vacuum annealing at 450 ° C for 1 hour to remove chemisorbed water. Immediately after the free water is removed, the thin glass is brought into contact with the carrier to be pre-bonded by van der Waals and heat treated at T > 450 ° C to form a covalent bond.

After the SC1 cleaning process, it is expected that the surface of the glass will have saturated hydroxyl groups (~4.6 OH/nm2, which should form 2.3 H ₂ O/nm ² after condensation), and be covered with a single layer of tightly bound hydrogen-bonded water (~15 H ₂ O/nm 2) and loosely combined free water (~2.5 single layers). Free water will disappear as low as 25 ° C in a vacuum. It has been reported that heating to 190 ° C in a vacuum removes a single layer of hydrogen-bonded water. Additional heating above 400 °C removes all groups except the isolated single sterol group, but this reduces the degree of surface hydroxylation. A temperature in excess of 1000 ° C will be required to remove all of the hydroxyl groups, but in accordance with the present disclosure, it is not necessary to obtain the proper properties of the sheets on the support.

Forming a non-bonded region by an addition process such as alumina-doped zinc oxide (AZO) deposition, or a subtractive process such as reactive ion etching, or etching an emulsion results in increased surface roughness and can result in an increase Chemical changes in the amount of adsorbed water and other gases on the surface. In particular, cleaning AZO with SC1 containing NH ₄ OH and H ₂ O ₂ results in a reaction to form Zn(OH) ₂ . This reaction greatly increases the surface roughness and produces a white, blurred surface. Upon heating, Zn(OH) ₂ begins to decompose at 125 ° C to form ZnO and water. Zinc hydroxide also adsorbs carbon dioxide from the air to form a stable zinc carbonate at 300 °C.

This free water, hydrogen bonded water and decane species for thin glass in the carrier The effect of vacuum compatibility on the upper (composed of strongly bonded peripheral and non-bonded centers) can be achieved by estimating the amount of water in each species and by various PVD, CVD, and dopant activation steps typical of the LTPS process. The ideal gas law is used to calculate the pressure applied when water is expanded.

The vaporization of the condensate should produce a pressure differential of 104 to 106 Torr. This pressure differential will cause the thin glass to bend and detach from the carrier. This deflection increases the volume between the carrier and the sheet, reducing the pressure differential. The applied pressure and the resulting thin glass deflection cause the thin glass to be under tension. If the tension is too large, the possibility of a thin glass failing will become unacceptable in the manufacturing process. Minimizing the risk of failure due to vaporization of surface water can be accomplished by minimizing water prior to bonding.

The effect of removal of gas in the carrier and the thin glass portion by heating prior to bonding, immediately after cleaning, on the vacuum compatibility of the bonded thin glass carrier is illustrated in Tables 2 and 3.

Table 2

These samples included an AZO coated carrier which was washed with an SC1 solution containing either NH ₄ OH or JT Baker 100. As described above, zinc oxide is reacted with an SC1 solution containing NH ₄ OH and H ₂ O ₂ to form Zn(OH) ₂ . The vacuum compatibility of the bonded carrier was evaluated by pumping out the gas in the carrier chamber where the CVD tool was present. This system uses a soft pump valve to slow down the initial vacuum surge and the dry pump reaches a final pressure of <70 mTorr. There is no degassing between cleaning and bonding, all parts fail and the thin glass breaks under near atmospheric pressure. Table 2 shows that the effect of degassing for 1 minute on a hot plate at 150 °C shifted the failure point of the AZO sample washed in Baker 100 to around 1 Torr, while the sample washed with NH ₄ OH continued to fail near atmospheric pressure. From the hydration studies of the ceria surface stated above, it is expected that most of the hydrogen-bonded water can be removed by degassing for 1 minute on a hot plate at 150 °C. However, the decomposition of Zn(OH) ₂ and Zn(CO) ₃ may be incomplete. A comparison of Samples 2-1 through 2-7 shows that it is helpful to degas the heated plate at 150 ° C for 1 minute, but it is not sufficient to perform it alone. Further, samples 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, and 2-4 washed with JTB 100 were compared with samples 2-5, 2-6, and 2-7 washed with NH ₄ OH, and the two were displayed. There are very few differences between cleaning solutions. Table 3 shows the effect of vacuum annealing at 450 ° C for 1 hour on the vacuum survival of the support. All binding carriers in the binding zone without hydrazine (visible prior to testing) were tested by vacuum, regardless of the chemical used in the cleaning. Comparing the samples of Table 3 with the samples of Table 2 showed that higher temperatures and longer heating times were more effective in improving the ability of the flakes and the carrier to safely pass vacuum conditions. When used in combination, these two heating steps were found to be very effective. Specifically, the gas of the carrier coated with the patterned AZO is removed by vacuum annealing at 450 ° C for 1 hour (for example, according to the agreement of the sample of Table 3) and the thin glass is removed by heating on a hot plate at 150 ° C for 1 minute. The gas (to be combined with the carrier) (for example, according to the agreement of the sample of Table 2), 32 of the 32 samples produced passed the vacuum test. Although glass flakes may have accepted the agreement for the sample in Table 3, the lower temperatures and shorter times agreed in Table 2 may be more economical in some cases.

