JP2000242188A - Method and device for manufacturing display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a highly reliable process by measuring the thickness direction and a warp of a substrate after a precedent process, and feeding forward the measurement results to the following process. SOLUTION: This three-dimensional measuring device has a gate-type structure, and is provided with a guide side strut 2 integral with a Y-axis carriage 10, and a support side strut 3 having an air pad 9. A measuring probe 7 is attached to the bottom end of a Z-axis spindle 4 guided to about the center part of an X-axis carriage 5. The device measures the upper face data of a surface plate 8 as many as a predetermined number of measuring points, and stores the data in memory beforehand. After a panel 11, an object to be measured, has been set, range measurement is carried out to the panel 11 at the same position as the upper face of the surface plate 8. And, the warp data of the panel 11 is calculated from an arithmetic operation of the measured data and the data of only the surface plate 8 stored in memory. These panel data are transferred to a following process.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a process for producing a matrix element of a flat display, which is an electron source and its application field.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various types of flat displays have been developed such as a liquid crystal, a plasma display panel (PDP), a field emission display (FED), and an electroluminescence display (ELP). Is underway. In particular, P
In DP (plasma display), the screen size is 4
Some products are larger than 0 inches and have image quality comparable to XGA (1024 x 768 pixels).

In the process of manufacturing such a flat display, improvement in yield and uniformity of characteristics as a display are required.

[0004] However, as the number of pixels and the number of wirings increase in response to the above-mentioned demands, the difficulty in fabrication increases. For example, even in the case of wiring electrodes formed in the X and Y directions on the substrate, the increase in the number of electrodes and the increase in wiring density have resulted in
Inconveniences such as open wiring and short circuit between adjacent wirings also tend to increase. Further, in the case of a large-area display, a method using a printing technique has been used in recent years because the method of forming wiring electrodes is limited in the size of a substrate in a conventional photolithography process.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing a conventional example of a wiring electrode manufacturing step which is one of the substrate manufacturing processes.

Referring to FIG. 10, as a manufacturing process for providing wiring electrodes on a substrate, first, in steps S41 and S42, a substrate such as blue plate glass or soda glass for a manufacturing process is put into a manufacturing apparatus (S41). The substrate is stored (S2). Next, in step S43, the substrate for producing the electrode is cleaned. The substrate cleaning is generally called spin cleaning, and a method of brushing the surface of the substrate while rotating the substrate is used. After removing dust and dirt on the surface, ultrasonic cleaning with pure water is performed.

Next, a pre-annealing step is performed in S44. The pre-annealing is for causing the substrate to undergo thermal history in advance, thereby contracting the substrate and minimizing the distortion of the substrate with respect to the firing performed after the printed wiring. The annealing temperature is about 500 degrees for several hours.

[0008] Thereafter, in S45, electrode wiring is formed by printed wiring. The printed wiring is performed by, for example, a screen printing method or an offset printing method, and each method is selected according to the specification of the wiring.

Next, in S46, baking is performed under substantially the same conditions as those after pre-annealing. The firing is performed for the purpose of evaporating the solvent and the like contained in the wiring material at the time of printed wiring and for the purpose of improving the adhesion of the wiring to the substrate and the like.

As described above, a predetermined wiring material is formed on the substrate.

[0011] Next, in S47, an open short test is performed to open the wiring or short between adjacent wires.
In the above inspection method, the substrate is positioned at a predetermined position on a substrate stage, vacuum suction is performed, the substrate is suctioned on the stage, and then the inspection work position is moved. At the work position, for example, a prober unit for checking wiring arranged in the column direction is prepared. The prober unit directly contacts a contact on the electrode wiring, and has a contact having the same pitch as that of the wiring electrode. For example, a spring type is used.

After the substrate comes to the work position, the probe unit is moved down in the Z direction so as to come into contact with both ends of each electrode wiring, and a predetermined wiring inspection is performed. Then, after the inspection of the wiring electrodes, the process proceeds to a pattern inspection or the like in S48. The above is a part of the process for forming a wiring on a substrate.

[0013]

However, when constructing a flat panel display, for example, a printing process as described above, such as a PDP, is formed on separate substrates for the X and Y sides, or a liquid crystal panel is formed. In most cases, two substrates are bonded together, such as a substrate having a wiring electrode formed on one substrate and a transparent electrode formed on the opposite side.

Therefore, when the substrate is once warped due to the influence of the heat treatment as in S46, there is a high possibility that the bonding is performed while maintaining the warpage.

In the process after bonding, for example, vacuum suction for fixing the panel on the stage surface,
A contact may be made on the wiring electrode using a probe unit or the like.

In such a situation, if the process is performed without sufficiently grasping the warped state of the panel, there is a concern that a suction error may occur or a contact failure may occur. Conversely, if the suction force is excessive against the panel warpage and the stage surface is forcibly forced, or the pressing force of the prober contact is excessive, the panel may be damaged depending on the amount of warpage. It is conceivable that the problem of the measurement system affects the yield of the panel manufacturing process.

These problems are not limited to processes using vacuum suction or a probe unit, but also apply to other processes in which a panel is fixed or a force is applied to a part of the panel. It is.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention measures the thickness direction and warpage of a substrate after a pre-process in a single substrate or a flat display after bonding. Control means or control steps for feeding forward to a post-process based on the measurement result are provided to provide a highly reliable process.

