JP4969041B2 - Method for manufacturing display device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device, a manufacturing method thereof, and a television device using the display device.

  A thin film transistor (hereinafter referred to as “TFT”) and an electronic circuit using the thin film transistor are manufactured by laminating various thin films such as a semiconductor, an insulator, and a conductor on a substrate and appropriately forming a predetermined pattern by a photolithography technique. Has been. Photolithographic technology is a technology that uses a light to transfer a circuit pattern or other pattern formed on a transparent flat plate called a photomask onto a target substrate. It is widely used in the manufacturing process.

  In the manufacturing process using the conventional photolithography technology, a multi-step process such as exposure, development, baking, and peeling is required only for handling a mask pattern formed using a photosensitive organic resin material called a photoresist. Become. Therefore, the manufacturing cost inevitably increases as the number of photolithography processes increases. In order to improve such problems, attempts have been made to manufacture TFTs by reducing the photolithography process (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 is merely a replacement of a part of the photolithography process performed a plurality of times in the TFT manufacturing process by the printing method, and drastically contributes to the reduction in the number of processes. It is not possible. In addition, an exposure apparatus used for transferring a mask pattern in photolithography technology transfers a pattern of several microns to 1 micron or less by equal-magnification projection exposure or reduced projection exposure. It is technically difficult to expose a large area substrate exceeding 1 meter at a time.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-251259

  The present invention reduces the number of photolithography processes in the manufacturing process of a TFT, an electronic circuit using the TFT, and a display device formed by the TFT, simplifies the manufacturing process, and a large-area substrate whose one side exceeds 1 meter. Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique that can be manufactured at a low cost and with a high yield.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of forming a pattern such as a wiring constituting these display devices in a desired shape with good controllability.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to form a pattern with a desired width with good controllability regardless of the size of the ejection port that ejects droplets.

  In the display device of the present invention, a light-emitting element or a liquid crystal in which a medium containing electroluminescence (hereinafter also referred to as “EL”), or a medium containing a mixture of an organic substance and an inorganic substance, is interposed between electrodes. A display device (light-emitting display device, liquid crystal display device) in which a display element such as a liquid crystal element having a material and a TFT are connected.

    One embodiment of the display device of the present invention includes a thin film transistor including a gate electrode layer provided over an insulating surface having a liquid repellent material and a lyophilic material, and the gate electrode layer is formed on the lyophilic material. The gate electrode layer has a width in the channel direction of 5 μm or less.

    One of the display devices of the present invention includes a thin film transistor including a gate electrode layer, a source electrode layer, and a drain electrode layer provided on an insulating surface having a liquid repellent material and a lyophilic material, and the gate electrode layer, The source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer are provided on the lyophilic material, and the width of the gate electrode layer in the channel direction is 5 μm or less.

    One display device of the present invention includes a thin film transistor including a gate electrode layer, a source electrode layer, and a drain electrode layer provided over an insulating surface including a liquid repellent material and a lyophilic material, and the source electrode layer or the drain A first electrode layer in contact with the electrode layer; an electroluminescent layer on the first electrode layer; a second electrode layer on the electroluminescent layer; a gate electrode layer; a source electrode layer; The drain electrode layer is provided on the lyophilic material, and the width of the gate electrode layer in the channel direction is 5 μm or less.

    One of the television devices of the present invention includes a display screen including a thin film transistor including a gate electrode layer provided over an insulating surface, and a liquid repellent material and a lyophilic material are provided over the insulating surface. The gate electrode layer is provided on the lyophilic material, and the width of the gate electrode layer in the channel direction is 5 μm or less.

    One of the television devices of the present invention includes a display device including a thin film transistor including a gate electrode layer, a source electrode layer, and a drain electrode layer provided over an insulating surface. A substance and a lyophilic substance are provided, and the gate electrode layer, the source electrode layer, and the drain electrode layer are provided on the lyophilic substance, and the width of the gate electrode layer in the channel direction is 5 μm or less. And

    According to one embodiment of the television device of the present invention, a thin film transistor including a gate electrode layer, a source electrode layer, and a drain electrode layer provided over an insulating surface, a first electrode layer, an electric field in contact with the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer A display screen is constituted by a display device having a light emitting layer and a light emitting element including a second electrode layer, and a liquid repellent material and a lyophilic material are provided on an insulating surface, and a gate electrode layer and a source electrode layer The drain electrode layer is provided on the lyophilic material, and the width of the gate electrode layer in the channel direction is 5 μm or less.

    One method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention is to form a liquid-repellent region, selectively irradiate the liquid-repellent region with laser light, thereby forming a lyophilic region, and the lyophilic region has a conductive property. A composition including a material is discharged to form a gate electrode layer, a gate insulating layer and a semiconductor layer are formed over the gate electrode layer, a composition including a conductive material is discharged over the semiconductor layer, and a source electrode layer and A drain electrode layer is formed.

    One method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention is to form a liquid-repellent region, selectively irradiate the liquid-repellent region with laser light, thereby forming a lyophilic region, and the lyophilic region has a conductive property. A composition containing a material is discharged to form a gate electrode layer, a gate insulating layer and a semiconductor layer are formed on the gate electrode layer, a photosensitive substance is formed on the semiconductor layer, and laser light is selectively applied to the photosensitive substance. To form a photosensitive region, remove the photosensitive region, form a recess, discharge a composition containing a conductive material into the recess, form a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer, and form a photosensitive material. Remove.

    One method of manufacturing a display device of the present invention is to form a photosensitive material, selectively irradiate the photosensitive material with laser light, form a photosensitive region, remove the exposed region, and form a recess. A composition containing a conductive material is discharged into the recess, a gate electrode layer is formed, a photosensitive substance is removed, a gate insulating layer and a semiconductor layer are formed over the gate electrode layer, and a liquid-repellent region is formed over the semiconductor layer. And forming a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer by irradiating the liquid-repellent region with laser light, selectively forming a lyophilic region, and discharging a composition containing a conductive material to the lyophilic region. To do.

    One method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention is to form a liquid-repellent region, selectively irradiate the liquid-repellent region with laser light, thereby forming a lyophilic region, and the lyophilic region has a conductive property. A composition containing a material is discharged to form a gate electrode layer, a gate insulating layer and a semiconductor layer are formed on the gate electrode layer, a photosensitive substance is formed on the semiconductor layer, and laser light is selectively applied to the photosensitive substance. To form a exposed region, remove the exposed region to form a recess, discharge a composition containing a conductive material into the recess, form a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer, and form a photosensitive material. The insulating layer having photosensitivity is formed on the source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer, and the insulating material is selectively irradiated with laser light to form a photosensitive insulating material, and the photosensitive insulating material is removed. An opening reaching the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer is formed. Forming a conductive layer connected to the drain electrode layers.

      One method of manufacturing a display device of the present invention is to form a photosensitive material, selectively irradiate the photosensitive material with laser light, form a photosensitive region, remove the exposed region, and form a recess. A composition containing a conductive material is discharged into the recess, a gate electrode layer is formed, a photosensitive material is removed, a gate insulating layer and a semiconductor layer are formed over the gate electrode layer, and a liquid repellent region is formed over the semiconductor layer The lyophobic region is selectively irradiated with laser light, the lyophilic region is formed, a composition containing a conductive material is discharged to the lyophilic region, and the source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer are formed. Forming a photosensitive insulator on the source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer, selectively irradiating the insulator with laser light, forming a photosensitive insulator, and removing the exposed insulator; Openings that reach the source and drain electrode layers are formed, and Forming a conductive layer connected to the drain electrode layers.

    One method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention is to form a first lyophobic region, selectively irradiate laser light to the first lyophobic region, and form a first lyophilic region. A gate electrode layer is formed by discharging a composition containing a conductive material to the first lyophilic region, a gate insulating layer and a semiconductor layer are formed on the gate electrode layer, and a second repellent layer is formed on the semiconductor layer. A composition comprising a liquid region, a second liquid repellent region selectively irradiated with laser light to form a second lyophilic region, and a conductive material in the second lyophilic region The source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer are formed.

    One method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention is to form a first lyophobic region, selectively irradiate laser light to the first lyophobic region, and form a first lyophilic region. A gate electrode layer is formed by discharging a composition containing a conductive material to the first lyophilic region, a gate insulating layer and a semiconductor layer are formed on the gate electrode layer, and a second repellent layer is formed on the semiconductor layer. A composition comprising a liquid region, a second liquid repellent region selectively irradiated with laser light to form a second lyophilic region, and a conductive material in the second lyophilic region , Forming a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer, forming a photosensitive insulator on the source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer, selectively irradiating the insulator with laser light, and exposing the photosensitive insulator The exposed insulator is removed to form an opening reaching the source or drain electrode layer, and the source is formed in the opening. Forming an electrode layer or a conductive layer connected to the drain electrode layer.

    One method of manufacturing a display device of the present invention is to form a photosensitive material, selectively irradiate the photosensitive material with laser light, form a photosensitive region, remove the exposed region, and form a recess. A composition containing a conductive material is discharged into the recess, a gate electrode layer is formed, a photosensitive substance is removed, a gate insulating layer and a semiconductor layer are formed over the gate electrode layer, a source electrode layer and a semiconductor layer are formed over the semiconductor layer A drain electrode layer is formed.

    According to one method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention, a first photosensitive material is formed, a laser beam is selectively irradiated to the first photosensitive material, a first exposed region is formed, and a first photosensitive material is formed. The exposed region is removed to form a first recess, a composition containing a conductive material is discharged into the first recess, a gate electrode layer is formed, the first photosensitive material is removed, and the gate electrode A gate insulating layer and a semiconductor layer are formed over the layer, a second photosensitive material is formed over the semiconductor layer, the second photosensitive material is selectively irradiated with laser light, and a second exposed region is formed. Forming a second exposed region, forming a second recess, discharging a composition containing a conductive material into the second recess, forming a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer, Remove the photosensitive material.

    According to one method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention, a first photosensitive material is formed, a laser beam is selectively irradiated to the first photosensitive material, a first exposed region is formed, and a first photosensitive material is formed. The exposed region is removed to form a first recess, a composition containing a conductive material is discharged into the first recess, a gate electrode layer is formed, the first photosensitive material is removed, and the gate electrode A gate insulating layer and a semiconductor layer are formed over the layer, a second photosensitive material is formed over the semiconductor layer, the second photosensitive material is selectively irradiated with laser light, and a second exposed region is formed. Forming a second exposed region, forming a second recess, discharging a composition containing a conductive material into the second recess, forming a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer, The photosensitive material is removed, a photosensitive insulator is formed on the source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer, and the insulator is selectively formed. Irradiate laser light to form a photosensitive insulator, remove the exposed insulator to form an opening reaching the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer, and form an opening in the source electrode layer or drain electrode layer. A conductive layer to be connected is formed, connected to the conductive layer, a first electrode layer is formed, an electroluminescent layer is formed on the first electrode layer, and a second electrode layer is formed on the electroluminescent layer To do.

    In the above structure, the pixel electrode layer may be formed in connection with the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer. In the above structure, the first electrode layer is formed in connection with the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer, the electroluminescent layer is formed on the first electrode layer, and the second electrode layer is formed on the electroluminescent layer. May be formed.

    In the above structure, the pixel electrode layer may be formed in connection with the conductive layer. In the above structure, the first electrode layer may be formed in connection with the conductive layer, the electroluminescent layer may be formed on the first electrode layer, and the second electrode layer may be formed on the electroluminescent layer. Good.

  In the above structure, the liquid-repellent region can be formed by forming a film containing fluorine, a Teflon (registered trademark) film, a silane coupling agent, or the like. Further, forming the lyophilic region can be said to form a region having a lower liquid repellency than the liquid repellent region.

  In the above structure, the semiconductor layer may be a semi-amorphous semiconductor including a crystal structure formed of a gas including hydrogen and a halogen element. It may be a non-single crystal semiconductor formed with a gas containing hydrogen and a halogen element, or a polycrystalline semiconductor formed with a gas containing hydrogen and a halogen element.

  The gate insulating layer is formed by sequentially laminating the first silicon nitride film, the silicon oxide film, and the second silicon nitride film, so that the gate electrode can be prevented from being oxidized and formed on the upper layer side of the gate insulating layer. It is possible to form a favorable interface with the semiconductor layer.

  According to the present invention, a desired pattern can be formed with good controllability, material loss is small, and cost reduction can be achieved. Therefore, a high-performance and highly reliable display device can be manufactured with high yield.

(Embodiment 1)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following description, and it is easily understood by those skilled in the art that modes and details can be variously changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the description of the embodiments below. Note that in structures of the present invention described below, the same portions or portions having similar functions are denoted by the same reference numerals in different drawings, and description thereof is not repeated.

FIG. 17A is a top view illustrating a structure of a display panel according to the present invention. A pixel portion 2701 in which pixels 2702 are arranged in a matrix over a substrate 2700 having an insulating surface, a scanning line side input terminal 2703, a signal A line side input terminal 2704 is formed. The number of pixels may be provided in accordance with various standards. For XGA, 1024 × 768 × 3 (RGB), for UXGA, 1600 × 1200 × 3 (RGB), and for full specification high vision, 1920 × 1080. X3 (RGB) may be used.

  The pixels 2702 are arranged in a matrix by a scan line extending from the scan line side input terminal 2703 and a signal line extending from the signal line side input terminal 2704 intersecting. Each of the pixels 2702 includes a switching element and a pixel electrode connected to the switching element. A typical example of the switching element is a TFT. By connecting the gate electrode side of the TFT to a scanning line and the source or drain side to a signal line, each pixel can be controlled independently by a signal input from the outside. Yes.

  A TFT includes a semiconductor layer, a gate insulating layer, and a gate electrode layer as main components, and a wiring layer connected to a source region and a drain region formed in the semiconductor layer is attached to the TFT. Structurally, the top gate type in which the semiconductor layer, the gate insulating layer and the gate electrode layer are arranged from the substrate side, and the bottom gate type in which the gate electrode layer, the gate insulating layer and the semiconductor layer are arranged from the substrate side are representative. In the present invention, any of those structures may be used.

  As a material for forming the semiconductor layer, an amorphous semiconductor (hereinafter also referred to as “AS”) manufactured by a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method using a semiconductor material gas typified by silane or germane is used. A polycrystalline semiconductor crystallized using energy or thermal energy, a semi-amorphous (also referred to as microcrystal or microcrystal, hereinafter, also referred to as “SAS”) semiconductor, or the like can be used.

SAS is a semiconductor having an intermediate structure between amorphous and crystalline structures (including single crystal and polycrystal) and having a third state that is stable in terms of free energy and has a short-range order and a lattice. It includes a crystalline region with strain. A crystal region of 0.5 to 20 nm can be observed in at least a part of the film, and when silicon is the main component, the Raman spectrum shifts to a lower wave number side than 520 cm ^−1. Yes. In X-ray diffraction, diffraction peaks of (111) and (220) that are derived from the silicon crystal lattice are observed. At least 1 atomic% or more of hydrogen or halogen is contained as a neutralizing agent for dangling bonds. The SAS is formed by glow discharge decomposition (plasma CVD) of a silicide gas. As the silicide gas, SiH ₄ , Si ₂ H ₆ , SiH ₂ Cl ₂ , SiHCl ₃ , SiCl ₄ , SiF _{4, and the} like can be used. Further, GeF ₄ may be mixed. This silicide gas may be diluted with H ₂ , or H ₂ and one or more kinds of rare gas elements selected from He, Ar, Kr, and Ne. The dilution rate is in the range of 2 to 1000 times. The pressure is generally in the range of 0.1 Pa to 133 Pa, and the power supply frequency is 1 MHz to 120 MHz, preferably 13 MHz to 60 MHz. The substrate heating temperature may be 300 ° C. or less. As an impurity element in the film, impurities of atmospheric components such as oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon are desirably 1 × 10 ²⁰ cm ⁻¹ or less, and in particular, the oxygen concentration is 5 × 10 ¹⁹ / cm ³ or less, preferably 1 × 10 ¹⁹ / cm ³ or less

  FIG. 17A shows the structure of a display panel in which signals input to the scanning lines and signal lines are controlled by an external driver circuit. As shown in FIG. 18A, as shown in FIG. The driver IC 2751 may be mounted on the substrate 2700 by the Glass method. As another mounting mode, a TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) method as shown in FIG. 18B may be used. The driver IC may be formed on a single crystal semiconductor substrate or may be a circuit in which a TFT is formed on a glass substrate. In FIGS. 18A and 18B, the driver IC 2751 is connected to the FPC 2750.

  In the case where a TFT provided for a pixel is formed using SAS, a scan line driver circuit 3702 can be formed over the substrate 3700 and integrated as shown in FIG. In FIG. 17B, reference numeral 3701 denotes a pixel portion (also referred to as a pixel region), and the signal line side driver circuit is controlled by an external driver circuit as in FIG. In the case where a TFT provided for a pixel is formed using a polycrystalline (microcrystalline) semiconductor, a single crystal semiconductor, or the like with high mobility, the scan line driver circuit 4702 and the signal line driver circuit 4704 are formed over a glass substrate in FIG. It can also be integrally formed on 4700.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The present invention selectively selects at least one or more of patterns necessary for manufacturing a display panel, such as a conductive layer for forming a wiring layer or an electrode, or a mask layer for forming a predetermined pattern. A display device is manufactured by forming a pattern by a method capable of forming a pattern. As a method for selectively forming a pattern, a conductive layer, an insulating layer, or the like is formed, and droplets of a composition prepared for a specific purpose are selectively ejected (ejected) to form a predetermined pattern. A possible droplet discharge (ejection) method (also called an inkjet method depending on the method) is used. In addition, a method by which a pattern can be transferred or drawn, for example, a printing method (a method for forming a pattern such as screen printing or offset printing) can be used.

  In this embodiment, a method of discharging (jetting) droplets and forming a pattern is used. A droplet containing a pattern forming material is discharged onto a pattern formation region, and fixed by baking, drying, or the like. In the present invention, pre-processing is performed on the pattern formation region.

    As shown in FIG. 1A, a base film 51 is formed as a pretreatment in the vicinity of the pattern formation region on the substrate 50. The laser beam 52 is irradiated from the laser irradiation device only to the pattern formation region on the formed base film 51. The base film 51 is partially modified to the base film 53 by the laser beam 52. The laser treatment changes the liquid repellency (lyophilicity) of the base film 53 that is the irradiation region and the base films 57a and 57b that are the non-irradiated regions with respect to the liquid droplets including the pattern forming material. There is a difference in the degree of sex.

    In this embodiment mode, a base film 51 made of a material having liquid repellency is formed on the base film 51 with respect to a droplet containing a pattern forming material, and the portion to be processed (base film) is irradiated with laser light 52. Only 53) is modified from lyophobic to lyophilic. That is, the base film 53 has a lower liquid repellency than the base films 57a and 57b.

    Thereafter, a droplet 55 containing a pattern forming material is discharged from the nozzle of the droplet discharge device 54 onto the base film 53 that is a formation region. The discharged droplets 55 are formed on the base film in a region of the base film 53 having higher lyophilicity (lower liquid repellency) than the base films 57a and 57b (see FIG. 1C). . Even when the size of the discharge port of the nozzle from which the liquid droplet is discharged is larger than the desired size, it is possible to increase the lyophilicity (decrease the liquid repellency) on the formation area. The droplets adhere only to the formation region, and a desired pattern 56 is formed. Since there is a difference in the degree of liquid repellency (lyophilicity) between the formation area and the surrounding area, the droplets are repelled in the surrounding area and remain in the more lyophilic formation area. Because.