After any heating step, the sheet is then interconnected with the carrier touch. One way of doing this is to float the sheet on top of the carrier and then cause a slight contact between the sheet and the carrier. Binding (e.g., a combination of van der Waals type) occurs at the point of contact and extends throughout the interface between the sheet and the carrier. It is advantageous to avoid trapping of air bubbles (air or other gases in the initial bonding environment) between the sheet and the carrier, as such trapped gas may expand during subsequent processing of the device (due to processing temperatures or vacuum conditions), And in some instances, the sheet is released from the carrier or the sheet is broken. Further, as for the volatile matter described above, even if the sheet is not separated or broken, the trapped gas may cause the sheet to be convex, making the sheet unsuitable for processing in, for example, an apparatus or method requiring some kind of sheet flatness.

One way to avoid air bubbles is to bend the sheet and/or carrier while making the contact points and then relax the bend until the sheet and carrier are straightened. If the bubble is trapped between the sheet and the carrier, it is advantageous to remove the bubble by applying directional pressure to the bubble until the bubble escaping (e.g., from the edge of the article or via the venting channel). At this stage, after the initial bonding is completed, the article can be processed without fear of entanglement of particles between the sheet and the carrier. Thus, for example, the article can then be treated outside the clean room to facilitate processing.

Another way to avoid air bubbles is to perform initial bonding in a vacuum environment to aid in the removal of gas from the sheet and carrier. However, it is desirable to have a film of water on the surface to be bonded, even if it is a single layer. These two competing benefits of removing gases, volatiles, and water vapor from the unbonded zone to limit trapped gases but still having water in the bonded zone can be provided by flowing water vapor through the vacuum environment. These competitive benefits can be provided by choosing the appropriate temperature, relative humidity, and flow rate.

If a sufficient amount of volatiles is not removed from the sheet having the release layer thereon prior to the initial bonding of the sheet to the carrier, degassing may be further performed after the initial bonding. At this point in time, the article can be heated at a temperature sufficient to initiate further vaporization. However, if the bond area forms a complete seal around the unbonded area (this is required to prevent device process fluid from entering between the sheet and the carrier, the process process fluid may contaminate the downstream process, ie the seal is sealed), Removal of volatile gases will cause the lamella to bulge. The protrusion can be eliminated by applying sufficient directional pressure to force the trapped gas to escape from between the sheet and the carrier, such as at the edge, or via the exhaust passage as described below. Other exhaust locations can be provided as described below. If desired, the article can be allowed to cool to room temperature at this stage.

Initial combination - example 1

The carrier from Wash Example-2 was taken out and placed on a hot plate at 250 ° C for 5 minutes, and then the carrier was returned to room temperature. The sheet from Cleaning Example-1 was floated on top of the carrier. The sheet is forced into point contact with the carrier at a location inside the edge of the sheet and within the bonded area. A bond is formed between the sheet and the carrier, and it is observed that the bond extends throughout the bond area. The article is then heated on a hot plate at a temperature between 350 ° C and 400 ° C. A projection in the unbonded area is observed and the projection is subsequently extruded from between the sheet and the carrier.

Exhaust non-bonding zone

When the gas trapped in the unbonded region 50 expands (e.g., when the article 2 is in a warming environment, such as during bonding strengthening), steps can be taken to reduce the amount of protrusion of the sheet 20 and/or other adverse effects on the sheet 20. . cut back One way of these undesirable effects is to provide an exhaust strip 70 that extends from the unbonded region 50 through the bond region 40 to the edge of the sheet 20. Referring to Figure 7, the exhaust strip 70 can be formed in the same or different manner as the unbonded region. . Advantageously, the vent strip 70 is formed as the same release layer material as the unbonded region 50. The number and location of the vent strips 70 will depend on the size and shape of the unbonded regions. The vent strip 70 allows gas escaping between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10 during any process of heating the article 2 (e.g., during a bonding intensification process) or when the article 2 is in a vacuum environment. The vent strip 70 has a width 71 and creates a non-bonding effect between the lamella 20 and the carrier 10 over a width 73 that is greater than the width 71. Any suitable number of vent strips 70 can be used, depending on the size and thickness of the non-bonded regions 50.

When the article 2 is in a vacuum environment, the vent strip 70 can also be used to improve the performance of the article 2 during initial bonding or device processing. For example, the initial bonding can be performed in a vacuum environment to reduce the amount of gas trapped between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10, and/or to facilitate an initial bonding process. That is, when the initial bonding process is performed in a vacuum environment, the vent strip 70 allows gas to escape from between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10 as initial bonding occurs. At the end of the initial bonding process, although the article is still in a vacuum environment, the venting holes are sealed such that gas and moisture do not enter between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10. Alternatively, for example, after the sheet 20 has been bonded to the carrier 10 (by either initial bonding and/or bonding reinforcement), the article 2 can be placed in a vacuum environment, and the vent strip 70 is, for example, with the sheet 20 The edges of the edges are sealed. In this way, the amount of gas trapped between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10 can be reduced, thereby minimizing the adverse effects of trapped gases in a vacuum or elevated temperature environment, during device processing. Of course This seal prevents air and moisture from entering the vent strip 70 again.

