JP2001297692A - Plasma display panel producing method and laser beam machining method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plasma display panel producing method for achieving simple and small production facilities, having less production processes. SOLUTION: A transparent electrode 18 is formed, by radiating a laser beam 64 on a transparent electrode thin film 44, provided on a front glass substrate 16, on a continuous base in the X-direction and on a preset-interval base in the Y-direction, while leaving a thin film between linear regions radiated with the laser beam 64. An image processor 104 is provided for photographing a thin-film missing portion 73 formed by the one-pulse laser beam 64 and judging the quality of formed shape. After judging the shape, the image processor 104 feeds the judgment result back to an attribute determining site of the laser beam 64 and regulates the thin-film missing portion to be formed as desired.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a plasma display panel and a plasma display panel, and more particularly, to a method for forming a transparent electrode behind a front panel disposed on the front side of the plasma display panel. The present invention also relates to a method for processing a thin film provided on a substrate by irradiating the thin film with a laser beam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a plasma display panel has a front panel and a rear panel arranged at a predetermined distance from the front panel, and a discharge space is provided between the front panel and the rear panel. Are formed. The front panel is composed of a plurality of transparent electrodes arranged in parallel on the back side of a front substrate generally made of glass, bus electrodes arranged on the back side of each transparent electrode, and a dielectric covering these transparent electrodes and the bus electrodes. A body layer and a protective film for covering the dielectric layer are provided. On the other hand, the rear panel has a plurality of parallel data electrodes extending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the transparent electrode, a partition wall arranged between adjacent data electrodes, And a phosphor disposed between the partition walls.

[0003] The multiple components constituting a plasma display panel.
When focusing on the transparent electrode among the number of components,
The method of forming the transparent electrode differs depending on the material used for the transparent electrode.
Depending on the situation. Transparent electronics currently used
There are two pole materials, one of which is ITO (Indium T
in Oxide) _Two
O_ThreeIs a material doped with 3 to 10% of tin Sn,
The other is tin oxide SnO, called a Nesa film._TwoThe main component
Material.

When ITO is used for the transparent electrode, the transparent electrode is formed as follows. First, on a glass substrate,
An ITO film is formed on the entire surface. Next, a photoresist is applied on the ITO film, and the photoresist is exposed using a metal mask having the same pattern as the target transparent electrode pattern. After that, the photoresist is developed and a necessary portion of the ITO film is etched. Then, the remaining photoresist is removed to form a transparent electrode.

When a Nesa film is used for a transparent electrode, the transparent electrode is formed as follows. First, on a glass substrate,
A Nesa film is formed on the entire surface. Next, as in the case of ITO, a transparent electrode is formed by an etching method. However, in the case of a Nesa film, a transparent electrode may be formed by a lift-off method.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned conventional method for forming a transparent electrode involves a number of steps (film formation of a thin film for a transparent electrode, application of a photoresist, exposure and development of a photoresist, development of a thin film for a transparent electrode). (E.g., etching and removal of residual photoresist), there is a problem that the manufacturing equipment becomes large and the process lead frame becomes long.

In particular, the plasma display panel is expected to be used for a large screen of a large-sized television as well as a small-sized television.
m to a maximum of 2 m. Therefore, many steps described above must be performed on a large substrate as large as 2 m in order, or the substrate must be transported between each step.
The manufacturing equipment becomes very large.

Further, in order to change the design of the arrangement pattern of the transparent electrodes, it is necessary to newly manufacture a mask for exposing the photoresist, and it is difficult to respond to a rapid change in the design.

Further, at present, where environmental issues are emphasized, the treatment of waste liquids such as a photoresist solution and an etching solution used in a conventional manufacturing process requires a very high cost.
Also, from the viewpoint of environmental protection, it is desirable to use as little substances as possible that load the environment.

