KR20150070839A - Method of manufacturing display apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A gate electrode is formed on a substrate. An active layer is formed on the gate electrode. A metal layer is formed on the active layer. An amorphous carbon layer is formed on the metal layer. A mask pattern is formed on the amorphous carbon layer. An amorphous carbon pattern is formed by patterning the amorphous carbon layer by using a mask pattern. The metal layer and the active layer are patterned by using the mask pattern and the amorphous carbon pattern so a metal pattern and an active pattern are formed. A source electrode and a drain electrode are formed by etching the metal pattern corresponding to the position of a channel region of the active pattern. The amorphous carbon pattern is removed. A display substrate is formed by forming a pixel which is electrically connected to a thin film transistor where the gate electrode, the active pattern, the source electrode, and the drain electrode are defined. An opposite substrate combined to the display substrate is formed.

Description

[0001] METHOD OF MANUFACTURING DISPLAY APPARATUS [0002]

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a display device, and more particularly, to a method of forming a thin film transistor of a display device.

Examples of the flat panel display include a liquid crystal display, a field emission display, a plasma display panel, and an organic electroluminescent display. The flat panel display device includes a display substrate including a plurality of thin film transistors and a pixel portion electrically connected to each of the plurality of thin film transistors, wherein each of the plurality of thin film transistors switches a data signal applied to the pixel portion do.

In general, the plurality of thin film transistors may be formed on a substrate through a process of forming gate electrodes, a process of forming active patterns, a process of forming source electrodes, and a process of forming drain electrodes.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of easily manufacturing a thin film transistor of a display device.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object of the present invention, a manufacturing method of a display device according to the present invention is as follows.

A gate electrode is formed on the substrate. An active layer is formed on the gate electrode. A metal layer is formed on the active layer. An amorphous carbon film is formed on the metal layer. A mask pattern is formed on the amorphous carbon film. The amorphous carbon film is patterned using the mask pattern to form an amorphous carbon pattern. The metal layer and the active layer are patterned using the mask pattern and the amorphous carbon pattern to form a metal pattern and an active pattern. A source electrode and a drain electrode are formed by etching the metal pattern corresponding to the position of the channel region of the active pattern. The amorphous carbon pattern is removed. A pixel portion electrically connected to the thin film transistor defined as the gate electrode, the active pattern, the source electrode, and the drain electrode is formed to form a display substrate. And an opposing substrate to be combined with the display substrate is formed.

According to the method of manufacturing a display device according to the present invention, when the metal pattern and the active layer are etched to form the metal pattern and the active pattern, the metal layer corresponding to the channel region can be protected by the amorphous carbon pattern . That is, the amorphous carbon pattern serves as an etching barrier layer for protecting the metal pattern during the etching process.

The thickness of the photoresist layer can be reduced by the amorphous carbon pattern protecting the metal pattern, and as a result, the energy per unit area of light required when the photoresist layer is exposed can be reduced.

In addition, the amorphous carbon pattern has an effect of increasing the process margin with respect to the thickness of the mask pattern corresponding to the channel region. Accordingly, since the amorphous carbon pattern protects the metal pattern even if the thickness of the mask pattern corresponding to the channel region is thin, it is possible to prevent the metal pattern from being etched.

1A to 1G are views showing a method of manufacturing a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display device having a thin film transistor manufactured by the method described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1G.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an organic light emitting display device having a thin film transistor manufactured by the method described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1G.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein, but may be modified in various forms. Rather, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the embodiments described below. In the following embodiments and the drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same elements.

In addition, the terms `first`,` second`, and the like in the present specification are used for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component, not limiting. It is also to be understood that when a film, an area, a component, or the like is referred to as being "on" or "on" another part, .

