KR101900929B1 - Electrostatic capacity type touch screen panel and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a touch screen panel and a method of manufacturing the same that can reduce the cost required when a new factory dedicated to a touch screen panel is manufactured and reduce the RC delay phenomenon. The present invention provides an electrode forming portion, a routing wiring portion, A substrate having a forming portion; A plurality of first connection patterns formed in the electrode formation portion on the substrate; A plurality of first routing wires and a plurality of second routing wires formed on the same plane as the first connection pattern in the routing wiring formation portion on the substrate; An insulating layer formed on the substrate on which the first connection pattern is formed to expose a portion of each of the plurality of first connection patterns; And a plurality of first electrode rows arranged in parallel in a first direction on the insulating layer and connected to the plurality of first routing wirings and a plurality of second electrode rows arranged in parallel in a second direction crossing the plurality of first electrode rows And a plurality of second electrode patterns connected to the plurality of second routing wirings, wherein the first electrode lines and the second electrode lines are kept in noncontact with each other by the insulating layer, Wherein each of the plurality of first connection patterns is formed of the transparent conductive layer and connects the first electrode patterns adjacent to each other, each of the plurality of first routing wiring and the second routing wiring includes a transparent conductive layer, And a metal layer formed so as to surround the first electrode.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an electrostatic capacity type touch screen panel,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a touch screen panel of a correcting capacity type and a manufacturing method thereof.

In recent years, display devices such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), electroluminescent displays, and plasma display panels have attracted attention because of their high response speed, low power consumption, and excellent color recall . Such display devices have been used in various electronic products such as televisions, computer monitors, notebook computers, mobile phones, display parts of refrigerators, personal digital assistants, and automated teller machines. Generally, these display devices constitute an interface with a user by using various input devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a digitizer.

However, the use of a separate input device such as a keyboard and a mouse has a problem in that it requires the user to learn how to use the device and occupies a space, thereby inconveniencing the user. Therefore, there is a growing demand for an input device that is convenient and simple and can reduce malfunctions. In accordance with such a demand, a touch screen panel has been proposed in which a user directly touches a screen with a hand or a pen to input information.

The touch screen panel is simple, has little malfunction, can be input without using a separate input device, and can be operated quickly and easily through the contents displayed on the screen. .

The touch screen panel can be divided into an add-on type, an on-cell type, and an integrated type depending on its structure. In the top plate attaching type, a touch sensor is attached to an upper plate of a display device after separately manufacturing a display device and a touch sensor. The top plate integral type is a method of directly forming elements constituting the touch sensor on the surface of the upper glass substrate of the display device. The built-in type has a built-in touch sensor inside the display device to achieve a thin display device and enhance durability.

2. Description of the Related Art [0002] In recent years, studies have been actively conducted on a touch panel integrated with a top plate to reduce the thickness of a touch screen panel. Generally, a process for manufacturing an integrated panel type touch screen panel uses a photolithography process (hereinafter referred to as a photo process) of a thin film liquid crystal display device. However, when a photo process is used in a touch screen manufacturing process, a production line for producing a liquid crystal display device is dedicated to a touch screen panel manufacturing line, and thus the production capacity of the liquid crystal display device is lowered.

For this reason, the establishment of a dedicated production factory for exclusive use of the touch screen panel is considered, but this is also a high cost and a large size, so that it is not a preferable alternative because it occupies a lot of equipment space.

In addition, it is necessary to use a transparent conductive material having a high resistance such as ITO because of the visibility problem of the touch electrode of the touch screen panel. Especially, in the capacitive touch screen panel, as the area of the touch screen panel increases, the resistance increases due to the increase of the number of wiring lines. Therefore, the RC (resistance-capacitor) delay problem is inevitable. In order to solve the RC delay problem, it is necessary to increase the thickness of each wiring to lower the resistance of the wiring. However, in order to form wiring, a metal layer for wiring formation must be deposited on the entire area of the substrate by sputtering. In this case, the substrate is bent due to the weight of the metal layer deposited on the entire substrate. Therefore, the deposition thickness of the metal layer formed through the sputter must be limited so that the substrate does not bend, which leads to a decrease in wiring resistance, and finally the RC delay problem can not be solved.

Accordingly, a need has arisen for a method of manufacturing a new touch screen panel capable of solving the problems of the related art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a touch screen panel and a method of manufacturing the touch screen panel that can reduce the cost required when a factory dedicated to a touch screen panel is installed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a touch screen panel and a method of manufacturing the same that can reduce the RC delay phenomenon when a large size touch screen panel is manufactured.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a touch screen panel including: a substrate having an electrode forming portion, a routing wiring portion, and a pad forming portion; A plurality of first connection patterns formed in the electrode formation portion on the substrate; A plurality of first routing wires and a plurality of second routing wires formed on the same plane as the first connection pattern in the routing wiring formation portion on the substrate; An insulating layer formed on the substrate on which the first connection pattern is formed to expose a portion of each of the plurality of first connection patterns; A plurality of first electrode rows arranged in parallel in a first direction on the insulating layer and connected to the plurality of first routing wirings; And a plurality of second electrode lines arranged in parallel in a second direction intersecting the plurality of first electrode lines and connected to the plurality of second routing wirings, Wherein each of the first electrode rows and the second electrode rows includes a plurality of first electrode patterns, each of the second electrode rows includes a plurality of second electrode patterns, and the first electrode rows and the second electrode rows are in a non- Wherein each of the plurality of first connection patterns is formed of a first transparent conductive layer and connects first electrode patterns adjacent to each other, each of the plurality of first routing wiring and the second routing wiring includes a second transparent conductive layer, And a first metal layer formed to cover upper and side surfaces of the second transparent conductive layer.