[0019]

According to the present invention, in a method of manufacturing a display panel for manufacturing a large-area display panel, a panel inspection step of inspecting a shape of the display panel surface after a previous process is completed; A data control step of controlling the shape of the display panel surface at the start of a post-process based on the data obtained in the step (a), and a judgment step of judging the quality of the control result after being controlled by the inspection data control step. It is characterized by the following.

According to the present invention, there is provided a display panel manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a large-area display panel, wherein panel inspection means for inspecting the shape of the display panel surface after the previous process is completed, and data based on the inspection means. And a data control means for controlling the shape of the display panel surface at the start of the post-process, and a judgment means for judging the quality of the control result after being controlled by the data control means.

In the above-described display panel manufacturing apparatus, the data control means includes a data memory unit for fetching data, a calculation unit for performing calculation means from the data, and a program storing a program for performing the calculation. R
OM and an input / output I for inputting / outputting a signal from the arithmetic unit.
An I / O unit, a driver unit for controlling the drive of the contact from the output I / O unit, a throttle valve controller unit for controlling the displacement of vacuum suction of the display panel, and the input I / O unit. And a sensor circuit for inputting a suction pressure signal of the panel to the unit.

Further, a method of manufacturing a display panel according to the present invention is a method of manufacturing a display panel having a wiring, the method including a step of energizing the wiring through a contact. The amount of pushing into the wiring is controlled according to the shape of the display panel.

[Operation of the Present Invention] Next, the operation of the panel inspection system used to achieve the object of the present invention will be described with reference to the operation diagrams of FIGS.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present invention. First, in the pre-process of S29, as described in the related art, a baking process after applying printed wiring on a substrate, a substrate assembling process after bonding two substrates, In particular, a manufacturing process which may deform the substrate is applied.

Next, in the inspection after the pre-process of S30,
The amount of deformation of the substrate received by the pre-process, in particular, the measurement of the warpage or thickness of the substrate is measured. In the present invention, the inspection device uses a three-dimensional shape inspection device to acquire data that can be expressed in dimensional quantities.

FIG. 9 shows an example of data obtained by visualizing the warpage of the substrate. In FIG. 9, the warp state at each position of the substrate is represented three-dimensionally, and Po on the horizontal axis.
The sitin direction is the longitudinal direction of the substrate, and the Sensor direction is the lateral direction of the substrate. The number of measurement points in the substrate in this inspection apparatus is 45 × 17 points, and the warping state can be grasped over almost the entire area of the substrate. Further, the amount of deformation for each point can be calculated from the measured value. By taking the difference between the measurement result of the substrate and the original measurement result at each point and expressing the difference in three-dimensional coordinates as shown in FIG. 9, the influence of the flatness of the substrate in the previous process can be grasped.

As is clear from this data, the warping state of the substrate is such that each of the four corners is a lower point, and the center of the substrate is deformed into a bowl shape protruding. You can also know the warpage profile.

As described above, the inspection result data is captured as numerical data by the data capturing unit and the arithmetic control unit S31 in the post-processing apparatus, and is stored in the memory. The warp data stored in the memory is arithmetically processed as a control input signal of a post-process device performed in a post-process. As described above, the manufacturing processes to be processed as a post-process include a wiring inspection in a substrate, an evaluation of element characteristics, an element formation process, and the like. This is a process in which it is necessary to perform vacuum suction on a stage for setting a substrate in a process apparatus or to contact a contact such as a probe needle on a wiring electrode.

Accordingly, the calculating means in S31 calculates the amount of warpage and thickness unevenness of the substrate, and controls the suction force during vacuum suction and the drive amount of the contact of the probe contact based on the calculated values. Is also calculated.

It is also determined whether or not the above data does not exceed the allowable value for each control amount, to prevent damage to the substrate and the like in a later process, and to protect contacts such as probe contacts. Next, when using a probe contact on the electrode wiring in the post-process with respect to the substrate shown in FIG. 9, the substrate should be so contacted as to normally contact predetermined positions on each of four sides of the substrate. The measurement point data in the longitudinal (Position) direction and in the lateral (Sensor) direction are extracted from the memory of the data acquisition unit. For example, in each point data in the longitudinal direction corresponding to the point of “1” in the short direction, 45 points of numerical data between the minimum (MIN): 143.900 mm and the maximum (MAX): 144.2 mm are obtained.

The calculating means in S31 calculates the optimum pushing amount of the contact amount of the probe from the numerical data at the above-mentioned 45 points in the longitudinal direction. The amount of push-in is calculated by calculating the drive amount of the probe contact, which is usually standard, the maximum amount of warpage from the absolute value of the amount of change in the warp of the board, Is reflected in the drive amount of the probe contact.

Therefore, for example, the maximum value of the amount of warpage is +0.1
mm, control is performed such that the standard drive amount is obtained by setting the position of the contact in the pushing direction to −0.1 mm from the standard.

The above method is applied to the remaining three sides,
Post-processing can be performed.

In the above example, it is preferable that the probe unit of the post-processing apparatus is constituted by a plurality of divided units in each side, and the apparatus is configured so as to control each individual unit. The above method is merely an example of control, and may be performed by another control method.

Next, the case of controlling the attraction force will be described.
In the case where the substrate is distorted into a bowl shape as shown in FIG. 9 and the substrate is fixed and held by vacuum suction on a stage in a post-processing device, a probe is applied to the substrate with the above-mentioned warpage A method is adopted in which the contact portion is placed on the stage as much as possible, and the vacuum suction force of the other portion corresponding to the central portion of the substrate is reduced so that no extra stress is applied to the substrate.