1A to 1G are views showing a method of manufacturing a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a gate electrode 120 is formed on a substrate 110. After the gate electrode 120 is formed, a gate insulating layer 130 covering the gate electrode 120 is formed. After the gate insulating layer 130 is formed, an active layer 140 is formed on the gate insulating layer 130, and a metal layer 150 is formed on the active layer 140.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the active layer 140 is formed on the first active pattern layer 141a (FIG. 1F) formed of amorphous silicon and the first active pattern layer 141a (FIG. 1F) And a second active pattern layer (141b in Fig. 1F) formed of silicon. However, the present invention is not limited to the material and structure of the active layer 140. For example, in other embodiments, the active layer 140 may comprise oxide semiconductors such as IGZO, ZnO, SnO ₂ , In ₂ O ₃ , Zn ₂ SnO ₄ , Ge ₂ O ₃ , and HfO ₂ , In yet another embodiment, the active layer 140 may comprise a compound semiconductor such as GaAs, GaP, and InP. In yet another embodiment, the active layer 140 may be formed as a single layer.

The metal layer 150 may be formed of, for example, a metal such as chromium, aluminum, tantalum, molybdenum, titanium, tungsten, copper, or silver or an alloy thereof. In the embodiment of the present invention, the metal layer 150 is formed as a single layer. However, in another embodiment of the present invention, the metal layer 150 may be formed by stacking a plurality of metal layers. In this case, The plurality of metal layers may comprise different metals.

The amorphous carbon film 160 is formed on the metal layer 150. The amorphous carbon film 160 may be formed by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method such as a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method. In this case, the amorphous carbon film 160 may be formed using a liquid amorphous carbon film source, and the amorphous carbon film 160 may be formed using a carbon-based gas.

After the amorphous carbon film 160 is formed, a photoresist layer 170 is formed on the amorphous carbon film 160. In this embodiment, the photoresist layer 170 may be formed of a positive photosensitive material. The thickness t1 of the photoresist layer 170 may be 5000 to 50000 angstroms. More specifically, the thickness tl may be from 5000 angstroms to 25000 angstroms. A detailed description thereof will be described with reference to Fig. 1D.

A mask MA is disposed on the photoresist layer 170. The mask MA may have a first area MA1, a second area MA2, and a third area MA3. Wherein the first area MA1 is a semi-transmissive area through which only a part of light is transmitted, the second area MA2 is a light shielding area for blocking the light, and the third area MA3 is a transmissive area to be. In this embodiment, a slit pattern is disposed in the first area MA1 so that the transmittance of the light passing through the first area MA1 can be adjusted. In another embodiment, the first region MA1 may be a halftone region that transmits only a portion of the light.

When the channel region CH, the source region SE and the drain region DE are defined in the active layer 140, the position of the first region MA1 corresponds to the position of the channel region CH, The position of the second region MA2 corresponds to the position of the source region SE and the drain region DE. The third region MA3 corresponds to the remaining positions except for the channel region CH, the source region SE, and the drain region DE.

After the mask MA is disposed on the photoresist layer 170, the exposure process of irradiating light onto the mask MA is performed. Accordingly, the light is irradiated to the photoresist layer 170 via the first area MA1 and the third area MA3 of the mask MA, and the light is emitted to the second area MA2 ).

After the exposure process, a mask pattern 171 is formed by performing a development process. After the development process is completed, the photoresist layer 170 corresponding to the third region MA3 is removed to expose the amorphous carbon film 160, and the photoresist layer 170 corresponding to the second region MA2 is exposed. The shape of the photoresist layer 170 is maintained. The photoresist layer 170 corresponding to the first region MA1 is removed to a predetermined depth from the upper surface of the photoresist layer 170 so that the mask pattern 171 is formed in a stepped shape.

At this time, since the amount of light transmitted through the first region MA1 is not uniform, the predetermined depth may not be uniform, and as a result, the mask pattern 171 corresponding to the position of the channel region CH May not be uniform. In the embodiment of the present invention, since the metal pattern (151 in FIG. 1D) is protected by the amorphous carbon pattern (161 in FIG. 1C) even if the thickness t3 is not uniform, the process margin for the thickness t3 is Can be improved. For example, even if the thickness t3 of a part of the mask pattern 171 corresponding to the channel region CH is thin, the amorphous carbon pattern 161 (Fig. 1C) protects the metal pattern 151 , The process margin for the thickness t3 can be improved.

