CN111124170A

CN111124170A - Touch panel, touch display device and method for manufacturing touch panel

Info

Publication number: CN111124170A
Application number: CN201811293794.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈智伟; 周玫伶; 庄尧智
Original assignee: Hannstar Display Corp
Current assignee: Hannstar Display Corp
Priority date: 2018-11-01
Filing date: 2018-11-01
Publication date: 2020-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 2038-11-01
Also published as: CN111124170B

Abstract

The invention discloses a manufacturing method of a touch panel. A plurality of first sensing electrodes are formed on a substrate, the first sensing electrodes comprise a metal grid structure, and the manufacturing method of the metal grid structure comprises the following steps. Firstly, a metal layer is formed on a substrate, wherein the material of the metal layer comprises silver. Then, a photoresist layer is formed on a surface of the metal layer, wherein the material of the photoresist layer includes sulfur. Then, a photolithography process is performed on the photoresist layer to form a patterned photoresist layer. Then, an etching process is performed using the patterned photoresist layer as a mask to form a metal mesh structure. Wherein after the photoresist layer is formed, the silver in the metal layer reacts with the sulfur in the photoresist layer to form a silver sulfide layer.

Description

Touch panel, touch display device and method for manufacturing touch panel

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a touch panel, a touch display device and a method for manufacturing a touch panel, and more particularly, to a touch panel, a touch display device and a method for manufacturing a touch panel, which can reduce the reflectivity of a metal mesh structure.

Background

Touch panels are widely used in various electronic products, so that users can directly communicate with the electronic products to replace traditional input devices such as keyboards and mice, thereby reducing the volume of the electronic products and improving the convenience of human-computer communication. In the touch panel, the sensing electrodes may be formed by a mesh structure of a metal material. However, due to the characteristics of the metal material, when the sensing electrode is made of a metal grid structure, the sensing electrode has a high reflectivity, which causes a problem in the visual effect of the touch panel.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is that when the sensing electrode in the touch panel has a metal grid structure, the sensing electrode has a higher reflectivity, which causes the problem of visual effect of the touch panel.

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a touch panel, including the following steps. First, a plurality of first sensing electrodes are formed on a substrate, the first sensing electrodes include a metal grid structure, and the manufacturing method of the metal grid structure includes the following steps. Firstly, a metal layer is formed on a substrate, wherein the material of the metal layer comprises silver. And forming a photoresist layer on one surface of the metal layer, wherein the material of the photoresist layer comprises sulfur. Then, a photolithography process is performed on the photoresist layer to form a patterned photoresist layer. An etching process is then performed using the patterned photoresist layer as a mask to form a metal grid structure. Wherein after the photoresist layer is formed, the silver in the metal layer reacts with the sulfur in the photoresist layer to form a silver sulfide layer.

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a touch panel, which includes a substrate and a plurality of first sensing electrodes. The first sensing electrode is arranged on the substrate and comprises a metal grid structure, the metal grid structure comprises a patterned metal layer and a patterned silver sulfide layer, and the patterned metal layer is arranged between the substrate and the patterned silver sulfide layer.

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a touch display device, which includes a first substrate, a display medium layer, and a touch panel. The display medium layer is arranged on the first substrate, and the touch panel is arranged on the display medium layer. The touch panel comprises a second substrate and a plurality of first sensing electrodes arranged on the second substrate. The first sensing electrode comprises a metal grid structure, the metal grid structure comprises a patterned metal layer and a patterned silver sulfide layer, and the patterned metal layer is arranged between the second substrate and the patterned silver sulfide layer.

In the touch panel, the touch display device and the method for manufacturing the touch panel of the invention, the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode have a metal grid structure, and the patterned silver sulfide layer is arranged on the surface of the patterned metal layer in the metal grid structure. Because the silver sulfide is black and has a low reflectivity, the problem of the touch panel in visual effect caused by the high reflectivity of the conventional metal grid structure can be improved. Meanwhile, the patterned metal layer in the metal grid structure can still enable the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode to have lower impedance. In addition, in the manufacturing method of the metal grid structure, silver is used as one of the metal layers forming the metal grid structure, the film layer of the silver-containing material is positioned at the uppermost part of the metal layer, and a sulfur-containing photoresist material is used in the subsequent photoetching process, so that a silver sulfide layer is formed between the photoresist layer and the metal layer through the characteristic of easy reaction of silver and sulfur. Therefore, the number of processes for manufacturing the touch panel as a whole or the difficulty of manufacturing the touch panel is not increased by manufacturing the metal grid structure through the method of the invention.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic top view illustrating the formation of a first sensing electrode, a first connecting line and a first trace in the method for manufacturing a touch panel according to the first embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic top view illustrating the formation of the second sensing electrode, the second connecting line and the second trace in the method for manufacturing a touch panel according to the first embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 to 7 are schematic diagrams of a manufacturing method of forming a metal grid structure in a manufacturing method of a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic top view of a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the touch panel in fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a schematic top view of a metal mesh structure according to a variation of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 to 14 are schematic views illustrating a method for manufacturing a metal mesh structure according to a variation of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 15 to 16 are schematic views illustrating a manufacturing method of a touch panel according to a second embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 17 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a touch display device according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 18 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a touch display device according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 19 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a touch display device according to another embodiment of the invention.