Wherein the touch screen panel includes a plurality of first pads formed in a pad forming portion on the substrate and connected to the plurality of first routing wirings and a plurality of first pads connected to the plurality of second routing wirings, 2 pads. Each of the first and second pads may include a third transparent conductive layer, and a second metal layer formed to surround the third transparent conductive layer.

The first to third transparent conductive layers are formed of any one of ITO, IZO and GZO, and have a thickness of 0.04 mu m to 0.14 mu m, and the first and second metal layers are made of any one of Al, AlNd, Mo, MoTi and Cr And has a thickness of 0.1 mu m to 0.97 mu m , and the insulating layer is formed of silicon nitride and has a thickness ranging from 0.6 mu m to 4.0 mu m.

The thickness of the first metal layer of the first and second routing wirings is formed such that the thickness of the portion formed on the upper portion of the second transparent conductive layer is thicker than the thickness of the portion formed on the side surface of the second transparent conductive layer .

A method of manufacturing a touch screen panel according to the present invention includes the steps of sequentially laminating first and second conductive layers on a substrate, patterning the first and second conductive layers to form a plurality of first connection patterns, A first step of forming a first conductive pattern including a plurality of first routing wirings and a plurality of second routing wirings; Forming an insulating layer on a front surface of the substrate on which the first conductive pattern is formed and patterning the insulating layer to expose a portion of each of the first connecting patterns and a portion of each of the first and second routing wires, 2 steps; And a plurality of first electrode rows arranged in parallel in a first direction by patterning the second conductive layer after forming a third conductive layer on the substrate on which the insulating layer is formed, And a third step of forming a second conductive pattern including a plurality of second electrode lines arranged in parallel in a second direction in which the first and second wiring lines are arranged, Wherein each of the plurality of first electrode lines includes a plurality of first electrode patterns separated from each other, and each of the plurality of first connection patterns includes a plurality of first electrode patterns, And the first electrode patterns are formed of a transparent conductive layer and are connected to each other.

The first process further includes forming a plurality of first and second pads, the process comprising: sequentially depositing the first conductive layer made of a transparent conductive material and the second conductive layer made of a metal layer; Patterning the first and second conductive layers to form first preliminary connection patterns, first and second preliminary routing wirings, and first and second preliminary pads by patterning using a laser; Wherein the first preliminary connection patterns, the first and second preliminary routing wirings, and the first and second preliminary pads are formed on the substrate, the electrolytic solution containing the metal ions dissolved in the same metal layer as the electrolytic solution A positive electrode is connected to the first and second pads and the first and second preliminary routing wirings after being immersed in a bath, and a negative electrode is connected to the electrolytic solution to supply a current to the electrolytic solution Depositing the metal ions in the metal layer to grow the metal layer; And etching the metal layer of the first and second preliminary pads and the first and second preliminary routing wirings by etching only a part of the metal layer of the first preliminary connecting pattern by immersing the substrate in an etchant, Forming the first connection patterns, the plurality of first and second routing interconnections, and the first and second pads.

The step of growing the metal layer may be performed until the metal layers of the first and second pads and the first and second preliminary routing wirings become a thickness of 0.2 mu m to 1.0 mu m, And has a size of 0.5A to 10A.

Also, the metal layers of the first and second preliminary pads and the first and second preliminary routing wirings are etched to a thickness of 0.1 mu m to 0.97 mu m, and the supplied current has a size of 0.5A to 10A .

In the patterning step using the laser, the first and second conductive layers are patterned at a time using a KrF excimer laser, the second conductive layer is first patterned using an ultraviolet (UV) laser, and an infrared ray (IR ) Laser is used to pattern the first conductive layer later.

According to the touch screen panel and the manufacturing method thereof according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the size of the equipment and the space for installing the equipment when the factory dedicated to the touch screen panel is newly installed can be drastically reduced, the equipment investment cost, equipment installation space cost, A great deal of savings can be achieved in terms of the cost of the system.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, there is no need to form a metal layer on the front surface of the substrate, so that even if the thickness of the metal layer is increased, the substrate is not warped. Therefore, when the present invention is applied to a capacitive touch screen panel, the RC delay problem can be solved by increasing the thickness of the metal layer.