One way to seal the vent strip 70 is to place the article 2 in an atomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber, evacuate the chamber, and then deposit a thin coating over the ends of the vent strip 70 at the edge of the sheet 20. ALD involves a single layer pulse of reactants that can diffuse and penetrate into narrow features, such as the ends of the vent strip 70, and adsorb before reacting with the second pulse of another precursor. For example, in ALD deposition of Al ₂ O ₃ , a single layer of aluminum precursor (such as trimethyl aluminum) reacts with a single layer of water to form Al ₂ O ₃ .

Exhaust strip - example 1

The carrier from the release layer application - Example 1 was additionally patterned with four vents (100 microns each). The carrier was then treated according to the initial binding example-1 and the increased binding strength example-1. After bonding reinforcement, the width 73 extends about 0.5 mm on either side of the width 71. The sample safely passed the initial vacuum test at 100 mTorr.

Exhaust strip - example 2

The carrier from the release layer application - Example 1 was additionally patterned with eight vents (100 microns each). The carrier was then treated according to the initial binding example-1 and the increased binding strength example-1. After bonding reinforcement, the width 73 extends about 0.5 mm on either side of the width 71. The sample safely passed the initial vacuum test at 100 mTorr.

Exhaust strip - example 3

The carrier from the release layer application - Example 1 was additionally patterned with four vents (1 mm each). The carrier was then treated according to the initial binding example-1 and the increased binding strength example-1. After bonding reinforcement, the width 73 is in width Each side of 71 extends approximately 0.5 mm. The sample safely passed the initial vacuum test at 100 mTorr.

Exhaust strip - example 4

The carrier from the release layer application - Example 1 was additionally patterned with four vents (each width 10 mm). The carrier was then treated according to the initial binding example-1 and the increased binding strength example-1. After bonding reinforcement, the width 73 extends about 0.5 mm on either side of the width 71. The sample safely passed the initial vacuum test at 100 mTorr.

Exhaust strip - example 5

The carrier from the release layer application - Example 1 was additionally patterned with four vents (25 mm each). The carrier was then treated according to the initial binding example-1 and the increased binding strength example-1. After bonding reinforcement, the width 73 extends about 0.5 mm on either side of the width 71. The sample safely passed the initial vacuum test at 100 mTorr.

As an alternative to, or in addition to, the vent strip 70, the grooves may be made in the carrier 10 itself. That is, instead of forming a strip of non-bonded regions by bonding the regions to the edges of the article 2 (or suitably to the edges of the sheet 20), the recessed paths (or grooves) in the carrier 10 can also perform the same function. Alternatively, instead of the grooves in the carrier 10, grooves may be formed in the sheet 20 or grooves may be formed in both the sheet 20 and the carrier 10. The position of the groove may be similar to the position of the vent strip 70 illustrated in FIG. In any event, the grooves allow the vacuum environment to remove gas and/or moisture between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10 at any point in the initial bonding, bonding strengthening process, and/or prior to device processing. Although still in a vacuum environment, polymer injection can also be used Incorporating and curing to seal the trench, such as a polyimide, a heat curable polymer or an ultraviolet curable polymer. Alternatively, the trench can be sealed by heating the frit placed in the trench, or by directly heating the material in the vicinity of the trench to melt and/or fuse the closed trench, for example by laser heating. Such a groove can be disposed in the same structure and number as the exhaust strip 70. However, because the grooves can be made to have a larger cross section than the vent strip 70, fewer grooves can be used. Moreover, in order to use fewer trenches, the trenches may extend into the non-bonded regions 50, and in some embodiments, the trenches may even extend to the center of the unbonded regions 50. The number of grooves and/or vacuum strips may depend on the size of the non-bonded regions 50.

Strengthening the bond between the sheet and the carrier in the desired area - 110

The bond formed between the carrier and the sheet at 108 can be enhanced by various processes such that the article 2 can withstand the harsh conditions of device processing (eg, high temperatures (eg, above 350 ° C, 400 ° C, 450 ° C, 500 ° C, 550 ° C). Or a temperature of 600 ° C) vacuum environment and / or high pressure fluid spray), and the sheet does not leave the carrier.

One way to strengthen the bond between the sheet and the carrier is to perform anodic bonding. One way of anodic bonding is described in US 2012/0001293, which is also discussed by the use of barrier layer deposition and the use of an anodic bond for adhering a barrier layer to a substrate to bond the glass sheet to the carrier substrate.

Another way to strengthen the bond between the sheet and the carrier is through the use of temperature and pressure, wherein the article (including the sheet and carrier) is heated and the article is subjected to pressure application. Pressure application can be performed by contacting the carrier and the sheet with a thin sheet or applying fluid pressure to the article, for example, in a pressure chamber. Sheet itself Can be used as a heat source, or the sheet can be placed in a heated environment. The amount of pressure used can vary depending on the temperature, for example less pressure may be required as the temperature increases.