Specifically, the suction area on the stage is divided, a vacuum exhaust system is prepared for each area, and a throttle valve is provided in the middle of each exhaust system to control the opening / closing degree of the valve. It is possible to control the attractive force and protect the substrate.

As described above, a stable process can be realized by measuring the amount of warpage of the substrate and reflecting the measured value on the control unit of the post-processing apparatus (S32, S33).

[0038]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments according to the present invention will be described.
This will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment 1] Next, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described. First, the three-dimensional measuring apparatus in the previous step of FIG. 1 will be described. The three-dimensional measuring apparatus according to the present invention has a portal structure, and has a guide-side support 2 integrated with a Y-axis carriage 10, a support-side support 3 having an air pad 9, a guide-side support 2, and a support-side support. 3 and an X-axis beam 1 fastened to the upper end with a plurality of bolts from the Z-axis direction.

The Y-axis guide 6 is fixed on the surface plate 8. The portal structure is formed by an air pad (not shown) of the Y-axis carriage 10, the guide surface of the Y-axis guide 6 and the surface plate 8. An air gap is formed between the surface plate 8 and the air pad, and an air gap is formed between the surface plate 8 and the air pad.

The X-axis beam 1 has an elongated hole in the X-axis direction substantially at the center. X-axis carriage 5 is X-axis beam 1
And both sides 1b, 1c. X
The Z-axis spindle 4 guided at a substantially central portion of the shaft carriage 5 is movable in the Z-axis direction and the X-axis direction through a long hole of the X-axis beam. A tracing stylus 7 is attached to the lower end of the Z-axis spindle 4.

The contact 7 of the present invention uses a non-contact type optical distance measuring sensor. In order to measure the panel 11, the upper surface data of the surface plate 8 is measured in advance for a predetermined number of measurement points, and the data is measured in a controller (not shown) of the three-dimensional measuring device.
Store it in memory.

Next, after setting the panel 11 to be measured, the distance measurement of the panel is measured at the same position as the position where the upper surface of the surface plate 8 is measured. The measured data is stored in the surface plate 8 stored in the memory in the controller.
By performing an operation with only the data, the warpage data of the panel 11 can be measured.

Although the contact 7 uses a non-contact distance measuring sensor, for example, a capacitance type sensor or an ultrasonic sensor may be used. Alternatively, the distance may be measured by receiving the reflected light using a laser beam and measuring the round-trip time.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the panel data obtained by the three-dimensional measuring apparatus in the pre-process includes 45 points in the longitudinal direction of the panel and 17 points in the short direction, a total of 765 points, as in the graph shown in FIG. The data is obtained, and after the measurement is completed, the data is transferred to a subsequent device.

In the data transfer, a network is provided between devices of each process, and acquired data is temporarily stored in a data server and then transferred to a predetermined device. However, if the measurement data is data required only for the post-process, data transfer between the devices can be directly performed.

In the description of this embodiment, the panel data will be described with reference to the data shown in FIG.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of the substrate processing apparatus 12 which is a post-process. Currently, in a flat panel display configured by various various methods, the substrate processing apparatus of the present embodiment requires a device using an electron source in the display unit, and collides electrons with a predetermined phosphor by using electrons. A so-called self-luminous electron source display using a method of emitting light is manufactured. In particular, the panel 11 of the electron source display handled in this embodiment has two upper and lower glass substrates bonded to each other with a certain gap, and the lower substrate has an electron source portion formed on an X, Y matrix. It is formed at the intersection of the wiring.

The electron source portion utilizes a phenomenon in which electrons are emitted in principle by passing a current through a small area thin film formed on a lower substrate in parallel with the film surface. Next, a voltage called an energization forming process is applied to the electron source portion, whereby a crack of several tens of angstroms is irregularly generated in the electron emission portion.

After performing several processes after the energization forming process, electrons are emitted from the vicinity of the crack by applying a drive voltage to the electron source. As described above, in the substrate processing apparatus 12 of the present embodiment, the energization forming step for forming an electron source on the lower substrate and the subsequent steps for generating electrons in the activation step and the stabilization step are performed. It is an apparatus for performing such a process.

The main body of the substrate processing apparatus 12 shown in FIG.
A stage 13 for supporting the panel 11, an X-side probe unit 14 for contacting a contact with each wiring electrode of the lower substrate in the X and Y directions, a YL prober unit 15, and a YR prober unit 16; The control of each probe unit is performed under the control of the probe control system 17, and the probe unit is operated in the vertical direction by driving a predetermined actuator (not shown) to make contact.

Next, vacuum suction is performed to fix the panel 11 to the stage 13, and the suction force is controlled by a vacuum exhaust control system 18 for fixing by suction.
(The control of vacuum suction will be described in detail later.) Further, in order to control the atmosphere in the panel 11, an in-panel evacuation control system 18 and an atmosphere control system 19 are provided. Several processes are performed on the inside of the panel 11 after applying an energizing process to form an electron source.

At this time, the above-described control system is required in order to appropriately flow necessary gas into the panel 11 corresponding to each process or to maintain a vacuum state.

Further, a vacuum sealing control system 20 for sealing the panel is provided after the inside of the panel 11 is maintained in a vacuum state by the above-mentioned panel vacuum exhaust system 18.
Vacuum sealing is performed as the last process performed in the substrate processing apparatus 12.