Referring to FIG. 1C, the amorphous carbon film (160 in FIG. 1B) is patterned using the mask pattern (171 in FIG. 1B) as a mask. In this embodiment, the amorphous carbon film (160 in FIG. 1B) is subjected to an ashing process using oxygen gas to form an amorphous carbon pattern 161. During the ashing process, a part of the mask pattern (171 in Fig. 1B) is also ashed. Therefore, if the partially etched mask pattern 171a is defined after the ashing process, the thickness of the mask pattern 171a may be thinner than the thickness of the mask pattern 171 (FIG. 1B) before the ashing process.

During the formation of the amorphous carbon pattern 161, the mask pattern 171a covers the amorphous carbon film (160 in FIG. 1B) corresponding to the metal pattern (151 in FIG. 1D). The thickness of the mask pattern 171a corresponding to the channel region CH is smaller than the thickness of the mask pattern 171a that does not correspond to the channel region CH. Accordingly, the mask pattern 171a corresponding to the channel region CH may be ashed during the ashing process. As a result, the amorphous carbon film (160 in FIG. 1B) corresponding to the channel region CH can be exposed according to the amount of the mask pattern 171a being ashed. In this embodiment, in order to prevent the amorphous carbon film exposed corresponding to the channel region CH from being ashed, the thickness t3 of the mask pattern (171 in FIG. 1B) corresponding to the channel region CH is The amorphous carbon film 160 may be thick enough not to expose the amorphous carbon film 160 corresponding to the channel region CH during the ashing process. More specifically, the thickness t3 of the mask pattern (171 in FIG. 1B) corresponding to the channel region CH may be 3000 angstroms or more.

1D, an etching process is performed on the active layer (140 in FIG. 1C) and the metal layer (150 in FIG. 1C) using the amorphous carbon pattern 161 and the mask pattern (171a in FIG. An active pattern 141, and a metal pattern 151 are formed. The active pattern 141 corresponds to the source region SE, the drain region DE, and the channel region CH defined in the active layer (140 in FIG. 1C). During the etching process, the mask pattern (171a in FIG. 1C) may also be partly etched, so that the mask pattern 172 corresponding to the position of the channel region CH may not remain.

When the amorphous carbon pattern 161 is not present, the active pattern 141 and the metal pattern 151 are formed while the channel region CH The mask pattern 172 corresponding to the position of the channel region CH may not remain, and as a result, the metal pattern 151 corresponding to the channel region CH may be partially etched. However, in the embodiment of the present invention, the amorphous carbon pattern 161 serves as an etching barrier layer for protecting the metal pattern 151 during the etching process, 151 can be protected. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the metal pattern 151 from being damaged during the etching process.

In addition, since the amorphous carbon pattern 161 is structurally similar to diamond and has high strength, the amorphous carbon pattern 161 may be formed on the amorphous carbon pattern 161 while the etching process is performed on the active layer (140 in FIG. 1C) and the metal layer (161) is less etched. Therefore, the effect of preventing the metal pattern 151 from being etched during the etching process can be improved.

1A) of the photoresist layer (170 in FIG. 1A) is set so that the mask pattern 172 is in contact with the amorphous carbon pattern 161. In this embodiment, the amorphous carbon pattern 161 acts as an etching barrier layer, It is not necessary to form it thick in consideration of loss. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1A, the thickness of the photoresist layer (170 in FIG. 1A) (t1 in FIG. 1A) may be formed to be 5000 to 25000 angstroms. The thickness (t1 in Fig. 1A) can be adjusted according to the thickness (t2 in Fig. 1A) of the amorphous carbon film (160 in Fig. 1A). For example, if the thickness of the amorphous carbon film (160 in FIG. 1A) (t2 in FIG. 1A) is 2000 angstroms, the thickness of the photoresist layer (170 in FIG. 1A) . If the thickness of the photoresist layer (170 in Fig. 1A) is reduced (t1 in Fig. 1A), the energy per unit area of the light irradiated to the photoresist layer (170 in Fig. 1A) The time required for the exposure process described can be shortened.