1 is a plan view of a touch screen panel according to an embodiment of the present invention,
2A and 2B are cross-sectional views illustrating different embodiments taken along line I-I 'and line II-II' of the touch screen panel shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of the first example, Sectional view of the second example,
FIGS. 3A to 3D are views illustrating a first conductive pattern forming process of the touch screen panel shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3A is a plan view, FIGS. 3B to 3D are sectional views,
FIGS. 4A to 4D illustrate a first conductive pattern forming process of the touch screen panel shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 4A illustrates an electrolytic plating process for growing a metal layer, FIG. FIG. 4C is a plan view showing a first conductive pattern obtained after etching a metal layer, FIG. 4D is a sectional view showing a first conductive pattern obtained after etching a metal layer, FIG.
5A and 5B are views showing a process of forming an insulating layer having contact holes formed in the structure of FIG. 4D. FIG. 5A is a plan view, FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along line II 'and II-II' Sectional view taken along the line,
6A is a plan view of the first and second electrode patterns of the touch screen panel shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 6B is a plan view, FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II ' Fig.
FIG. 7 is a table comparing the approximate required costs according to the conventional photo process and the process of the present invention,
FIGS. 8A to 8C are graphs showing the conventional costs of the photoprocess and the process of the present invention. FIG. 8A is a bar graph comparing equipment investment costs, FIG. 8B is a bar graph comparing equipment installation space ratios, 8c is a graph comparing operation ratios.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

First, a touch screen panel according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a touch screen panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2a and 2b are cross-sectional views taken along lines I-I 'and II-II' of the touch screen panel shown in FIG. Is a sectional view of the first example, and Fig. 2B is a sectional view of the second example.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B, a touch screen panel according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an electrode forming portion A, a routing wiring forming portion B, and a pad forming portion C.

The electrode forming portion A includes a plurality of first electrode rows 130 arranged in parallel in a first direction (e.g., an X axis direction) and a plurality of first electrode rows 130 arranged in a second direction , Y-axis direction). Each of the first electrode lines 130 includes first electrode patterns 131 formed of a triangle, a quadrangle, a rhombic, a polygon, or the like, first connection patterns 110 connecting the first electrode patterns 131, . The second electrode patterns 135 formed of a triangular, square, rhombic, polygonal or similar shape similar to the first electrode patterns 131 and the second electrode patterns 136 And second connection patterns 137 connecting to each other.

The first and second electrode patterns 131 and 136 constituting the first electrode row 130 and the second electrode row 135 of the electrode forming portion A and the first and second connection patterns 110 and 110, And 137 are formed of the same material and are formed of a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), or gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO). Here, the first connection pattern 110 is formed to have a thickness of 0.04 mu m to 0.14 mu m. The transparent conductive material such as ITO used as the material of the first connection pattern 110 has an advantage that the electrical conductivity increases as the thickness increases, but the light transmittance decreases. Therefore, it is necessary to appropriately adjust the thickness of the transparent conductive material in consideration of electric conductivity and light transmittance. In the present invention, the thickness of the transparent conductive material is set in the range of 0.04 mu m to 0.14 mu m in consideration of both the electrical characteristics and the light transmittance. When the thickness of the transparent conductive material is set as described above, it is possible to obtain characteristics that can satisfy both the electrical conductivity and the light transmittance required by the display device.

In the touch screen panel according to the present invention, the first connection patterns 110 are formed on a different layer from the first electrode patterns 131, and the neighboring first electrode patterns 131 are formed on the While the second connection patterns 137 are integrally formed without being separated from the second electrode patterns 136. For example, the first connection patterns 110 may be formed integrally with the first electrode patterns 131, and the second connection patterns 137 may be integrally formed with the second electrode patterns 131. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, Patterns 136 may be formed on the other layer to connect the neighboring second electrode patterns 136 to each other.

The routing wiring formation portion B includes a plurality of first routing wiring lines 112 formed on the outer portion of the electrode formation portion A and connected to the plurality of first electrode lines 130, And a plurality of second routing interconnections 114 connected to the electrode columns 135, respectively. Each of the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114 includes a lower layer 112a made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO, IZO or GZO and a lower layer 112b formed of a transparent conductive material such as the lower layer 112a to prevent the lower layers 112a and 114a from being exposed. And is formed of a double layer of an upper layer 112b '' formed of a metal material such as Al, AlNd, Mo, MoTi, Cu, Cr, etc. At this time, the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114 Is formed thicker than the thickness of the portion formed on the upper surface of the lower layer 112a and the portion formed on the side surface of the lower layer 112a.

The routing wiring formation portion B may also be configured to further include an insulation layer 120 formed on the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114 to protect the same. Since the structure of the second routing wiring 114 is the same as that of the first routing wiring 112, the lower and upper layers of the second routing wiring 114 are not shown in the figure.

The transparent conductive material such as ITO forming the lower layer 112a of the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114 has a thickness of about 0.04 mu m to about 0.14 mu m like the first connection pattern 110 And the metal material such as Cu forming the upper layer 112b "is determined to have a thickness of about 0.1 mu m to about 0.97 mu m.

The pad forming portion C includes a plurality of first pads 116 connected to the plurality of first electrode lines 130 via the plurality of first routing interconnections 112, And a plurality of second pads 118 connected to the plurality of second electrode lines 135 through the plurality of second electrode lines 114, respectively. Each of the first and second pads 116 and 118 includes a first layer 116a and 118a made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO, IZO and GZO and a second layer 116b A second layer 116b ", 118b "formed of a metal material such as Al, AlNd, Mo, MoTi, Cu, Cr, and the second layer 116b 118b ") and made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO, IZO, or GZO.