[0010] In addition, it is desired to form a transparent electrode having a small accuracy error while keeping costs low.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems. 9. The method for manufacturing a plasma display panel according to claim 8, comprising a front substrate and a rear substrate disposed substantially in parallel with a predetermined distance between the front substrate and the front substrate facing the rear substrate. A plurality of transparent electrodes extending in parallel with the first direction, a bus electrode extending in parallel with the transparent electrode on the back of each transparent substrate, and a dielectric covering these transparent electrodes and the bus electrode. A plurality of data electrodes extending parallel to a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction on a front surface of the rear substrate facing the front substrate; A partition wall extending in parallel with the data electrode between the data electrodes
In a plasma display panel provided with a phosphor provided between adjacent partitions, a transparent electrode thin film is formed in a predetermined region on the back surface of the front substrate, and a laser beam periodically emitted from a laser oscillator is provided. (A) forming the transparent electrode by irradiating the shaped thin film for a transparent electrode with a shaped laser beam formed by passing the shaping plate having an opening through the opening; A region where one shaped laser beam is irradiated on the transparent electrode thin film and a region where the next shaped laser beam emitted following the shaped laser beam is irradiated on the transparent electrode thin film while moving the front substrate with respect to The laser beam is emitted so that at least a part of them overlaps, and the thin film portion for the transparent electrode is sequentially erased, whereby the exposed long groove of the front substrate is moved in the first direction. (B) moving the irradiation position of the shaped laser beam to a place away from the formed long groove by a predetermined distance in the second direction after the step (a), (C) repeating steps (a) and (b) to form a plurality of long grooves in the transparent electrode thin film in parallel, thereby forming a transparent electrode between each adjacent long grooves, A method for manufacturing a plasma display panel, characterized in that the above-mentioned one area to be irradiated with a laser beam is photographed, given image processing is performed, and the accuracy of the photographed area is determined based on a prescribed standard.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plasma display panel manufacturing method, wherein a shaped laser beam is irradiated.
Adjusting the attribute of the laser beam based on data obtained by determining the accuracy of the two regions based on a predetermined standard, and improving the accuracy of the region irradiated with the laser beam after the shaping. A method for manufacturing a plasma display panel according to claim 1.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plasma display panel manufacturing method according to the first or second aspect, wherein the transparent electrode thin film is an ITO film or a Nesa film.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser processing method comprising: providing a thin film on a surface of a substrate; and irradiating the thin film with a periodically oscillated laser beam to form a continuous thin film disappearing portion in a predetermined direction. A method wherein the laser beam is applied to the plate such that the cross section of the laser beam is limited to the opening of the shaping plate and the shaped laser beam is emitted, and the shaped laser beam is applied to the thin film. The above-mentioned one thin film disappeared portion which is irradiated and formed by the irradiation of the laser beam after shaping is photographed, given image processing is performed, and the accuracy of the photographed thin film disappeared portion is determined based on a prescribed standard. Is a laser processing method.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the laser processing method, the laser beam attribute is determined based on data obtained by determining the accuracy of one thin-film lost portion irradiated with the shaped laser beam based on a predetermined standard. 5. The laser processing method according to claim 4, wherein the precision of the thin-film disappearing portion irradiated with the laser beam after the shaping is improved.

The laser processing method according to claim 6 is the laser processing method according to claims 4 or 5, wherein the thin film is a thin film for a transparent electrode.

The laser processing method according to claim 7 is the laser processing method according to claim 6, wherein the transparent electrode thin film is an ITO film or a Nesa film.

[0018]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of a plasma display panel, in which a part of the plasma display panel is cut out. As shown in FIG. 1, the plasma display panel 10 includes a light-transmitting front panel 12 and a rear panel 14 disposed on the rear side of the front panel 12 and emitting light in accordance with image information. The light is emitted in a direction from the rear panel 14 to the front panel 12.

The front panel 12 has a front glass substrate (front substrate) 16 constituting the uppermost layer in the drawing. On the back side of the front glass substrate 16, a plurality of transparent electrodes 18 extending in a first direction (X direction) are arranged in parallel in a second direction (Y direction) orthogonal to the first direction at predetermined intervals. Are located in Each transparent electrode 18 has a bus electrode 20 made of a high dielectric material, which extends along the transparent electrode 18 on its back side.
I support. The transparent electrode 18 and the bus electrode 20 are connected to the dielectric 22 and the dielectric 2 by sputtering by gas discharge.
2 is protected with a protective film 24 made of magnesium oxide MgO.

