KR100190168B1 - Method of forming barrier layer of flat display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a novel method of forming partition walls in flat panel display elements such as PDPs.

Conventionally, since the required height of the partition is obtained by repetitive printing, in the manufacture of high-density devices, there is a problem of not only a rise in the cost of the printing disc, but also a problem of matching of each layer, and a high yield of the partition due to the poor formation of the partition.

In the present invention, the conventional problem is solved by forming a barrier rib by printing the barrier rib layer on the electrode as much as the required height of the barrier rib on the entire surface and etching the same by dry etching such as laser etching.

Description

Partition wall formation method of flat panel display device

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional barrier rib forming method.

2 is a flow chart showing a method for forming a partition wall of the present invention.

3 is a sequential cross-sectional view showing the progress of the process according to the flow of FIG.

4 is a cross-sectional view showing another configuration that can be produced by the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

1 substrate 2 electrode

3: barrier layer 4: barrier wall

5, 5 ': 1st etching part 6, 6': 2nd etching part

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

In the construction of a flat panel display device such as a plasma display panel (PDP), a substrate on the substrate is formed in order to prevent interference between adjacent pixels such as crosstalk and to maintain a predetermined distance between the front substrate and the rear substrate. The partition wall is formed in.

The formation of such a partition is generally done in the manner as shown in FIG. That is, after printing and firing the electrode 12 of a predetermined thickness t on the substrate 11 in a predetermined pattern, the partition layer 14a is repeatedly printed on the side until the partition wall 14a reaches a predetermined height h. 14).

A general method of forming the partition 14 may be extremely simple as described above. However, in the case where the pitch p between the electrodes 12 is increased in order to display a high-definition image, this method is practical. This leads to many problems that cannot be solved.

For example, the pitch between the electrodes 12 should be about 0.35 mm when manufacturing 25 panels of 640 × 480 pixels. In this case, the thickness t of the electrodes 12 is 20 to 25 µm and the partition wall 14 is formed. The height h of should be about 120 to 150㎛.

In order to print such a high-density pattern, a 400-mesh high-density disc should be used. This high-density disc is not only expensive, but also increases in size due to the repetition of printing. The printing cost is very high.

Even more serious than the problem of the original price described above is a problem of alignment of each partition layer 14a during repeated printing. As a result, the pattern gradually deforms with the repetition of printing, for example, the pattern of 0.35 mm pitch is repeated several times. Matching the location correctly is a very difficult task. In addition, after the printing of each layer, only drying is performed and all the layers are fired only after the printing is completed, so that the partition layer 14a does not have sufficient strength, and the first printed partition wall 14a is collapsed by subsequent printing pressure. Lowering the problem of not maintaining a constant height is also common. In this case, there is no method of selectively washing only the partition 14, and since the electrode 12 is damaged during physical or chemical cleaning, the regeneration of the defective substrate 11 is almost impossible. Yield was extremely low, and the operation characteristics such as image quality were not good.

As an alternative to this, it is also conceivable to use a chemical etching method instead of forming the partition 14 by repeated printing lamination. However, since the material of the electrode 12 that can be printed is about tens of percent of the binder, the electrode 12 is damaged during the chemical etching of the partition 14, and thus this method cannot be adopted. In addition, since the partition wall 14 has a considerable thickness, chemical etching is not economical.

On the other hand, a method of forming the electrode 12 as a pure metal electrode by sputtering, such as a method used in a thin film process such as a semiconductor may be considered, but in this case, patterning by chemical etching Even if it is possible, the thin film process requires tens of times the process cost compared to the thick film process such as printing, and can be used only for expensive high-precision devices such as semiconductor devices. There is no economy.

On the other hand, the printing of the electrode 12 having a relatively small thickness t does not have serious manufacturing problems like the partition wall 14, but the shape is uneven and the surface is oxidized by firing, resulting in poor conductivity and abnormal discharge. There were many operational problems.

In view of the various problems of the related art, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for forming partition walls in a very economical and simple process in a high density flat panel display device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for forming a partition wall, which is capable of forming an electrode having a uniform and accurate shape, thereby increasing the reliability of the operation.

In order to achieve the above object, the partition wall forming method according to the present invention comprises the steps of forming an electrode by printing and firing the electrode material;

Forming a barrier rib layer by printing and firing the insulator entirely on the formed electrode by a required height of the barrier rib;

And forming a barrier rib by selectively etching the barrier ribs formed on the entire surface by dry etching.

According to the present invention, by using the high-density disc of Komesh, each layer is matched and there is no need to repeat printing, thereby significantly reducing material cost and manufacturing man-hours, and significantly reducing work requirements. . In addition, the exposed part of the electrode is cleanly cut by dry etching, thereby ensuring the reliability of its operation.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, each process step of FIG. 2 and the cross section of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to each other.

First, in step 100 of FIG. 2, the electrode 2 'is printed on the substrate 1 in a predetermined pattern. At this time, since the thickness of the electrode 2 'is 10 μm or less and not so thick, even if a high-density disc of 400 mesh or more is used, the electrode 2' can be formed by one or two prints, so the cost or matching problem is not so serious. For example, a printing error of ± 50 μm or less at a pitch of about 350 μm does not affect discharge, and thus there is no practical problem even if accurate matching is not achieved. However, in the present invention, the precision of the edges is not very important in the printing pattern of the electrode 2 'for the reasons described below, so that only one time is used as a disc of medium mesh of about 200 to 300 mesh. It is enough to print.