Here, a transparent conductive material such as ITO that forms the first layers 116a and 118a of the first and second pads 116 and 118 is formed on the lower layer of the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114 112a, and a metal material such as Cu forming the second layer 116b ", 118b "is formed to have a thickness of about 0.1 mu m to about 0.97 mu m .

Although the first and second pads 116 and 118 have been described as having a three-layer structure in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the first and second pads 116 and 118 may be formed only in a two-layer structure without forming the uppermost third layers 116c and 118c. However, when the first and second pads 116 and 118 are formed in a three-layer structure, since the uppermost layer is formed of a transparent conductive material such as ITO having high hardness, There is an advantage that it is possible to prevent scratches that may occur in the case of the above.

Meanwhile, in the touch screen panel according to the embodiment of the present invention, the first connection patterns 110, the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114, the first and second pads 110 and 114, And the insulating layer 120 is formed on the substrate 100 on which the insulating layers 120 and 116 are formed. The insulating layer 120 includes first and second contact holes 120a and 120b exposing portions of each of the first connection patterns 110 as shown in FIG. 2A, first and second contact holes 120a and 120b, A fourth contact hole 120d (see FIG. 5) that exposes a part of the second routing interconnects 114 and a third contact hole 120c that exposes a part of the first pad 116, And a fifth contact hole 120e exposing a part of each of the second layer 118b "of the second pad 118 and the second layer 118b" of the second pad 118, respectively.

2A, the first through fifth contact holes 120a, 120b, 120c are formed on the front surface of the substrate 100 on which the first connection patterns 110 and the first and second routing interconnections 112, 114 are formed, 120c, 120d, and 120e are formed on the insulating layer 120, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG. 2B, the insulating layer 120 may be formed in the first electrode row 130 so that the first and second electrode rows 130 and 135 are not in contact with each other in the electrode forming portion A But may be partially formed only at the intersection of the first electrode pattern 131a and the second connection pattern 137 constituting the second electrode row 135. [

Silicon nitride (SiNx) is used as the material of the insulating layer 120 and is formed to have a thickness of 0.6 탆 to 4 탆. When the thickness of the insulating layer 120 is less than 0.6 탆, the insulating layer 120 may be broken by the voltage applied to the first and the second electrode columns 130 and 135, The transmittance of light is lowered and the formation of the contact hole becomes difficult due to the characteristics of the silicon nitride film used as the material of the insulating layer, so that a long process time is required. Therefore, considering the stability of the insulating film, the good light transmittance, and easiness of the process, it is preferable that the thickness of the insulating film 120 is in the range of 0.6 탆 to 4 탆.

A plurality of first electrode patterns 131 are formed on the insulating layer 120 having the first through fifth contact holes 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d, and 120e, a plurality of first electrode lines 130 arranged in a first direction (e.g., a x-axis direction), a plurality of second electrode patterns 136 and a second direction A plurality of second electrode rows 135 are formed.

Since the first electrode patterns 131 constituting the first electrode row 130 are formed separately from each other, they must be connected to each other to form a touch sensing circuit. In the touch screen panel according to the embodiment of the present invention, the first electrode patterns 131 adjacent to each other are formed on the insulating layer 130 exposed through the first and second contact holes 120a and 120b, Are connected to each other by a first connection pattern (110) under the first connection pattern (120). However, the neighboring first electrode patterns 131 may be connected to each other by the first connection pattern 110 exposed through the openings as shown in FIG. 2B.

The first electrode patterns 131 located at the outermost periphery of the electrode forming portion A are respectively connected to the first routing interconnections 112 through the third contact holes 120c, The second electrode patterns 136 are respectively connected to the second routing wirings 114 through the fourth contact holes 120d (Figs. 1 and 2A, Fig. 5). The first electrode patterns 131 located at the outermost periphery of the electrode forming portion A are respectively connected to the first routing interconnections 112 through the openings and the second electrode patterns 131 located at the outermost periphery (136) may be connected to the second routing wiring lines (114) through the openings, respectively.

The first and second electrode pads 116 and 118 of the pad forming portion C are electrically connected to the first and second routing wirings 120a and 120b through the fifth contact holes 120e as shown in Figs. 112 and 114, respectively.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, first and second electrode lines 130 and 135 using ITO and second connection patterns 137 are formed on the uppermost layer of the touch screen panel, and ITO has a hardness of Scratches do not occur in a subsequent process for forming a display device on the other side of the substrate 100 of the touch screen panel, and a good quality touch screen panel can be obtained.

In addition, when the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114 are formed of a single layer of a transparent conductive material such as ITO, IZO, or GZO, it is necessary to increase the thickness to prevent an increase in the RC delay, In the present invention, since the resistance of the upper layer 112b "can be reduced by forming the upper layer 112b " with a metal having a low resistivity, the RC delay phenomenon can be improved.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a touch screen panel according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A to 6B. FIG.