The rear panel 14 has a rear glass substrate (rear substrate) 26 constituting the lowermost layer in the drawing. A plurality of data electrodes 28 extending in the second direction are arranged in parallel in the first direction at predetermined intervals on the front side of the back glass substrate 26.
0. The dielectric 30 supports a partition wall 32 located in the middle of the adjacent data electrode 28 and extending in parallel with the data electrode 28. A phosphor 34 is applied between adjacent partitions 32 so as to cover the opposing side surfaces of the partitions 32 and the surface of the dielectric 30 located between the partitions 32. As shown in FIG.
4 has a substantially U-shaped cross section.
After the front panel 12 and the rear panel 14 are bonded to each other in a discharge space 36 surrounded by a circle as shown in the figure, a discharge gas is sealed.

FIG. 2 shows an electrode substrate used in the manufacturing process of the front glass substrate 16 and has a rectangular front glass substrate 1.
6 at a stage where a transparent electrode 18 was formed on one surface. The transparent electrode 18 is formed in a central rectangular region 40 surrounded by a predetermined margin region extending along the periphery of the front glass substrate 16, and in this rectangular region 40, the transparent electrode 18 is parallel to the long side direction of the front glass substrate 16. At a predetermined interval in the short side direction of the front glass substrate 16 and extends in a thin line shape.

As shown in detail in FIG. 3 in which a part of FIG. 2 is enlarged, two adjacent transparent electrodes 18 constitute one transparent electrode pair 42 in the transparent electrode 18. In the present embodiment, two adjacent transparent electrodes 18 forming one transparent electrode pair 42 have the same width L1, and a predetermined space gap G1 is provided between them. The space gap G between the transparent electrodes 18 is provided between the adjacent transparent electrode pairs 42.
A space gap G2 larger than 1 is provided.

As a specific example, in the case of a plasma display panel used for a 42-inch television receiver,
A front glass substrate 16 of about 560 mm × 1000 mm is used. An ITO film or a Nesa film is used for the transparent electrode 18 and its thickness is about 1000 °. The transparent electrode 18
The width is 300 to 400 μm, and the space gap G1 is 50 to
The space gap G2 is set to a certain value within a range of 200 to 400 μm depending on the intended use.
The pitch P1 of the transparent electrode pairs 42 is set to about 1 mm, and about 480 sets of the transparent electrode pairs 42 set as described above are arranged.

A method for forming the transparent electrode 18 will be described. First, a front glass substrate 16 having a predetermined vertical and horizontal length is provided.
Is prepared [FIG. 4 (A)]. Next, the front glass substrate 16
A thin film 44 for a transparent electrode is formed on one side of the substrate by a method similar to the conventional method (for example, PVD: physical vapor deposition, CVD: chemical vapor deposition) [FIG. 4B]. In the present embodiment, as the transparent electrode thin film 44, an I
A TO film is used. The transparent electrode thin film 44 does not need to be formed on the front surface of the front glass substrate 16, and may be formed in a necessary region or a slightly larger region surrounding the necessary region [FIG. 4 (C)]. . For simplicity of description, the substrate on which the transparent electrode thin film 44 is formed on the front glass substrate 16 is hereinafter referred to as a transparent electrode substrate 46.

Next, the transparent electrode substrate 46 is processed using the laser processing apparatus 50 shown in FIG. The laser processing device 50 includes a work table 52 on which the transparent electrode substrate 46 is placed, and an XY table 54 that supports the work table 52. The XY table 54 is
It has a fixed table 56 fixed to a base (not shown). The fixed table 56 supports a sliding table 58 so as to be able to reciprocate in the Y direction. In addition, the sliding table 58
Supports the work table 52 so as to be able to reciprocate in the X direction orthogonal to the Y direction. The work table 52 and the slide table 58 are each connected to a drive mechanism (not shown) (for example, a mechanism including a screw shaft and a screw, or a belt and a pulley).
And is connected to a motor (not shown) via a motor, and can reciprocate in the X and Y directions based on the driving of the corresponding motor.