When a pressure plate is used, a spacer or a filler sheet can be used between the sheet and the sheet to which pressure is applied to the sheet. The spacer is shaped to contact the sheet in the bond area and to contact as many bond areas as possible. One advantage of using a spacer is that the spacer can allow the amount of lamellae to be equal to the thickness of the spacer during application of heat and pressure during bonding reinforcement. The projections may be of an amount that is acceptable during processing of the device but may still cause trouble or damage to the sheet during bonding strengthening. Such protrusions may occur if there is still a limited amount of volatiles and/or bubbles between the sheets in the unbonded area and the carrier. Alternatively, the pressure application plate may be shaped to have a recess or concave or otherwise such that the pressure application plate does not directly contact the sheet in the unbonded region. In this way, the sheet can be allowed to have acceptable protrusions during the bonding strengthening process. If the sheet is not allowed to have protrusions, the pressure accumulated in the unbonded area in certain circumstances (e.g., with a sufficient amount of residual volatiles and/or air pockets) may interfere with the bonding enhancement in the bonded area.

As for heating the article to increase the bond strength, heating at a temperature of from about 400 ° C to about 625 ° C has produced acceptable bond strength. In general, when the temperature is increased, the bonding strength is increased. The upper temperature limit imposed is defined by the strain point of the material involved (ie, the material of the carrier and/or the material of the sheet). As for applying pressure to the article to increase the bonding strength, similar to the temperature, the bonding strength is also increased as the pressure is increased. As a matter of practicality, from the viewpoint of manufacturing ability, it is desirable to be able to produce an acceptable bonding strength at a pressure and temperature as low as possible.

When the initial bonding zone is heated by laser, in an environment with atmospheric pressure, it is possible to achieve an acceptable glass-to-glass bond between the foil and the carrier when the release layer is thin enough.

For example, the glass pairs discussed in the heading "Direct Bonding of Articles Containing Silicon" can be used, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 6,814,833 B2 to R Sabia, Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY. Glass bonding techniques combine glass flakes with a carrier in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure.

Improve bonding strength example-1

The article obtained from the initial bonding example-1 was taken out at room temperature, and the article was placed between the hot platens, using graphene sheets (already patterned so that the graphene material matches the pattern of the bonding region, and in the sheet The cut-out portion in the pattern matches the pattern of the non-bonded region) as a filled sheet between the sheet and the hot platen. The sheets are brought into contact with the article together without any significant pressure being applied. The sheets were heated at a temperature of 300 ° C without applying significant pressure to the article. The sheets were raised from room temperature to 300 ° C and held for 5 minutes. The sheets were then heated from 300 ° C to 625 ° C at the same time at a rate of 40 ° C/min to increase the pressure on the article to 20 psi. This state is maintained for 5 minutes, then the heater is turned off and the pressure is released. The sheets were allowed to cool to 250 ° C and the articles were removed from the press at 250 ° C and cooled to room temperature. Upon examination, it was found that the article had a combination of the sheet and the carrier in the bonded region as a single block, and the sheet and the carrier were extremely separated individuals in the unbound region.

Improve bonding strength example-2 (comparative example)

Carrying out the process described in Example 1 of improving the bonding strength, which is different It is only at a maximum temperature of 180 ° C and a pressure of 100 psi. These conditions do not produce acceptable bond strength for high temperature, low pressure plant processing conditions.

Remove the desired portion of the sheet from the carrier - 116

One of the main challenges of the concept of flexible glass on a carrier is the ability to remove the desired portion of the sheet from the carrier. Referring to Figures 1, 2, and 8-12, this section outlines a novel method that uses the scoring wheel 90 to perform free-form scoring and remove the desired portion 56 of the sheet 20 from the carrier 10. The method also describes a method of performing a free-form overall cut of the sheet 20 using a laser beam 94 (e.g., a CO ₂ laser beam) that, together with mechanical scribing, produces a series of release apertures 61, 63, 65, 67 and/or 69, to remove the portion 56 of the desired sheet 20 from the carrier 10.

This method avoids the need to detach the entire sheet 20 from the carrier 10; reducing the likelihood of breakage of the sheet 20. Conversely, efficiency can be achieved by cutting and removing only the desired portion 56, which can be any of a thin film transistor (TFT), a color filter (CF), a touch, or other film. Moreover, since mechanical cutting and laser cutting do not cut beyond the thickness 22 of the sheet 20, the carrier can be reused (after cleaning away unnecessary sheet portions from the carrier) and reducing overall manufacturing costs.

Next, referring to Figures 1 and 2, how to remove the portion 56 of the desired sheet 20 from the carrier 10, that is, the portion on which the device or other desired structure is formed, will be described.