3A to 3D are plan views of the first conductive pattern of the touch screen panel shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 3A is a plan view, FIGS. 3B to 3D are sectional views taken along line II and II-II ' FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 3B and 3C, a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) SUB for manufacturing a touch screen panel TSP including an electrode forming portion A, a routing wiring forming portion B, The first and second routing wirings 112 and 114 and the first and second pads 116 and 118 and the plating pad PP are formed on the first connection patterns 110, The first conductive pattern group is formed.

The step of forming the first conductive pattern group will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 3B, the step of forming the first conductive pattern group includes the step of forming the first conductive pattern group, which includes the electrode formation portion A, the routing wiring formation portion B, (CUB) is prepared for manufacturing a flexible printed circuit board (CUB). Then, a first conductive layer TL1 made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO, IZO, or GZO is formed to a thickness of about 0.04 mu m to about 0.14 mu m through a deposition process such as sputtering on the RIE substrate SUB, A second conductive layer ML1 made of a metal material such as AlNd, Mo, MoTi, Cu, or Cr is formed to a thickness of about 0.03 mu m to 0.1 mu m. When the thickness of the metal material of the second conductive layer ML1 is less than 0.03 mu m, the current does not flow well and the thickness uniformity of the metal material is not good in the electrolytic plating process described later. When the thickness is more than 0.1 mu m, This is because patterning by the process becomes difficult.

3C, the first conductive layer TL1 and the second conductive layer ML1 are patterned by a patterning process using a laser, so that the electrode forming portion A of the touch screen panel TSP is patterned by 2 Layered first preliminary connecting patterns 110a and 110b are formed in the routing wiring forming portion B by forming first preliminary routing wirings 112a and 112b and second preliminary routing wirings 114a and 114b of a two- And first preliminary pads 116a and 116b and second preliminary pads 118a and 118b having a two-layer structure are formed in the pad forming portion C, respectively. The first preliminary pads 116a and 116b and the plating pads PP extending from the second preliminary pads 118a and 118b are formed in an outer region of the touch screen panel TSP.

In the laser patterning process, a photomask (PM) and an optical system (OS) having openings corresponding to the shape to be patterned are arranged on a substrate, as shown in FIG. 3C, By irradiating the beam, the first conductive layer TL1 and the second conductive layer ML1 are patterned. In the laser patterning process, a KrF excimer laser which outputs a beam of 248 nm at an energy density of 200 mJ / cm ² was used. As shown in FIG. 3D, the first preliminary connecting patterns 110a and 110b, the first preliminary routing wires 112a and 112b, the second preliminary routing wires (not shown) The first spare pads 116a and 116b, the second spare pads 118a and 118b, and the plating pad PP can be simultaneously formed.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above, the first and second conductive layers TL1 and ML1 are patterned at one time using a KrF excimer laser, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the first conductive layer TL1 is first deposited and the first conductive layer TL1 is patterned using an ultraviolet (UV) laser, and the second conductive layer TL1 is patterned on the first conductive layer TL1. It is also possible to deposit the second conductive layer ML1 and pattern the second conductive layer ML1 using an infrared laser.

The first and second routing interconnects 112 and 114 and the first and second pads 116 and 118 are formed in the same process so that the first pad 116 extends from the first routing interconnect 112 And the second pad 118 is formed as an integral part extending from the second routing wiring 114. The first pad 116 and the second pad 118 are connected to the plating pad PP formed on the outer surface of the touch screen panel TSP.

Although the embodiment of the present invention includes forming the plating pad PP in the process of forming the first conductive pattern, the plating pad PP may not be formed if necessary.

Next, a process for increasing the thickness of the metal layer which is the upper layer of the first and second preliminary routing wiring and the first and second spare pads will be described. In the embodiment of the present invention, the metal layer 112b of the first and second preliminary routing wirings and the metal layers 116b and 118b of the first and second spare pads are grown by an electrolytic plating process, The metal layer 110b formed in the one connection pattern is removed. Hereinafter, a more detailed description will be given with reference to Figs. 4A to 4D.

FIGS. 4A to 4D illustrate a first conductive pattern forming process of the touch screen panel shown in FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 4A illustrates an electrolytic plating process for growing a metal layer, FIG. 4C is a plan view showing a first conductive pattern obtained after the metal layer is etched, FIG. 4D is a cross-sectional view showing a metal layer grown by the first conductive pattern, taken along the line I-I 'and II-II' Fig.

First, for the electrolytic plating process, the upper layers 112b and 114b of the first preliminary routing wirings and the second preliminary routing wirings and the upper layers 116b and 118b of the first and second preliminary pads An electrolytic bath (EC) containing a plating electrolytic solution containing ions of a metal substance is prepared.