    When the present invention is used, for example, when it is desired to form a fine pattern such as an electrode layer, even if the discharge port of the droplet is somewhat large, the droplet does not spread on the formation region and can be thinned. Further, by controlling the amount of liquid droplets, the film thickness of the wiring can be controlled. When the film is modified by laser light irradiation as in this embodiment mode, since the laser light can be processed finely, fine wirings, electrodes, and the like can be formed with high controllability. Further, by combining the droplet discharge method, material loss can be prevented and costs can be reduced as compared with the entire surface coating formation by spin coating method or the like.

    A laser beam drawing apparatus that draws laser light (also referred to as a laser beam) in a processing region will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment mode, a laser beam direct drawing apparatus is used for processing by directly irradiating a processing region with a laser beam. As shown in FIG. 13, a laser beam direct writing apparatus 1001 includes a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) 1002 that executes various controls when irradiating a laser beam, a laser oscillator 1003 that outputs a laser beam, and a laser. A power source 1004 of the oscillator 1003, an optical system (ND filter) 1005 for attenuating the laser beam, an acousto-optic modulator (AOM) 1006 for modulating the intensity of the laser beam, and an enlargement or reduction of the cross section of the laser beam An optical system 1007 composed of a lens for changing the optical path, a mirror for changing the optical path, etc., a substrate moving mechanism 1009 having an X stage and a Y stage, and D / D for digital-to-analog conversion of control data output from the PC A converter 1010 and the sound according to the analog voltage output from the D / A converter It includes a driver 1011 for controlling the academic modulator 1006, a driver 1012 for outputting a driving signal for driving the substrate moving mechanism 1009.

As the laser oscillator 1003, a laser oscillator that can oscillate ultraviolet light, visible light, or infrared light can be used. Examples of laser oscillators include excimer laser oscillators such as KrF, ArF, XeCl, and Xe, gas laser oscillators such as He, He—Cd, Ar, He—Ne, and HF, YAG, GdVO ₄ , YVO ₄ , YLF, and YAlO _3. A solid-state laser oscillator using a crystal doped with Cr, Nd, Er, Ho, Ce, Co, Ti, or Tm, and a semiconductor laser oscillator such as GaN, GaAs, GaAlAs, or InGaAsP can be used. In the solid-state laser oscillator, it is preferable to apply the first to fifth harmonics of the fundamental wave.

    Next, a modification process of the base film using the laser beam direct writing apparatus will be described. When the substrate 1008 is mounted on the substrate moving mechanism 1009, the PC 1002 detects the position of the marker attached to the substrate by a camera (not shown). Next, the PC 1002 generates movement data for moving the substrate movement mechanism 1009 based on the detected marker position data and drawing pattern data input in advance. Thereafter, the PC 1002 controls the output light amount of the acousto-optic modulator 1006 via the driver 1011, whereby the laser beam output from the laser oscillator 1003 is attenuated by the optical system 1005, and then the acousto-optic modulator 1006. The light amount is controlled so as to be a predetermined light amount. On the other hand, the laser beam output from the acousto-optic modulator 1006 is changed in optical path and beam shape by the optical system 1007 and condensed by the lens, and then the base film formed on the substrate is irradiated with the beam, The base film is modified. At this time, according to the movement data generated by the PC 1002, the movement of the substrate moving mechanism 1009 is controlled in the X direction and the Y direction. As a result, the laser beam is irradiated to a predetermined place, and the base film is modified.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 1B, a base film 53, which is a region in which lyophilicity is enhanced by the region irradiated with the laser beam, is formed. A part of the energy of the laser light is converted into heat by the base film material and reacts a part of the base film, so that the width of the processed base film 53 is slightly larger than the width of the laser beam. In addition, the shorter the laser beam, the shorter the beam diameter can be focused. Therefore, in order to form a lyophilic region having a fine width, it is preferable to irradiate a short wavelength laser beam. .

  Further, the spot shape of the laser beam on the surface of the base film is processed by an optical system so as to be a dot shape, a circle shape, an ellipse shape, a rectangle shape, or a line shape (strictly, an elongated rectangle shape). The spot shape may be circular, but the lyophilic region (underlying film 53) having a uniform width can be formed when the spot shape is linear.

  The apparatus shown in FIG. 13 shows an example in which exposure is performed by irradiating a laser beam from the front side of the substrate. However, the optical system and the substrate moving mechanism are appropriately changed, and the laser beam is irradiated from the back side of the substrate. Alternatively, a laser beam drawing apparatus that performs exposure may be used.

Note that here, the laser beam is selectively irradiated by moving the substrate; however, the present invention is not limited to this, and the laser beam can be irradiated by scanning the laser beam in the XY direction. In this case, it is preferable to use a polygon mirror or a galvanometer mirror for the optical system 1007.

    In this embodiment mode, a base film is formed as a pretreatment. However, depending on the formation conditions, the film thickness is extremely thin, and the form may not be maintained as a film. The pretreatment causes the formation area to differ from the surrounding area in the degree of liquid repellency (lyophilicity) with respect to the pattern forming material, and the formation area only needs to be more lyophilic. The base material does not necessarily have to adhere to the formation region. Therefore, the liquid repellency may be lowered by removing the base material formed in the formation region by laser treatment or the like.

    In the case of removal, as shown in FIG. 29, if the thickness of the base film is large, the removed region becomes a recess such as a groove, and the pattern material is discharged so as to be embedded in the recess. As shown in FIG. 29A, a film 61 is formed in the vicinity of a pattern formation region on the substrate 60. Since the film 61 is processed by the laser beam 62, a film made of a photosensitive resin material that is a photosensitive substance, particularly a positive resist material is preferable. The pattern formation region of the film 61 is irradiated with laser light to be exposed to form a exposed region 63 (see FIG. 29B). Since the exposed region 63 is removed by the etchant, a recessed portion separated by the films 67a and 67b is formed in the formation region.

    A pattern 66 can be formed only in a formation region by discharging a droplet containing a pattern forming material into the recess. As shown in FIG. 29C, even when the droplet discharge port is large or the controllability is poor and the droplet is discharged to a region other than the formation region, the excess pattern material remains on the films 67a and 67b. Discharged. If the films 67a and 67b made of a photosensitive resin or the like are removed by etching after the pattern is formed, the pattern can be formed only in a desired region with good controllability. Further, the film thickness of the pattern can be freely controlled by controlling the film thickness of the photosensitive resin or the like. Since the formation area that becomes the recess is processed by laser light irradiation, fine processing is possible, and if a laser beam optically designed on the spot is used, a spot such as a contact hole can be simplified with high accuracy. Can be well formed.

  A photosensitive resin such as photosensitive acrylic or photosensitive polyimide, which is a photosensitive material, can be used for the peripheral film forming the concave portion. Alternatively, a commercially available resist material containing a photosensitizer may be used. For example, a novolak resin that is a typical positive resist and a naphthoquinonediazide compound that is a photosensitizer may be used.

    In addition, the process of decreasing the liquid repellency or increasing the lyophilicity makes the state (also referred to as an adhesion force or a fixing force) for retaining the droplets discharged on the region higher than the surrounding region. This means that the formation region is modified by treatment such as laser light irradiation to improve the adhesion to the droplets. The treatment for increasing the lyophilicity of the base film with the laser beam may be performed only on the surface that contacts and keeps the droplet, and does not need to be modified throughout the film thickness direction.

    In this embodiment mode, an example in which a base film formed as a pretreatment is left after pattern formation is described. However, unnecessary portions may be removed after the pattern is formed. The removal can be performed using a pattern as a mask, and may be removed by ashing or etching with oxygen or the like.

As an example of the composition of the solution that forms the liquid repellent surface, a silane coupling agent represented by a chemical formula of R _n —Si—X _(4-n) (n = 1, 2, 3) is used. Here, R is a substance containing a relatively inert group such as an alkyl group. X is a hydrolyzable group such as halogen, methoxy group, ethoxy group or acetoxy group, which can be bonded by condensation with a hydroxyl group on the substrate surface or adsorbed water.

Further, as a typical example of the silane coupling agent, by using a fluorine-based silane coupling agent (fluoroalkylsilane (FAS)) having a fluoroalkyl group in R, liquid repellency can be further improved. R of FAS has a structure represented by (CF ₃ ) (CF ₂ ) _x (CH ₂ ) _y (x: an integer of 0 or more and 10 or less, y: an integer of 0 or more and 4 or less), and a plurality of R Alternatively, when X is bonded to Si, R and X may all be the same or different. As typical FAS, fluoroalkylsilanes (hereinafter referred to as FAS) such as heptadefluorotetrahydrodecyltriethoxysilane, heptadecafluorotetrahydrodecyltrichlorosilane, tridecafluorotetrahydrooctyltrichlorosilane, trifluoropropyltrimethoxysilane, and the like. Is mentioned.

  As the solvent of the solution forming the liquid repellent surface, n-pentane, n-hexane, n-heptane, n-octane, n-decane, dicyclopentane, benzene, toluene, xylene, durene, indene, tetrahydronaphthalene, decahydro A solvent that forms a liquid repellent surface, such as a hydrocarbon solvent such as naphthalene or squalane, or tetrahydrofuran is used.

  In addition, as an example of a composition of a solution that forms a liquid repellent surface, a material having a fluorocarbon chain (fluorine resin) can be used. Examples of fluorine resins include polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE; tetrafluoroethylene resin), perfluoroalkoxyalkane (PFA; tetrafluoroethylene perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer resin), and perfluoroethylene propene copolymer (PFEP; four fluoropolymer). Ethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer resin), ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer (ETFE; tetrafluoroethylene-ethylene copolymer resin), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF; vinylidene fluoride resin), polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE; trifluoroethylene chloride resin), ethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene copolymer (ECTFE; trifluoroethylene chloride-ethylene copolymer resin), polytetrafluoroethylene-perfluorodioxide Rukoporima (TFE / PDD), polyvinyl fluoride (PVF; a vinyl fluoride resin), or the like can be used.

Alternatively, an organic material that does not form a liquid repellent surface (that is, a lyophilic surface) may be used, and a treatment with CF ₄ plasma or the like may be performed later to form the liquid repellent surface. For example, a material in which a water-soluble resin such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is mixed with a solvent such as H ₂ O can be used. Moreover, you may use combining PVA and another water-soluble resin. Organic material (organic resin material) (polyimide, acrylic) or skeleton structure is composed of a bond of silicon (Si) and oxygen (O), a material containing at least hydrogen as a substituent, or fluorine, alkyl group as a substituent, Alternatively, a material having at least one of aromatic hydrocarbons may be used. Furthermore, even if the material forms the liquid repellent surface, the liquid repellency can be further improved by performing plasma treatment or the like.

    In addition, as a pretreatment, a metal film or the like is formed, and laser irradiation treatment is performed on the pattern formation region in an atmosphere of oxygen, nitrogen, or the like, and the irradiation region is changed to oxide or nitride for modification. May be. For example, a titanium film is formed as the conductive film and only the formation region is irradiated with laser light in an oxygen atmosphere. By irradiating a laser beam capable of microfabrication, the formation region becomes a more stable titanium oxide film with good controllability. Since the titanium oxide film has better adhesion to the conductive material formed as a pattern than the surrounding titanium film, a desired pattern can be obtained by discharging droplets containing the conductive material onto the titanium oxide film region. Can be formed with good controllability. When a conductive material such as a metal film is used, the surrounding base film having high liquid repellency that is not modified by laser light irradiation may be removed by etching or the like, or oxidized by heat treatment or the like. May be insulated.

    A pattern can be formed into a desired shape by performing a pretreatment for improving the adhesion of the pattern formation region to the pattern with respect to the surrounding region. In addition, a fine pattern can be freely designed by fine processing of laser light irradiation. According to the present invention, a desired pattern can be formed with good controllability, material loss is small, and cost reduction can be achieved. Therefore, a high-performance and highly reliable display device can be manufactured with high yield.

(Embodiment 2)
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. More specifically, a method for manufacturing a display device (light-emitting display device) to which the present invention is applied will be described. First, a method for manufacturing a display device (light-emitting display device) including a channel-etched thin film transistor to which the present invention is applied is described. 2A to 7A are top views of the display device pixel portion, FIGS. 2B to 7B are cross-sectional views taken along the line AC in FIGS. 2 to 7A, and FIG. It is sectional drawing by BD.

  A base film 101 is formed on the substrate 100 as a base pretreatment. As the substrate 100, a glass substrate made of barium borosilicate glass, alumino borosilicate glass, or the like, a quartz substrate, a silicon substrate, a metal substrate, a stainless steel substrate, or a plastic substrate having heat resistance that can withstand the processing temperature in this manufacturing process is used. Further, polishing may be performed by a CMP method or the like so that the surface of the substrate 100 is planarized. Note that an insulating layer may be formed over the substrate 100. The insulating layer is formed as a single layer or a stacked layer using an oxide material or a nitride material containing silicon by a known method such as a CVD method, a plasma CVD method, a sputtering method, or a spin coating method. This insulating layer may not be formed, but has an effect of blocking contaminants from the substrate 100. In the case of forming a base layer for preventing contamination from the glass substrate, a base film 101 is formed thereon as a base pretreatment for the gate electrode layer 103 formed by a droplet discharge method.

    In this embodiment mode, a liquid repellent material is formed as the base film 101 (see FIG. 2). In this embodiment mode, the entire surface is applied by a spin coating method, but may be selectively formed in the vicinity of a pattern formation region by a droplet discharge method or the like.

    Next, laser light 171a and 171b are irradiated to the region where the gate electrode layer is formed by a laser irradiation apparatus, and the base film is modified (see FIG. 3). By this modification treatment, the base films 102a and 102b are made more lyophilic with respect to the composition containing a conductive material that forms a gate electrode layer stacked thereover. Therefore, there is a difference in the degree of liquid repellency (lyophilicity) between the base films 102a and 102b and the surrounding base film with respect to the composition containing a conductive material.

    In the regions of the base films 102a and 102b modified by the laser light, droplets of a composition containing a conductive material are discharged by the droplet discharge devices 180a and 180b to form the gate electrode layers 103 and 104 ( (See FIG. 4.) The discharged droplets are formed on the base film in regions of the base films 102a and 102b that are more lyophilic (lower in liquid repellency) than the surrounding base film. Even when the size of the discharge port of the nozzle from which the liquid droplet is discharged is larger than the desired size, it is possible to increase the lyophilicity (decrease the liquid repellency) on the formation area. The droplets adhere only to the formation region, and a thin conductive layer is formed. Since there is a difference in the degree of liquid repellency (lyophilicity) between the formation area and the surrounding area, the droplets are repelled in the surrounding area and remain in the more lyophilic formation area. Because.

    When the present invention is used, when it is desired to form a fine pattern such as the gate electrode layers 103 and 104, even if the discharge port of the droplet is somewhat large, the droplet does not spread on the formation region and can be thinned. Further, by controlling the amount of liquid droplets, the film thickness of the conductive layer can be controlled. When the film is modified by laser light irradiation as in this embodiment mode, since the laser light can be processed finely, fine wirings, electrodes, and the like can be formed with high controllability. Further, by combining the droplet discharge method, material loss can be prevented and costs can be reduced as compared with the entire surface coating formation by spin coating method or the like.

  One mode of a droplet discharge device used for forming a pattern is shown in FIG. The individual heads 1405 and 1412 of the droplet discharge means 1403 are connected to the control means 1407, which can draw a pre-programmed pattern under the control of the computer 1410. The drawing timing may be performed with reference to a marker 1411 formed on the substrate 1400, for example. Alternatively, the reference point may be determined based on the edge of the substrate 1400. This is detected by an imaging means 1404 such as a CCD, and converted into a digital signal by the image processing means 1409 is recognized by the computer 1410 to generate a control signal and sent to the control means 1407. Of course, the information on the pattern to be formed on the substrate 1400 is stored in the storage medium 1408. Based on this information, a control signal is sent to the control means 1407, and each head 1405 of the droplet discharge means 1403 is sent. , 1412 can be individually controlled. The material to be discharged is supplied from the material supply source 1413 and the material supply source 1414 to the head 1405 and the head 1412 through piping.

    The inside of the head 1405 has a structure having a space filled with a liquid material as indicated by a dotted line 1406 and a nozzle that is a discharge port. Although not shown, the head 1412 has the same internal structure as the head 1405. The nozzles of the heads 1405 and 1412 are different in size, and different materials can be drawn simultaneously with different widths. With one head, conductive material, organic material, inorganic material, etc. can be discharged and drawn respectively. When drawing in a wide area like an interlayer film, the same material is simultaneously used from multiple nozzles to improve throughput. It can be discharged and drawn. In the case of using a large substrate, the heads 1405 and 1412 can freely scan the substrate in the direction of the arrow to freely set a drawing region, and a plurality of the same pattern can be drawn on one substrate. .

  The base film 101 formed as the base pretreatment in this embodiment is a sol-gel dip coating method, spin coating method, droplet discharge method, ion plating method, ion beam method, CVD method, sputtering method, RF magnetron sputtering. It can be formed by a method, a plasma spraying method, a plasma spraying method, or an anodic oxidation method. The substance may not have continuity as a film depending on the formation method. When the film is formed by a coating method such as a dip coating method or a spin coating method, it may be fired or dried when the solvent needs to be removed.

  Further, as the base film 101, a metal material such as Ti (titanium), W (tungsten), Cr (chromium), Ta (tantalum), Ni (nickel), or Mo (molybdenum) or the like can be formed by a method such as sputtering or vapor deposition. A base film 101 formed using the oxide may be formed.

  The base film 101 may be formed with a thickness of 0.01 to 10 nm. However, since the base film 101 may be formed with a very small thickness, the base film 101 does not necessarily have a layer structure. When the base film has conductivity using a metal material or a 3d transition element as the base film, the following two methods are desirably performed on the base film other than the conductive layer formation region.

  As a first method, an insulating layer is formed by insulating a base film 101 that does not overlap with the gate electrode layer 103 (that is, a surrounding region having higher liquid repellency). That is, the base film 101 that does not overlap with the gate electrode layer 103 is oxidized and insulated. As described above, when the base film 101 is oxidized to be insulated, it is preferable to form the base film 101 with a thickness of 0.01 to 10 nm, so that the base film 101 can be easily oxidized. . As a method of oxidizing, a method of exposing to an oxygen atmosphere or a method of performing heat treatment may be used.

  As a second method, the gate electrode layer 103 is selectively formed in a formation region (a discharge region of a composition containing a conductive material). The base film 101 may be selectively formed over the substrate by a droplet discharge method or the like, or after being formed over the entire surface, the base film 101 is selectively etched using the gate electrode layer 103 as a mask. It may be removed. When this process is used, the thickness of the base film 101 is not limited.

  As another method, an organic material substance that functions as an adhesive may be formed in order to improve the adhesion of the pattern formed by the droplet discharge method to the formation region. Organic material (organic resin material) (polyimide, acrylic) or skeleton structure is composed of a bond of silicon (Si) and oxygen (O), a material containing at least hydrogen as a substituent, or fluorine, alkyl group as a substituent, Alternatively, a material having at least one of aromatic hydrocarbons may be used.

    The gate electrode layers 103 and 104 are formed using a droplet discharge unit. The droplet discharge means is a general term for a device having means for discharging droplets such as a nozzle having a composition discharge port and a head having one or a plurality of nozzles. The diameter of the nozzle provided in the droplet discharge means is set to 0.02 to 100 μm (preferably 30 μm or less), and the discharge amount of the composition discharged from the nozzle is 0.001 pl to 100 pl (preferably 0). .1pl or more and 40pl or less, more preferably 10pl or less). The discharge amount increases in proportion to the size of the nozzle diameter. In addition, the distance between the object to be processed and the nozzle outlet is preferably as close as possible in order to drop it at a desired location, preferably about 0.1 to 3 mm (preferably about 1 mm or less). Set.