Above the XY table 54, an optical system 60 having a laser oscillator 62 for periodically oscillating a laser beam 64 is arranged. For example, the laser oscillator 62
As an example, an AOQSW (electroacoustic optical element) was used.
A short pulse oscillation Nd: YAG laser can be suitably used. The optical system 60 also includes a variable collimator, a cylindrical collimator (both not shown), a mask 66, a total reflection mirror 68, and the like, for guiding the laser beam 64 oscillated by the laser oscillator 62 to the transparent electrode substrate 46. An image lens 70 is provided. The mask 66 has a slit-shaped rectangular opening 72 formed therein. The cross section of the laser beam 64 arriving at the mask 66 has, for example, a circular or elliptical shape 78, as described below.
The cross-sectional shape of the laser beam 64 that has passed through the opening 72 becomes rectangular due to the restriction by the opening 72 (FIG. 6).
(A)). The laser beam 64 that has passed through the opening 72 is
After being reflected by the total reflection mirror 68, the light is squeezed by the imaging lens 70 and is irradiated on the transparent electrode substrate 46. At this time, the spot shape of the laser beam 64 irradiated on the transparent electrode substrate 46, that is, the shape of the area of the transparent electrode substrate 46 irradiated with the laser beam 64 is limited by the opening 72 (FIG. 6). (See FIG. 6 (A)) (FIG. 6 (B)).

As described above, the transparent electrode thin film 44 is irradiated with the laser beam 64 emitted from the laser oscillator 62 at the laser processing point on the transparent electrode substrate 46. At the same time, the work table 52 is
Then, the transparent electrode substrate 46 is moved in the X and Y directions.
At this time, the oscillation (on / off) of the laser beam 64 is
Synchronous control is performed according to the relative speed of the XY table 54 in the X direction.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7A, in a rectangular laser beam 64 spot shape formed by being restricted by the mask 66, the directions of the two long sides are made to coincide with the X direction, and one pulse is applied. Is irradiated to the transparent electrode thin film 44 to form a thin film disappearing portion 73, and the corresponding portion of the front glass substrate 16 is exposed. Next, FIG.
As shown in (B), the transparent electrode substrate 46 is moved by the XY table 54 in the X direction by a predetermined distance (X-direction feed amount) δx, and the laser beam 64 for one pulse is again irradiated on the transparent electrode thin film 44. Thus, a thin film disappearing portion 73 is formed. Similarly, while moving the transparent electrode substrate 46 in the X direction,
Each time the transparent electrode substrate 46 is fed in the X direction by the feed amount δx in the X direction, one pulse of the laser beam 64 is irradiated on the transparent electrode thin film 44, and as shown in FIGS. 7C and 7D, A long groove 74 is formed in which the thin film disappearing portion 73 is continuous in the X direction.

In the X-direction feed amount δx, the irradiation area of the laser beam 64 for one pulse and the irradiation area of the laser beam 64 for the next one pulse overlap on the transparent electrode substrate 46 in the X direction. As a result, the thin-film disappearing portion 73 is set to be continuous with a certain width on the transparent electrode substrate 46. Note that, in FIG.
It is indicated by halftone dots.

When the thin film disappearance portion 73 having a predetermined length is formed in the X direction, the XY table 54 is moved a predetermined distance (Y
In the same manner as described above, a long groove 74 is formed in the X direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. The lost portion remains, and the undeleted portion is used as the transparent electrode 18. Thus, the transparent electrode 18 continuous in the X direction
Are formed in parallel at predetermined intervals in the Y direction.