Next, the first preliminary connection patterns 110a and 110b, the first preliminary routing wires 112a and 112b ', the second preliminary routing wires (not shown), the first preliminary pads 116a and 116b' The second spare pads 118a and 118b ', and the plating substrate SUB are immersed in the electrolytic bath EC. The negative electrode of the power source unit V is connected to the plating pad PP and the positive electrode is immersed in the plating electrolyte of the electrolytic bath EC and a current of about 0.5 A to about 10 A is passed through the plating pad PP. When current is supplied to the plating pad PP, metal ions contained in the plating electrolyte flow into the metal layers 116b 'and 118b' forming upper layers of the first and second preliminary pads connected to the plating pad PP, It is possible to obtain the metal layers 112b ', 116b', and 118b 'having increased thickness deposited on the metal layer 112b constituting the upper layer of the first and second preliminary routing wiring lines. In the embodiment of the present invention, the metal layer is grown until the thickness becomes about 0.2 탆 to about 1.0 탆. If the thickness of the metal layer exceeds 1.0 탆, the thickness of the metal layer becomes too thick to form a subsequent insulating layer, and if the thickness of the metal layer is less than 0.2 탆, it does not meet the standard specifications of the touch screen panel .

On the other hand, since the first preliminary connection patterns 110a and 110b are not connected to the first preliminary routing wires 112a and 112b 'and the second preliminary routing wires (not shown) The metal layers 112b 'of the first and second preliminary routing wirings and the metal layers 116b', 116b 'of the first and second preliminary pads do not precipitate in the metal layer 110b of the first and second preliminary routing wirings 110a, 110b, 118b '.

According to this electrolytic plating method, the thickness of the metal layers 112b ', 116b', and 118b 'of the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114 and the first and second pads 116 and 118 can be made thick Therefore, it is possible to form a metal layer thicker than the metal layer formed by the conventional sputtering method. Thus, according to the touch screen panel according to the embodiment of the present invention, by increasing the thickness of the metal layers of the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114 and the first and second pads 116 and 118 without warpage of the substrate The effect of resolving the RC delay problem can be obtained.

Next, the etching process for removing the metal layer 110b of the first preliminary connection pattern will be described.

The first preliminary connection patterns 110a and 110b 'having the increased thickness of the metal layer, the first preliminary routing wires 112a and 112b', the second preliminary routing wires (not shown), the first preliminary connection pads 116a The entire first substrate SUB formed with the second preliminary pads 118a and 118b and the second preliminary pads 118a and 118b and the plating pad PP is immersed in the etching solution to form a metal layer (110b) is removed. In this process, the metal layers 112b 'of the first and second preliminary routing wirings formed in the routing wiring formation portion B and the metal layers 116b' and 118b 'of the first and second spare pads formed in the pad formation portion C' Is etched so that the thickness of the metal layer 112b 'of the first and second preliminary routing wiring and the thickness of the first and second spare pads 116b' and 118b ' (The metal layer of the second routing wiring is omitted in the drawing) is obtained. Further, the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114 and the metal layer 112b " The thickness of each of the upper layers 112b ", 116b ", and 118b "of the first and second pads 116 and 118 is greater than the thickness of the lower layer 112a, 116a, and 118a, respectively.

The thicknesses of the finally obtained metal layers 112b ", 116b ", and 118b "can be easily adjusted by electrolytic plating without bending the substrate, so that the object of the present invention can be achieved without any problem even if a part thereof is etched by the etching solution have.

The insulating layer 120 is formed on the first substrate SUB on which the first connection pattern 110, the first routing wiring and the second routing wiring 112 and 114 and the first and second pads 116 and 118 are formed. Will be described.

5A and 5B are views showing a process of forming an insulating layer having contact holes formed in the structure of FIG. 4D. FIG. 5A is a plan view, FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along line II 'and II-II' FIG. Since the first connection pattern 110, the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114 and the first and second pads 116 and 118 indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 5A are covered with the insulating layer 120, Are not shown in the plan view, but are shown in dotted lines in the present invention for the sake of understanding.

5A and 5B, a first conductive pattern group including a first connection pattern 110, first and second routing wirings 112 and 114, first and second pads 116 and 118, The insulating layer 120 is formed on the entire surface of the formed substrate 100 through a deposition method such as sputtering. As the material of the insulating layer 120, an inorganic insulating material such as silicon nitride (SiNx) is used. The thickness of the insulating layer 120 is preferably set in a range of 0.6 mu m to 4.0 mu m.

After the formation of the insulating layer 120, a photoresist pattern (not shown) is formed at a portion where the insulating layer 120 should be present by using a photolithography process using a mask. Then, the first to fifth contact holes 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d and 120e penetrating the insulating layer 120 are formed by a dry etching process using a photoresist pattern, and then the photoresist pattern is removed. Here, the first contact hole 120a is a part of the first connection pattern 110, the second contact hole 120b is another part of the first connection pattern 110, the third contact hole 120c is a part of the first connection pattern 110, The fourth contact hole (not shown) part of the second routing wiring 114 and the fifth contact hole 120e is a part of the first routing wiring 112 and the first and second pads 116 and 118, As shown in FIG.

In the above description, the insulating layer 120 having the first to fifth contact holes 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d, and 120e is formed. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the insulating layer 120 may be partially formed only at the intersections of the first electrode pattern 131a constituting the first electrode column 130 to be described later and the second connection pattern 137 constituting the second electrode column 135 (See FIG. 2B).