Here, the mesh is a unit representing the density of screens such as a printed disc, and represents the number of meshes per inch, that is, the number of meshes. Generally, a low mesh is less than 200 mesh, The high mesh refers to 300 mesh or more, and the medium mesh refers to 200 mesh to 300 mesh.

When the electrode 2 'pattern printed in the next step 110 is fired, the electrode 2' is formed on the substrate 1 as shown in FIG.

In step 120, the partition layer 3 is applied or printed on the electrode 2 'on the entire surface. At this time, since the partition wall 3 is printed on the entire surface, the printing disc may use a very low mesh. For example, when using 80-mesh disc, the thickness that can be obtained by one printing is about 80 to 100 μm. When the bulkhead 4 having a thickness of 150 to 180 μm is required as described above, Print thickness can be obtained.

Such a low-mesh plate is only about one tenth of the original one of the high-mesh plate, and the printing is a full-scale printing, so registration is not a problem at all.

When the partition 3 is fired in the next step 130, a cross section as shown in FIG. 3 (b) is obtained.

In operation 140, the barrier layer 3 is etched by a dry etching method, and various methods, such as ion bombardment or laser etching, may be used. However, since the electrode 2 ′ and the barrier layer 3 formed by the thick film printing method contain various impurities such as a binder as described above, various problems such as oxidation may be involved in the case of the ion shock. Accordingly, the most suitable dry etching method for implementing the present invention is a method of etching the partition layer 3 by irradiating a laser beam.

The etching process of the partition layer 3 is preferably made of two processes. First, the space 5 between the portions 4 'to form the partition wall as shown in FIG. 3 (c) is etched until the surface of the electrode 2 is exposed, and then the electrode 2 as shown in FIG. 3 (d). Etch the space 6 between the sides of the barrier rib and the partition forming portion 4 '.

In the next step 150, the etching residue is cleaned by ultrasonic or vacuum cleaning to complete the structure as shown in FIG.

In the completed structure of FIG. 3 (e), the edges of the partition 4 and the electrode 2 are precisely cut at the edges, so that there are no problems due to surface oxidation or irregularity in shape. Accordingly, even if the edge precision or thickness at the time of electrode printing in step 100 is not accurate, there is no problem in obtaining the required electrode 2 pattern.

On the other hand, this method of the present invention can be applied even when an insulating layer is to be formed on the surface of the electrode 2, such as an AC type PDP. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the depth and width of the primary and secondary portions 5 'and 6' are adjusted to adjust the depth and width of the electrode 2 ', which is the same as that of the partition wall 4. The insulating layer 7 can be formed. In general, the partition wall 4 has only an insulation characteristic, but does not take into account dielectric constants, and the dielectric layer 7 on the surface of the electrode 2 'requires a high dielectric constant. Optionally, the required characteristics of the partition 4 and the insulating layer 7 can be satisfied simultaneously. At this time, the thickness of the insulating layer 7 remaining on the surface of the electrode 2 'is preferably set to the thickness of the insulating layer of a typical AC PDP, for example, 50 to 200.

In addition, if necessary, the insulating layer 8 can be left on the surface of the substrate 1 on which the electrode 2 'is not formed. This configuration significantly relieves the required material of the substrate 1. In the case of a transparent electrode such as indium tin oxide (ITO), the metal component of the glass diffuses during firing, and the transparency decreases, and the phosphor applied on the electrode 2 'is vulnerable to oxygen, so the substrate 1 is generally made of ordinary glass. Made of non-alkali glass material, more than 10 times the price. In this case, the substrate 1 may be formed of a common glass material in the case of remaining and shielding the insulating layer 8 on the exposed surface of the substrate 1. In this case, the electrode 2 ′ is a transparent electrode such as ITO. Requires a suitable insulating material on its bottom.

As described above, according to the present invention, even when manufacturing a high-density flat panel display device, a low-mesh printing disc can be used, and the cost thereof is significantly reduced. The service life is also significantly increased, and there is no problem of registration during repeated printing. In addition, the cutting of the electrode is made naturally, the operation characteristics are improved, and the required insulating layer can be formed arbitrarily as needed.

Accordingly, the present invention has a great effect in reducing the manufacturing cost and improving the productivity and quality of the flat panel display device.

Claims (4)

Printing and firing the electrode material with a low mesh printed disk of less than 200 mesh on the substrate to form an electrode; and insulating the insulator by the required height of the partition wall by using a low mesh printed disk of less than 200 mesh. Forming a barrier rib layer by printing and firing the entire surface, and selectively etching the barrier rib layer on the entire surface by dry etching to form a barrier rib. The method of forming a partition wall of a flat panel display device according to claim 1, wherein the dry etching is laser etching. The method of claim 1, wherein the etching of the partition layer comprises a first etching exposing the electrode and a second etching exposing the substrate outside the electrode. The method of claim 3, wherein a barrier layer having a thickness of 50 to 200 μm is left on a surface of the electrode or the substrate, and the remaining barrier layer functions as an insulating layer.