An HP (hot plate) 21 and a heat treatment control system 22 are control systems required for performing heat treatment of the panel 11, and after the X and Y prober units have been evacuated.
The HP 21 descends to the upper surface of the panel 11, and the heat treatment control system 22 performs heating at several hundred degrees. By performing this heat treatment process, the degassing effect in the panel 11 and the removal of moisture and the like are performed, which is an indispensable process for improving the device characteristics of the surface conduction electron-emitting device.

Next, in order to inspect the open / short state of the X and Y matrix wirings formed on the lower substrate, an open / short (O / S) checker measuring device 23 is used.
Is used.

The O / S checker measuring device 23 is connected to the prober unit 14 which is in contact with the wiring electrodes in the X and Y directions.
Individual resistance measurement to measure open / short of Y-side wiring, measurement of wiring resistance, short-circuiting of X-side wiring, and individually measure thin-film resistance of electron source before energization forming process through contacts in ~ 16 Are doing.

The O / S checker 23 can also check whether the probe units 14 to 16 are in normal contact.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a device forming driver device for generating a crack in order to form an electron emission portion as a surface conduction emission device. The element forming driver 24 is connected to the prober units 14, 15, 15, which are in contact with the X and Y matrix wiring electrodes on the lower substrate.
A treatment voltage for generating cracks on the X side and the Y side through 16 is appropriately applied.

In the device forming driver device 24 according to the present embodiment, the applied DC voltage varies depending on the device resistance, so that a pulse of several msec to several tens msec is applied to the Y wiring side in a range of about 10 V to 20 V. A voltage of several volts is applied to the X wiring side to compensate for a voltage drop caused by the influence of the wiring resistance on the Y side.

As described above, by performing the energization forming process, a crack for emitting an electron source to the element portion can be formed.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a control system constituting the substrate processing apparatus 12. Since each function has already been described, a description thereof will be omitted, and only a system of each control system will be described. In addition, the same blocks as those in FIG.
A duplicate description will be omitted.

First, the stage 1 on which the panel is mounted
3, an O / S checker measuring device 23 and an element forming driver device 24 are connected through a switch 25. Since the switch 25 is connected through a probe unit (not shown in the block diagram), an operator or the like sets a switch SW of the switch 25 when performing either process. Further, a vacuum suction control system 47 for panel suction, a vacuum sealing control system 20, and a probe unit control system 17 are individually connected to the stage unit 13. Further, a heat treatment control system 22 for performing heat treatment on the panel is connected to an HP (hot plate) 21, and an in-panel evacuation control system 18 for controlling the atmosphere in the panel and an atmosphere control system 19 are connected to the stage unit 13. ing.

For the above-described control system, data from the three-dimensional measuring device, which is a pre-process, is input to the probe unit control system 17. The exchange of data from the three-dimensional measuring device is all performed by the probe unit control system, and the X and Y direction probe units on the stage are controlled based on the input data.

Next, the configuration around the probe unit of the stage section 13 of the substrate processing apparatus 12 will be described with reference to FIG. First, in a state where the probe units are in contact with the panel 11 placed on the stage 13 on both the X and Y sides on the electrode wirings on the lower substrate, the X-side probe units 14a, 14b, 14c And 15a, 15b, 16a, 16b on the Y side
Is divided into two. The reason why the X side is divided into three is that the number of electrode wirings is large and the warp in the longitudinal direction of the lower substrate is large.

Next, the X-side and Y-side probe units 14
Actuators for performing control in the Z direction (vertical direction) of up to 16 are denoted by reference numerals 25, 26, 27 on the X side.
On the Y side, reference numerals 28, 29, 30, and 31 are provided corresponding to the divided probe units, respectively.
Drive in the direction.

In the control according to the present embodiment, a pulse motor or the like is used because control by step pulse driving is performed to improve feed accuracy in the Z direction. However, an actuator of another type may be used.

Reference numerals 32, 33, and 34 denote X and Y wiring relay BOXes. The purpose of use is to temporarily connect a signal cable connected to a contact inside each probe unit to a wiring relay BOX 32 to 34. It is provided in order to carry out mounting wiring suitable for an input connector and a cable of the switch 25 from there. In particular, since the cable connected from the contact is thin and can be easily broken, and the wiring resistance of the cable affects as a voltage drop during energization forming, it minimizes the mounting such as routing. Therefore, a relay box as described above is required.

Reference numerals 38, 39, 40 and 41 denote throttle valves for controlling the suction force on the stage suction surface when the panel 11 is vacuum-sucked to the stage section 13. The throttle valves 38 to 41 are provided so that the suction force can be individually controlled with respect to the warpage of the panel when the panel 11 is sucked. There is a vacuum suction system 47 for each exhaust pipe,
It is provided individually on each exhaust pipe. Reference numeral 46 denotes an exhaust box for collecting the exhaust pipes after passing through the respective throttle valves and collectively exhausting the exhaust pipes. A vacuum exhaust system is connected to the end of the exhaust box 46.

Reference numerals 42, 43, 44, and 45 denote pressure sensors provided between each exhaust pipe and the throttle valve. The panel 11 is connected to the stage 13 by detecting a pressure value in each exhaust pipe. The suction pressure at the time of suction can be detected. The detection output signal is input to the arithmetic processing of the probe unit control system 17 for controlling the throttle valve, and is reflected in the control of the throttle valve of the vacuum suction control system 47. The pressure sensor may use either a differential pressure or an absolute pressure.