  A composition in which a conductive material is dissolved or dispersed in a solvent is used as the composition discharged from the discharge port. Conductive materials include metals such as Ag, Au, Cu, Ni, Pt, Pd, Ir, Rh, W, and Al, metal sulfides of Cd, Zn, Fe, Ti, Si, Ge, Si, Zr, Ba It corresponds to oxides such as silver halide fine particles or dispersible nanoparticles. Further, it corresponds to indium tin oxide (ITO) used as a transparent conductive film, ITSO composed of indium tin oxide and silicon oxide, organic indium, organic tin, zinc oxide, titanium nitride, and the like. However, it is preferable to use a composition in which any of gold, silver and copper is dissolved or dispersed in a solvent in consideration of the specific resistance value, more preferably the composition discharged from the discharge port. It is preferable to use low resistance silver or copper. However, when silver or copper is used, a barrier film may be provided as a countermeasure against impurities. As the barrier film, a silicon nitride film or nickel boron (NiB) can be used.

  Alternatively, particles in which a conductive material is coated with another conductive material to form a plurality of layers may be used. For example, particles having a three-layer structure in which nickel boron (NiB) is coated around copper and silver is coated around it may be used. As the solvent, esters such as butyl acetate and ethyl acetate, alcohols such as isopropyl alcohol and ethyl alcohol, organic solvents such as methyl ethyl ketone and acetone are used. The viscosity of the composition is preferably 20 cp or less, in order to prevent drying from occurring or to allow the composition to be smoothly discharged from the discharge port. The surface tension of the composition is preferably 40 mN / m or less. However, the viscosity and the like of the composition may be appropriately adjusted according to the solvent to be used and the application. As an example, the viscosity of a composition in which ITO, organic indium, or organic tin is dissolved or dispersed in a solvent is 5 to 20 mPa · s, the viscosity of a composition in which silver is dissolved or dispersed in a solvent is 5 to 20 mPa · s, The viscosity of the composition in which gold is dissolved or dispersed in a solvent is preferably set to 5 to 20 mPa · s.

  The conductive layer may be a stack of a plurality of conductive materials. Alternatively, first, silver may be used as a conductive material, and a conductive layer may be formed by a droplet discharge method, followed by plating with copper or the like. Plating may be performed by electroplating or chemical (electroless) plating. For plating, the substrate surface may be immersed in a container filled with a solution having a plating material, but the substrate is placed at an angle (or vertically) so that the solution having the material to be plated flows on the substrate surface. It may be applied. When plating is performed so that the solution is applied while standing the substrate, there is an advantage that the process apparatus is reduced in size.

  Although depending on the diameter of each nozzle and the desired pattern shape, the diameter of the conductor particles is preferably as small as possible for preventing nozzle clogging and producing a high-definition pattern. 1 μm or less is preferable. The composition is formed by a known method such as an electrolytic method, an atomizing method, or a wet reduction method, and its particle size is generally about 0.01 to 10 μm. However, when formed in a gas evaporation method, the nanomolecules protected with the dispersant are as fine as about 7 nm. When the surface of each particle is covered with a coating agent, the nanoparticles are aggregated in the solvent. And stably disperse at room temperature and shows almost the same behavior as liquid. Therefore, it is preferable to use a coating agent.

  When the step of discharging the composition is performed under reduced pressure, the solvent of the composition is volatilized between the time of discharging the composition and landing on the object to be processed, and the subsequent drying and baking steps are omitted. be able to. Further, it is preferable to perform under reduced pressure because an oxide film or the like is not formed on the surface of the conductor. In addition, after discharging the composition, one or both steps of drying and baking are performed. The drying and baking steps are both heat treatment steps. For example, drying is performed at 100 degrees for 3 minutes, and baking is performed at 200 to 350 degrees for 15 minutes to 30 minutes. Time is different. The drying process and the firing process are performed under normal pressure or reduced pressure by laser light irradiation, rapid thermal annealing, a heating furnace, or the like. In addition, the timing which performs this heat processing is not specifically limited. In order to satisfactorily perform the drying and firing steps, the substrate may be heated, and the temperature at that time depends on the material of the substrate or the like, but is generally 100 to 800 degrees (preferably 200). ~ 350 degrees). By this step, the solvent in the composition is volatilized or the dispersant is chemically removed, and the surrounding resin is cured and contracted to bring the nanoparticles into contact with each other, thereby accelerating fusion and fusion.

For the laser light irradiation, a continuous wave or pulsed gas laser or solid-state laser may be used. Examples of the former gas laser include an excimer laser and a YAG laser, and examples of the latter solid-state laser include a laser using a crystal such as YAG, YVO ₄ or GdVO ₄ doped with Cr, Nd, or the like. . Note that it is preferable to use a continuous wave laser because of the absorption rate of the laser light. In addition, a so-called hybrid laser irradiation method combining pulse oscillation and continuous oscillation may be used. However, depending on the heat resistance of the substrate 100, the heat treatment by laser light irradiation may be performed instantaneously within a few microseconds to several tens of seconds so that the substrate 100 is not destroyed. Instantaneous thermal annealing (RTA) uses an infrared lamp or a halogen lamp that irradiates ultraviolet light or infrared light in an inert gas atmosphere, and rapidly raises the temperature for several minutes to several microseconds. This is done by applying heat instantaneously. Since this treatment is performed instantaneously, only the outermost thin film can be heated substantially without affecting the lower layer film. That is, it does not affect a substrate having low heat resistance such as a plastic substrate.

  As the base pretreatment of the conductive layer formed using the droplet discharge method, the above-described step of forming the base film 101 was performed. However, this treatment step may be performed after the gate electrode layers 103 and 104 are formed. good.

  Alternatively, after the gate electrode layers 103 and 104 are formed by discharging a composition by a droplet discharge method, the surface may be pressed and flattened by pressure in order to improve the flatness. As a pressing method, unevenness may be reduced by scanning a roller-like object on the surface, or the surface may be pressed vertically with a flat plate-like object. A heating step may be performed when pressing. Alternatively, the surface may be softened or melted with a solvent or the like, and the surface irregularities may be removed with an air knife. Further, polishing may be performed using a CMP method. This step can be applied when the surface is flattened when unevenness is generated by the droplet discharge method.

  According to the present invention, a wiring having a gate electrode layer having a line width of 5 μm or less can be formed.

  Next, the gate insulating layer 106 is formed over the gate electrode layers 103 and 104 (see FIG. 5). The gate insulating layer 106 may be formed of a known material such as a silicon oxide material or a nitride material, and may be a stacked layer or a single layer. In this embodiment, a stacked layer of a silicon nitride film, a silicon oxide film, and a silicon nitride film is used. Alternatively, a single layer or a double layer of silicon oxynitride film may be used. A silicon nitride film having a dense film quality is preferably used. In addition, when silver or copper is used for a conductive layer formed by a droplet discharge method, if a silicon nitride film or a NiB film is formed thereon as a barrier film, diffusion of impurities can be prevented and the surface can be planarized. is there. Note that in order to form a dense insulating film with low gate leakage current at a low deposition temperature, a rare gas element such as argon is preferably contained in a reaction gas and mixed into the formed insulating film.

  Next, a semiconductor layer is formed. A semiconductor layer having one conductivity type may be formed as necessary. In this embodiment mode, semiconductor layers 107 and 108 and N-type semiconductor layers 109 and 110 are stacked as a semiconductor layer having one conductivity type (see FIG. 5). In addition, an N-type semiconductor layer is formed, and an NMOS structure of an N-channel TFT, a PMOS structure of a P-channel TFT having a P-type semiconductor layer, and a CMOS structure of an N-channel TFT and a P-channel TFT are manufactured. it can. In order to impart conductivity, an element imparting conductivity is added by doping, and an impurity region is formed in the semiconductor layer, whereby an N-channel TFT or a P-channel TFT can be formed.

  The semiconductor layer may be formed by a known means (such as sputtering, LPCVD, or plasma CVD). There is no limitation on the material of the semiconductor layer, but it is preferably formed of silicon or a silicon germanium (SiGe) alloy.

  The semiconductor layer uses an amorphous semiconductor (typically hydrogenated amorphous silicon) or a crystalline semiconductor (typically polysilicon) as a material. For polysilicon, so-called high-temperature polysilicon using polycrystalline silicon formed at a process temperature of 800 ° C. or higher as a main material, or polycrystalline silicon formed at a process temperature of 600 ° C. or lower as a main material is used. It includes so-called low-temperature polysilicon and crystalline silicon that is crystallized by adding an element that promotes crystallization.

As another substance, a semi-amorphous semiconductor or a semiconductor including a crystal phase in part of a semiconductor layer can be used. A semi-amorphous semiconductor is a semiconductor having an intermediate structure between amorphous and crystalline (including single crystal and polycrystal), and has a third state that is stable in terms of free energy, and has a short distance. It is crystalline with order and lattice distortion. Typically, it is a semiconductor layer containing silicon as a main component and having a Raman spectrum shifted to a lower wave number side than 520 cm ⁻¹ with lattice distortion. Further, hydrogen or halogen is contained at least 1 atomic% or more as a neutralizing agent for dangling bonds. Here, such a semiconductor is referred to as a semi-amorphous semiconductor (hereinafter referred to as “SAS”). This SAS is also called a so-called microcrystalline semiconductor (typically microcrystalline silicon).

This SAS can be obtained by glow discharge decomposition (plasma CVD) of a silicide gas. A typical silicide gas is SiH ₄ , and in addition, Si ₂ H ₆ , SiH ₂ Cl ₂ , SiHCl ₃ , SiCl ₄ , SiF _{4 and the} like can be used. Further, GeF ₄ and F ₂ may be mixed. The formation of the SAS can be facilitated by diluting the silicide gas with one or plural kinds of rare gas elements selected from hydrogen or hydrogen and helium, argon, krypton, or neon. It is preferable that the dilution ratio of hydrogen with respect to the silicide gas is, for example, 2 to 1000 times in flow rate ratio. Of course, formation of the SAS by glow discharge decomposition is preferably performed under reduced pressure, but it can also be formed by utilizing discharge at atmospheric pressure. Typically, it may be performed in a pressure range of 0.1 Pa to 133 Pa. The power supply frequency for forming the glow discharge is 1 MHz to 120 MHz, preferably 13 MHz to 60 MHz. What is necessary is just to set high frequency electric power suitably. The substrate heating temperature is preferably 300 ° C. or lower, and can be formed even at a substrate heating temperature of 100 to 200 ° C. Here, as an impurity element mainly taken in at the time of film formation, it is desirable that impurities derived from atmospheric components such as oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon be 1 × 10 ²⁰ cm ⁻³ or less, and in particular, the oxygen concentration is 5 × 10 5. It is preferable to be ¹⁹ cm ⁻³ or less, preferably 1 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ⁻³ or less. Further, by adding a rare gas element such as helium, argon, krypton, or neon to further promote lattice distortion, stability is improved and a favorable SAS can be obtained. In addition, a SAS layer formed of a hydrogen-based gas may be stacked on a SAS layer formed of a fluorine-based gas as a semiconductor layer.

In the case where a crystalline semiconductor layer is used for the semiconductor layer, a method for manufacturing the crystalline semiconductor layer can be a known method (laser crystallization method, thermal crystallization method, or heat using an element that promotes crystallization such as nickel. A crystallization method or the like may be used. In the case where an element for promoting crystallization is not introduced, the amorphous silicon film is heated at 500 ° C. for 1 hour in a nitrogen atmosphere before irradiating the amorphous silicon film with laser light, whereby the concentration of hydrogen contained in the amorphous silicon film is set to 1 ×. Release to 10 ²⁰ atoms / cm ³ or less. This is because the film is destroyed when the amorphous silicon film containing a large amount of hydrogen is irradiated with laser light.

  The method of introducing the metal element into the amorphous semiconductor layer is not particularly limited as long as the metal element can be present on the surface of the amorphous semiconductor layer or inside the amorphous semiconductor layer. For example, sputtering, CVD, A plasma treatment method (including a plasma CVD method), an adsorption method, or a method of applying a metal salt solution can be used. Among these, the method using a solution is simple and useful in that the concentration of the metal element can be easily adjusted. At this time, in order to improve the wettability of the surface of the amorphous semiconductor layer and to spread the aqueous solution over the entire surface of the amorphous semiconductor layer, irradiation with UV light in an oxygen atmosphere, thermal oxidation method, hydroxy radical It is desirable to form an oxide film by treatment with ozone water or hydrogen peroxide.

  The crystallization of the amorphous semiconductor layer may be a combination of heat treatment and crystallization by laser light irradiation, or may be performed multiple times by heat treatment or laser light irradiation alone.

  Alternatively, the crystalline semiconductor layer may be directly formed over the substrate by a linear plasma method. Alternatively, the crystalline semiconductor layer may be selectively formed over the substrate by a linear plasma method.

  An organic semiconductor using an organic material may be used as the semiconductor. As the organic semiconductor, a low molecular material, a polymer material, or the like is used, and materials such as an organic dye or a conductive polymer material can also be used.

  In this embodiment mode, an amorphous semiconductor is used as the semiconductor. A semiconductor layer is formed, and then an N-type semiconductor layer is formed as a semiconductor layer having one conductivity type by a plasma CVD method or the like.

  Subsequently, using a mask made of an insulator such as resist or polyimide, the semiconductor layer and the N-type semiconductor layer are simultaneously patterned to form the semiconductor layers 107 and 108 and the N-type semiconductor layers 109 and 110 (see FIG. 5). .) The mask can be formed by selectively discharging a composition. For the mask, a resin material such as an epoxy resin, an acrylic resin, a phenol resin, a novolac resin, a melamine resin, or a urethane resin is used. Also, using organic materials such as benzocyclobutene, parylene, flare, permeable polyimide, compound materials made by polymerization of siloxane polymers, composition materials containing water-soluble homopolymers and water-soluble copolymers, etc. And formed by a droplet discharge method. Alternatively, a commercially available resist material containing a photosensitizer may be used. For example, a novolak resin that is a typical positive resist and a naphthoquinonediazide compound that is a photosensitizer, a base resin that is a negative resist, diphenylsilanediol, and An acid generator or the like may be used. Whichever material is used, the surface tension and viscosity are appropriately adjusted by adjusting the concentration of the solvent or adding a surfactant or the like.

  In this embodiment mode, when the gate electrode layers 103 and 104 are formed by a droplet discharge method, as a pretreatment, a pattern is selectively formed as if a base film was formed and a modification treatment was performed by laser light irradiation. It can also be formed. In the present invention, when a pattern is formed by discharging droplets by a droplet discharge method, a modification process can be performed on a pattern formation region by a laser beam irradiation process. By performing this modification treatment only on the region to be formed, there is a difference in the height (strength) of liquid repellency (lyophilicity) between the region to be formed and the surrounding region, and the liquid repellency is low ( Droplets remain only in the formation region (which is highly lyophilic), and a pattern can be formed with good controllability. In the case where a liquid material is used, this step can be applied as any base pretreatment, and a mask is not necessarily required. Therefore, the step can be simplified.

Again, a mask made of an insulator such as resist or polyimide is formed by a droplet discharge method, and a through-hole 145 is formed in a part of the gate insulating layer 106 by etching using the mask, and a lower layer thereof is formed. A part of the gate electrode layer 104 disposed on the side is exposed. The etching process may be either plasma etching (dry etching) or wet etching, but plasma etching is suitable for processing a large area substrate. As an etching gas, a fluorine-based or chlorine-based gas such as CF ₄ , NF ₃ , Cl ₂ , or BCl ₃ may be used, and an inert gas such as He or Ar may be appropriately added. Further, if an atmospheric pressure discharge etching process is applied, a local electric discharge process is also possible, and it is not necessary to form a mask layer on the entire surface of the substrate.

  After the mask is removed, a composition containing a conductive material is discharged to form the source or drain electrode layers 111, 112, 113, 114, and the source or drain 111, 112, 113, 114 is used as a mask. Then, the semiconductor layer 107 and the N-type semiconductor layer 109 are patterned to expose the semiconductor layer 107 (see FIG. 6). The step of forming the source or drain electrode layer 111, 112, 113, 114 can also be formed in the same manner as the gate electrode layer 103 is formed. The source electrode layer 113 also functions as a power supply line.

  As a conductive material for forming the source or drain electrode layer 111, 112, 113, 114, a metal such as Ag (silver), Au (gold), Cu (copper), W (tungsten), Al (aluminum), or the like. It is possible to use a composition mainly composed of these particles. Further, light-transmitting indium tin oxide (ITO), ITSO made of indium tin oxide and silicon oxide, organic indium, organic tin, zinc oxide, titanium nitride, or the like may be combined.

  In addition, as the base pretreatment of the conductive layer formed using a droplet discharge method, the above-described step of forming the base film may be performed, and this treatment step may be performed after the conductive layer is formed. This step improves the adhesion between the layers, so that the reliability of the display device can also be improved.

  In the through-hole 145 formed in the gate insulating layer 106, the source or drain electrode layer 112 and the gate electrode layer 104 are electrically connected. A part of the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer forms a capacitor element.

  In the step of forming the through-hole 145 in part of the gate insulating layer 106, the source or drain electrode layer 111, 112, 113, 114 is masked after the source or drain electrode layer 111, 112, 113, 114 is formed. The through hole 145 may be formed using Then, a conductive layer is formed in the through hole 145, and the source or drain electrode layer 112 and the gate electrode layer 104 are electrically connected. In this case, there is an advantage that the process is simplified.

Next, a first electrode layer 117 is formed by selectively discharging a composition containing a conductive material over the gate insulating layer 106 (see FIG. 7). Of course, when the first conductive layer 117 is formed, a base film is formed in the same manner as when the gate electrode layers 103 and 104 are formed, and a partial modification process is performed by laser irradiation processing on the base film. In addition, the first electrode layer 117 can be selectively formed with better controllability. The first electrode layer 117 is formed of indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium tin oxide containing silicon oxide (ITSO) when light is emitted from the substrate 100 side or when a transmissive EL display panel is manufactured. ), Zinc oxide (ZnO), tin oxide (SnO ₂ ), or the like, a predetermined pattern may be formed and fired.

  The first electrode layer 117 can also be selectively formed over the gate insulating layer 106 before the source or drain electrode layer 114 is formed. In this case, in this embodiment mode, the connection structure of the source or drain electrode layer 114 and the first electrode layer 117 is a structure in which the source or drain electrode layer 114 is stacked on the first electrode layer. It becomes. When the first electrode layer 117 is formed before the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer 114, the first electrode layer 117 can be formed in a flat formation region. Therefore, the first electrode layer 117 can be formed in a flat formation region. .

  In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 30, an insulating layer 150 serving as an interlayer insulating layer is formed over the source or drain electrode layer 114 and is electrically connected to the first electrode layer 117 through the wiring layer 152. A structure may be used. In this case, the opening (contact hole) is not formed by removing the insulator 150, but the substance 151 having liquid repellency (high liquid repellency) with respect to the insulator 150 is used as the source electrode layer or the drain electrode. Formed on layer 114. After that, when a composition including the insulator 150 is applied by a coating method or the like, the insulator 150 is formed in a region excluding a region where the substance 151 having liquid repellency is formed (see FIG. 30A). ).

  After the insulator 150 is solidified and formed by heating, drying, or the like, the liquid repellent substance 151 is removed to form an opening. A wiring layer 152 is formed so as to fill the opening, and a first electrode layer 117 is formed so as to be in contact with the wiring layer 152 (see FIG. 30B). When this method is used, there is an effect of simplifying the process because it is not necessary to form an opening by etching. The electroluminescent layer 122 and the second electrode layer 123 are formed to complete the display device.