Wherein the reference numerals are as follows:

10 touch panel

20. 40, 50 touch display device

30. 60 display panel

100. 200 substrate

102 metal grid structure

104 metal layer

1041 silver layer

1042 layer of metal material

106 photoresist layer

108 silver sulfide layer

110 photoetching process

112 patterned photoresist layer

114 etching process

116 patterned silver sulfide layer

118 patterning a metal layer

120 insulating block

301 lower substrate

301a, 601a first surface

301b, 701b second surface

302. 602 thin film transistor

303. 603 first electrode

304 display medium layer

305 upper substrate

305a, 606a third surface

305b, 606b fourth surface

601 first substrate

604 organic light emitting diode element layer

605 second electrode

606 thin film encapsulation layer

CL1 first connecting line

CL2 second connecting line

R11, R21 active region

R12, R22 peripheral zone

S100-S104 steps

TC1 first trace

TC2 second trace

TE1 first sensing electrode

TE2 second sensing electrode

TS1 first sensing electrode string

TS2 second sensing electrode series

TSL1 first touch sensing layer

TSL2 second touch sense layer

V vertical direction

Detailed Description

In order to make the present invention more comprehensible to those skilled in the art, preferred embodiments of the present invention are specifically described below, and the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the drawings are simplified schematic diagrams, and therefore, only the components and combinations related to the present invention are shown to provide a clearer description of the basic architecture or implementation method of the present invention, and the actual components and layout may be more complicated. In addition, for convenience of description, the components shown in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and the actual implementation numbers, shapes and sizes may be adjusted according to design requirements.

Referring to fig. 1 to 9, fig. 1 is a schematic top view illustrating the formation of a first sensing electrode, a first connecting line and a first trace in a method for manufacturing a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 is a schematic top view illustrating the formation of a second sensing electrode, a second connecting line and a second trace in a method for manufacturing a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention, fig. 3 to 7 are schematic top view illustrating the formation of a metal grid structure in a method for manufacturing a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention, fig. 8 is a schematic top view illustrating a touch panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a touch panel according to fig. 8. The method for manufacturing the touch panel of the embodiment includes the following steps. First, as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, a plurality of first sensing electrodes TE1 and a plurality of first connection lines CL1 are formed in an active area R11 on a substrate 100, a plurality of first routing lines TC1 are formed in a peripheral area R12, a plurality of second sensing electrodes TE2 and a plurality of second connection lines CL2 are formed in an active area R21 on a substrate 200, and a plurality of second routing lines TC2 are formed in a peripheral area R22. In some embodiments, the first sensing electrode TE1 and/or the second sensing electrode TE2 located at the boundary between the peripheral region R12 and the active region R11 may partially extend beyond the active region R11 and extend into the peripheral region R12. The peripheral region R12 may be located on at least one side of the active region R11, and the peripheral region R12 of the present embodiment surrounds the active region R11, and the peripheral region R22 surrounds the active region R21, but not limited thereto. The substrate 100 and the substrate 200 may be a hard substrate such as a glass substrate, a plastic substrate, a quartz substrate, or a sapphire substrate, or may be a flexible substrate including, for example, a Polyimide (PI) material or a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material, but not limited thereto. In addition, two adjacent first sensing electrodes TE1 are connected by at least one of the first connection lines CL1, such that two adjacent first sensing electrodes TE1 can be electrically connected by the first connection line CL1, and the connected first sensing electrodes TE1 and the first connection line CL1 can form a plurality of first sensing electrode serials TS1 extending along a first direction D1. On the other hand, two adjacent second sensing electrodes TE2 are connected by at least one of the second connection lines CL2, and the connected second sensing electrodes TE2 and second connection lines CL2 may form a plurality of second sensing electrode serials TS2 extending along a second direction D2. Thereby allowing the first series of sense electrodes TS1 to be disposed on the surface of the substrate 100 and the second series of sense electrodes TS2 to be disposed on the surface of the substrate 200. The first direction D1 and the second direction D2 of the present embodiment are not parallel. The first direction D1 of the present embodiment is perpendicular to the second direction D2, but is not limited thereto. In addition, one end of each first routing line TC1 may be connected to one of the first sensing electrodes TE1 located at the boundary between the active region R11 and the peripheral region R12 to electrically connect to the corresponding first sensing electrode series TS1, and one end of each second routing line TC2 may be connected to one of the second sensing electrodes TE2 located at the boundary between the active region R21 and the peripheral region R22 to electrically connect to the corresponding second sensing electrode series TS 2. The other end of each of the first traces TC1 and each of the second traces TC2 may be connected to a contact pad (not shown), but is not limited thereto. Thus, the first sensing electrode series TS1 and the second sensing electrode series TS2 can be connected to an Integrated Circuit (IC) chip through the contact pads, but not limited thereto. In the present embodiment, the touch sensing method of the touch panel is mutual capacitance sensing, and the first sensing electrode TE1 and the second sensing electrode TE2 can be one and the other of a transmitter electrode (transmitter electrode) and a receiver electrode (receiver electrode), respectively, but are not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the touch sensing method of the touch panel is self-capacitance sensing.