In the gap between the transparent electrodes 18, that is, in the long groove 74, it is desirable that the accuracy be as high as possible. However, when the following situation occurs, it is prevented that the transparent electrode thin film 44 is accurately processed. . The power of the laser beam 64 is not appropriate. . The beam profile of the laser beam 64 is not appropriate. . The position of the transparent electrode substrate 46 is out of the focus position of the laser beam 64.

The above-mentioned situation ". The power of the laser beam 64 is not appropriate" will be described in detail. It is inevitable that the power of the laser beam 64 fluctuates due to the use time of the excitation lamp of the laser transmitter 62, the continuous operation time of the laser transmitter 62 itself, and the like. On the other hand, it cannot always be said that the thickness of the transparent electrode thin film 44 is constant to a strict level. In any of these cases, the power of the laser beam 64 becomes inappropriate. For example, if the power of the laser beam 64 is less than the required amount, the transparent electrode thin film 44 is completely removed, particularly at the peripheral portion where the power density of the irradiated laser beam 64 is low, that is, at the four corners of the rectangular laser beam 64. The power density is not enough to be removed. At this time, focusing on the thin-film disappearance portion 73 due to the laser beam 64 for one pulse, FIG.
(A) As shown in FIG.
3 'is formed. Further, the thin film disappearing portion 7
Even if 3 ′ is continuous, as shown in FIG.
A long groove 74 'in which a wavy line shape is mixed at the boundary cannot be obtained much, and as is apparent from the drawing, the accuracy of the shape of the long groove 74' tends to be insufficient.

Even if the above-mentioned inconveniences occur when the transparent electrode 18 is formed, inconveniences on the product due to these inconveniences can be found only in an inspection process after a considerable progress in the manufacturing process. That is, it becomes clear for the first time in the inspection process when the shape of the plasma display panel is substantially adjusted. This is a factor that lowers the “production yield” as a so-called panel, and is also an element that increases the manufacturing cost.

Therefore, in the present invention, at the time of forming the transparent electrode 18 or immediately before the formation thereof,
A thin film disappearing portion 73 is experimentally formed by one pulse of the laser beam 64, and its shape is directly checked to determine whether or not a desired accuracy standard is satisfied (a shape determining function). The obtained information (data) is fed back to the various functions constituting the laser processing apparatus 50 to automatically remove the above-mentioned situation where "the transparent electrode thin film 44 is prevented from being processed with high accuracy". The transparent electrode 18 is formed with high accuracy (feedback function). CCD camera 102 and image processing device 10 in FIG.
4, display device 106 and output control unit 108, position movement control unit (mask position movement control unit 110, imaging lens position movement control unit 112) and position movement drive unit (mask position movement drive unit 114 in FIG. 9) The imaging lens position movement drive unit 116) is a part for realizing the “shape determination function” and “feedback function” described above. The role of these parts will be described in detail below.

In the laser processing apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 5, a CCD camera 102 for minutely capturing an image of a thin film disappearance portion 73 formed by a laser beam 64 is provided inside or near the optical system 60. The thin film disappearance portion 73 formed by the laser beam 64 for one pulse (for example) is imaged by the CCD camera 102. Here, if it is an apparatus capable of capturing video data related to the thin film disappearance section 73,
It is possible to replace the CCD camera 102.
The imaged video data relating to the thin film disappearance section 73 is automatically sent to the image processing device 104. Image processing device 104
May be a computer having appropriate capabilities, for example.
The image processing device 104 determines the shape of the video data. Based on the determination, feedback control data for each part of the laser processing device 50 is formed, and a control unit related to each part of the laser processing device 50, for example, a laser output control unit 108 or a position movement control unit ( Mask position movement control unit 110, imaging lens position movement control unit 1
12). The laser output control unit 108 receives the feedback control data and
The power (density) of the laser beam 64 output from is adjusted. The mask position movement control unit 110 and the imaging lens position movement control unit 112 control the mask position movement drive unit 114 and the imaging lens position movement drive unit 116 in response to the feedback control data to form the image with the mask 66. The position of the image lens 70 is moved.