  In the case where an interlayer insulating layer is formed over a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer as shown in FIG. 30, another method for forming an opening can be used. In this case, a photosensitive insulator is used for the insulator 150. After a photosensitive insulator is formed as an interlayer insulating layer, a laser beam is irradiated to a place where the opening is to be provided to expose the insulator in that region. The exposed insulator is removed by etching or the like, and an opening (contact hole) reaching the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer is formed. A conductive layer is formed in the opening so as to be connected to the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer, and a first electrode layer is formed so as to be connected to the conductive layer. In the present invention, since the modification and processing are performed by laser light irradiation, fine processing can be realized.

  Further, it is preferably formed of indium tin oxide (ITO), indium tin oxide containing silicon oxide (ITSO), zinc oxide (ZnO), or the like by a sputtering method. More preferably, indium tin oxide containing silicon oxide is used by a sputtering method using a target containing 2 to 10% by weight of silicon oxide in ITO. In addition, an oxide conductive material containing silicon oxide and in which 2 to 20% zinc oxide (ZnO) is mixed with indium oxide may be used. After the first electrode layer 117 is formed by a sputtering method, a mask layer may be formed by a droplet discharge method and formed into a desired pattern by etching. In this embodiment mode, the first electrode layer 117 is formed using a light-transmitting conductive material by a droplet discharge method, and specifically includes indium tin oxide, ITO, and silicon oxide. It is formed using ITSO.

  In this embodiment mode, the example in which the gate insulating layer has three layers of silicon nitride film / silicon oxynitride film (silicon oxide film) / silicon nitride film made of silicon nitride has been described above. As a preferable structure, the first electrode layer 117 formed of indium tin oxide containing silicon oxide is formed in close contact with the insulating layer made of silicon nitride included in the gate insulating layer 106, thereby emitting light in the electroluminescent layer. The effect that the ratio of the emitted light to the outside can be increased can be exhibited. Further, the gate insulating layer is interposed between the gate electrode layer, the gate electrode layer, and the first electrode layer, and can function as a capacitor.

  In addition, when a structure in which emitted light is emitted to the side opposite to the substrate 100 side, in the case of manufacturing a reflective EL display panel, Ag (silver), Au (gold), Cu (copper)), A composition composed mainly of metal particles such as W (tungsten) and Al (aluminum) can be used. As another method, a transparent conductive film or a light reflective conductive film is formed by a sputtering method, a mask pattern is formed by a droplet discharge method, and the first electrode layer 117 is formed by combining etching processes. Also good.

  The first electrode layer 117 may be wiped with a CMP method or a polyvinyl alcohol-based porous body and polished so that the surface thereof is planarized. Further, after the polishing using the CMP method, the surface of the first electrode layer 117 may be subjected to ultraviolet irradiation, oxygen plasma treatment, or the like.

  Through the above steps, a TFT substrate 100 for a display panel in which a bottom gate type (also referred to as an inverted stagger type) TFT and a pixel electrode are connected to the substrate 100 is completed. The TFT of this embodiment mode is a channel etch type.

  Next, an insulating layer (also referred to as a partition wall or a bank) 121 is selectively formed (see FIG. 8). The insulating layer 121 is formed over the first electrode layer 117 so as to have an opening. In this embodiment mode, the insulating layer 121 is formed over the entire surface, and is etched and patterned with a mask such as a resist. When the insulating layer 121 is formed using a droplet discharge method, a printing method, or the like that can be directly and selectively formed, patterning by etching is not necessarily required. The insulating layer 121 can also be shaped into a desired shape by the shaping means of the present invention. If the shape of the shaping portion is a columnar shape or a plate shape such as a spatula, depending on the area of the region where the insulating layer 121 is formed, productivity is improved.

  The insulating layer 121 is formed using silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, aluminum oxynitride, or other inorganic insulating materials, or acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and derivatives thereof, polyimide, aromatic Heat-resistant polymers such as polyamide, polybenzimidazole, or inorganic siloxanes containing Si-O-Si bonds among silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen compounds formed from siloxane-based materials as starting materials It can be formed of an organic siloxane insulating material in which hydrogen is substituted with an organic group such as methyl or phenyl. You may form using photosensitive and non-photosensitive materials, such as an acryl and a polyimide.

  Alternatively, after the insulating layer 121 is formed by discharging a composition by a droplet discharge method, the surface may be pressed and flattened by pressure in order to improve the flatness. As a pressing method, unevenness may be reduced by scanning a roller-like object on the surface, or the surface may be pressed vertically with a flat plate-like object. Alternatively, the surface may be softened or melted with a solvent or the like, and the surface irregularities may be removed with an air knife. Further, polishing may be performed using a CMP method. This step can be applied when the surface is flattened when unevenness is generated by the droplet discharge method. When flatness is improved by this step, display unevenness of the display panel can be prevented and a high-definition image can be displayed.

  A light emitting element is formed on the TFT substrate 100 for the display panel (see FIG. 8).

  Before forming the electroluminescent layer 122, heat treatment is performed at 200 ° C. under atmospheric pressure to remove moisture adsorbed in the insulating layers 120 and 121 or on the surface thereof. In addition, it is preferable to perform heat treatment at 200 to 400 ° C., preferably 250 to 350 ° C. under reduced pressure, and to form the electroluminescent layer 122 by vacuum deposition or droplet discharge under reduced pressure without being exposed to the air as it is. .

  As the electroluminescent layer 122, materials that emit red (R), green (G), and blue (B) light are selectively formed by an evaporation method using an evaporation mask or the like. A material that emits red (R), green (G), and blue (B) light can be formed by a droplet discharge method (such as a low-molecular or high-molecular material) in the same manner as a color filter. In this case, a mask is not used. Both are preferable because RGB can be separately applied. A second electrode layer 123 is stacked over the electroluminescent layer 122 to complete a display device (light-emitting display device) having a display function using a light-emitting element (see FIG. 8).

Although not shown, it is effective to provide a passivation film so as to cover the second electrode layer 123. As the passivation film, silicon nitride (SiN), silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ), silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon nitride oxide (SiNO), aluminum nitride (AlN), aluminum oxynitride (AlON), nitrogen content is oxygen It is made of an insulating film containing aluminum nitride oxide (AlNO) or aluminum oxide, diamond-like carbon (DLC), or nitrogen-containing carbon film (CN _X ) that is higher than the content, and a single layer or a combination of the insulating films is used. Can do. For example, a laminate such as a nitrogen-containing carbon film (CN _x ) and silicon nitride (SiN), or an organic material can be used, and a laminate of polymers such as a styrene polymer may be used. In addition, a skeleton structure is formed by a bond of silicon (Si) and oxygen (O), and at least one of a material containing at least hydrogen as a substituent, or fluorine, an alkyl group, or an aromatic hydrocarbon as a substituent. You may use the material which has.

At this time, it is preferable to use a film with good coverage as the passivation film, and it is effective to use a carbon film, particularly a DLC film. Since the DLC film can be formed in a temperature range from room temperature to 100 ° C., it can be easily formed over the electroluminescent layer having low heat resistance. The DLC film is formed by a plasma CVD method (typically, an RF plasma CVD method, a microwave CVD method, an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) CVD method, a hot filament CVD method, etc.), a combustion flame method, a sputtering method, or an ion beam evaporation method. It can be formed by laser vapor deposition. The reaction gas used for film formation was hydrogen gas and a hydrocarbon gas (for example, CH ₄ , C ₂ H ₂ , C ₆ H _6, etc.), ionized by glow discharge, and negative self-bias was applied. Films are formed by accelerated collision of ions with the cathode. The CN film may be formed using C ₂ H ₄ gas and N ₂ gas as the reaction gas. The DLC film has a high blocking effect against oxygen and can suppress oxidation of the electroluminescent layer. Therefore, the problem that the electroluminescent layer is oxidized during the subsequent sealing process can be prevented.

  Subsequently, a sealing material is formed and sealed using a sealing substrate. Thereafter, a flexible wiring substrate may be connected to the gate electrode layer 103 which is also a gate wiring layer, and electrical connection with the outside may be performed. The same applies to the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer 111 which is also a source wiring layer.

  FIG. 33 shows a completed view of an EL display panel manufactured using the present invention. FIG. 33A is a top view of the EL display panel, and FIG. 33B is a cross-sectional view taken along line E-F in FIG. In FIG. 33, the pixel portion formed over the element substrate 3300 includes a pixel 3302, gate wiring layers 3306a and 3306b, and a source wiring layer 3308, which are bonded and fixed to each other by a sealing substrate 3310 and a sealant 3303. Yes. In this embodiment mode, a driver IC 3351 is installed on the FPC 3350 and mounted by the TAB method.

  As shown in FIGS. 33A and 33B, desiccants 3305, 3304a, and 3304b are installed in the display panel in order to prevent deterioration of the element due to moisture. The desiccant 3305 is formed so as to surround the periphery of the pixel portion, and the desiccants 3304a and 3304b are formed in regions corresponding to the gate wiring layers 3306a and 3306b. In this embodiment mode, the desiccant is installed in a concave portion formed in the sealing substrate as shown in FIG. 33B, and has a structure that does not hinder thinning. Since the desiccant is also formed in the region corresponding to the gate wiring layer, the water absorption area can be increased and the water absorption effect is improved. Further, since the desiccant is formed on the gate wiring layer that does not emit light directly, the light extraction efficiency is not lowered. In this embodiment mode, a filler 3307 is filled in the display panel. When a material having hygroscopicity such as a desiccant is used as the filler, a further water absorption effect can be obtained and deterioration of the element can be prevented.

  Note that in this embodiment mode, a case where a light-emitting element is sealed with a glass substrate is shown; however, the sealing process is a process for protecting the light-emitting element from moisture and is mechanically sealed with a cover material. Either a method, a method of encapsulating with a thermosetting resin or an ultraviolet light curable resin, or a method of encapsulating with a thin film having a high barrier ability such as a metal oxide or a nitride is used. As the cover material, glass, ceramics, plastic, or metal can be used. However, when light is emitted to the cover material side, it must be translucent. In addition, the cover material and the substrate on which the light emitting element is formed are bonded together using a sealing material such as a thermosetting resin or an ultraviolet light curable resin, and the resin is cured by heat treatment or ultraviolet light irradiation treatment to form a sealed space. Form. It is also effective to provide a hygroscopic material typified by barium oxide in this sealed space. This hygroscopic material may be provided in contact with the sealing material, or may be provided on the partition wall or in the peripheral portion so as not to block light from the light emitting element. Further, the space between the cover material and the substrate on which the light emitting element is formed can be filled with a thermosetting resin or an ultraviolet light curable resin. In this case, it is effective to add a moisture absorbing material typified by barium oxide in the thermosetting resin or the ultraviolet light curable resin.

  In this embodiment mode, the switching TFT has a single gate structure, but a multi-gate structure such as a double gate structure may be used.

  As described above, in this embodiment mode, the process can be omitted by not using a light exposure process using a photomask. In addition, by forming various patterns directly on the substrate using the droplet discharge method, a display panel can be easily manufactured even if a glass substrate of 5th generation or later with one side exceeding 1000 mm is used. Can do.

    A pattern can be formed into a desired shape by performing a pretreatment for improving the adhesion of the pattern formation region to the pattern with respect to the surrounding region. In addition, a fine pattern can be freely designed by fine processing of laser light irradiation. According to the present invention, a desired pattern can be formed with good controllability, material loss is small, and cost reduction can be achieved. Therefore, a high-performance and highly reliable display device can be manufactured with high yield.

(Embodiment 3)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The present embodiment is an example in which the pretreatment of the pattern forming method by droplet discharge is different from the first embodiment. 9A to 12A are top views of the display device pixel portion, FIGS. 9B to 12B are cross-sectional views taken along line AC in FIGS. 9A to 12A, and FIG. It is sectional drawing by BD.

    A base film 201 is formed on the substrate 200 as a base pretreatment. For the base film 201 in this embodiment mode, a photosensitive material that is exposed by laser light irradiation is used. This is because in this embodiment, the base film formed in the pattern formation region is removed.

    As shown in FIG. 9, the film thickness of the base film is formed to be about the same as the film thickness of the pattern or slightly larger. If it does so, the removed area | region becomes a recessed part and it can discharge so that pattern material may be embedded in the recessed part. As shown in FIG. 9, a film 201 is formed in the vicinity of a pattern formation region on the substrate 200. Since the film 201 is processed by laser light, a photosensitive resin material that is a photosensitive material, particularly a film made of a positive resist material is preferable.

    Next, the region where the gate electrode layer is formed is irradiated with laser light 271a and 271b by a laser irradiation apparatus, and the film 201 is exposed to form exposed regions 202a and 202b (see FIG. 10). In this embodiment mode, a positive photosensitive material is used as the film 201, and the regions 202a and 202b exposed by laser light irradiation are removed by an etchant, so that they are separated by a surrounding film remaining in the formation region. The recessed portions 250a and 250b thus formed are formed (see FIG. 11).

    Droplets made of a composition containing a conductive material in the recesses 250a and 250b are discharged by the droplet discharge devices 280a and 280b, so that the gate electrode layers 203 and 204 can be formed only in the formation regions (FIG. 12). reference.). Even when the droplet discharge port is large or the controllability is poor and the droplet is discharged to a region other than the formation region, excess conductive material is discharged onto the surrounding film 201. If the film 201 made of a photosensitive resin or the like is removed by etching or the like after forming the gate electrode layers 203 and 204, the gate electrode layers 203 and 204 can be formed only in a desired region with good controllability. Further, the film thickness of the pattern can be freely controlled by controlling the film thickness of the photosensitive resin or the like. Since the formation area that becomes the recess is processed by laser light irradiation, fine processing is possible, and if a laser beam optically designed on the spot is used, a spot such as a contact hole can be simplified with high accuracy. Can be well formed.

  A photosensitive resin such as photosensitive acrylic or photosensitive polyimide, which is a photosensitive material, can be used for the peripheral film 201 that forms the concave portion. Alternatively, a commercially available resist material containing a photosensitizer may be used. For example, a novolak resin that is a typical positive resist and a naphthoquinonediazide compound that is a photosensitizer may be used.

    Through the above steps, gate electrode layers 203 and 204 are formed. Since the subsequent steps are as described in Embodiment 1, the description thereof is omitted here.

    A pattern can be formed into a desired shape by performing a pretreatment for forming a recess in a region where a pattern is to be formed. In addition, a fine pattern can be freely designed by fine processing of laser light irradiation. According to the present invention, a desired pattern can be formed with good controllability, material loss is small, and cost reduction can be achieved. Therefore, a high-performance and highly reliable display device can be manufactured with high yield.

(Embodiment 4)
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment mode, a top gate type (forward stagger type) thin film transistor is used as the thin film transistor in Embodiment Mode 2. Therefore, repetitive description of the same portion or a portion having a similar function is omitted. 15 and 16 are cross-sectional views taken along line BD in FIG.

  After the base film 301 is formed on the substrate 300 as a base pretreatment, only the formation region of the source or drain electrode layers 311, 312, 313, and 314 is irradiated with laser light. The regions irradiated with the laser light (base films 302a, 302b, and 302c) are modified, and are more lyophilic with respect to droplets made of a composition containing a conductive material to be formed later than the surrounding base films. (Low liquid repellency). Therefore, when a composition containing a conductive material is discharged to the modified regions (the base films 302a, 302b, and 302c) by a droplet discharge method, only on the base films 302a, 302b, and 302c, with good controllability, Source or drain electrode layers 311, 312, 313 and 314 can be formed.

  N-type semiconductor layers are formed on the source or drain electrode layers 311, 312, 313, and 314 and etched using a mask made of resist or the like. The resist may be formed using a droplet discharge method. A semiconductor layer is formed on the N-type semiconductor layer and patterned again using a mask or the like. Accordingly, the N-type semiconductor layer 310 and the semiconductor layers 307 and 308 are formed.

  Next, the gate insulating layer 306 is formed with a single layer or a stacked structure by a plasma CVD method or a sputtering method. In a particularly preferable mode, a three-layer structure including an insulator layer 306a made of silicon nitride, an insulator layer 306b made of silicon oxide, and an insulator layer 306c made of silicon nitride corresponds to the gate insulating layer.

    Next, a photosensitive material 350 is formed over the gate insulating layer 306 (see FIG. 15B). As shown in Embodiment Mode 2, a positive photosensitive material is preferably used as the photosensitive material 350, and a photosensitive resin is used in this embodiment mode. A portion of the photosensitive material 351 on which the gate insulating layer 306 is removed and a contact hole is to be formed is irradiated with a laser beam 370 from a laser irradiation apparatus. The region 351 irradiated with the laser light 370 is exposed (see FIG. 15C). After the exposed portion is removed by etching, the gate insulating layer 306 is etched using the photosensitive material 350 as a mask to form a through hole 347.

    Next, a photosensitive material 352 is formed again. This photosensitive material 352 is for covering the region 351 removed when the through-hole 347 is formed, and only the portion of the region 351 that is an opening may be covered by a droplet discharge method or the like. A region 353 of the photosensitive material 352 where the gate electrode layer 304 is formed is irradiated with laser light 371 by a laser irradiation apparatus. The region 353 is exposed and is removed by etching similarly to the region 351 (see FIG. 16A).

    After the exposed area is removed, a recess is formed. A composition including a conductive material is discharged into the recess by a droplet discharge device 380, whereby the gate electrode layer 304 is formed. When the present invention is used, the width of the gate electrode layer 104 in the channel direction can be narrowed, so that resistance is further reduced and mobility is improved.

  The photosensitive material 352 is removed, and the first electrode layer 317 is formed by a droplet discharge method. The first electrode layer 317 and the source or drain electrode layer 314 are electrically connected through the previously formed through hole 347.

  After that, an insulating layer 321 is formed as in Embodiment Mode 2, and an opening is provided over the first electrode layer. Then, an electroluminescent layer 322 and a second electrode layer 323 are formed. Further, a sealing material is formed and sealed using a sealing substrate. After that, the flexible wiring board may be connected to the gate electrode layer, the source electrode layer, or the drain electrode layer. Through the above, a display panel having a display function can be manufactured.

    As described above, in this embodiment mode, the process can be omitted by not using a light exposure process using a photomask. In addition, by forming various patterns directly on the substrate using the droplet discharge method, a display panel can be easily manufactured even if a glass substrate of 5th generation or later with one side exceeding 1000 mm is used. Can do.

    A pattern can be formed into a desired shape by performing a pretreatment for forming a recess in a region where a pattern is to be formed. In addition, a fine pattern can be freely designed by fine processing of laser light irradiation. According to the present invention, a desired pattern can be formed with good controllability, material loss is small, and cost reduction can be achieved. Therefore, a high-performance and highly reliable display device can be manufactured with high yield.

(Embodiment 5)
A thin film transistor is formed by applying the present invention, and a display device can be formed using the thin film transistor. When a light emitting element is used and an N-type transistor is used as a transistor for driving the light emitting element, The light emitted from the light emitting element performs any one of bottom emission, top emission, and dual emission. Here, a stacked structure of light-emitting elements corresponding to each case will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In this embodiment, a channel protective thin film transistor 481 to which the present invention is applied is used. For the channel protective film, polyimide, polyvinyl alcohol, or the like may be dropped using a droplet discharge method. As a result, the exposure process can be omitted. Channel protective films include inorganic materials (silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, etc.), photosensitive or non-photosensitive organic materials (organic resin materials) (polyimide, acrylic, polyamide, polyimide amide, resist , Benzocyclobutene, etc.), a low-k material having a low dielectric constant, or a film made of a plurality of kinds, or a stack of these films. In addition, a skeleton structure is formed by a bond of silicon (Si) and oxygen (O), and at least one of a material containing at least hydrogen as a substituent, or fluorine, an alkyl group, or an aromatic hydrocarbon as a substituent. You may use the material which has. As a manufacturing method, a vapor deposition method such as a plasma CVD method or a thermal CVD method, or a sputtering method can be used. Alternatively, a droplet discharge method or a printing method (a method for forming a pattern such as screen printing or offset printing) can be used. A TOF film or an SOG film obtained by a coating method can also be used.