In the present embodiment, the first sensing electrode TE1, the first connection line CL1 and the first trace TC1 may have the same material and may be formed at the same time, and the second sensing electrode TE2, the second connection line CL2 and the second trace TC2 may have the same material and may be formed at the same time, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, at least one of the first connection line CL1 and the first trace TC1 may be formed at a different step from the first sensing electrode TE1, and/or at least one of the second connection line CL2 and the second trace TC2 may be formed at a different step from the second sensing electrode TE 2. The first sensing electrode TE1 and the second sensing electrode TE2 of the present embodiment may further include a metal grid structure 102, and the first connection line CL1, the second connection line CL2, the first trace TC1 and the second trace TC2 may be metal grid structures or solid metal wires. The method for fabricating the metal mesh structure 102 for forming the first sensing electrode TE1 and the second sensing electrode TE2 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail below, wherein both the first sensing electrode TE1 and the second sensing electrode TE2The manufacturing method of the metal grid structure 102 in (1) can be the same, and the manufacturing method of the metal grid structure 102 of the first sensing electrode TE1 is taken as an example. In addition, the first connection line CL1, the second connection line CL2, the first trace TC1 and the second trace TC2 can also refer to the manufacturing method. First, as shown in fig. 3, a metal layer 104 is formed on a substrate 100, wherein the material of the metal layer 104 includes, for example, silver. For example, the metal layer 104 of the present embodiment has a single-layer structure, and the metal layer 104 is a silver layer. The silver layer may be formed by deposition through a sputtering process (sputtering), but is not limited thereto. For example, in the present embodiment, the thickness of the silver layer is about 75 angstroms (angstrom) to about 1000 angstroms, but is not limited thereto. Next, as shown in fig. 4, a photoresist layer 106 is formed on the surface of the metal layer 104, i.e. in the present embodiment, the photoresist layer 106 is formed on the surface of the metal layer 104 and contacts the surface of the metal layer 104. The photoresist layer 106 is a photosensitive material containing sulfur. The photoresist layer 106 in the present embodiment includes sulfur, which may be a positive photoresist layer, but is not limited thereto. In certain embodiments, the photoresist layer 106 may be a negative photoresist layer comprising sulfur. After the photoresist layer 106 is formed, due to the direct contact between the photoresist layer 106 and the surface of the metal layer 104 and the strong reactive potential between silver and sulfur, as shown in fig. 5, a portion of the metal layer 104 can react with sulfur in the photoresist layer 106 to form a silver sulfide layer 108 between the metal layer 104 and the photoresist layer 106. The reaction formula of the chemical reaction can be 2Ag + S → Ag₂S, but is not limited thereto. The silver sulfide layer 108 is black in color and thus may reduce light reflectance. In the present embodiment, the photoresist layer 106 may be formed by, for example, a spin coating process (spin coating process), but is not limited thereto.

Next, as shown in fig. 6, a photolithography process 110 is performed on the photoresist layer 106 using the photosensitive property thereof to form a patterned photoresist layer 112, and then an etching process 114 is performed using the patterned photoresist layer 112 as a mask. The etching process 114 of the present embodiment etches the silver sulfide layer 108 and the metal layer 104 to remove the silver sulfide layer 108 and the metal layer 104 not covered by the patterned photoresist layer 112, so as to form a patterned silver sulfide layer 116 and a patterned metal layer 118. In addition, after the photoresist layer 106 is formed on the surface of the metal layer 104 and before the photoresist layer 106 is subjected to a photolithography process 110 to form the patterned photoresist layer 112, a baking process (also referred to as a pre-baking process) may be performed on the photoresist layer 106 to evaporate the solvent in the photoresist layer 106, wherein the baking temperature of the baking process is about 80 ℃ to 160 ℃ and the baking time may be 1 minute to 5 minutes, but is not limited thereto. On the other hand, after the patterned photoresist layer 112 is formed and before the etching process 114 is performed (i.e., before the silver sulfide layer 108 and the metal layer 104 which are not covered by the patterned photoresist layer 112 are removed), a baking process (also referred to as a hard baking process) may be performed on the patterned photoresist layer 112 to harden the patterned photoresist layer 112, wherein the baking temperature of the baking process is about 80 ℃ to 160 ℃ and the baking time may be 1 minute to 10 minutes, but is not limited thereto. For example, the baking temperature and time of the pre-baking process may be 120 ℃ and 140 seconds, respectively, and the baking temperature and time of the hard baking process may be 110 ℃ and 5 minutes, respectively, but are not limited thereto. The baking process described above can accelerate the reaction between the sulfur in the photoresist layer 106 and/or the patterned photoresist layer 112 and the silver in the metal layer 104, and can allow the silver sulfide layer 108 to be uniformly formed between the metal layer 104 and the photoresist layer 106. In other embodiments, only one of the two baking processes may be performed, or at least one other baking process may be performed in addition to the two baking processes. The patterned photoresist layer 112 is then removed from the substrate 100 to reveal the patterned silver sulfide layer 116, as shown in fig. 7, which is a cross-sectional view taken along line a-a' of fig. 1. To this end, the metal grid structure 102 of the present embodiment including the patterned metal layer 118 and the patterned silver sulfide layer 116 has been formed. It should be noted that although fig. 5 shows the silver reacting with the sulfur in the photoresist layer 106 to form the silver sulfide during the period after the photoresist layer 106 is formed and before the patterned photoresist layer 112 is formed, the invention is not limited thereto. The silver sulfide of the present invention is formed during the period after the photoresist layer 106 is formed and before the patterned photoresist layer 112 is removed by reacting the silver with the sulfur in the photoresist layer 106 and/or the patterned photoresist layer 112, so that the silver sulfide layer can be formed simultaneously by using the current photolithography process. For example, in one embodiment, the sulfur in the patterned photoresist layer 112 continues to react with the silver in the metal layer 104 to form silver sulfide during the period after the patterned photoresist layer 112 is formed and during the period before the patterned photoresist layer 112 is removed, but not limited thereto, except that the sulfur in the photoresist layer 106 reacts with the silver in the metal layer 104 to form silver sulfide during the period after the patterned photoresist layer 112 is formed and before the patterned photoresist layer 112 is formed. In another embodiment, silver sulfide is formed via the reaction of silver with sulfur in the photoresist layer 106 only during the period after the photoresist layer 106 is formed and before the patterned photoresist layer 112 is formed. In another embodiment, silver sulfide is formed by the reaction of silver with sulfur in the patterned photoresist layer 112 only during the period after the patterned photoresist layer 112 is formed and before the patterned photoresist layer 112 is removed. Meanwhile, as shown in fig. 1, the first connection lines CL1 in the active area R11 and the first routing lines TC1 in the peripheral area R12 are also formed together, in other words, the first connection lines CL1 in the active area R11 and the first routing lines TC1 in the peripheral area R12 may also have a structure in which the patterned silver sulfide layer 116 is located on the patterned metal layer 118. In addition, the second sensing electrode TE2, the second connection line CL2 and the second trace TC2 on the substrate 200 can also be fabricated by the above-mentioned method.