1D and 1F, a part of the mask pattern (172 in FIG. 1D) corresponding to the position of the channel region CH and an amorphous carbon pattern corresponding to the position of the channel region CH 161 are removed. As a result, a portion of the metal layer 151 corresponding to the channel region CH is exposed.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a part of the mask pattern (172 in FIG. 1D) corresponding to the position of the channel region CH and the amorphous carbon pattern corresponding to the position of the channel region CH 161 may be etched back using an ashing process and removed at the same time. In another embodiment of the present invention, a portion of the mask pattern (172 in FIG. 1D) corresponding to the position of the channel region CH is removed using the ashing process, and the portion corresponding to the channel region CH A portion of the amorphous carbon pattern (161 in FIG. 1d) may be removed through the etching process.

The etching process is performed on the metal pattern 151 corresponding to the channel region CH using the mask pattern 172a and the amorphous carbon pattern 162 as a mask. The second active pattern layer 141b corresponding to the position of the channel region CH may be etched while the metal pattern 151 corresponding to the channel region CH is etched. The metal pattern 151 is etched to form the drain electrode 152 and the source electrode 153. The amorphous carbon pattern 162 acts as a mask when the drain electrode 152 and the source electrode 153 are formed so that the drain electrode 152 and the source electrode 153 are etched, Can be prevented.

Referring to FIG. 1G, the amorphous carbon pattern (162 in FIG. 1F) remaining on the drain electrode 152 and the source electrode 153 is removed. In this embodiment, the amorphous carbon pattern may be removed using an ashing process using oxygen gas.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display device having a thin film transistor manufactured by the method described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1G. In the description of FIG. 2, the constituent elements described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description of the constituent elements is omitted.

Referring to FIG. 2, the display substrate 200 may include a pixel portion, a thin film transistor TR, and a substrate 110. A thin film transistor TR including a gate electrode 120, an active pattern 141, a source electrode 153 and a drain electrode 152 is formed on the substrate 110, A first insulating film 180 is formed. A contact hole is formed in the first insulating layer 180 to expose a portion of the drain electrode 152 using a photolithography process. Thereafter, the pixel portion electrically connected to the drain electrode 152 is formed. In this embodiment, the pixel portion may be the pixel electrode 190.

The opposing substrate 300 is arranged to face the display substrate 200. A liquid crystal layer (LC) is formed between the counter substrate (300) and the display substrate (200). The counter substrate 300 may include a base substrate 111, a color filter CF, a black matrix BM, and a common electrode CE.

The color filter CF is formed on the base substrate 111 in correspondence with the pixel electrode 190. A black matrix BM for blocking light is formed between the color filters CF on the base substrate 111. A common electrode CE is formed on the color filter CF and the base substrate 111 having the black matrix BM. The common electrode CE faces the pixel electrode 190 and forms an electric field in the liquid crystal layer LC. As a result, the manufacture of the liquid crystal display device is completed.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an organic light emitting display device having a thin film transistor manufactured by the method described with reference to FIGS. 1A to 1G.

In the description of FIG. 3, the constituent elements described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description of the constituent elements is omitted.

Referring to FIG. 3, a first electrode E1 is formed on a substrate 110 on which a first insulating layer 180 is formed. The first electrode E1 is electrically connected to the drain electrode 152 through a contact hole formed in the first insulating layer 180. [ The first electrode E1 may serve as an anode and the first electrode E1 may be a transparent conductive film such as indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO) have.

An organic light emitting layer EL is formed on the first electrode E1. In this embodiment, the organic light emitting layer (EL) may have a single layer shape, and the organic light emitting layer (EL) may emit white light. In the case of emitting the white light, the organic light emitting display may further include a color filter (not shown). In another embodiment, the organic light emitting layer EL may include a plurality of sub-organic light emitting layers (not shown) spaced from each other to emit color light. The pixel defining layer 193 may be formed on the first insulating layer 180. An opening is formed in the pixel defining layer 193 so that the organic light emitting layer EL can be in contact with the first electrode E1 through the opening.