In addition, although the first through fifth contact holes 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d, and 120e have a rectangular cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 5A in the embodiment of the present invention, no. For example, the shapes of the first to fifth contact holes 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d, and 120e may include any other shapes such as circular, elliptical, polygonal, or irregular shapes.

Next, a process of forming the second conductive pattern group including the first and second electrode patterns 131 and 136 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B. 6A is a plan view of the first and second electrode patterns of the touch screen panel shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 6B is a plan view, FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II ' Fig. 6A and 6B, the insulating layer 120 formed between the first conductive pattern group and the second conductive pattern group is omitted in order to facilitate understanding.

First, on the insulating layer 120 formed with the first to fifth contact holes 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d, and 120e, a third insulating layer 120 made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO, IZO, or GZO is formed through a deposition process such as sputtering. A conductive layer is deposited. A plurality of first electrode lines 130 arranged in parallel in a first direction (for example, x direction) by patterning the third conductive layer using the laser patterning process described with reference to FIG. 3C, A second conductive pattern group including a plurality of second electrode columns 135 arranged in parallel in a second direction (e.g., the y direction) intersecting the first direction is formed. Each of the first electrode lines 130 includes a plurality of first electrode patterns 131 and each of the second electrode lines 135 includes a plurality of second electrode patterns 136, And second connection patterns 137 connecting second electrode patterns 136 adjacent to each other.

Each of the first and second electrode patterns 131 and 136 may be formed in a triangular shape, a square shape, a rhombic shape, a polygonal shape, or the like, but the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto and may include any other shape. In the embodiment of the present invention, the first electrode patterns 131 formed on the insulating layer 120 are formed separately and the second electrode patterns 136 are connected to the second connection patterns 137 The first electrode patterns may be connected by a connection pattern on the insulating layer, and the second electrode patterns may be formed separately. In this case, the second electrode patterns are configured to be electrically connected by another connection pattern formed under the insulating layer.

The plating pattern PP formed on the main substrate SUB is formed on the metal layer which is the upper layer of the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114 of the present invention and the upper layer of the first and second pads 116 and 118 Since the structure is necessary for growing the metal layer, the metal layer must be removed after it is grown. In the embodiment of the present invention, the plating pattern PP is formed simultaneously with the formation of the first connection pattern 110, the first and second routing wirings 112 and 114, and the first and second pads 116 and 118 However, a plating pad (PP) is not necessarily required. For example, when the plating pad PP is not formed, a current is supplied directly to the first and second pads 116 and 118 from the power supply V (see FIG. 4A) to form the first connection pattern 110, The second routing interconnects 112 and 114, and the first and second pads 116 and 118 can be grown.

According to the method of manufacturing a touch screen panel according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the required area can be drastically reduced when a factory for exclusive use of a touch screen is newly installed, much reduction in terms of equipment investment cost, equipment installation space, .

FIG. 7 is a table comparing the costs of equipment investment, equipment space for equipment installation, and operation cost when the conventional photolithography process and the laser patterning process of the present invention are applied. FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C is a bar graph comparing the conventional photolithography and the process of the present invention with respect to equipment investment cost, equipment space ratio, and operation cost. From FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C, it can be seen that the cost of equipment investment is about 42.30%, that of equipment cost is about 26.10%, and that of operation cost is 72.01% Therefore, it can be seen that, when the present invention is applied, costs related to facility and operation can be drastically reduced as compared with the conventional art.

In addition, according to the touch screen panel according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the thickness of the metal layer can be increased by the electrolytic plating method, the RC delay problem can be solved by reducing the resistance.

A touch screen panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), a field emission display (FED), a plasma display panel (PDP), an electroluminescent display device Electroluminescence Device, EL), an electrophoretic display device, and the like. In this case, the substrate of the touch screen panel according to the embodiments of the present invention can be used as a substrate of the display device.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or 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.

100: substrate 110: first connection pattern
112: first routing wiring 114: second routing wiring
116: first pad 118: second pad
120: insulating layer 120a, 120b, 120c, 120d, 120e: contact hole
130: first electrode row 131: first electrode pattern
135: second electrode row 136: second electrode pattern
137: second connection pattern A: electrode forming portion
B: routing wiring forming portion C: pad forming portion
PP: Plating pads

Claims (14)