Next, as shown in fig. 8 and 9, the substrate 100 shown in fig. 1 and the substrate 200 shown in fig. 2 are bonded to form the touch panel 10. For example, as shown in fig. 9, a first touch sensing layer TSL1 including the first sensing electrode TE1, the first connection line CL1 and the first trace TC1 may be disposed on one surface 100b of the substrate 100, and a second touch sensing layer TSL2 including the second sensing electrode TE2, the second connection line CL2 and the second trace TC2 may be disposed on one surface 200b of the substrate 200 and attached to the other surface 100a of the substrate 100 opposite to the surface 100b, in other words, the second touch sensing layer TSL2 is disposed between the substrate 100 and the substrate 200. In some embodiments, an adhesive layer may be disposed between the other surface 100a of the substrate 100 and the second touch sensing layer TSL2, such that the substrate 100 shown in fig. 1 and the substrate 200 shown in fig. 2 can be bonded through the adhesive layer, but the bonding manner of the substrate 100 shown in fig. 1 and the substrate 200 shown in fig. 2 is not limited thereto. Further, the adhesive layer may be a heat-sensitive resin or a pressure-sensitive resin, but is not limited thereto. As shown in fig. 8, in the present embodiment, two adjacent first sensing electrodes TE1 are electrically connected through a first connection line CL1, and two adjacent second sensing electrodes TE2 are electrically connected through a second connection line CL2, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, two adjacent first sensing electrodes TE1 may also be connected by a plurality of first connection lines CL1, and two adjacent second sensing electrodes TE2 may also be connected by a plurality of second connection lines CL2, so as to reduce the resistances of the first sensing electrode string TS1 and the second sensing electrode string TS2, and to prevent the first connection lines CL1 and/or the second connection lines CL2 from being broken during the manufacturing process or bending of the touch panel, which may cause the two adjacent first sensing electrodes TE1 and/or the two adjacent second sensing electrodes TE2 not to be electrically connected. For example, two adjacent first sensing electrodes TE1 can be connected by two first connection lines CL1, so that when one of the first connection lines CL1 is disconnected when the first connection line CL1 is fabricated, or when the touch panel 10 is a flexible touch panel and one of the first connection lines CL1 is disconnected due to stress when the touch panel 10 is bent, the two adjacent first sensing electrodes TE1 can still be electrically connected to each other through the other first connection line CL1, so as to improve the yield and reliability of the touch panel 10. In addition, when the two adjacent first sensing electrodes TE1 are electrically connected to each other through the plurality of first connection lines CL1, they are electrically connected to each other through the plurality of first connection lines CL1 connected in parallel, so that the resistance of the first sensing electrode string TS1 can be reduced to improve the touch sensing accuracy. In the present embodiment, the extending direction of the first connecting line CL1 is parallel to the first direction D1, but not limited thereto. For example, when the touch panel 10 is a flexible touch panel and the extending direction of the bending line is parallel to the second direction D2, if the extending direction of the first connecting line CL1 is parallel to the first direction D1, the first connecting line CL1 may be subjected to a great stress when the touch panel 10 is bent along the bending line, which may cause the first connecting line CL1 to be broken, so that the extending direction of the first connecting line CL1 may be designed to form an included angle with the first direction D1 greater than 0 degree and less than 90 degrees, so that the first connecting line CL1 is subjected to a small stress when the touch panel 10 is bent along the bending line, thereby improving the reliability of the touch panel 10. On the other hand, the extending direction of the second connection line CL2 in the embodiment is parallel to the second direction D2, but not limited thereto. Similar to the above description of the first connection line CL1, in other embodiments, the extending direction of the second connection line CL2 may form an angle greater than 0 degree and less than 90 degrees with the second direction D2.

The touch panel 10 shown in fig. 8 can be manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present embodiment, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and other components and manufacturing methods thereof in the conventional touch panel can be integrated into the touch panel 10 and the manufacturing method thereof of the present embodiment.

The touch panel 10 (as shown in fig. 8 and 9) of the present embodiment at least includes a substrate 100 and a plurality of first sensing electrodes TE 1. The first sensing electrode TE1 comprises a metal mesh structure 102, and the metal mesh structure 102 comprises a patterned metal layer 118 and a patterned silver sulfide layer 116, wherein the patterned metal layer 118 is disposed between the substrate 100 and the patterned silver sulfide layer 116. In the present embodiment, the metal mesh structure 102 may be formed by a regular-shaped mesh, such as a rectangular mesh, but not limited thereto. As shown in fig. 10, in an alternative embodiment, the metal mesh structure 102 may have an irregular mesh structure, and adjacent meshes may have different sizes and patterns. The metal grid structure 102 of the present variation can be applied to the first sensing electrode TE1 on the substrate 100, and can also be applied to the second sensing electrode TE2 on the substrate 200. In addition, in the metal mesh structure 102 of the present embodiment, the line width of the metal lines may be about 1 micron to about 10 microns, preferably about 2 microns to about 5 microns, and the pitch (pitch) of the metal lines may be about 300 microns to about 500 microns, but is not limited thereto. The touch panel 10 further includes another substrate 200, a plurality of second sensing electrodes TE2, a plurality of first connection lines CL1 and a plurality of second connection lines CL2, the substrate 100 and the substrate 200 are disposed opposite to each other, the first connection lines CL1 are disposed on the substrate 100, the second sensing electrodes TE2 and the second connection lines CL2 are disposed on the substrate 200, and the second sensing electrodes TE2 also include a metal mesh structure 102. Two adjacent first sensing electrodes TE1 are connected by at least one of the first connecting lines CL1, and two adjacent second sensing electrodes TE2 are connected by at least one of the second connecting lines CL 2. The first sensing electrode TE1 and the first connection line CL1 form a plurality of first sensing electrode serials TS1, the second sensing electrode TE2 and the second connection line CL2 form a plurality of second sensing electrode serials TS2, and the first sensing electrode serials TS1 and the second sensing electrode serials TS2 extend along the first direction D1 and the second direction D2, respectively, wherein the second sensing electrode serials TS2 are electrically isolated from the first sensing electrode serials TS1, and the first direction D1 and the second direction D2 are not parallel.