In order to remove the desired portion 56 from the carrier 10, several cuts are made in the sheet 20. The cuts may be score lines or vent lines, such as when fabricated by mechanical means such as scoring wheel 90. Alternatively, a laser 94 (eg, a carbon dioxide laser) can be used to create a vent or overall cut through the entire thickness 22. The vent has a depth 62. In order to easily and reliably remove the desired portion 56, the depth 62 is selected as 50% of thickness 22. If the vent depth 62 is less than 50% of the thickness 22, since the lamella 20 and the carrier 10 are bonded to each other, the lamella 20 and the carrier 10 will not be able to shrink enough to allow the vent to extend through the entire thickness 22 to form a release. The cutting of portion 56. In overall laser cutting, the vent depth 62 will be 100% of the thickness 22. For simplicity of explanation and explanation, the venting holes will be described below as venting holes made through less than the entire thickness 22. Furthermore, although all of the venting holes illustrated have the same depth 62, this is not required; rather, the venting holes may have different depths from each other.

The vent hole includes a peripheral vent hole 60, the y direction releases the vent holes 61, 63, and the x direction releases the vent holes 65, 67, 69. The peripheral venting opening 60 is along the perimeter 57 of the desired portion 56 and is formed within the perimeter 52 of the unbonded region 50. The release vent is illustrated as having various configurations relative to the combined region 40 and the unbonded region 50 and relative to the peripheral vent 60, which may be a situation, or the release vent may have a similar structure. For example, the y-direction vent 61 is illustrated as extending within both the bond region 40 and the non-bond region 50, ie, the y-direction vent 61 intersects the perimeter 52, but does not extend to the perimeter of the sheet 20. The venting opening 61 is spaced from the periphery of the sheet 20 by a distance 66. The distance 66 can be chosen to be any suitable value, including zero. In the case where the distance 66 is zero, then the vent holes will have the structure of the venting holes 63. Similar to the vent hole 61, the x-direction vent hole 65 is in the bonded region 40 and the non-bonded region 50 extends within both and is spaced from the periphery of the sheet 20. The venting opening 67 is completely within the unbonded region 50 and does not reach the perimeter 52. Likewise, the venting opening 69 is completely within the non-bonding region 50 and does not extend to the perimeter 52. In one configuration, as illustrated by the venting opening 65, the venting opening is positioned to be co-linear with the straight portion of the peripheral venting opening 60. In another configuration, as illustrated by venting openings 63, 67, 69, the venting opening is perpendicular to the straight portion of peripheral venting opening 60. In another configuration, as illustrated by venting opening 61, the venting opening can be aligned with the curved portion of peripheral venting opening 60.

Common to all of the venting holes 61, 63, 65, 67, 69 is that none of the venting holes extend to contact the peripheral venting opening 60. It is desirable to maintain the perimeter 57 of the desired portion 56 as high quality as possible. That is, the strength of portion 56 will depend, at least in part, on the edge strength of perimeter 57. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid damage to the periphery 57. When the venting holes 61, 63, 65, 67, 69 are made, the laser of the scoring wheel or the over-shot target may cause damage to the periphery 57, thereby weakening the desired portion 56. On the other hand, the venting opening extending through the sheet 20 toward the periphery 57 will stop at the peripheral venting opening 60 without causing damage to the periphery 57. Moreover, the venting holes are configured to come within the distance 64 of the peripheral venting holes 60. Choose a distance of 64 500 microns, for example 400 microns, 300 microns, 200 microns, 100 micron, 50 microns, 25 microns, 10 microns, or 5 microns. If the distance 64 is greater than 500 microns, there is an undesired likelihood that the venting opening will not be encountered at the desired location when the vent extends.

Any suitable number of venting holes 61, 63, 65, 67, 69 can be used. That is, any suitable number of vents, or any suitable number of vent types, can be used. However, the inventors have discovered that using This venting opening at an angle facilitates removal of the desired portion 56. That is, it is advantageous to use both the x-direction and the y-direction vent hole together with respect to the exhaust hole using only the x-direction type or only the y-direction type.

After forming all of the venting holes 60, 61, 63, 65, 67, 69, the carrier 10 and the sheet 20 will contract to extend the venting holes 60, 61, 63, 65, 67, 69 through the thickness 22, and The exhaust holes 61, 63, 65, 67, 69 are in respective x or y directions so as to hit the peripheral exhaust holes 60. Next, as illustrated in Fig. 12, the desired portion 56 can be removed by spalling, such as by attaching the suction cup 91 and pulling the desired portion 56 away from the carrier 10. To facilitate removal, air or liquid may be forced to flow between the desired portion 56 and the carrier 10 as the desired portion 56 is pulled. Since the periphery 57 of the desired portion 56 is entirely in the non-bonding region 50, the sheet 20 can be easily removed from the carrier 10 without damaging the sheet 20.

A second embodiment of taking out the desired portion 56 will be described in conjunction with Figures 1, 2, 8, and 9. In this embodiment, the differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and the remaining elements are similar to those described with respect to the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals are used throughout the embodiments to denote the same elements.