A substrate having an electrode forming portion, a routing wiring portion, and a pad forming portion;
A plurality of first connection patterns formed in the electrode formation portion on the substrate;
A plurality of first routing wires and a plurality of second routing wires formed on the same plane as the first connection pattern in the routing wiring formation portion on the substrate;
An insulating layer formed on the substrate on which the first connection pattern is formed to expose a portion of each of the plurality of first connection patterns;
A plurality of first electrode rows arranged in parallel in a first direction on the insulating layer and connected to the plurality of first routing wirings; And
And a plurality of second electrode lines arranged in parallel in a second direction intersecting with the plurality of first electrode lines and connected to the plurality of second routing lines,
Wherein each of the first electrode rows includes a plurality of first electrode patterns and each of the second electrode columns includes a plurality of second electrode patterns, The non-contact state is maintained by the insulating layer,
Wherein each of the plurality of first connection patterns is formed of a first transparent conductive layer and connects first electrode patterns adjacent to each other,
Wherein each of the plurality of first and second routing wirings is formed of a second transparent conductive layer and a first metal layer formed to cover an upper surface and a side surface of the second transparent conductive layer.
The method according to claim 1,
A plurality of first pads connected to the plurality of first routing wirings and a plurality of second pads connected to the plurality of second routing wirings, ≪ / RTI &
Wherein each of the first and second pads includes a third transparent conductive layer and a metal layer formed to surround the third transparent conductive layer.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the first to third transparent conductive layers are formed of any one of ITO, IZO, and GZO, have a thickness of 0.04 mu m to 0.14 mu m,
Wherein the first and second metal layers are formed of any one of Al, AlNd, Mo, MoTi, and Cr, have a thickness ranging from 0.1 mu m to 0.97 mu m,
Wherein the insulating layer is formed of silicon nitride and has a thickness ranging from 0.6 mu m to 4.0 mu m.
The method according to claim 1,
The thickness of the first metal layer of the first and second routing wirings is formed such that the thickness of the portion formed on the upper portion of the second transparent conductive layer is thicker than the thickness of the portion formed on the side surface of the second transparent conductive layer Lt; / RTI >
The first and second conductive layers are sequentially stacked on the substrate, and then the first and second conductive layers are patterned to form a plurality of first connection patterns, a plurality of first routing interconnections, and a plurality of second routing interconnections A first step of forming a first conductive pattern including a first conductive pattern;
Forming an insulating layer on a front surface of the substrate on which the first conductive pattern is formed and patterning the insulating layer to expose a portion of each of the first connecting patterns and a portion of each of the first and second routing wires, 2 steps; And
A plurality of first electrode rows arranged in parallel in a first direction by patterning the second conductive layer after forming a third conductive layer on the substrate on which the insulating layer is formed; And a third step of forming a second conductive pattern including a plurality of second electrode rows arranged in parallel in a second direction,
Wherein each of the plurality of first and second routing wirings is formed of a transparent conductive layer and a metal layer formed to cover upper and side surfaces of the transparent conductive layer,
Wherein each of the plurality of first electrode columns includes a plurality of first electrode patterns separated from each other,
Wherein each of the plurality of first connection patterns is formed of the transparent conductive layer and connects the first electrode patterns adjacent to each other.
6. The method of claim 5,
The method of claim 1, wherein the first step further comprises forming a plurality of first and second pads.
The method according to claim 6,
In the first step,
Sequentially depositing the first conductive layer made of a transparent conductive material and the second conductive layer made of a metal layer;
Patterning the first and second conductive layers to form first preliminary connection patterns, first and second preliminary routing wirings, and first and second preliminary pads by patterning using a laser;
Wherein the first preliminary connection patterns, the first and second preliminary routing wirings, and the first and second preliminary pads are formed on the substrate, the electrolytic solution containing the metal ions dissolved in the same metal layer as the electrolytic solution A positive electrode is connected to the first and second pads and the first and second preliminary routing wirings after being immersed in a bath, and a negative electrode is connected to the electrolytic solution to supply a current to the electrolytic solution Depositing the metal ions in the metal layer to grow the metal layer; And
The substrate is immersed in an etchant to completely remove the metal layer of the first preliminary connection pattern and only a part of the metal layer of the first and second preliminary pads and the first and second preliminary routing wirings is etched, 1 connection patterns, the plurality of first and second routing wirings, and the first and second pads. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 21 >
8. The method of claim 7,
The step of growing the metal layer is performed until the metal layers of the first and second pads and the first and second preliminary routing wirings become a thickness of 0.2 mu m to 1.0 mu m,
Wherein the supplied current has a size of 0.5A to 10A.
8. The method of claim 7,
The metal layers of the first and second spare pads and the first and second preliminary routing wirings are etched to a thickness of 0.1 mu m to 0.97 mu m,
Wherein the supplied current has a size of 0.5A to 10A.
8. The method of claim 7,
In the patterning step using the laser,
The first and second conductive layers may be patterned at once using a KrF excimer laser,
Wherein the second conductive layer is first patterned using an ultraviolet (UV) laser, and the first conductive layer is patterned later using an infrared (IR) laser.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the transparent conductive layer is formed of any one of ITO, IZO, and GZO, has a thickness of 0.04 mu m to 0.14 mu m,
Wherein the metal layer is formed of any one of Al, AlNd, Mo, MoTi, and Cr, has a thickness of 0.1 mu m to 0.97 mu m,
Wherein the insulating layer is formed of silicon nitride (SiNx) and has a thickness ranging from 0.6 mu m to 4.0 mu m.
6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein a thickness of a metal layer of the first and second routing wirings is formed to be thicker than a thickness of a portion of the transparent conductive layer formed on a side surface of the transparent conductive layer, Gt; The method according to claim 1,
Wherein each of the plurality of first connection patterns further includes a metal layer covering upper and side surfaces of the first transparent conductive layer. 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein each of the plurality of first connection patterns further includes a metal layer covering upper and side surfaces of the transparent conductive layer.

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