According to the touch panel 10 and the manufacturing method thereof of the present embodiment, the photoresist layer 106 containing sulfur in fig. 4 is formed on the surface of the metal layer 104 and contacts the metal layer 104, so that the silver in the metal layer 104 can react with the sulfur in the photoresist layer 106 to form the silver sulfide layer 108, and further the metal mesh structure 102 manufactured subsequently can include the patterned metal layer 118 and the patterned silver sulfide layer 116 covering the patterned metal layer 118. Because the silver sulfide is black and has a low reflectivity, the problem of the touch panel in visual effect caused by the high reflectivity of the conventional metal grid structure can be improved. At the same time, the patterned metal layer 118 in the metal mesh structure 102 still enables the metal mesh structure 102 to have a lower impedance. In addition, the manufacturing method of the metal mesh structure 102 of the present embodiment does not increase the number of processes for manufacturing the touch panel 10 or the difficulty.

The touch panel and the manufacturing method thereof of the present invention are not limited to the above embodiments. While other embodiments and variations of the present invention will be described below, the same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals and the repeated description thereof will not be repeated in order to simplify the description and to highlight the differences between the embodiments and variations.

Referring to fig. 11 to 14, fig. 11 to 14 are schematic views illustrating a method for manufacturing a metal mesh structure according to a variation of the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 11 to 13, the main difference between the present variation and the first embodiment is that the metal layer 104 has a laminated structure, and the laminated structure includes two different metal material layers, for example, a silver layer 1041 and another metal material layer 1042. The material of the metal material layer 1042 may be selected from copper, gold, aluminum, molybdenum, chromium, nickel, or a combination thereof. In this variation, the thickness of the silver layer 1041 is about 75 angstroms to about 1000 angstroms, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the silver layer 1041 is located at the uppermost layer of the stacked structure to be able to contact the sulfur-containing photoresist layer 106 and react a portion of the silver layer 1041 with sulfur to form the silver sulfide layer 108. Next, a baking process, a photolithography process, an etching process, and a removal of the remaining photoresist layer are performed to form the metal mesh structure 102 shown in fig. 14, which are referred to in fig. 3 to 7 and will not be described herein again. In other words, the metal mesh structure 102 of the present variation includes the patterned silver sulfide layer 116 and the patterned metal layer 118, wherein the patterned metal layer 118 includes the patterned silver layer 1181 and the patterned metal material layer 1182. In addition, in some embodiments, the silver layer 1041 has a relatively thin thickness and/or the contact reaction time of the silver layer 1041 with the photoresist layer 106 is relatively long, so that all of the silver layer 1041 can react with the sulfur in the photoresist layer 106, and the silver sulfide layer 108 formed by the reaction completely replaces the silver layer 1041. In this case, the subsequently fabricated metal grid structure 102 may only include the patterned silver sulfide layer 116 and the patterned metal material layer 1182. In summary, the present invention utilizes the property of strong reaction potential between silver and sulfur, when the photoresist layer 106 containing sulfur is formed on the substrate 100, the photoresist layer 106 is directly contacted with the silver layer, and further, during the period after the photoresist layer 106 is formed and before the patterned photoresist layer is removed, the silver reacts with the sulfur in the photoresist layer 106 and/or the patterned photoresist layer to form the silver sulfide layer, so that the silver sulfide layer can be formed simultaneously by using the current photolithography process. The low-reflectivity metal grid structure with silver sulfide manufactured by the method of the invention does not increase the number of the manufacturing processes of the whole touch panel or the difficulty of the whole touch panel.