Reference numerals 35, 36, and 37 denote alignment scopes for aligning the probe unit with the wiring electrodes. Two alignment scopes are arranged on each side in the X and Y directions, and are arranged on the lower substrate. On the wiring electrode,
The alignment marks are formed in the same process as the wiring electrodes. The alignment scopes 35 to 37, to which the prober unit is fixed, recognize the alignment marks on the wiring electrodes and perform alignment to allow the prober contacts to contact predetermined positions on the wiring electrodes.

Next, FIG. 5 shows a control block diagram for controlling the probe unit in the substrate processing apparatus based on the measurement data from the three-dimensional measuring apparatus performed in the present embodiment. FIG. 5 shows the probe unit control system 17.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a control configuration of a vacuum evacuation control system 18. In the first embodiment, only the probe unit control system 17 will be described, and the evacuation control system 18 will be described in the second embodiment.

In FIG. 5, first, reference numeral 51 denotes an input interface (I / I) for inputting measurement data (45 × 17 points) from a three-dimensional measuring apparatus which is a pre-process.
F) Circuit. The input system has different hardware for various types of data transfer, but in the present embodiment, an I / F circuit corresponding to serial transfer is used because a local network is interposed.

The three-dimensional measurement data is transferred to the data memory unit 49 through the I / F circuit 51. Arithmetic processing CPU
48 detects that three-dimensional measurement data is input in response to a signal from the I / F circuit 51,
After 9 is set to the write mode, data storage is performed sequentially.

After the data storage is completed as described above, the Z-axis drive amounts of the prober units 14, 15, and 16 are calculated. The algorithm of operation is program RO
The arithmetic CPU 48 reads out the necessary algorithm from the program CPU 50 as appropriate,
Store it in the CPU internal memory. Then, the arithmetic CPU 48
Reads the data value stored in the data memory unit 49 and calculates the absolute value of the warpage of the panel. Since the measurement data measures the amount of warpage of the panel as a relative value, a value obtained by measuring the stage surface of the three-dimensional measuring device is stored in the program ROM 50 in advance, and the measured value is compared with the measured data. By taking the difference, the absolute value of the actual panel warpage data can be obtained.

Next, after judging whether the warp state of the panel does not exceed the allowable amount, the Z-axis amounts of the probe units 14 to 16 on each side in the X and Y directions are calculated.

The probe unit contact used in this embodiment employs a spring probe type.
Contact drive MAX1 for spring type
mm and a standard drive amount of about 0.3 mm after contact with the panel, a drive margin of about 0.7 mm is obtained when the maximum drive amount is 1 mm. However, considering the variation in the Z direction of the contact, 0.6
It is safer to estimate as mm.

The drive load per contact is typically about 10 g. Therefore, if the spring probe has an excessive drive amount, it will greatly affect the durability of the contact.If the number of pins is large, the load applied to the panel will increase, so the drive amount should be as standard as possible. Is preferred.

Accordingly, the arithmetic CPU 48 calculates the Z-axis drive amount of each axis in consideration of the measured amount of warpage of the panel, the variation in the Z direction of the contacts of the probe units 14 to 16 and the unevenness of the thickness of the panel. . The calculated value is converted into the number of pulses for driving the pulse motors 25 to 31. Since the amount of movement per pulse is determined by a mechanical mechanism, the pulse motors 25 to 31 calculate the amount of feed pulses from the amount of drive and drive the drivers 53, 54, By outputting a pulse signal to 55, control in the Z-axis direction becomes possible.

The arithmetic CPU 48 sequentially calculates the drive amounts corresponding to the divided probe units for both X and Y, and outputs control signal pulses. In the present embodiment, a driver for multi-axis control is used to reduce the size of the driver as much as possible.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the sequence performed in the first embodiment. In the first embodiment,
Based on the three-dimensional measurement data of the panel measured in the pre-process, drive control of the probe unit in the substrate processing apparatus in the post-process is performed. The details will be described below along the flowchart.

First, in step S1 which is a previous process, three-dimensional measurement of the panel is performed, and the measurement data is stored in the memory 49 as panel warpage data of S9. The storage destination is the data memory 49 via the I / F circuit 51 shown in FIG. The panel manufacturing process proceeds to a post-process, and after the panel is unloaded from the three-dimensional measurement device, the panel is set on the substrate processing device 12 in S2.

In the present embodiment, the panel is in a state where upper and lower two glass substrates are stuck at a fixed interval.

After the panel is set at a predetermined position of the substrate processing apparatus, the panel is sucked in S3. Panel suction is performed by vacuum suction. Next, in S4, each probe unit is positioned with respect to the panels X and Y.

The positioning method is, as shown by the alignment scopes 35, 36, and 37 in FIG. 4, for recognizing the alignment marks provided on the lower substrate using the alignment scopes provided at two places on each side. Done in

From the positions of the two recognized marks, the displacement of the probe unit in the X and Y directions is detected by an alignment processing system (not shown), and the probe units 14 to 16 are moved to complete the positioning.

Next, when the alignment of each side is completed,
In S5, the probe unit is brought into contact with the wiring electrode.

First, the measured data stored in S9 is shown in FIG.
As described in the above description, the data is converted into an absolute value by the arithmetic CPU 48. In the present embodiment, the calculated three-dimensional measurement data is calculated as the warpage data shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 9, the panel has a maximum of 0.4 mm in total.
In the flow chart of detecting the warped state of the panel in S10.
Since the warpage of m was less than the drive amount margin of each of the X and Y prober units, it was determined that probe contact was possible.