Subsequently, the image processing device 104 outputs the video data captured by the CCD camera 102 to the. Shape determination processing,. Is further described. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the order of one Embodiment of a shape determination process. The flowchart is implemented by a computer program (group) that runs on a computer that is the image processing apparatus 104.

In the flowchart of FIG. 10, first, "pre-processing" is performed on the captured video data having gradation (step S02). Here, noise on the video is removed. "Dilati" well known to those skilled in the art
on, expansion) and contraction (erosion, contrast)
It is desirable to use a method of “noise removal by the use of a“ tion, reduction ”).

Next, "binarization" processing is performed (step S).
04). When this process is performed, for example, in the thin film disappearance part 73 ′ shown in FIG. 8A, the pixel corresponding to the disappearance of the thin film becomes “1” (or “0”), The state becomes "0" (or "1"). In the binarization process, it is necessary to set a threshold value for separating “0” and “1” for each pixel having shading.
Both the variable threshold method and the fixed threshold method can be used. Both are known techniques.

Next, for the binarized video data,
An "outline extraction" process is performed (step S06). In the contour extraction processing, for example, a well-known “contour tracking method” can be used.

The image data relating to the thin film disappearance portion 73 from which the contour line has been extracted has a substantially quadrangular shape. Therefore, a "break point detection" process is performed to extract four corners (step S
08). Here, for example, a well-known “linear approximation method using a vector tracer that sets a plurality of vectors on a curve” can be used.

Next, a straight line approximation is performed for each point of the outline of each of the four sides between the folding points (step S10). In the straight line approximation processing, a least squares method (or the like) can be used.

Then, the shape of the video data relating to the thin-film disappearance portion 73 is determined (step S12). The following can be assumed as criteria. (1) If the sum of the squares of the distance between the approximate straight line and the outline of the side is equal to or more than a certain threshold value, it indicates that the thin film disappearing portion 73 has a barrel shape as shown in FIG. It is. (2) If the angle formed by the adjacent approximate straight lines is considerably larger than the right angle, it is impossible because the shape of the mask 66 is not accurately transferred. (3) Thin film vanishing part 7 defined by an approximate straight line (curve)
It is impossible if the area of No. 3 is apart from a certain value by a predetermined amount. As described above, it is desirable that any of the criteria be acceptable. The flowchart of FIG.
This shows a detailed specific example of the processing content of the above, and only when the above three determination criteria are acceptable,
The determination of "OK" is given as a whole.

Also, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the criteria are not limited to the above three criteria or a combination thereof. For example, a criterion (such as) for shape recognition by template matching using a template can be considered.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the sequence of one embodiment of the feedback instruction data forming process utilizing the shape determining process shown in FIG. The flowchart is implemented by a computer program (group) that runs on a computer that is the image processing apparatus 104.

First, the computer serving as the image processing device 104 gives an instruction to the laser beam output control unit 108 for forming the thin film disappearing portion 73 by one pulse of the laser beam (step S22). Upon receiving the instruction, the laser transmitter 62 emits one pulse of the laser beam 64. As a result, only one thin film disappearing portion 73 is provided for the transparent electrode thin film 46.
Is generated.

Next, the computer serving as the image processing device 104 gives the CCD camera 102 an instruction to image the thin film disappearance portion 73 (step S24). The image data is automatically taken into the image processing device 104.

Next, a process of judging the image data relating to the taken-in thin-film disappearance portion 73 is performed (step S2).
6). The details of this step are shown in detail in FIGS. 10, 11 and above.

Next (step S28), if the judgment of the taken image data relating to the thin film disappearance portion 73 is "OK", the process is terminated. If the determination is "impossible", the process proceeds to step S30 for feedback processing.

In step S30, the output control unit 108 is instructed to change the power (energy) of the laser beam. For example, in step S26, if it is determined that the area of the thin film disappearing portion 73 defined by the approximate straight line (curve) is smaller than a predetermined value by a predetermined amount or more, the power of the laser beep is increased by a small amount;・ If it is determined that the area is larger than a predetermined value by a predetermined amount or more, the laser beam
A change such as a small reduction in the power of the pump may be envisaged. After such a change, the processing for forming the thin-film disappearing portion 73 by one pulse of the laser beam is performed again,
The imaging process 3 and the determination process 3 are repeated. That is, the determination is repeated until the determination of the imaging data relating to the thin film disappearing portion 73 formed again becomes “OK”.