Please refer to fig. 15 to 16, which are schematic diagrams illustrating a method for manufacturing a touch panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The touch panel 10 of the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the first sensing electrode serials TS1 and the second sensing electrode serials TS2 are disposed on the same substrate. The method for manufacturing the touch panel of the embodiment includes the following steps. First, as shown in fig. 15, a plurality of first sensing electrodes TE1, a plurality of second sensing electrodes TE2 and a plurality of first connecting lines CL1 are formed in an active region R11 on a substrate 100, wherein two adjacent first sensing electrodes TE1 are connected by at least one of the plurality of first connecting lines CL1, so that two adjacent first sensing electrodes TE1 can be electrically connected by the first connecting lines CL1, and the connected first sensing electrodes TE1 and the first connecting lines CL1 can form a plurality of first sensing electrode strings TS1 extending along a first direction D1. In addition, the second sensing electrode TE2 and the first sensing electrode TE1 are separated from each other and the first connection line CL1 to achieve an electrical isolation effect. On the other hand, a plurality of first routing lines TC1 and a plurality of second routing lines TC2 may be simultaneously formed in the peripheral region R12 on the substrate 100, whereby the first sensing electrode TE1, the second sensing electrode TE2, the first connection line CL1, the first routing line TC1 and the second routing line TC2 may all be simultaneously disposed on the surface of the substrate 100. The first sensing electrode TE1 and the second sensing electrode TE2 of the present embodiment may have a metal mesh structure 102. The structural composition of the metal mesh structure 102 may be the same as the first embodiment, wherein the metal mesh structure 102 may include a patterned metal layer 118 having a patterned silver layer and a patterned silver sulfide layer 116 overlying the patterned metal layer 118. In addition, the method for forming the metal grid structure 102 can refer to the first embodiment, and is not repeated. In addition, the metal grid structure 102 of the present embodiment may also have the laminated structure of the first variation embodiment, wherein the metal grid structure 102 may include the patterned metal layer 118 having the patterned silver layer 1181 and the patterned metal material layer 1182, and the patterned silver sulfide layer 116 covering the patterned silver layer 1181, which is not described herein again. The metal mesh structure 102 of the present embodiment may also have an irregular mesh structure of varying embodiments, and adjacent meshes may have different sizes and patterns.

Next, as shown in fig. 16, a plurality of insulation blocks 120 are formed in the active region R1 on the substrate 100, and a plurality of second connection lines CL2 are formed in the active region R1. Each of the insulating blocks 120 is disposed corresponding to one of the first connection lines CL 1. The insulating block 120 partially covers the corresponding first connection line CL 1. For example, the method for manufacturing the insulating block 120 of the present embodiment may, for example, first form an insulating layer on the substrate 100, and then perform a patterning process on the insulating layer to form the insulating block 120, but not limited thereto. The insulating block 120 includes an insulating material, such as silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or silicon hydroxide, but not limited thereto. On the other hand, each of the second connection lines CL2 is disposed corresponding to one of the insulation blocks 120, and the second connection line CL2 partially covers the corresponding insulation block 120 and is connected across the corresponding insulation block 120 and the second sensing electrodes TE2 located at both sides of the corresponding insulation block 120. Thus, two adjacent second sensing electrodes TE2 can be connected by at least one of the second connection lines CL2, and the second sensing electrodes TE2 and the second connection lines CL2 can form a plurality of second sensing electrode serials TS 2. The second connection line CL2 of the embodiment may be, for example, a conductive bridge line, and may have a single-layer structure or a multi-layer structure, but not limited thereto.

It is to be noted that the structures and manufacturing methods of the touch panels and the patterns and arrangement of the sensing electrodes in the above two embodiments are examples, and the metal grid structure with a silver sulfide layer and the manufacturing method thereof of the invention can be applied to various sensing electrodes and touch panels except the above embodiments.

Please refer to fig. 17, which is a schematic cross-sectional view of a touch display device according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 17, the touch display device 20 includes a touch panel 10 and a display panel 30. The touch panel 10 of the present embodiment is not limited to the touch panel 10 of the first embodiment shown in fig. 17, and the touch panel 10 may be the touch panel disclosed in any of the foregoing embodiments (e.g., the second embodiment). The display panel 30 may include a lower substrate 301, a thin film transistor 302, a first electrode 303, a display medium layer 304 and an upper substrate 305, wherein the lower substrate 301 has a first surface 301a and a second surface 301b opposite to each other, the upper substrate 305 has a third surface 305a and a fourth surface 305b opposite to each other, and the touch panel 10 is disposed on the fourth surface 305b of the upper substrate 305 opposite to the display medium layer 304. The display medium layer 304 may be a liquid crystal layer or a light emitting diode device layer, but is not limited thereto. For example, when the display panel 30 is a liquid crystal display panel, the display medium layer 304 can be a liquid crystal layer, the first electrode 303 can be a pixel electrode, and the thin film transistor 302 is disposed on the lower substrate 301 and electrically connected to the first electrode 303. In order to simplify the drawing, the structure of the thin film transistor 302 and the connection manner with the first electrode 303 are not shown in fig. 17, which is a conventional process technology and will not be described herein again. The thin film transistor 302 may be a top gate (top gate) or bottom gate (bottom gate) thin film transistor, and the thin film transistor 302 may be an amorphous silicon (amorphous silicon) thin film transistor, a Low Temperature Polysilicon (LTPS) thin film transistor, an Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) thin film transistor, or other suitable thin film transistors. In addition, the display panel 30 further includes a second electrode (not shown) as a common electrode, which can be disposed between the lower substrate 301 and the display medium layer 304 or disposed between the upper substrate 305 and the display medium layer 304. Gate lines, data lines, alignment layers, or a combination thereof may be further disposed between the lower substrate 301 and the display medium layer 304, and a color filter layer, a shielding layer (also referred to as a black matrix layer), an alignment layer, or a combination thereof may be disposed between the upper substrate 305 and the display medium layer 304, but not limited thereto. In the embodiments of coa (color Filter on array) and boa (black Matrix on array), at least one of the color Filter layer and the shielding layer is disposed between the lower substrate 301 and the display medium layer 304. When the display panel 30 is an active organic light emitting display panel, the display medium layer 304 is an organic light emitting diode (oled) device layer including an organic light emitting layer (light emitting layer). The organic light emitting diode element layer may have a stacked structure, for example, the organic light emitting diode element layer may include a hole transport layer (hole transport layer), an organic light emitting layer (organic light emitting layer), and an electron transport layer (electron transport layer), but not limited thereto. When the display panel 30 is a micro-LED display panel, the display medium layer 304 is an LED device layer, which may include a p-n diode layer. For example, the p-n diode layer may include a p-doped layer and an n-doped layer. In addition, in some embodiments, the p-n diode layer may further include at least one quantum well (quantum well) layer disposed between the p-doped layer and the n-doped layer, but not limited thereto. In the embodiments of the active matrix organic light emitting display panel and the micro light emitting diode display panel, the thin film transistor 302 is disposed on the lower substrate 301 and electrically connected to the first electrode 303, and the first electrode 303 is electrically connected to the display medium layer 304. In addition, the display panel 30 further includes a second electrode (not shown) disposed between the display medium layer 304 and the upper substrate 305 and electrically connected to the display medium layer 304. One and the other of the first electrode 303 and the second electrode are an anode and a cathode, respectively, for driving the organic light-emitting layer or the p-n diode layer to emit light. In the embodiment of fig. 17, the touch display device 20 is an Out-Cell (Out-Cell) touch display device, wherein an adhesive layer (not shown) may be disposed between the touch panel 10 and the upper substrate 305, such that the touch panel 10 can be disposed on the fourth surface 305b of the upper substrate 305 through the adhesive layer, but not limited thereto. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the lower substrate 301 and the upper substrate 305 of the display panel 30 can also be regarded as a first substrate and a third substrate of the touch display device 20, and the substrate 100 or the substrate 200 of the touch panel 10 can also be regarded as a second substrate of the touch display device 20.