If the warpage of the panel is very large and exceeds the drive amount of the prober unit, a process is performed according to the judgment of the operator depending on whether or not a post-process is possible.

Next, in step S11, the drive amount of the probe units on the X and Y sides in the Z direction is calculated. First, on the Y side, it can be seen from FIG. 9 that the lateral direction of the panel is the most warped near the center on both sides, and the amount of warpage is 0.3 mm at the maximum. The drive amount of the probe unit for this amount of warp is about 0.6 mm for a maximum of 1 mm.
If the warpage is 0.3 mm, the standard drive amount is controlled to the position of 0.3 mm in the Z direction, so that the drive amount is 0.6 mm at the maximum warp portion and 0 at the small warp. Since the drive amount was 0.3 mm and the contact was sufficient, both sides were set to the standard position.

Next, the drive amount of the probe unit on the X side is calculated. As shown in FIG. 9, the warp near the center of the panel is the largest, and the maximum warp is 0.5 mm with respect to the position where the probe unit contacts. Warpage has occurred.

The X-side prober unit is divided into three in the longitudinal direction of the panel, and the drive amount can be controlled for each unit. Therefore, the warpage of the panel was controlled with a drive amount of the central unit 14b and a different value from the units 14a and 14c on both sides thereof.

For the above-mentioned warpage of 0.5 mm, 14
a and 14c are standard positions, and 14b is set at a position -0.2 mm above the standard value. As a result, the drive amount of the probe unit 14b where the maximum amount of warpage occurs is about 0.7 mm, and
As for a and 14c, the drive amount was 0.6 mm.

After the position control of the probe unit as described above, whether or not the contact of the probe unit normally contacts each wiring electrode is checked by the measurement in S6. Panel measurement is O / S check measuring instrument 23
The contact is confirmed by measuring the wiring resistance or the resistance between adjacent wirings in the matrix wiring in the X and Y directions. Then, in S7, X,
The Y-side contact check is determined, and if the contact is normal, the process S for forming the element is performed.
Then, if a problem occurs in the contact, the drive amount of each prober unit is measured by the O / S checker measuring device 23.
Based on the result, the set value in the Z direction is calculated again, and the sequence of performing the positioning control is repeated. At this time, the retry sequence includes, for example, a method in which the operator determines a unit in which a contact failure has occurred, and then controls a predetermined drive amount by the sequential calculation CPU 48,
There is a method in which the operator himself determines the drive amount and determines the position in the Z direction.

By the above process, it is possible to prevent an excessive load from being applied to the panel and to consider the durability of the contacts of the prober unit. In this way, the panel is set on the substrate processing apparatus 12, the post-process steps can be performed with high reliability, and display panels other than the specified values can be eliminated at an early stage, and effective process processing can be performed to improve the yield.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment aims at controlling the suction force when vacuum suction is performed on the stage 13 based on three-dimensional measurement data in addition to the drive amount of the probe unit shown in the first embodiment. Therefore, since the device configuration and the control system block diagram are the same as those of the first embodiment, the description of FIGS. 1 to 4 is omitted.

A block diagram of the evacuation control system 47 in FIG. 5 will be described. In the second embodiment, since the control of the vacuum suction force is controlled according to the warpage of the panel, the control system actually performed is performed by the arithmetic CPU 48 in the probe unit control system 17, and is combined with the drive control of the probe unit. It is responsible for arithmetic processing. First, after calculating data as the absolute value of the panel warpage, the throttle valve CT controlling the vacuum suction force is referred to with reference to the warpage data value.
The values of R1 to R4 (57 to 60) are set.

As described in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, in the stage section 13, the area for performing vacuum suction is divided into four parts, and X and Y in which the probe units 14 to 16 are formed.
And a suction portion in the vicinity of the center of the panel.
41 and pressure sensors 42 to 45 are mounted, and by controlling them, the amount of exhaust gas changes and the suction force can be controlled.

Therefore, the arithmetic CPU 48 first outputs a setting signal for the opening degree of the throttle valves 38 to 41 to the throttle valves CTR 57 to 60 through the output I / O section 52. In the throttle valve opening signal, since the opening of the throttle valve is determined according to the opening signal, if the opening signal is increased, the opening of the valve is increased and the exhaust capability is increased, and conversely, the opening signal is reduced. In this case, the opening degree of the valve becomes small, and the exhaust capacity becomes weak. Therefore, the attraction force can be controlled by controlling the opening signal.

The throttle valves CTR57 to CTR60 are calculated by the calculation CP.
After receiving digital signal from U48, internal D / A
The converter outputs analog signals to the throttle valves 38 to 41. And, the throttle valve CTR57 ~
In order to detect the attraction force controlled by the control unit 60, the arithmetic CPU 48 operates the pressure sensor 4 mounted on each exhaust pipe.
The value of 2-45 is read. Pressure sensors 42 to 45
Indicates that the pressure between the throttle valve and the suction force is detected, and it is considered that the pressure is substantially the same as that of the stage surface on which the panel is actually sucked.

In the present embodiment, the pressure sensors 42 to 45 use a differential pressure type. The pressure sensors 42 to 45 detect the differential pressure by VAC-S 1 to S 4, and A / D-convert as an electric signal by the sensor circuits 42 to 45 to obtain a digital signal. As a differential pressure signal. The differential pressure type detects a differential pressure with respect to the atmospheric pressure and outputs it as an electric signal. The differential pressure output is A / D-converted in the pressure sensors 42 to 45, and the arithmetic CPU 4
8 is output. Therefore, the arithmetic CPU 48 reads the value of the pressure sensor and grasps the suction state of each suction area. For example, the suction area corresponding to the probe unit needs to be in contact with the surface of the stage 13 in order to minimize the effect of panel warpage. Therefore, it is necessary to open the throttle valve to increase the exhaust capacity. There is. When such control is performed, the differential pressure value of the pressure sensor becomes a value of about 500 Torr or more.