In the present embodiment, the peripheral venting holes 60 and the desired venting holes 61, 63, 65, 67, 69 are formed as in the first embodiment. The carrier 10 and the sheet 20 are also contracted to extend the vent holes 60, 61, 63, 65, 67, 69. Further, as seen in Fig. 9, when the sheet 20 and the carrier 10 are supported by the flexible elastic bottom plate 98, a press or a breaking rod 92 can be used to apply pressure to the sheet 20 and the carrier 10. The pressure system is applied to the right side of the periphery 57 (peripheral venting opening 60), and generally along a line parallel to the line passing through the venting opening 61 and the venting opening 63, In order to allow the venting opening 61 and the venting opening 63 to extend not only through the sheet 20 but also through the carrier 10, as indicated by the dashed lines extending through the thickness of the carrier 10 in FIG. That is, the bonding of the interface 41 between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10 is so strong that these elements behave like a single block in the bonding region 40. Therefore, since the vent holes 61, 63 extend over the surface of the sheet 20 above the interface 41, when the vent holes 61, 63 are extended, the vent holes 61, 63 can be made to extend beyond the sheet 20 Pass the carrier 10. The extension of the venting opening through the carrier 10 is not well controlled, especially outside of the bonding region 40, but it is also not necessary to extend the venting opening through the carrier 10 well. While there may be serrated edges on the sheet 10 on the exterior of the bond area 40 and/or on the outside of the perimeter 57 (peripheral vent 60), the primary task is to remove a portion of the sheet 20 to allow the desired portion 56. Sliding away from the carrier 10, for example in the direction of the arrow 58 illustrated in Figure 8. That is, although any of the existing van der Waals forces may be relatively strong when the sheet 20 is pulled to lift the sheet 20 away from the carrier, these forces are weak in terms of shear forces. Thus, removing a portion of the sheet 20 with a portion of the carrier 10 thereby allowing the desired portion 56 to slide away from the carrier 10 greatly facilitates removal of the desired portion 56. Of course, a press or a rupture rod extending in the x direction can be used to extend the venting holes 65 and 69 through the carrier 10 to allow the desired portion 56 to slide away from the carrier 10 in the y direction.

Although the scribe line is illustrated as being formed on the sheet 20, this is not necessarily the case, and the scribe line can be formed in the joint region 40. That is, at the bonding region 40, the sheet 20 and the carrier 10 behave as a single block, wherein any scribe will extend through to the other as the article is bent. Thus, the score in the bond area can be formed on either the sheet side or the carrier side of the article.

Using mechanical scribing to remove the parts includes the following steps:

1. The sheet is scored along the desired contour, i.e., the perimeter vent 60 is formed in the unbonded region 50 using the scoring wheel 90. The type of the scoring wheel, the scoring pressure and the scoring speed are selected to produce a venting opening having a depth 62 (D) equal to or greater than half the thickness of the sheet 22 (T), ie (D 0.5T). Multiple contours can be scored prior to removal. The scored outline may have rounded corners or may have sharp corners.

2. Forming a pattern such as a release cut or venting opening 61, 63, 65, 67 and/or 69 to remove the desired portion 56. If the desired portion 56 to be taken out has a rectangular shape (or a rectangular shape with rounded corners), a release vent hole should be formed at each corner of the desired portion 56 in a direction perpendicular to each side of the portion ( See Figures 1 and 8). If the desired portion 56 is "large", one or more additional release vents 67 can be made between the corners. The release cut (venting opening) should extend to a peripheral venting opening 60 (preferably within less than 0.5 mm) proximate the contour 57 of the desired portion 56, but such release cuts (venting holes) should not be The contours intersect or "touch" to avoid damaging the edges of the portion.

3. After scribing the outline of the portion (ie, forming the peripheral venting opening 60) and after forming the release venting opening (one or more types selected from the group consisting of 61, 63, 65, 67, 69) The flexible glass should be slightly constricted (bent) with the carrier 10 around the periphery 57 of the desired portion 56 such that the vents extend through the thickness 22 of the sheet 20 to achieve complete separation of the desired portion 56.

4. Approaching an angle orthogonal to the surface (ie, with the surface of the sheet 20) At 60-90 degree angle, the desired portion 56 is peeled from the interior of the carrier 10 by suction to overcome any Van der Waals force on the non-bonded region 50 to complete the removal without destroying the desired portion, see Figure 12.

Another method of taking out is illustrated by Figs. 8 and 9. The method includes bending and breaking the carrier 10 along one side of the desired portion 56 using the release vents 61, 63 on the bonding region 40 as the beginning of the fracture. The carrier should be placed on a relatively flexible material 98. The venting opening begins at the release vent 61 or 63 on the bond area 40, and the crack extends under the lamella 20 along the rupture rod 92 through the carrier 10 by the bending stress generated by the rupture rod 92. After the carrier 10 and the portion of the sheet 20 project to the right of the vent holes 61, 63, as illustrated in Fig. 8, the desired portion 56 is broken from the right side (as illustrated in Fig. 8), The desired portion 56 can then slide away from the carrier in the direction of arrow 58.

Instead of mechanical scoring or in addition to mechanical scribing, laser cutting can be used. By way of example, with reference to Figure 10 below, the use of CO ₂ laser may be advantageous.