A second electrode E2 is formed on the organic light emitting layer EL. The second electrode E2 may serve as a cathode and may have a single film shape. In another embodiment, a hole injection layer (not shown) and a hole transport layer (not shown) may be further formed between the organic light emitting layer EL and the first electrode E1, An electron transport layer (not shown) and an electron injection layer (not shown) may be further formed between the second electrodes E2.

The second electrode E2 is formed, and then the sealing substrate 194 is bonded. As a result, the fabrication of the organic light emitting display device is completed. The sealing substrate 194 covers components such as the organic light emitting layer EL to block gas or moisture flowing from the outside to the organic light emitting layer EL side. In another embodiment, an encapsulation layer may be provided in place of the encapsulation substrate 194, in which case the encapsulation layer covers the components disposed on the substrate 110, It is possible to shut off the gas or moisture flowing into the gas inlet side.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. It will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification, but should be defined by the claims.

110: substrate 120: gate electrode
130: gate insulating layer 140: active layer
141: active pattern 150: metal layer
151: metal pattern layer 152: drain electrode
153: source electrode 160: amorphous carbon film
161 amorphous carbon pattern 170: photoresist layer
171: mask pattern CH: channel region
SE: source region DE: drain region

Claims (12)

Forming a display substrate; And
Forming a counter substrate coupled with the display substrate,
Wherein the forming of the display substrate comprises:
Sequentially forming a gate electrode, an active layer, and a metal layer on a substrate;
Forming an amorphous carbon film on the metal layer;
Forming a mask pattern on the amorphous carbon film;
Forming an amorphous carbon pattern by patterning the amorphous carbon film using the mask pattern;
Forming a metal pattern and an active pattern by patterning the metal layer and the active layer using the mask pattern and the amorphous carbon pattern;
Etching the metal pattern corresponding to the position of the channel region of the active pattern to form a source electrode and a drain electrode;
Removing the amorphous carbon pattern; And
And forming a pixel portion electrically connected to the thin film transistor defined as the gate electrode, the active pattern, the source electrode, and the drain electrode. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the amorphous carbon pattern covers a portion of the metal layer corresponding to the position of the channel region while the metal layer and the active layer are etched. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein forming the mask pattern comprises:
Forming a photoresist layer on the amorphous carbon film; And
And patterning the photoresist layer,
Wherein the thickness of the photoresist layer is 5000 angstroms to 50000 angstroms. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the minimum value of the thickness of the mask pattern corresponding to the position of the channel region is 3000 angstroms. 5. The method of claim 4,
Exposing the photoresist layer using a mask, developing the exposed photoresist layer to form the mask pattern,
Wherein the mask defines a transflective region corresponding to a position of the channel region. 3. The method of claim 2,
And performing an ashing process on the amorphous carbon film to form the amorphous carbon pattern. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the amorphous carbon pattern is removed by an ashing process. 3. The method of claim 2,
A portion of the mask pattern corresponding to a position of the channel region is removed before etching the metal pattern to form the source electrode and the drain electrode, and a portion of the amorphous carbon pattern corresponding to the position of the channel region And exposing a portion of the metal pattern corresponding to the position of the channel region. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein a portion of the mask pattern corresponding to a position of the channel region is simultaneously removed by an ashing process with a portion of the amorphous carbon pattern corresponding to a position of the channel region. 9. The method of claim 8,
After removing a portion of the mask pattern corresponding to the position of the channel region,
Wherein a portion of the amorphous carbon pattern corresponding to the position of the channel region is removed using an etching process. 3. The method of claim 2,
Further comprising forming a liquid crystal layer between the display substrate and the counter substrate,
The forming of the pixel portion may include:
And forming a pixel electrode electrically connected to the thin film transistor. 3. The method of claim 2,
The forming of the pixel portion may include:
Forming a first electrode electrically connected to the thin film transistor;
Forming an organic light emitting layer on the first electrode; And
And forming a second electrode on the organic light emitting layer.

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