Conversely, at the center of the stage, there is no effect on the probe unit, so it is not necessary to make the suction force the same as in other areas. Do.

Therefore, in this case, the differential pressure value of the pressure sensor is about half or less of the other area (200 Torr).
r). As described above, the exhaust control is set so as to be optimal for the warpage of the panel based on the three-dimensional measurement data, and it is detected whether the suction state of the panel at that time is appropriate.

Next, FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a sequence performed in the second embodiment. In the second embodiment,
Based on the three-dimensional measurement data of the panel measured in the previous process, drive control of the probe unit in the substrate processing apparatus in the subsequent process and control of the throttle valve for optimizing panel suction are performed. Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given along the flowchart. However, since the control of the probe unit is the same as that of the first embodiment, a brief description will be given. First, the panel is subjected to three-dimensional measurement in S12, which is the previous process, and the measurement data is stored in the memory as panel warpage data in S21. The storage destination is the same as in the first embodiment.

The panel manufacturing process proceeds to a post-process, and the panel is set in the substrate processing apparatus in S13. In the second embodiment as well, the panel is in a state in which two upper and lower substrates are bonded to each other.

Next, the panel is attracted to the stage section 13 (S14). In the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, control is performed based on the three-dimensional data of the panel shown in FIG. First, the warping state of the panel is detected by the arithmetic CPU 48. At this time, the warpage of the panel is converted into an absolute value, the maximum warpage amount is calculated, and the allowable range of the probe unit and whether suction control is possible is determined from the calculated value.
In FIG. 9, since the warp shape is a bowl shape convex in the center, individual control is performed on each of the divided suction areas in order to reduce stress on the panel.

First, on the suction surface corresponding to the probe unit on the Y side, since the maximum amount of warpage is about 0.3 mm from the short side of the panel as compared with the first embodiment, the panel is attracted to the stage surface as much as possible. In order to perform the control, the opening degrees of the throttle valves 38 and 41 are adjusted so that the differential pressure value between the pressure sensors 42 and 45 becomes about 300 Torr.

Next, regarding the X-side prober unit,
Since the maximum amount of warpage in the longitudinal direction of the panel is also about 0.5 mm as compared with the first embodiment, the suction force in this case is set to be weaker than the suction force in the short direction of the panel. About 200 Torr
The opening of the throttle valve 40 is set to be about r.

Further, since the portion corresponding to the portion other than the above-mentioned area corresponds to the central portion of the panel where the maximum warpage of the panel occurs, the differential pressure value of the pressure sensor 43 is about 100.
The opening of the throttle valve 39 is set to be about Torr.

Therefore, in the suction state check in step S15, the values of the pressure sensors 42 to 45 are detected with respect to the opening degrees of the throttle valves 38 to 41 set as described above, and it is determined whether or not the respective suction pressures are optimum. When the set pressure is not sufficient, the opening control of the throttle valve is performed again.

As described above, by controlling the throttle valves 38 to 41 and changing the attraction force in accordance with the warpage of the panel, the stress on the panel is alleviated, and the stabilization of the prober unit is achieved. It becomes possible to perform an adsorption action.

Next, in step S16, positioning is performed on each of the prober units 14 to 16 with respect to the panels X and Y.

The positioning method is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Then, after the alignment is completed, S1
At 7, probe contact is made. Since the method of the probe contact is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description is omitted. Step S after probe contact
A measurement check is performed at 18, and it is confirmed at step S19 whether or not the electrode wiring position is normally contacted. If the contact is made normally, S
When the process proceeds to the device forming process of No. 20 and a failure occurs in the contact, the process returns to the step S24 as in the first embodiment, and the contact control is performed again.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the stage 13
The throttle valve is controlled for each area when the panel is sucked upward, and the suction state is controlled according to the warpage of the panel, so it is possible to eliminate stress on the panel, and the prober unit The durability of the contact can also be considered.

When performing a heat treatment process with respect to the division control of vacuum suction, the panel is moved to the stage 13 and the HP 2
Since it is necessary to uniformly contact the substrate 1 and eliminate unevenness in heat distribution, vacuum suction is a suction control in which the entire surface of the panel follows the stage surface.

In this way, the panel is set on the substrate processing apparatus 12, and the energization forming process, the activation process,
By forming the electron-emitting devices and the electron sources in which the electron-emitting devices are formed in a matrix in the X and Y directions by performing the stabilization process, it is possible to manufacture a stable image display device with less variation in quality. Further, such post-process steps can be performed with high reliability, and a display panel having a value other than the specified value can be eliminated at an early stage. By performing this process, the yield can be significantly improved.

[0118]

According to the present invention, the data on the warp state of the panel measured by the three-dimensional measuring apparatus in the pre-process is used for the contact sequence of the probe unit in the panel process step of the post-process and the panel adsorption to the stage. The following effects can be obtained by reflecting the results in the control.

(1) With respect to the panel, a local load at the time of probe contact when warping occurs,
Stress at the time of panel suction is alleviated, and accidents such as panel breakage caused by overload are prevented, which leads to an improvement in yield in panel production.