  First, the case where light is emitted to the substrate 480 side, that is, the case where bottom emission is performed will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, the source or drain electrode layer 482, the first electrode 484, the electroluminescent layer 485, and the second electrode 486 are stacked in this order so as to be electrically connected to the transistor 481. Next, the case where light is emitted to the side opposite to the substrate 480, that is, the case where top emission is performed will be described with reference to FIG. A source or drain electrode layer 462 electrically connected to the transistor 481, a first electrode 463, an electroluminescent layer 464, and a second electrode 465 are sequentially stacked. With the above structure, even when light is transmitted through the first electrode 463, the light is reflected by the source or drain electrode layer 462 and emitted to the side opposite to the substrate 480. Note that in this structure, it is not necessary to use a light-transmitting material for the first electrode 463. Lastly, a case where light is emitted to the substrate 480 side and both sides opposite thereto, that is, a case where dual emission is performed will be described with reference to FIG. A source or drain electrode layer wiring 471 which is electrically connected to the transistor 481, a first electrode 472, an electroluminescent layer 473, and a second electrode 474 are sequentially stacked. At this time, when both the first electrode 472 and the second electrode 474 are formed using a light-transmitting material or a thickness capable of transmitting light, dual emission is realized.

  The light emitting element has a structure in which an electroluminescent layer is sandwiched between a first electrode and a second electrode. It is necessary to select materials for the first electrode and the second electrode in consideration of a work function, and both the first electrode and the second electrode can be an anode or a cathode depending on a pixel configuration. In this embodiment mode, since the polarity of the driving TFT is an N-channel type, it is preferable that the first electrode be a cathode and the second electrode be an anode. In the case where the polarity of the driving TFT is a p-channel type, the first electrode may be an anode and the second electrode may be a cathode.

  When the first electrode is an anode, the electroluminescent layer is formed from the anode side from the HIL (hole injection layer), HTL (hole transport layer), EML (light-emitting layer), ETL (electron transport layer), EIL ( It is preferable to laminate in the order of the electron injection layer). When the first electrode is a cathode, the reverse is true, and from the cathode side, EIL (electron injection layer), ETL (electron transport layer), EML (light emitting layer), HTL (hole transport layer), HIL (hole injection) Layer) and the anode as the second electrode are preferably laminated in this order. The electroluminescent layer can have a single layer structure or a mixed structure in addition to the laminated structure.

In addition, as the electroluminescent layer, materials that emit red (R), green (G), and blue (B) light are selectively formed by an evaporation method using an evaporation mask, respectively. A material that emits red (R), green (G), and blue (B) light can be formed by a droplet discharge method (such as a low-molecular or high-molecular material) in the same manner as a color filter. In this case, a mask is not used. Both are preferable because RGB can be separately applied.

In the case of a top emission type, in the case where light-transmitting ITO or ITSO is used for the second electrode, BzOS-Li in which Li is added to a benzoxazole derivative (BzOS) or the like can be used. Further, for example, EML may be Alq ₃ doped with a dopant corresponding to each emission color of R, G, and B (DCM in the case of R, DMQD in the case of G).

Note that the electroluminescent layer is not limited to the above materials. For example, instead of CuPc or PEDOT, an oxide such as molybdenum oxide (MoOx: x = 2 to 3) and α-NPD or rubrene can be co-evaporated to improve the hole injection property. The material of the electroluminescent layer can be used as an organic material (including a low molecule or a polymer), or a composite material of an organic material and an inorganic material. Hereinafter, materials for forming the light emitting element will be described in detail.

Among the charge injecting and transporting materials, materials having a particularly high electron transporting property include, for example, tris (8-quinolinolato) aluminum (abbreviation: Alq ₃ ), tris (5-methyl-8-quinolinolato) aluminum (abbreviation: Almq ₃ ), Bis (10-hydroxybenzo [h] -quinolinato) beryllium (abbreviation: BeBq ₂ ), bis (2-methyl-8-quinolinolato) -4-phenylphenolato-aluminum (abbreviation: BAlq), quinoline skeleton or benzoquinoline Examples thereof include metal complexes having a skeleton. As a substance having a high hole-transport property, for example, 4,4′-bis [N- (1-naphthyl) -N-phenyl-amino] -biphenyl (abbreviation: α-NPD), 4,4′-bis [ N- (3-methylphenyl) -N-phenyl-amino] -biphenyl (abbreviation: TPD) or 4,4 ′, 4 ″ -tris (N, N-diphenyl-amino) -triphenylamine (abbreviation: TDATA) ), 4,4 ′, 4 ″ -tris [N- (3-methylphenyl) -N-phenyl-amino] -triphenylamine (abbreviation: MTDATA) (ie, benzene ring-nitrogen) And a compound having a bond of

Among the charge injecting and transporting materials, materials having particularly high electron injecting properties include alkali metals or alkaline earths such as lithium fluoride (LiF), cesium fluoride (CsF), calcium fluoride (CaF ₂ ) and the like. Metal compounds can be mentioned. In addition, a mixture of a substance having a high electron transport property such as Alq ₃ and an alkaline earth metal such as magnesium (Mg) may be used.

Among the charge injecting and transporting materials, examples of the material having a high hole injecting property include molybdenum oxide (MoOx), vanadium oxide (VOx), ruthenium oxide (RuOx), tungsten oxide (WOx), and manganese oxide. Examples thereof include metal oxides such as (MnOx). In addition, phthalocyanine compounds such as phthalocyanine (abbreviation: H ₂ Pc) and copper phthalocyanine (CuPC) can be given.

  The light emitting layer may be configured to perform color display by forming light emitting layers having different emission wavelength bands for each pixel. Typically, a light emitting layer corresponding to each color of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) is formed. In this case as well, by providing a filter (colored layer) that transmits light in the emission wavelength band on the light emission side of the pixel, the color purity is improved and the pixel portion is mirrored (reflected). Prevention can be achieved. By providing the filter (colored layer), it is possible to omit a circularly polarized plate that has been considered necessary in the past, and it is possible to eliminate the loss of light emitted from the light emitting layer. Furthermore, a change in color tone that occurs when the pixel portion (display screen) is viewed obliquely can be reduced.

There are various kinds of light emitting materials. In the low molecular weight organic light emitting material, 4-dicyanomethylene-2-methyl-6- (1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidyl-9-enyl) -4H-pyran (abbreviation: DCJT), 4- Dicyanomethylene-2-t-butyl-6- (1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidyl-9-enyl) -4H-pyran (abbreviation: DPA), periflanthene, 2,5-dicyano-1, 4-bis (10-methoxy-1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidyl-9-enyl) benzene, N, N′-dimethylquinacridone (abbreviation: DMQd), coumarin 6, coumarin 545T, tris (8 -Quinolinolato) Aluminum (abbreviation: Alq ₃ ), 9,9′-bianthryl, 9,10-diphenylanthracene (abbreviation: DPA), 9,10-bis (2-naphthyl) anthracene (abbreviation: DNA), etc. Can . Other substances may also be used.

On the other hand, the high molecular organic light emitting material has higher physical strength than the low molecular weight material, and the durability of the device is high. In addition, since the film can be formed by coating, the device can be manufactured relatively easily. The structure of the light emitting element using the high molecular weight organic light emitting material is basically the same as that when the low molecular weight organic light emitting material is used, and sequentially becomes a cathode, an organic light emitting layer, and an anode. However, when forming a light emitting layer using a high molecular weight organic light emitting material, it is difficult to form a laminated structure as in the case of using a low molecular weight organic light emitting material. . Specifically, the structure is a cathode, a light emitting layer, a hole transport layer, and an anode in this order.

  Since the light emission color is determined by the material for forming the light emitting layer, a light emitting element exhibiting desired light emission can be formed by selecting these materials. Examples of the polymer electroluminescent material that can be used for forming the light emitting layer include polyparaphenylene vinylene, polyparaphenylene, polythiophene, and polyfluorene.

  The polyparaphenylene vinylene system includes derivatives of poly (paraphenylene vinylene) [PPV], poly (2,5-dialkoxy-1,4-phenylene vinylene) [RO-PPV], poly (2- (2′- Ethyl-hexoxy) -5-methoxy-1,4-phenylenevinylene) [MEH-PPV], poly (2- (dialkoxyphenyl) -1,4-phenylenevinylene) [ROPh-PPV] and the like. The polyparaphenylene series includes derivatives of polyparaphenylene [PPP], poly (2,5-dialkoxy-1,4-phenylene) [RO-PPP], poly (2,5-dihexoxy-1,4-phenylene). ) And the like. The polythiophene series includes polythiophene [PT] derivatives, poly (3-alkylthiophene) [PAT], poly (3-hexylthiophene) [PHT], poly (3-cyclohexylthiophene) [PCHT], poly (3-cyclohexyl). -4-methylthiophene) [PCHMT], poly (3,4-dicyclohexylthiophene) [PDCHT], poly [3- (4-octylphenyl) -thiophene] [POPT], poly [3- (4-octylphenyl) -2,2 bithiophene] [PTOPT] and the like. Examples of the polyfluorene series include polyfluorene [PF] derivatives, poly (9,9-dialkylfluorene) [PDAF], poly (9,9-dioctylfluorene) [PDOF], and the like.

  Note that when a hole-transporting polymer-based organic light-emitting material is sandwiched between an anode and a light-emitting polymer-based organic light-emitting material, hole injection properties from the anode can be improved. In general, an acceptor material dissolved in water is applied by spin coating or the like. In addition, since it is insoluble in an organic solvent, it can be stacked with the above-described light-emitting organic light-emitting material. Examples of the hole-transporting polymer organic light emitting material include a mixture of PEDOT and camphor sulfonic acid (CSA) as an acceptor material, a mixture of polyaniline [PANI] and polystyrene sulfonic acid [PSS] as an acceptor material, and the like. .

The light emitting layer can be configured to emit monochromatic or white light. In the case of using a white light emitting material, color display can be made possible by providing a filter (colored layer) that transmits light of a specific wavelength on the light emission side of the pixel.

To form a light emitting layer that emits white light, for _{example, Alq 3, Alq 3, Alq} 3 doped with Nile Red which is partly red light emitting pigment, p-EtTAZ, by TPD (aromatic diamine) evaporation A white color can be obtained by sequentially laminating. In the case where the EL is formed by a coating method using spin coating, it is preferable that baking is performed by vacuum heating after coating. For example, a poly (ethylenedioxythiophene) / poly (styrenesulfonic acid) aqueous solution (PEDOT / PSS) that acts as a hole injection layer is applied and baked on the entire surface, and then a luminescent center dye (1, 1,4,4-tetraphenyl-1,3-butadiene (TPB), 4-dicyanomethylene-2-methyl-6- (p-dimethylamino-styryl) -4H-pyran (DCM1), Nile Red, Coumarin 6 Etc.) A doped polyvinyl carbazole (PVK) solution may be applied to the entire surface and fired.

  The light emitting layer can also be formed as a single layer, and an electron transporting 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivative (PBD) may be dispersed in hole transporting polyvinyl carbazole (PVK). Further, white light emission can be obtained by dispersing 30 wt% PBD as an electron transporting agent and dispersing an appropriate amount of four kinds of dyes (TPB, coumarin 6, DCM1, Nile red). In addition to the light-emitting element that can emit white light as shown here, a light-emitting element that can obtain red light emission, green light emission, or blue light emission can be manufactured by appropriately selecting the material of the light-emitting layer.

  Furthermore, a triplet excitation material containing a metal complex or the like may be used for the light emitting layer in addition to a singlet excitation light emitting material. For example, among red light emitting pixels, green light emitting pixels, and blue light emitting pixels, a red light emitting pixel having a relatively short luminance half time is formed of a triplet excitation light emitting material, and the other A singlet excited luminescent material is used. The triplet excited luminescent material has a feature that the light emission efficiency is good, so that less power is required to obtain the same luminance. That is, when applied to a red pixel, the amount of current flowing through the light emitting element can be reduced, so that reliability can be improved. As a reduction in power consumption, a red light-emitting pixel and a green light-emitting pixel may be formed using a triplet excitation light-emitting material, and a blue light-emitting pixel may be formed using a singlet excitation light-emitting material. By forming a green light-emitting element having high human visibility with a triplet excited light-emitting material, power consumption can be further reduced.

Examples of triplet excited luminescent materials include those using a metal complex as a dopant, and metal complexes having a third transition series element platinum as the central metal and metal complexes having iridium as the central metal are known. Yes. The triplet excited light-emitting material is not limited to these compounds, and a compound having the above structure and having an element belonging to group 8 to 10 in the periodic table as a central metal can also be used.

  The substances forming the light-emitting layer listed above are examples, and functionalities such as a hole injection transport layer, a hole transport layer, an electron injection transport layer, an electron transport layer, a light emission layer, an electron block layer, and a hole block layer are included. A light emitting element can be formed by appropriately stacking each layer. Moreover, you may form the mixed layer or mixed junction which combined these each layer. The layer structure of the light-emitting layer can be changed, and instead of having a specific electron injection region or light-emitting region, it is possible to provide a modification with an electrode for this purpose or a dispersed light-emitting material. Can be permitted without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  A light-emitting element formed using the above materials emits light by being forward-biased. A pixel of a display device formed using a light-emitting element can be driven by a simple matrix method or an active matrix method as described in Embodiment 2. In any case, each pixel emits light by applying a forward bias at a specific timing, but is in a non-light emitting state for a certain period. By applying a reverse bias during this non-light emitting time, the reliability of the light emitting element can be improved. The light emitting element has a degradation mode in which the light emission intensity decreases under a constant driving condition and a degradation mode in which the non-light emitting area is enlarged in the pixel and the luminance is apparently decreased. However, alternating current that applies a bias in the forward and reverse directions. By performing a typical drive, the progress of deterioration can be slowed and the reliability of the light emitting device can be improved.

  Therefore, although not shown in FIG. 19, a filter (colored layer) may be formed on the counter substrate of the substrate 480. The filter (colored layer) can be formed by a droplet discharge method. In that case, laser light irradiation treatment or the like can be applied as the above-described base pretreatment. With the base film of the present invention, a filter (colored layer) can be formed in a desired pattern with good adhesion. When a filter (colored layer) is used, high-definition display can be performed. This is because a broad peak can be corrected to be sharp in the emission spectrum of each RGB by the filter (colored layer).

  As described above, the case where a material that emits light of each RGB is formed has been described. However, full color display can be performed by forming a material that emits light of a single color and combining a color filter and a color conversion layer. The filter (colored layer) and the color conversion layer may be formed, for example, on the second substrate (sealing substrate) and attached to the substrate. Further, as described above, any of the material exhibiting monochromatic light emission, the filter (colored layer), and the color conversion layer can be formed by a droplet discharge method.

  Of course, monochromatic light emission may be displayed. For example, an area color type light emitting display device may be formed using monochromatic light emission. As the area color type, a passive matrix type display unit is suitable, and characters and symbols can be mainly displayed.

  In the above configuration, a material having a small work function can be used as the cathode, and for example, Ca, Al, CaF, MgAg, AlLi, or the like is desirable. The electroluminescent layer may be any of a single layer type, a laminated type, and a mixed type having no layer interface. It is also formed from singlet materials, triplet materials, or combinations thereof, charge injection / transport materials containing organic compounds or inorganic compounds, and light-emitting materials, and low molecular organic compounds and medium molecular organic compounds (sublimation) based on the number of molecules. And an organic compound having a molecular number of 20 or less, or a chained molecule having a length of 10 μm or less), including one or more layers selected from macromolecular organic compounds, You may combine with the injection | pouring transport property or a hole injection transport property inorganic compound. The first electrodes 484, 463, and 472 are formed using a transparent conductive film that transmits light. For example, in addition to ITO and ITSO, a transparent conductive film in which 2 to 20% zinc oxide (ZnO) is mixed with indium oxide is used. Use. Note that plasma treatment in an oxygen atmosphere or heat treatment in a vacuum atmosphere is preferably performed before the first electrodes 484, 463, and 472 are formed. A partition wall (also referred to as a bank) is formed using a material containing silicon, an organic material, and a compound material. A porous film may be used. However, it is preferable to use a photosensitive or non-photosensitive material such as acrylic or polyimide because the side surface has a shape in which the radius of curvature continuously changes and the upper thin film is formed without being cut off. This embodiment mode can be freely combined with the above embodiment modes.

(Embodiment 6)
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 35 to 40 and FIG. More specifically, a method for manufacturing a display device (liquid crystal display device) to which the present invention is applied will be described. First, a method for manufacturing a display device having a channel-etched thin film transistor to which the present invention is applied will be described. 35 to 40A are top views of the display device pixel portion, and FIGS. 35 to 40B are cross-sectional views taken along line GH in FIGS. 35 to 40A.

  A base film 5101 is formed over the substrate 5100 as a base pretreatment. As the substrate 5100, a glass substrate made of barium borosilicate glass, alumino borosilicate glass, or the like, a quartz substrate, a silicon substrate, a metal substrate, a stainless steel substrate, or a plastic substrate having heat resistance that can withstand the processing temperature in this manufacturing process is used. Further, polishing may be performed by a CMP method or the like so that the surface of the substrate 5100 is planarized. Note that an insulating layer may be formed over the substrate 5100. The insulating layer is formed as a single layer or a stacked layer using an oxide material or a nitride material containing silicon by a known method such as a CVD method, a plasma CVD method, a sputtering method, or a spin coating method. This insulating layer is not necessarily formed, but has an effect of blocking contaminants from the substrate 5100. In the case of forming a base layer for preventing contamination from the glass substrate, a base film 5101 is formed thereon as a base pretreatment for the gate electrode layer 5103 formed by a droplet discharge method.

    In this embodiment mode, a liquid-repellent substance is formed as the base film 5101 (see FIG. 35). In this embodiment mode, the entire surface is applied by a spin coating method, but may be selectively formed in the vicinity of a pattern formation region by a droplet discharge method or the like.

    Next, the base film is modified by irradiating the region where the gate electrode layer is formed with laser light 5171a by a laser device (see FIG. 36). By this modification treatment, the base films 5102a and 5102b are made more lyophilic with respect to the composition containing the conductive material forming the gate electrode layer stacked thereover. Therefore, there is a difference in the degree of liquid repellency (lyophilicity) between the base films 5102a and 5102b and the surrounding base films with respect to the composition containing a conductive material.

    A droplet of a composition containing a conductive material is discharged by a droplet discharge device 5180a to the regions of the base films 5102a and 5102b modified by laser light, so that the gate electrode layer 5103 and the capacitor wiring layer 5104 are formed. (See FIG. 37). The discharged droplets are formed on the base film in regions of the base films 5102a and 5102b that are higher in lyophilicity (lower in liquid repellency) than the surrounding base film. Even when the size of the discharge port of the nozzle from which the liquid droplet is discharged is larger than the desired size, it is possible to increase the lyophilicity (decrease the liquid repellency) on the formation area. The droplets adhere only to the formation region, and a thin conductive layer is formed. Since there is a difference in the degree of liquid repellency (lyophilicity) between the formation area and the surrounding area, the droplets are repelled in the surrounding area and remain in the more lyophilic formation area. Because.

    By using the present invention, when a fine pattern such as the gate electrode layer 5103 is to be formed, even if the droplet discharge port is somewhat large, the droplet does not spread on the formation region and can be thinned. Further, by controlling the amount of liquid droplets, the film thickness of the conductive layer can be controlled. When the film is modified by laser light irradiation as in this embodiment mode, since the laser light can be processed finely, fine wirings, electrodes, and the like can be formed with high controllability. Further, by combining the droplet discharge method, material loss can be prevented and costs can be reduced as compared with the entire surface coating formation by spin coating method or the like.