Please refer to fig. 18, which is a schematic cross-sectional view of a touch display device according to another embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 18, the touch display device 40 includes a display panel 30 and a touch panel 10, wherein layers of the display panel 30 are similar to those of the embodiment shown in fig. 17, and are not described herein again. The touch sensing layer TSL is disposed on the fourth surface 305b of the upper substrate 305 opposite to the display medium layer 304. For example, the touch sensing layer TSL may be a stacked structure and include the first sensing electrode series TS1, the second sensing electrode series TS2, the first routing line TC1, and the second routing line TC2 of the second embodiment, but not limited thereto. In the present embodiment, the lower substrate 301 and the upper substrate 305 of the display panel 30 can also be regarded as a first substrate and a second substrate of the touch display device 40. In the present embodiment, the touch display device 40 is an On-Cell (On-Cell) touch display device, wherein the touch sensing layer TSL is disposed On a fourth surface 305b of the upper substrate 305 opposite to the display medium layer 304 to form the touch panel 10 with the upper substrate 305. In other words, the display panel 30 and the touch panel 10 share the upper substrate 305. For example, when the display panel 30 is a liquid crystal display panel, a thin film transistor, a gate line, a data line, an electrode, an alignment layer, or a combination thereof may be disposed on the lower substrate 301, a touch sensing layer TSL may be disposed on one surface of the upper substrate 305, and the second embodiment is referred to, and then a color filter layer, a shielding layer, an electrode, an alignment layer, or a combination thereof is disposed on the other surface of the upper substrate 305, a liquid crystal layer is dropped on the lower substrate 301, and then the lower substrate 301 and the upper substrate 305 are assembled to form the touch display device 40, but not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the second touch sensing layer TSL2 may be disposed on the fourth surface 305b of the upper substrate 305 before the lower substrate 301 and the upper substrate 305 are assembled, and then the lower substrate 301 and the upper substrate 305 are assembled, and the substrate 100 with the first touch sensing layer TSL1 formed thereon is attached to form the display-forming touch display device 40. Compared with the embodiment of fig. 17, the touch display device 40 of the present embodiment has a smaller substrate, so the thickness of the touch display device 40 can be thinner.

Please refer to fig. 19, which is a schematic cross-sectional view of a touch display device according to another embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 19, the touch display device 50 includes a touch panel 10 and a display panel 60. The touch panel 10 of the present embodiment is not limited to the touch panel 10 of the first embodiment shown in fig. 19, and the touch panel 10 may be the touch panel disclosed in any of the foregoing embodiments (e.g., the second embodiment). The display panel 60 may include a first substrate 601, a thin film transistor 602, a first electrode 603, an organic light emitting diode element layer 604, a second electrode 605 and a thin film encapsulation layer 606, wherein the first substrate 601 has a first surface 601a and a second surface 601b opposite to each other, the thin film encapsulation layer 606 has a third surface 606a and a fourth surface 606b opposite to each other, and the touch panel 10 is disposed on the fourth surface 606b of the thin film encapsulation layer 606 opposite to the organic light emitting diode element layer 604. In other words, in the present embodiment, the first substrate 601 of the display panel 60 and the substrate 200 of the touch panel 10 can also be regarded as a first substrate and a second substrate of the touch display device 50. One and the other of the first electrode 603 and the second electrode 605 are an anode and a cathode, respectively, for driving the organic light emitting layer 604 to emit light. The display panel 60 of the present embodiment is an active organic light emitting display panel, for example, the display panel 60 is a flexible active organic light emitting display panel, and the touch panel 10 is a flexible touch panel, that is, the first substrate 601 of the display panel 60 and the substrate 200 and the substrate 100 of the touch panel 10 are flexible substrates, so that the touch display device 50 has flexibility, and therefore the display panel 60 needs to adopt a thin film encapsulation layer 606 with a flexible characteristic to cover the organic light emitting diode device layer 604 to prevent moisture and oxygen from entering the organic light emitting diode device layer 604. In the embodiment of fig. 19, the touch panel 10 may be disposed on the fourth surface 606b of the thin film encapsulation layer 606 opposite to the organic light emitting diode device layer 604 through an adhesion layer (not shown), but not limited thereto.