When the judgment of the imaging data relating to the thin film disappearance section 73 becomes “OK”, the processing is terminated.

In step S30, data for instructing the position of the mask 66 and the imaging lens 70 to be moved to align the position of the transparent electrode substrate 46 with the focal position of the laser beam 64 is transmitted to the mask position movement controller. The information may be provided to the image data 110 and the imaging lens position movement control unit 112. In step S30, data for instructing a change in the beam profile of the laser beam 64 may be instructed to the output control unit 108.

The “shape determination function” and “feedback function” described above are performed, for example, at the end of the transparent beam thin film 44 in FIG. It can be assumed that this is performed when performing “trial hitting”. That is, the shape of the thin-film disappearing portion 73 may be adjusted at the end portion where the thin film disappears reliably.

As shown in FIG. 3, each transparent electrode pair 4
2, the spatial pitch G1 of the two transparent electrodes 18 constituting
And the spatial pitch G2 between the adjacent transparent electrode pairs 42 is different, two masks each having an opening 72 having a slit width corresponding to each spatial pitch G1, G2 are prepared, and the XY table 54 is prepared. These masks are switched when is moved in the Y direction. Alternatively, when one mask is used, the narrow spatial pitch G1
When the transparent electrode thin film portion having a wide space pitch G2 is removed using this mask, the XY table 54 is slightly moved in the Y direction so that the electrode disappearance portions overlap in the Y direction. The laser beam may be irradiated a plurality of times.

The plasma display panel and the method of manufacturing the same have been described above. However, the above-described method of irradiating a substrate having a thin film with a laser beam for processing is not limited to the method of manufacturing a plasma display panel. The present invention can be widely applied to thin film processing techniques such as electrode processing.

[0055]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the method of manufacturing a plasma display panel according to the present invention, the number of manufacturing steps is much smaller, and the manufacturing method is simpler and smaller than the conventional method of forming a transparent electrode. Manufacturing equipment can be realized. Further, it is possible to easily cope with a change in mask design and the like, and it is possible to obtain a high-quality transparent electrode with little load on the environment.

In particular, a function is provided for judging the state of the shape of one thin-film disappearance portion 73 formed by one pulse of the laser beam until it reaches a minute level, and feeding the judgment result back to each part constituting the optical system 60. As a result, the accuracy of the shape of the transparent electrode can be improved, and therefore, the “production yield” as a so-called plasma display panel can be improved.
And the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a plasma display panel.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a front glass substrate provided with a transparent electrode.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged plan view of a transparent electrode formed on a front glass substrate.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a transparent electrode substrate used in a transparent electrode manufacturing process and a manufacturing process thereof.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a laser processing apparatus, and a block diagram of an image processing apparatus and a control unit related thereto.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between an opening of a mask and a cross section of a laser beam, and an enlarged plan view and a sectional view of a thin film disappearing portion formed on a thin film for a transparent electrode.

FIG. 7 is a diagram (1) illustrating a manufacturing step of a transparent electrode.

FIG. 8 is a diagram (2) illustrating a process for manufacturing a transparent electrode.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus and a control unit related thereto.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the order of one embodiment of a shape determination process.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a detailed specific example of a step of determining whether the shape of the thin film disappearance portion is acceptable or not.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a sequence of one embodiment of a feedback instruction data forming process.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Plasma display panel, 12 Front panel, 14 Rear panel, 16 Front glass substrate, 18
Transparent electrode, 20: bus electrode, 22: dielectric, 24: protective film, 26: rear glass substrate, 28: data electrode, 30 ...
Dielectric, 32 ... partition, 34 ... phosphor, 36 ... discharge space,
44: a thin film for a transparent electrode, 50: a laser processing device, 54:
XY table, 62 laser oscillator, 64 laser beam, 66 mask, 70 imaging lens, 72 opening
73: Thin film disappearance part, 74: Long groove, 80: Boundary side, 82
... Peripheral curve part, 102... CCD camera, 104... Image processing device, 106.
0: mask position movement control unit, 112: imaging lens position movement control unit, 114: mask position movement drive unit, 116: imaging lens position movement drive unit.