(2) In the manufacturing apparatus, by optimizing the drive amount of the probe unit and the like, the stability of the contact portion can be increased, the durability can be improved, and the reliability of the apparatus can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a three-dimensional measuring apparatus in a pre-process used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a substrate processing apparatus in a post-process used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram around a stage of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a probe unit control system and a vacuum exhaust control system for controlling the probe unit and the suction force, which are performed in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a sequence in the control of the probe unit performed in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a sequence in which the control of the attraction force performed in the second embodiment of the present invention is added.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a manufacturing process showing an operation for reflecting a data result in a pre-process to a post-process according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a three-dimensional data diagram showing a warped state of a substrate measured by a three-dimensional measuring device in a pre-process according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a manufacturing process in a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 X-axis beam 2 guide-side support 3 support-side support 4 Z-axis spindle 5 X-axis carriage 6 Y-axis guide 7 Measuring element 8 Surface plate 9 Air pad 10 Y-axis carriage 11 Display panel 12 Substrate process device 13 Stage 17 Probe unit control system Reference Signs List 18 Vacuum exhaust control system in panel 19 Atmosphere control system 20 Vacuum sealing control system 21 Hot plate 22 Heat treatment control system 23 Open / short measurement device 24 Element formation driver device 25 Switching device 47 Vacuum suction system 48 Operation CPU 49 Data memory 50 Program ROM 51 Interface (I / F) 52 Output I / O 53-55 Driver 56 Input I / O

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A display panel manufacturing method for manufacturing a large-area display panel, comprising: a panel inspection step of performing a shape inspection of the display panel surface after a previous process is completed; and a post-processing based on data in the inspection step. A data control step of controlling the shape of the display panel surface at the start of the process, and a determination step of determining whether the control result is good or not after being controlled by the inspection data control step. Production method. 2. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the panel inspection step after the pre-process is a step of detecting a shape state over the entire display panel, and the data control step is After positioning the display panel at a predetermined position on the stage in a post-process based on data from an inspection step, a contact is made to contact each row electrode and row electrode of matrix wiring of the display panel. A method for manufacturing a display panel, characterized by controlling the amount of indentation. 3. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the panel inspection step after the pre-process is a step of detecting a shape state of the entire display panel, and wherein the data control means includes: Based on the data from the inspection process, after positioning the display panel at a predetermined position on the stage in a post-process, and then fixing by vacuum suction, the displacement of the vacuum suction unit is determined according to the shape of the display panel. A method for manufacturing a display panel. 4. The method of manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the data control step includes: a data memory unit that captures data; a calculation unit that performs a calculation from the data; Program ROM storing a program for execution
And an input / output I / O for inputting and outputting signals from the arithmetic unit
A driver unit for controlling the driving of the contactor from the output I / O unit, a throttle valve controller for controlling the displacement of vacuum suction of the panel, and the input I / O unit.
And a sensor circuit for inputting a suction pressure signal of the panel to the / O section. 5. The method of manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the data measured in the panel inspection step uses a three-dimensional measuring device for measuring a warpage or a thickness direction of the panel. 6. The probe contacted on the matrix wiring of the display panel at the time of the post-processing is a probe unit divided in each of a row direction and a column direction, and the amount of pushing of the contact in each unit. 2. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the control is individually performed. 7. When the display panel is vacuum-sucked on a stage during the post-process, a plurality of areas to be sucked on the stage are divided, and the amount of evacuation is individually controlled in each area. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 3. 8. An apparatus for manufacturing a display panel for manufacturing a large-area display panel, comprising: panel inspection means for inspecting the shape of the display panel surface after a previous process is completed; and post-processing based on data from the inspection means. An apparatus for manufacturing a display panel, comprising: data control means for controlling the shape of the display panel surface at the time of start; and judgment means for judging the quality of the control result after being controlled by the data control means. . 9. The apparatus for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 8, wherein the panel inspection unit after the pre-process is a unit for detecting a shape state of the entire display panel, and the data control unit is After the display panel is positioned at a predetermined position on the stage in the post-process based on the data from the inspection means, the contact is made to be in contact with each of the row electrodes and the column electrodes of the matrix wiring of the display panel. An apparatus for manufacturing a display panel, characterized by controlling a pushing amount of a child. 10. The apparatus for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 8, wherein the panel inspection unit after the pre-process is a unit for detecting a shape state over the entire display panel, and the data control unit is configured to: Based on the data from the inspection means, when the display panel is positioned at a predetermined position on the stage in the post-process and then vacuum-adsorbed and fixed, the displacement of the vacuum suction unit is determined according to the shape of the display panel. A manufacturing apparatus for a display panel. 11. The data control unit includes: a data memory unit that fetches data; an operation unit that performs an operation unit based on the data; a program ROM that stores a program for performing the operation; An input / output I / O unit for inputting / outputting a signal, a driver unit for controlling the driving of the contactor from the output I / O unit, and a throttle valve for controlling a displacement of vacuum suction of the display panel Eighth or ninth, tenth, and tenth parts comprising a controller unit and a sensor circuit for inputting the suction pressure signal of the panel to the input I / O unit.
An apparatus for manufacturing a display panel according to the above item. 12. A method of manufacturing a display panel having a wiring, comprising a step of energizing the wiring through a contact, and displaying the amount of pushing of the contact into the wiring in the step. A method for producing a display panel, wherein the method is controlled according to the shape of the panel.