When the CO ₂ laser beam 94 is used to make the peripheral venting opening 60 to cut the periphery 57 of the desired portion 56, the same technique and manner as described above can be used to form the venting opening and take out (whether by peeling or slipping). To be done. However, unlike mechanical scoring, the CO ₂ laser can cut the sheet 20 in its entirety. The CO ₂ laser cutting does not require the shrinkage of the carrier 10 and the sheet 20 to extend the venting holes through the thickness 22, so it may be advantageous to use laser cutting for the thicker carrier 10. Cutting the peripheral venting opening 60 at least by laser can also produce a high quality portion of the edge having a higher strength, with a more reliable peeling procedure and a higher desired portion 56 take-out yield. For CO ₂ laser cutting, the laser beam 94 is focused to a small diameter circular beam shape on the surface of the sheet 20, and moves along a desired track, behind and follow the coolant nozzle 96. The beginning of the laser separation can be performed by the same scoring wheel 90, which forms the release vent. The coolant nozzle 96 can be, for example, an air nozzle that delivers a compressed gas stream to the surface of the sheet via a small diameter orifice. The use of water or gas-liquid spray is preferred because water or gas-liquid spray can increase the attractive force between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10.

As illustrated in Figures 11 and 16, one design of the nozzle 96 includes a showerhead 200 having four small diameter holes 201, 202, 203, 204 for emitting a cooling liquid for cutting the rectangular portion. The aperture is preferably 1 mm, each hole 201, 202, 203, 204 is used for cutting in one direction. When the laser beam 94 emitted via the aperture 205 approaches the angle of the peripheral vent 60 (eg, a 90 degree angle), the control system (not shown) gradually closes one aperture and opens the other aperture to, for example, the first Make a cut in the vertical direction of the cut. Alternatively, it is not necessary to move the head 200 in the vertical direction. That is, the holes 201, 202, 203, and 204 are illustrated as being placed at an angle of 90 degrees to each other near the periphery of the head 200, but this is not essential.

Although the configuration of the above four cooling holes 201-204 is advantageous for cutting a generally rectangular portion, it may have a different configuration. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 16, the first hole 201 may be in the position shown, but the second hole 212 may be located at a position 120° clockwise from the first hole 201, and the third hole 213 may The position is another 90° clockwise from the second hole 212. In this way, you can use these holes to cut rectangular patterns, such as The head 200 is moved in a first direction that is linear with the laser hole 205 and the first cooling hole 201, and then goes up along a line that is straight with the line extending between the laser hole 205 and the second cooling hole 212. (as indicated in Fig. 16), then downward along a line that is straight with the line extending between the laser aperture 205 and the third aperture 213 (as illustrated in Fig. 16). Of course, any desired number of cooling holes can be used to fit the peripheral vents 60 of various shapes.

As illustrated in Fig. 17, another design of the nozzle includes a showerhead 200 having a cooling aperture 201 and a rotating mechanism (not shown, but which can rotate the showerhead 200 in the direction of arrow 215) when the showerhead 200 is moved When passing through the corners of the peripheral venting opening 60, the showerhead 200 allows the cooling aperture 201 to follow the laser beam (emitted from the aperture 205). As can be seen from Figures 10, 11, 16, and 17, the laser and cooling nozzles can be separate or the laser and cooling nozzles can be delivered via the same nozzle.

Another advantage of CO ₂ lasers is that the laser beam can locally heat the flexible glass and the carrier, while reducing the attractive force between the glasses. Laser heating can also cause local deformation of the flexible glass, making the removal process easier.

Sheet/carrier product and process

The above description has been made from the sheet 20 combined with the carrier 10 to form a desired portion 56. However, any desired number of desired portions 56 can be made from the sheet 20 bonded to the carrier 10, depending on the size of the sheet 20 and the size of the desired portion 56. For example, the sheet may be of the size of Gen 2 or larger, such as Gen 3, Gen 4, Gen 5, Gen 8 or larger (eg from 100 mm x 100 mm to 3 meters x 3 meters or more) Slice size). In order for the user to decide To configure the desired portion 56 from a sheet 20 associated with the carrier 10 (as for example in terms of size, number and shape of the desired portion 56), the sheet 20 can be supplied as illustrated in Figures 13 and 14. . More specifically, an article 2 having a sheet 20 and a carrier 10 is provided, the sheet 20 is bonded to the carrier 10 at a bonding region 40, and the bonding region 40 surrounds the non-bonding region 50.

Bonding zone 40 is located at the periphery of sheet 20. Advantageously, the bonding zone 40 seals any gaps between the sheet 20 and the carrier 10 at the periphery of the article 2 such that process fluids do not get trapped because process fluids trapped in various ways can contaminate the subsequent process of transporting the article 2.