It is to be noted that the structures of the touch display devices of the three embodiments are examples, and the metal grid structure with a silver sulfide layer and the manufacturing method thereof of the present invention can be applied to various touch display devices except for the above embodiments.

In summary, in the touch panel, the touch display device and the method for manufacturing the touch panel of the present invention, the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode have a metal mesh structure, and the patterned silver sulfide layer is on the surface of the patterned metal layer in the metal mesh structure. Because the silver sulfide is black and has a low reflectivity, the problem of the touch panel in visual effect caused by the high reflectivity of the conventional metal grid structure can be improved. Meanwhile, the patterned metal layer in the metal grid structure can still enable the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode to have lower impedance. In addition, in the method for manufacturing the metal grid structure, silver is used as a material for forming a single metal layer of the metal grid structure or one of materials in a laminated metal layer, a film layer of the silver-containing material is positioned at the top of the metal layer, and a sulfur-containing photoresist material is used in a subsequent photoetching process, so that a silver sulfide layer is formed between the photoresist layer and the metal layer through the characteristic of easy reaction of silver and sulfur. Therefore, the number of processes for manufacturing the touch panel as a whole or the difficulty of manufacturing the touch panel is not increased by manufacturing the metal grid structure through the method of the invention.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A touch panel, comprising:

a substrate; and

the first sensing electrodes are arranged on the substrate and comprise a metal grid structure, the metal grid structure comprises a patterned metal layer and a patterned silver sulfide layer, and the patterned metal layer is arranged between the substrate and the patterned silver sulfide layer.

2. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the patterned metal layer comprises at least one patterned silver layer, and wherein the patterned silver sulfide layer is in direct contact with the patterned silver layer.

3. The touch panel of claim 2, wherein the patterned metal layer of the metal grid structure has a patterned stacked structure, and the patterned silver layer is located at an uppermost layer of the patterned stacked structure.

4. The touch panel of claim 3, wherein the patterned stack structure further comprises a patterned metal material layer, wherein the material of the patterned metal material layer is selected from copper, gold, aluminum, molybdenum, chromium, nickel, or a combination thereof.

5. The touch panel of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of second sensing electrodes, a plurality of first connecting lines, and a plurality of second connecting lines disposed on the substrate, the second sensing electrodes comprising the metal mesh structure, wherein two adjacent first sensing electrodes are connected by at least one of the plurality of first connecting lines, two adjacent second sensing electrodes are connected by at least one of the plurality of second connecting lines, the plurality of first sensing electrodes and the plurality of first connecting lines form a plurality of first sensing electrode strings, the plurality of second sensing electrodes and the plurality of second connecting lines form a plurality of second sensing electrode strings, and the first sensing electrode strings and the second sensing electrode strings extend in a first direction and a second direction, respectively, wherein the second sensing electrode strings are electrically isolated from the first sensing electrode strings, and the first direction and the second direction are not parallel.

6. The touch panel of claim 1, further comprising an additional substrate, a plurality of second sensing electrodes, a plurality of first connecting lines and a plurality of second connecting lines, the substrate and the additional substrate being disposed opposite to each other, the plurality of first connecting lines being disposed on the substrate, the plurality of second sensing electrodes and the plurality of second connecting lines being disposed on the additional substrate, the second sensing electrodes comprising the metal mesh structure, wherein two adjacent ones of the first sensing electrodes are connected by at least one of the plurality of first connecting lines, two adjacent ones of the second sensing electrodes are connected by at least one of the plurality of second connecting lines, the plurality of first sensing electrodes and the plurality of first connecting lines form a plurality of first sensing electrode strings, the plurality of second sensing electrodes and the plurality of second connecting lines form a plurality of second sensing electrode strings, and the first and second sense electrode serials extend in a first direction and a second direction, respectively, wherein the second sense electrode serials are electrically isolated from the first sense electrode serials, and the first direction and the second direction are not parallel.

7. A touch display device, comprising:

a first substrate;

the display medium layer is arranged on the first substrate; and

a touch panel disposed on the display medium layer, the touch panel comprising:

a second substrate; and

a plurality of first sensing electrodes disposed on the second substrate, the first sensing electrodes comprising a metal grid structure, and the metal grid structure comprising a patterned metal layer and a patterned silver sulfide layer, wherein the patterned metal layer is disposed between the second substrate and the patterned silver sulfide layer.

8. The touch display device of claim 7, wherein the display medium layer is a liquid crystal layer or a light emitting diode element layer.

9. The touch display device of claim 7, further comprising a third substrate disposed between the display medium layer and the second substrate.

10. The touch display device of claim 7, further comprising a thin film encapsulation layer disposed between the display medium layer and the second substrate.

11. A method for manufacturing a touch panel is characterized by comprising the following steps:

forming a plurality of first sensing electrodes on a substrate, wherein the first sensing electrodes comprise a metal grid structure, and the manufacturing method of the metal grid structure comprises the following steps:

forming a metal layer on the substrate, wherein the material of the metal layer comprises silver;

forming a photoresist layer on a surface of the metal layer, wherein the photoresist layer comprises sulfur;

carrying out a photoetching process on the photoresist layer to form a patterned photoresist layer; and

performing an etching process using the patterned photoresist layer as a mask to form the metal mesh structure;

wherein after the photoresist layer is formed, the silver in the metal layer reacts with the sulfur in the photoresist layer to form a silver sulfide layer.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein after the etching process, the metal mesh structure comprises a patterned metal layer and a patterned silver sulfide layer.

13. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 11, wherein the metal layer has a single-layer structure and is a silver layer.

14. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 11, wherein the metal layer has a laminated structure including two different metal material layers, and the laminated structure includes a silver layer on an uppermost layer of the laminated structure.