  The base film 5101 formed as the base pretreatment in this embodiment is a sol-gel dip coating method, a spin coating method, a droplet discharge method, an ion plating method, an ion beam method, a CVD method, a sputtering method, or an RF magnetron sputtering. It can be formed by a method, a plasma spraying method, a plasma spraying method, or an anodic oxidation method. The substance may not have continuity as a film depending on the formation method. When the film is formed by a coating method such as a dip coating method or a spin coating method, it may be fired or dried when the solvent needs to be removed.

  Further, a metal material such as Ti (titanium), W (tungsten), Cr (chromium), Ta (tantalum), Ni (nickel), Mo (molybdenum) or the like can be formed as the base film 5101 by a method such as sputtering or vapor deposition. A base film 5101 formed using the oxide may be formed.

  The base film 5101 may be formed with a thickness of 0.01 to 10 nm. However, since the base film 5101 may be formed extremely thin, it does not necessarily have a layer structure. When the base film has conductivity using a metal material or a 3d transition element as the base film, the following two methods are desirably performed on the base film other than the conductive layer formation region.

  As a first method, an insulating layer is formed by insulating a base film 5101 that does not overlap with the gate electrode layer 5103 (that is, a surrounding region having higher liquid repellency). That is, the base film 5101 which does not overlap with the gate electrode layer 5103 is oxidized to be insulated. As described above, in the case where the base film 5101 is oxidized to be insulated, it is preferable to form the base film 5101 with a thickness of 0.01 to 10 nm, so that the base film 5101 can be easily oxidized. As a method of oxidizing, a method of exposing to an oxygen atmosphere or a method of performing heat treatment may be used.

  As a second method, the gate electrode layer 5103 is selectively formed in a formation region (a discharge region of a composition containing a conductive material). The base film 5101 may be selectively formed over the substrate by a droplet discharge method or the like, or after being formed over the entire surface, the base film 5101 is selectively etched using the gate electrode layer 5103 as a mask. It may be removed. When this step is used, there is no restriction on the thickness of the base film 5101.

  As another method, an organic material substance that functions as an adhesive may be formed in order to improve the adhesion of the pattern formed by the droplet discharge method to the formation region. Organic material (organic resin material) (polyimide, acrylic) or skeleton structure is composed of a bond of silicon (Si) and oxygen (O), a material containing at least hydrogen as a substituent, or fluorine, alkyl group as a substituent, Alternatively, a material having at least one of aromatic hydrocarbons may be used.

    The gate electrode layer 5103 and the capacitor wiring layer 5104 are formed using a droplet discharge unit.

  As the base pretreatment of the conductive layer formed using the droplet discharge method, the above-described step of forming the base film 5101 was performed. This treatment step is performed even after the gate electrode layer 5103 and the capacitor wiring layer 5104 are formed. You can go.

  Alternatively, after the gate electrode layer 5103 and the capacitor wiring layer 5104 are formed by discharging a composition by a droplet discharge method, the surface may be pressed and flattened by pressure in order to improve the flatness. As a pressing method, unevenness may be reduced by scanning a roller-like object on the surface, or the surface may be pressed vertically with a flat plate-like object. A heating step may be performed when pressing. Alternatively, the surface may be softened or melted with a solvent or the like, and the surface irregularities may be removed with an air knife. Further, polishing may be performed using a CMP method. This step can be applied when the surface is flattened when unevenness is generated by the droplet discharge method.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to form a wiring in which the line width of the gate electrode layer is 5 μm or less.

  Next, a gate insulating layer 5105 is formed over the gate electrode layer 5103 and the capacitor wiring layer 5104 (see FIG. 38). The gate insulating layer 5105 may be formed using a known material such as a silicon oxide material or a nitride material, and may be a stacked layer or a single layer. In this embodiment, a stacked layer of a silicon nitride film, a silicon oxide film, and a silicon nitride film is used. Alternatively, a single layer or a double layer of silicon oxynitride film may be used. A silicon nitride film having a dense film quality is preferably used. In addition, when silver or copper is used for a conductive layer formed by a droplet discharge method, if a silicon nitride film or a NiB film is formed thereon as a barrier film, diffusion of impurities can be prevented and the surface can be planarized. is there. Note that in order to form a dense insulating film with low gate leakage current at a low deposition temperature, a rare gas element such as argon is preferably contained in a reaction gas and mixed into the formed insulating film.

  Next, a semiconductor layer is formed. A semiconductor layer having one conductivity type may be formed as necessary. In this embodiment mode, an N-type semiconductor layer 5107 is stacked as the semiconductor layer 5106 and a semiconductor layer having one conductivity type (see FIG. 38). In addition, an N-type semiconductor layer is formed, and an NMOS structure of an N-channel TFT, a PMOS structure of a P-channel TFT having a P-type semiconductor layer, and a CMOS structure of an N-channel TFT and a P-channel TFT are manufactured. it can. In order to impart conductivity, an element imparting conductivity is added by doping, and an impurity region is formed in the semiconductor layer, whereby an N-channel TFT or a P-channel TFT can be formed.

  In this embodiment mode, an amorphous semiconductor is used as the semiconductor. A semiconductor layer is formed, and then an N-type semiconductor layer is formed as a semiconductor layer having one conductivity type by a plasma CVD method or the like.

  Subsequently, using a mask made of an insulator such as resist or polyimide, the semiconductor layer and the N-type semiconductor layer are simultaneously patterned to form a semiconductor layer 5106 and an N-type semiconductor layer 5107 (see FIG. 38). The mask can be formed by selectively discharging a composition. For the mask, a resin material such as an epoxy resin, an acrylic resin, a phenol resin, a novolac resin, a melamine resin, or a urethane resin is used. Also, using organic materials such as benzocyclobutene, parylene, flare, permeable polyimide, compound materials made by polymerization of siloxane polymers, composition materials containing water-soluble homopolymers and water-soluble copolymers, etc. And formed by a droplet discharge method. Alternatively, a commercially available resist material containing a photosensitizer may be used. For example, a novolak resin that is a typical positive resist and a naphthoquinonediazide compound that is a photosensitizer, a base resin that is a negative resist, diphenylsilanediol, and An acid generator or the like may be used. Whichever material is used, the surface tension and viscosity are appropriately adjusted by adjusting the concentration of the solvent or adding a surfactant or the like.

  In this embodiment mode, when the gate electrode layer 5103 and the capacitor wiring layer 5104 are formed by a droplet discharge method, as a pretreatment, a selective film is formed as if a base film was formed and a modification treatment was performed by laser light irradiation. A pattern can also be formed. In the present invention, when a pattern is formed by discharging droplets by a droplet discharge method, a modification process can be performed on a pattern formation region by a laser beam irradiation process. By performing this modification treatment only on the region to be formed, there is a difference in the height (strength) of liquid repellency (lyophilicity) between the region to be formed and the surrounding region, and the liquid repellency is low ( Droplets remain only in the formation region (which is highly lyophilic), and a pattern can be formed with good controllability. In the case where a liquid material is used, this step can be applied as any base pretreatment, and a mask is not necessarily required. Therefore, the step can be simplified.

  A composition containing a conductive material is discharged to form source or drain electrode layers 5130 and 5108, and the semiconductor layer 5106 and the N-type semiconductor layer 5107 are formed using the source or drain electrode layers 5130 and 5108 as masks. Then, the semiconductor layer 5106 is exposed (see FIG. 39). The step of forming the source or drain electrode layers 5130 and 5108 can be performed in a manner similar to that of forming the gate electrode layer 5103 described above. The source or drain electrode layer 5130 also functions as a wiring layer.

  As a conductive material for forming the source or drain electrode layers 5130 and 5108, metal particles such as Ag (silver), Au (gold), Cu (copper), W (tungsten), and Al (aluminum) are mainly used. Compositions as components can be used. Further, light-transmitting indium tin oxide (ITO), ITSO made of indium tin oxide and silicon oxide, organic indium, organic tin, zinc oxide, titanium nitride, or the like may be combined.

  In addition, as the base pretreatment of the conductive layer formed using a droplet discharge method, the above-described step of forming the base film may be performed, and this treatment step may be performed after the conductive layer is formed. This step improves the adhesion between the layers, so that the reliability of the display device can also be improved.

Subsequently, a composition containing a conductive material is selectively discharged over the gate insulating layer 5105 so as to be in contact with the source or drain electrode layer 5108, so that the pixel electrode layer 5111 is formed (see FIG. 40). ). In the case of manufacturing a transmissive liquid crystal display panel, the pixel electrode layer 5111 is formed of indium tin oxide (ITO), indium tin oxide containing silicon oxide (ITSO), zinc oxide (ZnO), tin oxide (SnO ₂ ). ) And the like may be formed by firing and forming a predetermined pattern.

  The pixel electrode layer 5111 can be selectively formed over the gate insulating layer 5105 before the source or drain electrode layer 5108 is formed. In this case, this embodiment mode has a connection structure of the source or drain electrode layer 5108 and the pixel electrode layer 5111 in which the source or drain electrode layer 5108 is stacked over the pixel electrode layer. When the pixel electrode layer 5111 is formed before the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer 5108, the pixel electrode layer 5111 can be formed in a flat formation region. Therefore, the pixel electrode layer 5111 can be formed in a flat formation region.

  In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 49, an insulator 5150 serving as an interlayer insulating layer is formed over the source or drain electrode layer 5108 and electrically connected to the pixel electrode layer 5111 through the wiring layer 5152. It may be used. In this case, the opening (contact hole) is not formed by removing the insulator 5150, but the substance 5151 having liquid repellency (high liquid repellency) with respect to the insulator 5150 is formed using the source electrode layer or the drain electrode. Formed on layer 5108. After that, when a composition including the insulator 5150 is applied by a coating method or the like, the insulator 5150 is formed in a region excluding a region where the substance 5151 having liquid repellency is formed (see FIG. 49A). ).

  After the insulator 5150 is solidified by heating, drying, or the like, the substance 5151 having liquid repellency is removed to form an opening. A wiring layer 5152 is formed so as to fill the opening, and a pixel electrode layer 5111 is formed so as to be in contact with the wiring layer 5152 (see FIG. 49B). When this method is used, there is an effect of simplifying the process because it is not necessary to form an opening by etching.

  In the case where an interlayer insulating layer is formed over the source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer as shown in FIG. 49, another method for forming an opening can be used. In this case, a photosensitive insulator is used for the insulator 5150. After a photosensitive insulator is formed as an interlayer insulating layer, a laser beam is irradiated to a place where the opening is to be provided to expose the insulator in that region. The exposed insulator is removed by etching or the like, and an opening (contact hole) reaching the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer is formed. A conductive layer is formed in the opening so as to be connected to the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer, and a first electrode layer is formed so as to be connected to the conductive layer. In the present invention, since the modification and processing are performed by laser light irradiation, fine processing can be realized.

  Further, it is preferably formed of indium tin oxide (ITO), indium tin oxide containing silicon oxide (ITSO), zinc oxide (ZnO), or the like by a sputtering method. More preferably, indium tin oxide containing silicon oxide is used by a sputtering method using a target containing 2 to 10% by weight of silicon oxide in ITO. In addition, an oxide conductive material containing silicon oxide and in which 2 to 20% zinc oxide (ZnO) is mixed with indium oxide may be used. After the pixel electrode layer 5111 is formed by a sputtering method, a mask layer may be formed by a droplet discharge method and formed into a desired pattern by etching. In this embodiment, the pixel electrode layer 5111 is formed using a light-transmitting conductive material by a droplet discharge method, specifically, ITSO including indium tin oxide, ITO, and silicon oxide. It forms using.

  Further, when a reflective liquid crystal display panel is manufactured, metal particles such as Ag (silver), Au (gold), Cu (copper)), W (tungsten), and Al (aluminum) are mainly used. Compositions can be used. As another method, the pixel electrode layer 5111 may be formed by forming a transparent conductive film or a light reflective conductive film by a sputtering method, forming a mask pattern by a droplet discharge method, and combining etching processes. .

  The pixel electrode layer 5111 may be wiped with a CMP method or a polyvinyl alcohol-based porous material and polished so that the surface thereof is planarized. Further, after the polishing using the CMP method, the surface of the pixel electrode layer 5111 may be subjected to ultraviolet irradiation, oxygen plasma treatment, or the like.

  Through the above steps, a substrate 5100 having a TFT for a display panel (liquid crystal display panel) in which a bottom gate type (also referred to as an inverted stagger type) TFT and a pixel electrode are connected to the substrate 5100 is completed. The TFT of this embodiment mode is a channel etch type.

  Next, as illustrated in FIG. 45, an insulating layer 5112 called an alignment film is formed by a printing method or a spin coating method so as to cover the pixel electrode layer 5111. 45 is a cross-sectional view taken along line GH in the top view shown in FIGS. 35 to 40, and is a completed view of the display panel. Note that the insulating layer 5112 can be selectively formed by a screen printing method or an offset printing method. Then, rubbing is performed. Subsequently, a sealing material is formed in a peripheral region where pixels are formed by a droplet discharge method (not shown).

  After that, an insulating substrate 5121 functioning as an alignment film, a colored layer 5122 functioning as a color filter, a conductor layer 5123 functioning as a counter electrode, a counter substrate 5124 provided with a polarizing plate 5125, and a substrate 5100 having TFTs are provided with spacers. A display panel (liquid crystal display panel) can be manufactured by providing a liquid crystal layer 5120 in the gap (see FIG. 45). A filler may be mixed in the sealing material, and a shielding film (black matrix) or the like may be formed on the counter substrate 5124. Note that as a method for forming the liquid crystal layer, a dispenser type (dropping type) or a dip type (pumping type) in which liquid crystal is injected using a capillary phenomenon after the counter substrate 5124 is bonded can be used.

  A liquid crystal dropping injection method employing a dispenser method will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 50, 40 is a control device, 42 is an imaging means, 43 is a head, 33 is a liquid crystal, 35 and 41 are markers, 34 is a barrier layer, 32 is a sealing material, 30 is a TFT substrate, and 20 is a counter substrate. A closed loop is formed by the sealing material 32, and the liquid crystal 33 is dropped from the head 43 once or plural times therein. At that time, a barrier layer 34 is provided to prevent the sealing material 32 and the liquid crystal 33 from reacting. Subsequently, the substrates are bonded together in a vacuum, and thereafter UV curing is performed to fill the liquid crystal.

A connection portion is formed in order to connect the pixel portion formed in the above steps and an external wiring substrate. The insulator layer in the connection portion is removed by ashing using oxygen gas at or near atmospheric pressure. This treatment is performed using oxygen gas and one or more selected from hydrogen, CF ₄ , NF ₃ , H ₂ O, and CHF ₃ . In this step, in order to prevent damage and destruction due to static electricity, ashing is performed after sealing using the counter substrate. However, if there is little influence from static electricity, it may be performed at any timing. .

  Subsequently, a wiring board for connection is provided so that the gate electrode layer 5103 is electrically connected through the anisotropic conductor layer. The wiring board plays a role of transmitting signals and potentials from the outside. Through the above steps, a display panel (liquid crystal display panel) including a channel etch type switching TFT and a capacitor is completed. The capacitor is formed of a capacitor wiring layer 5104, a gate insulating layer 5105, and a pixel electrode layer 5111.

  In this embodiment mode, the switching TFT has a single gate structure, but a multi-gate structure such as a double gate structure may be used.

  As described above, in this embodiment mode, the process can be omitted by not using a light exposure process using a photomask. In addition, by forming various patterns directly on the substrate using a droplet discharge method, a display panel (liquid crystal display panel) can be easily used even if a glass substrate of 5th generation or later with one side exceeding 1000 mm is used. ) Can be manufactured.

    A pattern can be formed into a desired shape by performing a pretreatment for improving the adhesion of the pattern formation region to the pattern with respect to the surrounding region. In addition, a fine pattern can be freely designed by fine processing of laser light irradiation. According to the present invention, a desired pattern can be formed with good controllability, material loss is small, and cost reduction can be achieved. Therefore, a high-performance and highly reliable display device can be manufactured with high yield.

(Embodiment 7)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The present embodiment is an example in which the pretreatment of the pattern formation method by droplet discharge is different from the sixth embodiment. 41A to 44A are top views of the display device pixel portion, and FIGS. 41B to 44B are cross-sectional views taken along line GH in FIGS. 41 to 44A.

    A base film 5201 is formed over the substrate 5200 as a base pretreatment. For the base film 5201 in this embodiment, a photosensitive material which is exposed by laser light irradiation is used. This is because in this embodiment, the base film formed in the pattern formation region is removed.

    As shown in FIG. 41, the film thickness of the base film is formed to be approximately the same as the film thickness of the pattern or slightly larger. If it does so, the removed area | region becomes a recessed part and it can discharge so that pattern material may be embedded in the recessed part. As shown in FIG. 41, a film 5201 is formed in the vicinity of a pattern formation region on the substrate 5200. Since the film 5201 is processed by laser light, a film made of a photosensitive resin material which is a photosensitive material, particularly a positive resist material is preferable.

    Next, laser light 5271a and 5271b are irradiated to a region where the gate electrode layer is formed by a laser irradiation apparatus, the film 5201 is exposed, and exposed regions 5202a and 5202b are formed (see FIG. 42). In this embodiment mode, a positive photosensitive material is used as the film 5201, and the regions 5202a and 5202b exposed by the irradiation with the laser beams 5271a and 5271b are removed by the etchant. Recesses 5250a and 5250b separated by the film are formed (see FIG. 43).

    A droplet made of a composition containing a conductive material is discharged into the recesses 5250a and 5250b by the droplet discharge device 5280a, so that the gate electrode layer 5203 and the capacitor wiring layer 5204 can be formed only in the formation region (FIG. 44.). Even when the droplet discharge port is large or the controllability is poor and the droplet is discharged to a region other than the formation region, excess conductive material is discharged onto the surrounding film 5201. When the gate electrode layer 5203 and the capacitor wiring layer 5204 are formed and then the film 5201 made of a photosensitive resin or the like is removed by etching or the like, the gate electrode layer 5203 and the capacitor wiring layer 5204 can be formed only in a desired region with good controllability. Further, the film thickness of the pattern can be freely controlled by controlling the film thickness of the photosensitive resin or the like. Since the formation area that becomes the recess is processed by laser light irradiation, fine processing is possible, and if a laser beam optically designed on the spot is used, a spot such as a contact hole can be simplified with high accuracy. Can be well formed.

  A photosensitive resin such as photosensitive acrylic or photosensitive polyimide that is a photosensitive material can be used for the peripheral film 5201 that forms the concave portion. Alternatively, a commercially available resist material containing a photosensitizer may be used. For example, a novolak resin that is a typical positive resist and a naphthoquinonediazide compound that is a photosensitizer may be used.

    Through the above steps, the gate electrode layer 5203 and the capacitor wiring layer 5204 are formed. Since the subsequent steps are as described in Embodiment 1, the description thereof is omitted here.

    A pattern can be formed into a desired shape by performing a pretreatment for forming a recess in a region where a pattern is to be formed. In addition, a fine pattern can be freely designed by fine processing of laser light irradiation. According to the present invention, a desired pattern can be formed with good controllability, material loss is small, and cost reduction can be achieved. Therefore, a high-performance and highly reliable display device can be manufactured with high yield.

(Embodiment 8)
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment mode, a channel protective thin film transistor is used as a thin film transistor in Embodiment Mode 6. Therefore, repetitive description of the same portion or a portion having a similar function is omitted. Note that FIG. 41 corresponds to a cross-sectional view of the channel-etched thin film transistor in FIG.