The non-bonded region 50 can be produced by any of the methods or materials described above. However, it is particularly appropriate to apply a release layer of a material that is expected to maintain its unbonded nature with the sheet 20 at the temperature during processing of the device (but at a higher temperature, can be combined with the sheet 20). Carrier. For example, the release layer 30 can be made of an inorganic material such as an oxide film. For example, the materials may be selected from the group consisting of ITO (indium tin oxide), SiO, SiO ₂ , F-SiO ₂ , SnO ₂ , F-SnO ₂ , Bi ₂ O ₃ , AZO, GAO, Ga ₂ O. ₃ , Al ₂ O ₃ , MgO, Y ₂ O ₃ , La ₂ O ₃ , Pr ₆ O ₁₁ , Pr ₂ O ₃ , Sc ₂ O ₃ , WO ₃ , HfO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , ZrO ₂ , Nd ₂ O ₃ , Ta ₂ O ₅ , CeO ₂ , Nb ₂ O ₅ , TiO, TiO ₂ , Ti ₃ O ₅ , F-TiO ₂ , TiN (titanium nitride), TiON (titanium oxide), NiO, ZnO or the like One or more of the combinations of substances. Suitable metals include, for example, aluminum, molybdenum, and tungsten. Such materials will not bond with the glass flakes 20 when heated to a temperature of about 450 to 600 °C. However, when heated to (predetermined temperature Such material will be combined with the glass flakes 20 when it is at a temperature of 100 degrees to the strain point of the glass flakes or, for example, within 50 degrees of the strain point of the glass flakes in some embodiments. In some examples, sputtered metals such as Ti, Si, Sn, Au, Ag, Al, Cr, Cu, Mg may be used. Thus, the non-bonded region 50 will retain its ability to release a portion of the sheet 20, even after the article 2 has been processed at temperatures up to 450 to 600 °C. Alternatively, a portion of the release layer 30 can be selectively bonded to the glass sheet 20 by heating to a predetermined temperature, such as by laser, other grating heat source, heating coil or induction heater. carry out. More generally, other suitable materials for the non-bonded regions include metal oxides, metal oxynitrides or metal nitrides, wherein the metal components may include In, Si, Sn, Bi, Zn, Ga, Al, Mg, Ca, Y, La, Pr, Sc, W, Hf, Zr, Nd, Ta, Ce, Nb, Ti, Mo or a combination of the above.

A specific way of accomplishing this function (allowing the formation of bonding regions 40 of various shapes after the sheet 20 has been bonded to the carrier 10 near the periphery of the sheet 20) will now be described. This specific manner includes forming the release layer 30 by depositing a ruthenium film of about 100-500 nm thick on the carrier 10 (made of glass, such as Corning's Eagle code glass) by sputtering or PECVD. The surface of the ruthenium film was dehydrogenated by heat, and a metal film of 100-500 nm thick was sputtered on the back surface of the sheet 20. Select the metal so that the metal will be at high temperatures (eg 600 ° C) and telluride to form a telluride, and due to the grain size in the sputtering, the metal will have sufficient surface roughness (such as Ra 2 nm) to form a non-bonded region. Local heating through the carrier 10 by laser irradiation will cause the ruthenium to react with the metal to form a refractory ruthenium and form a bonding region 40. Suitable metals include (and are not limited to) aluminum, molybdenum, and tungsten.

In order to produce the desired number of desired portions 56 on an article 2, Thus, a desired number of non-bonded regions 50 are produced, and the non-bonded regions 50 are surrounded by a combined contour 42 (see Figure 15). The bonding layer 42 can be selectively formed by selectively heating the release layer 30 to a predetermined temperature in a desired shape by laser, and the release layer 30 will adhere and seal upon heating to a predetermined temperature. On the sheet 20. Thereafter, the article 2 is treated to form a device within the area defined by the contour 42. After processing of the device, the desired portion 56 can be separated from the carrier 10 by any of the methods described above. In the event that the desired portion 56 needs to be slid away from the carrier, the article 2 can be first cut into any number of fewer sheets by cutting between suitable adjacent contours 42, such as along any pattern or subset of dashed lines 5. Alternatively, the article 2 can be cut along a line that is made to intersect the peripheral venting aperture that defines the perimeter 57 of the desired portion 56. In this manner, as described above with respect to Figures 8 and 9, only minor steps are required to slide the desired portion 56 away from the carrier. After the article 2 is cut, further processing of the device on the sheet 20 can be performed.

in conclusion

The hermeticity test of the article (in this case, the thin glass on the carrier) can be accomplished by several methods, including visual or microscopic measurement of any area in which the liquid or gas intrudes or leaves the sealed article.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly any of the "preferred" embodiments, are merely possible embodiments, and are merely intended to provide a clear understanding of the various principles of the present invention. Many variations and modifications of the embodiments of the invention described above are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure and the scope of the following claims.

2‧‧‧Products

3‧‧‧ arrow

10‧‧‧ Carrier

20‧‧‧Sheet

40‧‧‧Combined area

50‧‧‧Unbonded area

52‧‧‧around

56‧‧‧ required parts

60‧‧‧ peripheral vents

61‧‧‧ venting holes

63‧‧‧ venting holes

64‧‧‧ Distance

65‧‧‧ venting holes

66‧‧‧distance

67‧‧‧ venting holes

69‧‧‧ venting holes

Claims (1)

A cutting apparatus comprising: a showerhead having a plurality of apertures; a laser source optically coupled to one of the plurality of apertures for transmitting a laser beam through the first a hole; and a cooling fluid source, the cooling fluid source is in fluid communication with at least one of the plurality of holes and the at least one third hole, wherein the first line is disposed at a first angle with a second line The first line extends from the first hole to the second hole, and the second line extends from the first hole to the third hole, wherein the first hole, the second hole and the third hole are non- A total of straight lines.