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification FI FI Theme Court II (Reference) // B23K 101: 36 B23K 101: 36 (72) Inventor Keizo Mori 1006 Kazuma Kazuma, Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Company F term (reference) 4E068 CD05 CD10 CE04 DA09 5C027 AA01 AA03 5C040 GC06 GC19 JA07 JA11 JA31 LA17 MA23 MA26

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A front substrate comprising: a front substrate; and a rear substrate disposed substantially parallel to the front substrate with a predetermined distance between the front substrate and a first substrate disposed on a rear surface of the front substrate facing the rear substrate. A plurality of transparent electrodes extending in parallel to the direction of, a bus electrode extending in parallel with the transparent electrode on the back surface of each transparent substrate, a dielectric layer covering these transparent electrodes and the bus electrode, and a dielectric layer A plurality of data electrodes extending in parallel in a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction on a front surface of the rear substrate facing the front substrate; and a data electrode between the adjacent data electrodes. In a plasma display panel provided with partition walls extending in parallel and phosphors provided between adjacent partition walls, a thin film for a transparent electrode is formed in a predetermined area on the back surface of a front substrate, and the thin film is periodically emitted from a laser oscillator. Laser beam,
(A) forming a transparent electrode by irradiating a shaping plate having an opening with a shaped laser beam formed through the opening to the transparent electrode thin film to form a transparent electrode;
While the front substrate is moved with respect to the shaped laser beam, a region to be irradiated with one shaped laser beam on the transparent electrode thin film and the next shaped laser beam emitted following the shaped laser beam Emitting a laser beam so that at least a part of the region to be irradiated overlaps the thin film portion for the transparent electrode, thereby continuously forming a long groove exposed on the front substrate in the first direction. (B) moving the irradiation position of the shaped laser beam to a place away from the formed long groove by a predetermined distance in the second direction after the step (a), and (c) step (a). ) And (b) are repeated to form a plurality of long grooves in parallel in the thin film for a transparent electrode, thereby forming a transparent electrode between each adjacent long grooves. Up A method for producing a plasma display panel, comprising: photographing one area described above, applying predetermined image processing, and determining the accuracy of the photographed area based on a predetermined standard. 2. An attribute of a laser beam is adjusted based on data obtained by determining the accuracy of one area irradiated with a laser beam after shaping based on a predetermined criterion,
The method of manufacturing a plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein the accuracy of an area irradiated with the shaped laser beam is improved. 3. The method for manufacturing a plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein the transparent electrode thin film is an ITO film or a Nesa film. 4. A laser processing method comprising: providing a thin film on a surface of a substrate; and irradiating the thin film with a periodically oscillated laser beam to form a continuous thin film disappearing portion in a predetermined direction. The laser beam is applied to the plate so that the surface is limited to the opening of the shaping plate and the laser beam is emitted after the shaping, and the thin film is irradiated with the shaped laser beam, and irradiated with the shaped laser beam. A method for photographing the one thin film disappeared portion formed by the method, applying predetermined image processing, and judging the accuracy of the photographed thin film disappeared portion based on a predetermined standard. 5. The laser beam after adjusting the attribute of the laser beam based on data obtained by determining the accuracy of one thin film erasure portion irradiated with the laser beam after shaping based on a predetermined standard. The laser processing method according to claim 4, wherein the accuracy of the thin film disappearance portion irradiated with the beam is improved. 6. The thin film for a transparent electrode according to claim 4, wherein the thin film is a thin film for a transparent electrode.
The laser processing method according to claim 5. 7. The laser processing method according to claim 6, wherein the transparent electrode thin film is an ITO film or a Nesa film.