  After the base film 5101 is formed over the substrate 5100 as a base pretreatment, only the formation region of the gate electrode layer 5103 and the capacitor wiring layer 5104 is irradiated with laser light. The region irradiated with the laser light (the base film 5102a) is modified and has higher lyophilicity (lower repellent property) than a surrounding base film with respect to a droplet made of a composition containing a conductive material to be formed later. Liquid). Therefore, when a composition containing a conductive material is discharged to the modified region (the base film 5102a) by a droplet discharge method, the gate electrode layer 5103 and the capacitor wiring layer are formed only on the base film 5102a with good controllability. 5104 can be formed.

  Next, the gate insulating layer 5105 is formed with a single layer or a stacked structure by a plasma CVD method or a sputtering method. In a particularly preferable mode, a three-layer structure including an insulator layer 5105a made of silicon nitride, an insulator layer 5105b made of silicon oxide, and an insulator layer 5105c made of silicon nitride corresponds to the gate insulating film. Further, a semiconductor layer 5106 functioning as an active layer is formed. The above steps are the same as in the second embodiment.

  In order to form the semiconductor layer 5106 and the channel protective film 5140, for example, an insulating film is formed by a plasma CVD method and patterned in a desired region so as to have a desired shape. At this time, the channel protective film 5140 can be formed by exposing from the back surface of the substrate using the gate electrode as a mask. For the channel protective film, polyimide or polyvinyl alcohol may be dropped using a droplet discharge method. As a result, the exposure process can be omitted.

  Channel protective films include inorganic materials (silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, etc.), photosensitive or non-photosensitive organic materials (organic resin materials) (polyimide, acrylic, polyamide, polyimide amide, resist , Benzocyclobutene, etc.), a low-k material having a low dielectric constant, or a film made of a plurality of kinds, or a stack of these films. In addition, a skeleton structure is formed by a bond of silicon (Si) and oxygen (O), and at least one of a material containing at least hydrogen as a substituent, or fluorine, an alkyl group, or an aromatic hydrocarbon as a substituent. You may use the material which has. As a manufacturing method, a vapor deposition method such as a plasma CVD method or a thermal CVD method, or a sputtering method can be used. Alternatively, a droplet discharge method or a printing method (a method for forming a pattern such as screen printing or offset printing) can be used. A TOF film or an SOG film obtained by a coating method can also be used.

  An N-type semiconductor layer 5107 is formed over the semiconductor layer 5106 and the channel protective film 5140. Next, a composition is selectively discharged over the semiconductor layer 5106 and the N-type semiconductor layer 5107 to form a mask. Subsequently, the semiconductor layer 5106 and the N-type semiconductor layer 5107 are simultaneously etched using a mask to form a semiconductor layer and an N-type semiconductor layer. After that, a composition containing a conductive material is discharged over the semiconductor layer 5106 to form source or drain electrode layers 5130 and 5108.

  A pixel electrode layer 5111 is formed by discharging a composition containing a conductive material in contact with the source and drain electrode layers 5108 so as to be electrically connected to the source and drain electrode layers 5108. Thereafter, a pressing process may be performed to flatten the surface.

  Next, an insulating layer 5112 functioning as an alignment film is formed. Subsequently, a sealant is formed, and the substrate 5100, the color filter (colored layer) 5122, the conductor layer 5123, and the counter substrate 5124 provided with the insulating layer 5121 are attached to each other using the sealant. After that, a liquid crystal layer 5120 is formed between the substrate 5100 and the counter substrate 5124. Next, when the region where the connection terminal is pasted is exposed by etching under atmospheric pressure or near atmospheric pressure, and the connection terminal is pasted, a display panel (liquid crystal display panel) having a display function can be manufactured ( (See FIG. 54).

(Embodiment 9)
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment mode, a top gate type (forward stagger type) thin film transistor is used as the thin film transistor in Embodiment Mode 6. Therefore, repetitive description of the same portion or a portion having a similar function is omitted. 47 and 48 are cross-sectional views taken along line GH in FIG.

  After the base film 5301 is formed as a base pretreatment over the substrate 5300, only the formation region of the source or drain electrode layers 5330 and 5308 is irradiated with laser light. The regions irradiated with the laser light (the base films 5302a and 5302b) are modified and have higher lyophilicity (lower than the surrounding base film) with respect to the droplets made of a composition containing a conductive material to be formed later. Liquid repellency). Therefore, when a composition containing a conductive material is discharged onto the modified regions (base films 5302a and 5302b) by a droplet discharge method, only the source films 5302a and 5302b are controlled with high controllability. Drain electrode layers 5330 and 5308 can be formed.

  N-type semiconductor layers are formed on the source or drain electrode layers 5330 and 5308 and etched using a mask made of resist or the like. The resist may be formed using a droplet discharge method. A semiconductor layer is formed on the N-type semiconductor layer and patterned again using a mask or the like. Accordingly, an N-type semiconductor layer 5307 and a semiconductor layer 5306 are formed.

  Next, the gate insulating layer 5305 is formed with a single layer or a stacked structure by a plasma CVD method or a sputtering method. In a particularly preferable mode, a three-layer structure including an insulator layer 5305a made of silicon nitride, an insulator layer 5305b made of silicon oxide, and an insulator layer 5305c made of silicon nitride corresponds to the gate insulating layer.

  Next, a photosensitive material 5350 is formed over the gate insulating layer 5305 (see FIG. 47B). The photosensitive material 5350 is preferably a positive photosensitive material as described in Embodiment Mode 2, and a photosensitive resin is used in this embodiment mode. A portion of the photosensitive material 5350 where the gate insulating layer 5305 is removed and a contact hole is to be formed is irradiated with laser light from a laser 5370. The region 5351 irradiated with the laser light is exposed (see FIG. 47C). After the exposed portion is removed by etching, the gate insulating layer 5305 is etched using the photosensitive material 5350 as a mask to form a through hole 5345.

  Next, a photosensitive material 5352 is formed again. This photosensitive material 5352 is for covering the region 5351 removed when the through-hole 5345 is formed, and only the portion of the region 5351 that is an opening may be covered by a droplet discharge method or the like. A region 5353 of the photosensitive material 5352 in which the gate electrode layer 5303 is formed is irradiated with laser light 5371 by a laser irradiation apparatus. The region 5353 is exposed to light and is removed by etching similarly to the region 5351 (see FIG. 48A).

  After the exposed area is removed, a recess is formed. A composition containing a conductive material is discharged into the recess by a droplet discharge device 5380, whereby a gate electrode layer 5303 is formed. The capacitor wiring layer 5304 is formed similarly to the gate electrode layer 5303. When the present invention is used, the width of the gate electrode layer 5303 in the channel direction can be narrowed, so that the resistance is further reduced and the mobility is improved.

  The photosensitive material 5352 is removed, and the pixel electrode layer 5311 is formed by a droplet discharge method. The pixel electrode layer 5311 and the source or drain electrode layer 5308 are electrically connected to each other through the through-hole 5345 formed previously.

  Next, an insulating layer 5312 that functions as an alignment film is formed. Subsequently, a sealant is formed, and the substrate 5300 is bonded to the substrate 5324 over which the color filter (colored layer) 5322, the counter electrode 5323, the insulating layer 5321, and the polarizing plate 5325 are formed using the sealant. After that, a liquid crystal layer 5320 is formed between the substrate 5300 and the substrate 5324. Next, when the region where the connection terminal is pasted is exposed by etching under atmospheric pressure or near atmospheric pressure, and the connection terminal is pasted, a display panel (liquid crystal display panel) having a display function can be manufactured ( (See FIG. 48C.)

  As described above, in this embodiment mode, the process can be omitted by not using a light exposure process using a photomask. In addition, by forming various patterns directly on the substrate using the droplet discharge method, a display panel can be easily manufactured even if a glass substrate of 5th generation or later with one side exceeding 1000 mm is used. Can do.

  A pattern can be formed into a desired shape by performing a pretreatment for forming a recess in a region where a pattern is to be formed. In addition, a fine pattern can be freely designed by fine processing of laser light irradiation. According to the present invention, a desired pattern can be formed with good controllability, material loss is small, and cost reduction can be achieved. Therefore, a high-performance and highly reliable display device can be manufactured with high yield.

(Embodiment 10)
In the display panel manufactured in any of Embodiments 2 to 9, the driver circuit on the scanning line side can be formed over the substrate 3700 as described with reference to FIG. it can.

FIG. 25 shows a block diagram of a scanning line side driving circuit constituted by an n-channel TFT using SAS capable of obtaining a field effect mobility of 1 to 15 cm ² / V · sec.

  In FIG. 25, a block denoted by 500 corresponds to a pulse output circuit that outputs a sampling pulse for one stage, and the shift register includes n pulse output circuits. Reference numeral 541 denotes a buffer circuit, to which a pixel 542 is connected.

  FIG. 26 shows a specific configuration of the pulse output circuit 500, and the circuit is configured by n-channel TFTs 601 to 612. At this time, the size of the TFT may be determined in consideration of the operating characteristics of the n-channel TFT using SAS. For example, if the channel length is 8 μm, the channel width can be set in the range of 10 to 80 μm.

  A specific configuration of the buffer circuit 541 is shown in FIG. Similarly, the buffer circuit is composed of n-channel TFTs 620 to 636. At this time, the size of the TFT may be determined in consideration of the operating characteristics of the n-channel TFT using SAS. For example, if the channel length is 10 μm, the channel width is set in the range of 10 to 1800 μm.

  In order to realize such a circuit, the TFTs need to be connected to each other by wiring, and a configuration example of the wiring in that case is shown in FIG. In FIG. 31, as in the second embodiment, the gate electrode layer 104, the gate insulating layer 106 (the insulating layer 106a made of silicon nitride, the insulating layer 106b made of silicon oxide, and the insulating layer 106c made of silicon nitride) A stack of layers), a semiconductor layer 107 formed of SAS, an N-type semiconductor layer 109 for forming a source and a drain, and source or drain electrode layers 111 and 112 are shown. In this case, connection wiring layers 160, 161, and 162 are formed on the substrate 100 in the same process as the gate electrode layer 104. The regions of the base film 102a, the base film 102c, the base film 102d, and the base film 102e are modified. Then, a part of the gate insulating layer is etched so that the connection wiring layers 160, 161, and 162 are exposed, and the source or drain electrode layers 111 and 112 and the connection wiring layer 163 formed in the same process are used as appropriate. Various circuits can be realized by connecting TFTs.

    In the structure example of the wiring in FIG. 31, the gate electrode layer 103 is the gate electrode layer 5104, the gate insulating layer 106 is the gate insulating layer 5105, the semiconductor layer 107 is the semiconductor layer 5106, and the N-type semiconductor layer in Embodiment 6. 109 corresponds to the N-type semiconductor layer 5107, and the source or drain electrode layers 111 and 112 correspond to the source or drain electrode layers 130 and 108, respectively.

(Embodiment 11)
Next, a mode in which a driver circuit for driving is mounted on a display panel such as an EL display panel or a liquid crystal display panel manufactured according to Embodiments 2 to 9 will be described.

  First, a display device employing a COG method is described with reference to FIG. A pixel portion 2701 for displaying information such as characters and images is provided over the substrate 2700. A substrate provided with a plurality of drive circuits is divided into rectangular shapes, and a divided drive circuit (hereinafter referred to as a driver IC) 2751 is mounted on the substrate 2700. FIG. 18A shows a mode in which a plurality of driver ICs 2751 and an FPC 2750 are mounted on the tip of the driver ICs 2751. Further, the size to be divided may be substantially the same as the length of the side of the pixel portion on the signal line side, and a tape may be mounted on the tip of the driver IC on a single driver IC.

  Alternatively, a TAB method may be employed. In that case, a plurality of tapes may be attached and driver ICs may be mounted on the tapes as shown in FIG. As in the case of the COG method, a single driver IC may be mounted on a single tape. In this case, a metal piece or the like for fixing the driver IC may be attached together due to strength problems.

  A plurality of driver ICs mounted on these display panels may be formed on a rectangular substrate having a side of 300 mm to 1000 mm or more from the viewpoint of improving productivity.

  That is, a plurality of circuit patterns having a drive circuit portion and an input / output terminal as one unit may be formed on the substrate, and finally divided and taken out. The long side of the driver IC may be formed in a rectangular shape having a long side of 15 to 80 mm and a short side of 1 to 6 mm in consideration of the length of one side of the pixel unit and the pixel pitch. Or a length obtained by adding one side of the pixel portion and one side of each driver circuit.

  The advantage of the external dimensions of the driver IC over the IC chip lies in the length of the long side. When a driver IC formed with a long side of 15 to 80 mm is used, the number required for mounting corresponding to the pixel portion is as follows. This is less than when an IC chip is used, and the manufacturing yield can be improved. Further, when a driver IC is formed over a glass substrate, the shape of the substrate used as a base is not limited, and thus productivity is not impaired. This is a great advantage compared with the case where the IC chip is taken out from the circular silicon wafer.

  In the case where the driver circuit 3704 on the scanning line side is formed over the substrate as shown in FIG. 17B, the driver in which the driver circuit driver circuit on the signal line side is formed in the region outside the pixel portion 3701. IC is mounted. These driver ICs are drive circuits on the signal line side. In order to form a pixel portion corresponding to RGB full color, 3072 signal lines are required in the XGA class, and 4800 lines are required in the UXGA class. The signal lines formed in such a number are divided into several blocks at the end of the pixel portion 3701 to form lead lines, and are collected according to the pitch of the output terminals of the driver IC.

  The driver IC is preferably formed of a crystalline semiconductor formed over a substrate, and the crystalline semiconductor is preferably formed by irradiating continuous-emitting laser light. Therefore, a continuous light emitting solid state laser or gas laser is used as an oscillator for generating the laser light. When a continuous light emission laser is used, a transistor can be formed using a polycrystalline semiconductor layer having a large grain size with few crystal defects. In addition, since the mobility and response speed are good, high-speed driving is possible, the operating frequency of the element can be improved as compared with the prior art, and there is less variation in characteristics, so that high reliability can be obtained. Note that for the purpose of further improving the operating frequency, the channel length direction of the transistor and the scanning direction of the laser light are preferably matched. This is because, in the laser crystallization process using a continuous emission laser, the highest mobility is obtained when the channel length direction of the transistor and the scanning direction of the laser beam with respect to the substrate are substantially parallel (preferably −30 ° to 30 °). It is because it is obtained. Note that the channel length direction corresponds to the direction in which current flows in the channel formation region, in other words, the direction in which charges move. The transistor thus fabricated has an active layer composed of a polycrystalline semiconductor layer in which crystal grains extend in the channel direction, which means that the crystal grain boundaries are formed substantially along the channel direction. means.

  In order to perform laser crystallization, it is preferable to significantly narrow the laser beam, and the width of the beam spot is preferably about 1 to 3 mm, which is the same width of the short side of the driver IC. In order to ensure a sufficient and efficient energy density for the irradiated object, the laser light irradiation region is preferably linear. However, the line shape here does not mean a line in a strict sense, but means a rectangle or an ellipse having a large aspect ratio. For example, the aspect ratio is 2 or more (preferably 10 to 10,000). In this manner, a method for manufacturing a display device with improved productivity can be provided by setting the width of the beam spot of the laser light to the same length as the short side of the driver IC.

  As shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B, driver ICs may be mounted as both the scanning line driver circuit and the signal line driver circuit. In that case, the specifications of the driver ICs used on the scanning line side and the signal line side may be different.

In the pixel portion, a signal line and a scanning line intersect to form a matrix, and a transistor is arranged corresponding to each intersection. The present invention is characterized in that a TFT having an amorphous semiconductor or a semi-amorphous semiconductor as a channel portion is used as a transistor arranged in a pixel portion. The amorphous semiconductor is formed by a method such as a plasma CVD method or a sputtering method. A semi-amorphous semiconductor can be formed at a temperature of 300 ° C. or less by a plasma CVD method. For example, even a non-alkali glass substrate having an outer dimension of 550 × 650 mm has a film thickness necessary for forming a transistor. Is formed in a short time. Such a feature of the manufacturing technique is effective in manufacturing a large-screen display device. In addition, a semi-amorphous TFT can obtain a field effect mobility of ² to 10 cm ² / V · sec by forming a channel formation region with SAS. Therefore, this TFT can be used as a switching element for a pixel or an element constituting a driving circuit on the scanning line side. Therefore, a display panel that realizes system-on-panel can be manufactured.

  By using TFTs in which the semiconductor layer is formed of SAS, the scanning line side driver circuit can also be integrally formed on the substrate. In the case of using TFTs in which the semiconductor layer is formed of AS, the scanning line side driver circuit and the signal A driver IC may be mounted on both the line side driver circuits.

  In that case, it is preferable that the specifications of the driver ICs used on the scanning line side and the signal line side are different. For example, although a transistor constituting the driver IC on the scanning line side is required to have a withstand voltage of about 30 V, the driving frequency is 100 kHz or less and a relatively high speed operation is not required. Therefore, it is preferable to set the channel length (L) of the transistors forming the driver on the scanning line side to be sufficiently large. On the other hand, it is sufficient for the transistor of the driver IC on the signal line side to have a withstand voltage of about 12V, but the drive frequency is about 65 MHz at 3V, and high speed operation is required. Therefore, it is preferable to set the channel length and the like of the transistors constituting the driver on the micron rule.

    The method for mounting the driver IC is not particularly limited, and a known COG method, wire bonding method, or TAB method can be used.

  By setting the thickness of the driver IC to be the same as that of the counter substrate, the height between the two becomes substantially the same, which contributes to the reduction in thickness of the entire display device. In addition, since each substrate is made of the same material, thermal stress is not generated even when a temperature change occurs in the display device, and the characteristics of a circuit made of TFTs are not impaired. In addition, the number of driver ICs to be mounted on one pixel portion can be reduced by mounting the drive circuit with a driver IC that is longer than the IC chip as shown in this embodiment.

  As described above, a driver circuit can be incorporated in the display panel.

(Embodiment 12)
A structure of a pixel of the display panel described in this embodiment will be described with reference to an equivalent circuit diagram illustrated in FIG.

  In the pixel shown in FIG. 32A, a signal line 410 and power supply lines 411 to 413 are arranged in the column direction, and a scanning line 414 is arranged in the row direction. The pixel further includes a switching TFT 401, a driving TFT 403, a current control TFT 404, a capacitor element 402, and a light emitting element 405.

  The pixel shown in FIG. 32C is different from the pixel shown in FIG. 32A except that the gate electrode of the TFT 403 is connected to the power supply line 412 arranged in the row direction. is there. That is, both pixels shown in FIGS. 32A and 32C show the same equivalent circuit diagram. However, in the case where the power supply line 412 is arranged in the column direction (FIG. 32A) and in the case where the power supply line 412 is arranged in the row direction (FIG. 32C), each power supply line is conductive in a different layer. Formed with body layers. Here, attention is paid to the wiring to which the gate electrode of the driving TFT 403 is connected, and FIGS. 32A and 32C are shown separately to show that the layers for producing these are different.

32A and 32C, TFTs 403 and 404 are connected in series in the pixel, and the channel length L ₃ and channel width W _{3 of} the TFT 403, the channel length L ₄ and channel width of the TFT 404 are the same. W ₄ may be set to satisfy L ₃ / W ₃ : L ₄ / W ₄ = 5 to 6000: 1. As an example when 6000: 1 is satisfied, there is a case where L ₃ is 500 μm, W ₃ is 3 μm, L ₄ is 3 μm, and W ₄ is 100 μm.

Note that the TFT 403 operates in a saturation region and has a role of controlling a current value flowing through the light emitting element 405, and the TFT 404 has a role of controlling a current supply to the light emitting element 405 by operating in a linear region. Both TFTs preferably have the same conductivity type in terms of manufacturing process. The TFT 403 may be a depletion type TFT as well as an enhancement type. In the present invention having the above structure, since the TFT 404 operates in a linear region, a slight change in V _GS of the TFT 404 does not affect the current value of the light emitting element 405. That is, the current value of the light emitting element 405 is determined by the TFT 403 operating in the saturation region. The present invention having the above structure can provide a display device in which luminance unevenness of a light emitting element due to variation in TFT characteristics is improved and image quality is improved.

  In the pixel shown in FIGS. 32A to 32D, the TFT 401 controls input of a video signal to the pixel. When the TFT 401 is turned on and a video signal is input into the pixel, the capacitor 402 The video signal is held in Note that FIGS. 32A and 32C illustrate a structure in which the capacitor 402 is provided; however, the present invention is not limited to this, and the capacity for holding a video signal can be covered by a gate capacity or the like. In this case, the capacitor 402 is not necessarily provided explicitly.

  The light-emitting element 405 has a structure in which an electroluminescent layer is sandwiched between two electrodes, and a potential difference is generated between the pixel electrode and the counter electrode (between the anode and the cathode) so that a forward bias voltage is applied. Is provided. The electroluminescent layer is composed of a wide variety of materials such as organic materials and inorganic materials. The luminescence in the electroluminescent layer includes light emission (fluorescence) when returning from a singlet excited state to a ground state, and a triplet excited state. And light emission (phosphorescence) when returning to the ground state.

  The pixel shown in FIG. 32B has the same pixel structure as that shown in FIG. 32A except that a TFT 406 and a scanning line 415 are added. Similarly, the pixel illustrated in FIG. 32D has the same pixel structure as that illustrated in FIG. 32C except that a TFT 406 and a scanning line 415 are added.

  The TFT 406 is controlled to be turned on or off by a newly arranged scanning line 415. When the TFT 406 is turned on, the charge held in the capacitor 402 is discharged and the TFT 404 is turned off. That is, a state in which no current flows through the light emitting element 405 can be created by the arrangement of the TFT 406. Accordingly, the configurations in FIGS. 32B and 32D can improve the duty ratio because the lighting period can be started simultaneously with or immediately after the start of the writing period without waiting for signal writing to all the pixels. It becomes possible.

  In the pixel shown in FIG. 32E, signal lines 450, power supply lines 451 and 452 are arranged in the column direction, and scanning lines 453 are arranged in the row direction. In addition, the pixel includes a switching TFT 441, a driving TFT 443, a capacitor element 442, and a light emitting element 444. The pixel illustrated in FIG. 32F has the same pixel structure as that illustrated in FIG. 32E except that a TFT 445 and a scanning line 454 are added. Note that the duty ratio of the structure in FIG. 32F can also be improved by the arrangement of the TFTs 445.

(Embodiment 13)
One mode in which protective diodes are provided in the scanning line side input terminal portion and the signal line side input terminal portion will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 24, TFTs 501 and 502, a capacitor 504, and a light emitting element 503 are provided in a pixel 2702. This TFT has a configuration similar to that of the second embodiment.

  Protection diodes 561 and 562 are provided in the signal line side input terminal portion. This protective diode is manufactured in the same process as the TFT 501 or 502, and is operated as a diode by connecting a gate and one of a drain and a source. An equivalent circuit diagram of the top view shown in FIG. 24 is shown in FIG.

  The protection diode 561 includes a gate electrode layer, a semiconductor layer, and a wiring layer. The protective diode 562 has a similar structure. The common potential lines 554 and 555 connected to the protection diode are formed in the same layer as the gate electrode layer. Therefore, in order to be electrically connected to the wiring layer, it is necessary to form a contact hole in the gate insulating layer.

  The contact hole to the gate insulating layer may be etched by forming a mask layer. In this case, if an atmospheric pressure discharge etching process is applied, a local electric discharge process is also possible, and it is not necessary to form a mask layer on the entire surface of the substrate.

  The signal wiring layer is formed of the same layer as the source and drain wiring layer 505 in the TFT 501, and has a structure in which the signal wiring layer connected thereto and the source or drain side are connected.

  The input terminal portion on the scanning signal line side has the same configuration. The protective diode 563 includes a gate electrode layer, a semiconductor layer, and a wiring layer. The protective diode 564 has a similar structure. The common potential line 556 and the common potential line 557 connected to the protection diode are formed in the same layer as the source and drain wiring layers. Thus, according to the present invention, the protection diode provided in the input stage can be formed simultaneously. Note that the position at which the protective diode is inserted is not limited to this embodiment mode, and can be provided between the driver circuit and the pixel.

(Embodiment 14)
One mode in which protective diodes are provided in the scanning line side input terminal portion and the signal line side input terminal portion will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 53, the pixel 6702 is provided with a TFT 5560. This TFT has a configuration similar to that of the sixth embodiment.

  Protection diodes 5561 and 5562 are provided in the signal line side input terminal portion. This protective diode is manufactured in the same process as the TFT 5560, and is operated as a diode by connecting the gate and one of the drain and the source. An equivalent circuit diagram of the top view shown in FIG. 52 is shown in FIG.

  The protection diode 5561 includes a gate electrode layer 5550, a semiconductor layer 5551, a channel protection insulating layer 5552, and a wiring layer 5553. The protective diode 5562 has a similar structure. Common potential lines 5554 and 5555 connected to the protection diode are formed of the same layer as the gate electrode layer. Therefore, in order to be electrically connected to the wiring layer 5553, a contact hole needs to be formed in the gate insulating layer.

  The contact hole for the gate insulating layer may be etched by forming a mask layer by a droplet discharge method. In this case, if an atmospheric pressure discharge etching process is applied, a local electric discharge process is also possible, and it is not necessary to form a mask layer on the entire surface of the substrate.

  The protective diode 5561 or 5562 is formed of the same layer as the source or drain electrode layer 5130 in the TFT 5560 and has a structure in which the signal wiring layer 5556 connected thereto is connected to the source or drain side.

  The input terminal portion on the scanning signal line side has the same configuration. The protection diode 5563 includes a gate electrode layer, a semiconductor layer, and a wiring layer. The protective diode 5564 has a similar structure. The common potential line 5556 and the common potential line 5557 connected to the protection diode are formed in the same layer as the source and drain wiring layers. Thus, according to the present invention, the protection diode provided in the input stage can be formed simultaneously. Note that the position at which the protective diode is inserted is not limited to this embodiment mode, and can be provided between the driver circuit and the pixel.

(Embodiment 15)
FIG. 22 shows an example in which an EL display module is formed using a TFT substrate 2800 manufactured by a droplet discharge method. In FIG. 22, a pixel portion including pixels is formed over a TFT substrate 2800.

  In FIG. 22, outside the pixel portion and between the driver circuit and the pixel, the same TFT as that formed in the pixel or the gate of the TFT and one of the source and the drain is connected to be the same as the diode. The protection circuit portion 2801 operated in the above is provided. As the driver circuit 2809, a driver IC formed of a single crystal semiconductor, a stick driver IC formed of a polycrystalline semiconductor film over a glass substrate, a driver circuit formed of SAS, or the like is applied.

  The TFT substrate 2800 is fixed to the sealing substrate 2820 through spacers 2806a and 2806b formed by a droplet discharge method. The spacer is preferably provided to keep the distance between the two substrates constant even when the substrate is thin and the area of the pixel portion is increased. A space between the TFT substrate 2800 and the sealing substrate 2820 over the light-emitting elements 2804 and 2805 may be filled with a light-transmitting resin material to be solidified, or anhydrous nitrogen or inert Gas may be filled.

  FIG. 22 shows a case where the light-emitting elements 2804 and 2805 have a top emission type (top emission type) configuration, in which light is emitted in the direction of the arrow shown in the drawing. Each pixel can perform multicolor display by changing the emission color of the pixels to red, green, and blue. At this time, by forming the colored layers 2807a, 2807b, and 2807c corresponding to the respective colors on the sealing substrate 2820 side, the color purity of the emitted light can be increased. Alternatively, the pixel may be combined with the colored layers 2807a, 2807b, and 2807c as a white light emitting element.

  The external circuit 2809 is connected to a scanning line or signal line connection terminal provided at one end of the TFT substrate 2800 through a wiring substrate 2810. Further, a heat pipe 2813 and a heat radiating plate 2812 may be provided in contact with or in proximity to the TFT substrate 2800 to enhance the heat radiation effect.

  Although the top emission EL module is shown in FIG. 22, the bottom emission structure may be changed by changing the configuration of the light emitting element and the arrangement of the external circuit board. In the case of a top emission type structure, an insulating layer serving as a partition wall may be colored and used as a black matrix. The partition walls can be formed by a droplet discharge method, and may be formed by mixing a resin material such as polyimide with a pigment-based black resin, carbon black, or the like, or may be a laminate thereof.

  Further, in the TFT substrate 2800, a sealing structure may be formed by attaching a resin film to the side where the pixel portion is formed using a sealing material or an adhesive resin. A gas barrier film for preventing the permeation of water vapor may be provided on the surface of the resin film. By adopting a film sealing structure, further reduction in thickness and weight can be achieved.

(Embodiment 16)
With the display device formed according to the present invention, a television device (an EL television device, a liquid crystal television device) can be completed. In the display panel, only a pixel portion is formed as shown in FIG. 17A, and a scanning line side driver circuit and a signal line side driver circuit are mounted by a TAB method as shown in FIG. 18B. And a case where the TFT is formed by SAS as shown in FIG. 17B, and the pixel portion and the scanning line side driver circuit are integrated on the substrate. In some cases, the signal line side driver circuit is separately mounted as a driver IC, and the pixel portion, the signal line side driver circuit, and the scanning line side driver circuit are integrally formed over the substrate as shown in FIG. However, any form is acceptable.

  As other external circuit configurations, on the video signal input side, among the signals received by the tuner, the video signal amplification circuit that amplifies the video signal, and the signal output from it corresponds to each color of red, green, and blue And a control circuit for converting the video signal into the input specification of the driver IC. The control circuit outputs signals to the scanning line side and the signal line side, respectively. In the case of digital driving, a signal dividing circuit may be provided on the signal line side and an input digital signal may be divided into m pieces and supplied.

  Of the signals received by the tuner, the audio signal is sent to the audio signal amplifier circuit, and the output is supplied to the speaker via the audio signal processing circuit. The control circuit receives control information of the receiving station (reception frequency) and volume from the input unit, and sends a signal to the tuner and the audio signal processing circuit.

  FIG. 51 illustrates an example of a liquid crystal display module. A TFT substrate 4600 and a counter substrate 4601 are fixed to each other with a sealant 4602, and a pixel portion 4603 and a liquid crystal layer 4604 are provided therebetween to form a display region. The colored layer 4605 is necessary when performing color display. In the case of the RGB method, a colored layer corresponding to each color of red, green, and blue is provided corresponding to each pixel. Polarizing plates 4606 and 4607 and a lens film 4613 are disposed outside the TFT substrate 4600 and the counter substrate 4601. The light source is composed of a cold cathode tube 4610 and a reflection plate 4611. A circuit board 4612 is connected to a peripheral circuit 4608 and a TFT substrate 4600 by a flexible wiring board 4609, and an external circuit such as a control circuit or a power supply circuit is incorporated. .

  A display device such as a display module or a liquid crystal display module can be assembled in a housing 2001 as shown in FIG. 20 to complete the television device. When an EL display module as shown in FIG. 22 is used as the display module, an EL television device can be completed. When a liquid crystal display module as shown in FIG. 51 is used, a liquid crystal television device can be completed. A main screen 2003 is formed by the display module, and a speaker portion 2009, operation switches, and the like are provided as other accessory equipment. Thus, a television device can be completed according to the present invention.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 34, reflected light of light incident from the outside may be blocked using a phase difference plate or a polarizing plate. FIG. 34 shows a top emission type structure in which an insulating layer 3605 serving as a partition is colored and used as a black matrix. This partition wall can be formed by a droplet discharge method, and carbon black or the like may be mixed with a resin material such as polyimide, or may be a laminate thereof. A different material may be discharged to the same region a plurality of times by a droplet discharge method to form a partition wall. In the present embodiment, a pigment-based black resin is used. As the phase difference plates 3603 and 3604, a λ / 4 plate, a λ / 2 plate, or the like may be used so that light can be controlled. As a structure, a TFT element substrate 2800, a light emitting element 2804, a sealing substrate (sealing material) 2820, a phase difference plate 3603, 3604 (λ / 4 plate, λ / 2 plate), and a polarizing plate 3602 are sequentially formed. The light emitted from the light passes through these and is emitted to the outside from the polarizing plate side. The retardation plate and the polarizing plate may be installed on the side from which light is emitted, and may be installed on both sides as long as the display is a double-sided emission type that emits light on both sides. Further, an antireflection film 3601 may be provided outside the polarizing plate. This makes it possible to display a higher-definition and precise image.

  A display panel 2002 using an element is incorporated in a housing 2001, and a general television broadcast is received by a receiver 2005, and connected to a wired or wireless communication network via a modem 2004 in one direction (transmission) Communication from the sender to the receiver) or bidirectional (between the sender and the receiver, or between the receivers). The television device can be operated by a switch incorporated in the housing or a separate remote control device 2006, and the remote control device 2006 also includes a display unit 2007 for displaying information to be output. good.

  In addition, the television device may have a configuration in which a sub screen 2008 is formed using the second display panel in addition to the main screen 2003 to display channels, volume, and the like. The main screen 2003 may be formed using an EL display panel having an excellent viewing angle, and the sub screen may be formed using an EL display panel so that the main screen 2003 can blink. Similarly, the main screen 2003 and the sub screen 2008 may be formed of a liquid crystal display panel capable of displaying the main screen 2003 and the sub screen with low power consumption. Further, the main screen 2003 may be formed using a liquid crystal display panel that can display with low power consumption, and the sub screen may be formed using an EL display panel with an excellent viewing angle so as to be blinkable. When the present invention is used, a highly reliable display device can be obtained even when such a large substrate is used and a large number of TFTs and electronic components are used.

  Of course, the present invention is not limited to a television device, but can be applied to various applications such as personal computer monitors, information display boards at railway stations and airports, and advertisement display boards on streets. can do.

(Embodiment 17)
Various display devices can be manufactured by applying the present invention. That is, the present invention can be applied to various electronic devices in which these display devices are incorporated in a display portion.

  Such electronic devices include cameras such as video cameras and digital cameras, projectors, head mounted displays (goggles type displays), car navigation systems, car stereos, personal computers, game machines, personal digital assistants (mobile computers, mobile phones or An electronic book), and an image reproducing apparatus (specifically, an apparatus having a display capable of reproducing a recording medium such as a digital versatile disc (DVD) and displaying the image). Examples thereof are shown in FIG.

  FIG. 21A illustrates a personal computer, which includes a main body 2101, a housing 2102, a display portion 2103, a keyboard 2104, an external connection port 2105, a pointing mouse 2106, and the like. The present invention is applied to manufacturing the display portion 2103. When the present invention is used, a highly reliable high-quality image can be displayed even if the size is reduced and wiring and the like are refined.

  FIG. 21B shows an image reproducing device (specifically, a DVD reproducing device) provided with a recording medium, which includes a main body 2201, a housing 2202, a display portion A 2203, a display portion B 2204, and a recording medium (DVD etc.) reading portion 2205. , Operation keys 2206, speaker unit 2207, and the like. The display portion A 2203 mainly displays image information, and the display portion B 2204 mainly displays character information. The present invention is applied to the production of the display portions A, B 2203, and 2204. When the present invention is used, a highly reliable high-quality image can be displayed even if the size is reduced and wiring and the like are refined.

  FIG. 21C illustrates a mobile phone, which includes a main body 2301, an audio output portion 2302, an audio input portion 2303, a display portion 2304, operation switches 2305, an antenna 2306, and the like. By applying the display device manufactured according to the present invention to the display portion 2304, a highly reliable and high-quality image can be displayed even in a mobile phone that is downsized and wiring and the like are precise.

  FIG. 21D shows a video camera, which includes a main body 2401, a display portion 2402, a housing 2403, an external connection port 2404, a remote control receiving portion 2405, an image receiving portion 2406, a battery 2407, an audio input portion 2408, operation keys 2409, and the like. . The present invention can be applied to the display portion 2402. By applying the display device manufactured according to the present invention to the display portion 2304, a highly reliable and high-quality image can be displayed even with a video camera that is downsized and wiring and the like are precise. This embodiment mode can be freely combined with the above embodiment modes.

The figure explaining this invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 1A and 1B illustrate a structure of a laser beam direct drawing apparatus that can be applied to the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. The top view of the display apparatus of this invention. The top view of the display apparatus of this invention. Sectional drawing of the display apparatus of this invention. FIG. 11 illustrates an electronic device to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 11 illustrates an electronic device to which the present invention is applied. Sectional drawing explaining the structural example of EL display module of this invention. FIG. 25 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the display panel described in FIG. 24. FIG. 6 is a top view illustrating a display panel of the present invention. 4A and 4B each illustrate a circuit structure in the case where a scan line side driver circuit is formed using TFTs in a display panel of the present invention; 4A and 4B illustrate a circuit structure in the case where a scan line driver circuit is formed using TFTs in a display panel of the present invention (shift register circuit). 4A and 4B illustrate a circuit configuration in the case where a scan line side driver circuit is formed using TFTs in a display panel of the present invention (buffer circuit). 2A and 2B illustrate a structure of a droplet discharge device that can be applied to the present invention. The figure explaining this invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram illustrating a structure of a pixel that can be used in the display panel of the present invention. 4A and 4B illustrate a display panel of the present invention. Sectional drawing explaining the structural example of the display module of this invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. Sectional drawing of the display apparatus of this invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention. FIG. 6 illustrates a structure of a display module of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a top view illustrating a display panel of the present invention. FIG. 53 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the display panel described in FIG. 52. 4A to 4D illustrate a method for manufacturing a display device of the present invention.

Claims (6)

Forming a base film,
Selectively irradiating the base film with laser light to form a lyophilic region;
In the lyophilic region, a composition containing a conductive material is discharged to form a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer,
Forming an n-type semiconductor layer, a semiconductor layer, and a gate insulating layer on the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer;
Forming a first photosensitive material on the gate insulating layer, selectively irradiating the first photosensitive material with a laser beam to form a first exposed region;
Removing the first exposed area and forming a first recess;
Using the first photosensitive material as a mask, the gate insulating layer is etched to form an opening reaching the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer,
A second photosensitive material is discharged only to the opening and the first recess, a second photosensitive material is formed, the first photosensitive material is selectively irradiated with a laser beam, and second Forming the exposed areas of
Removing the second exposed area, forming a second recess,
Discharging a composition containing a conductive material into the second recess to form a gate electrode layer;
A method for manufacturing a display device, wherein the first photosensitive material and the second photosensitive material are removed.   2. The method for manufacturing a display device according to claim 1, wherein a pixel electrode layer is formed in connection with the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer. In Claim 1, connected to the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer, to form a first electrode layer,
Forming an electroluminescent layer on the first electrode layer;
A method for manufacturing a display device, comprising forming a second electrode layer over the electroluminescent layer.   4. The method for manufacturing a display device according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor layer is a non-single-crystal semiconductor formed using a gas containing hydrogen or a halogen element.   4. The method for manufacturing a display device according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor layer is a semi-amorphous semiconductor formed with a gas containing hydrogen or a halogen element.   4. The method for manufacturing a display device according to claim 1, wherein the semiconductor layer is a polycrystalline semiconductor formed using a gas containing hydrogen and a halogen element.

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