JP2004081923A - Functional element substrate, image display, and its production apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To propose a novel production apparatus for forming a group of functional elements and a functional element substrate and to efficiently manufacture the substrate at a low cost. <P>SOLUTION: The droplets of a solution containing a functional material are ejected on a substrate, the volatile components of the solution are volatilized, and the group of the functional elements is formed by leaving the solid components on the substrate. An ejection means for ejecting the solution on the substrate comprises a plurality of multi-nozzle type ejection heads A-D for independently ejecting each solution of a plurality of kinds of solutions. In the ejection head, nozzle parts 65 for ejecting each solution independently are separated from each other, arranged at relative positions in the substrate, and carriage-mounted. The arrangement direction of multi-nozzles, as shown in Fig. (A) and (B), is arranged in non-parallel with the moving direction of a carriage during carriage-moving while ejecting. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to film formation of a functional material using an ejection device, and more particularly to a film pattern formation / manufacturing apparatus, a functional element substrate formed by the apparatus, and an image display apparatus using the functional element substrate.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, the development of a light emitting element using an organic material as a self-luminous display replacing a liquid crystal display has been accelerated. Such a light-emitting element is formed by patterning a functional material, and is generally performed by a photolithography method. For example, as an organic electroluminescence (hereinafter, referred to as organic EL) element using an organic substance, Appl. Phys. Lett. 51 (12), 21 September 1987, pages 913 et seq., A method of forming a film of a low molecular weight by a vapor deposition method has been reported. Further, in the organic EL element, as a means of colorization, a method of vapor-depositing and forming a different luminescent material on a desired pixel through a mask has been performed. However, such a method based on vacuum film formation and a method based on photolithography have drawbacks in that the number of steps is large and the production cost is high in order to form an element over a large area.
[0003]
In order to solve the problems described above, the present inventor has disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,060,429 in forming and patterning a functional material film for forming a functional element represented by the organic EL element as described above. U.S. Pat. No. 3,298,030; U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,275; U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,153; U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,120; U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,257; -It was thought that the functional material could be stably provided at a desired position at a good yield and at low cost without depending on the etching method or the like.
[0004]
For example, when an organic EL element is considered as an example of a functional element, a composition obtained by dissolving or dispersing a hole injecting / transporting material and a light emitting material constituting such an organic EL element in a solvent is ejected from an inkjet head. It was thought that this could be realized by patterning and coating the transparent electrode substrate and forming a pattern of the hole injection / transport layer and the light emitting material layer.
However, the idea of fabricating a functional element substrate by such means is still new, and it is not clear how to do it.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and a first object of the present invention is to propose a novel manufacturing apparatus for forming a functional element group and a functional element substrate as described above, An object of the present invention is to make it possible to efficiently manufacture an active element substrate at low cost.
A second object is to propose a functional element substrate manufactured by such a manufacturing apparatus.
Further, a third object is to propose another functional element substrate manufactured by such a manufacturing apparatus.
A fourth object is to propose an image display device using a low-cost functional element substrate manufactured by such a manufacturing apparatus.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, firstly, a functional element group that emits a function by inputting a predetermined drive signal is applied by spraying a droplet of a solution containing a functional material on a substrate. Then, in a device for manufacturing a functional element substrate formed by volatilizing a volatile component in the solution and leaving a solid content on the substrate, a solution containing a functional material is sprayed on the substrate. Injection means, a plurality of multi-nozzle-type ejection heads that independently eject a plurality of types of solutions for each solution, the nozzle portion that ejects for each of the plurality of types of solutions is configured to be separated for each solution, The ejection means is disposed at a position facing the substrate and is mounted on a carriage. The arrangement direction of the multi-nozzles of the multi-nozzle ejection head is such that the carriage moves when the carriage moves while ejecting. And as being the moving direction non-parallel arranged.
[0007]
Secondly, in the functional element substrate formed by the first functional element substrate manufacturing apparatus, the solution containing the plurality of types of functional materials contains an organic EL material that develops different colors. This was a dissolved solution.
[0008]
Thirdly, in the functional element substrate formed by the first functional element substrate manufacturing apparatus, the functional element group is formed by over-stripping a dot pattern with a solution containing a plurality of types of functional materials. It was formed by contact.
[0009]
Fourth, the image display device includes the second or third functional element substrate and a cover plate disposed to face the functional element substrate.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating the creation of a functional element when an organic EL element is considered as an example of the functional element. In this example, a transparent electrode pattern of ITO (indium tin oxide) divided in a mosaic shape is shown. 4 and a nozzle 1 so that a solution 2 in which an organic EL material emitting red, green and blue is dissolved is arranged in a mosaic of each color on the electrode of a glass substrate 5 with a barrier 3 surrounding the transparent electrode portion. The example which gives is shown. The composition of the solution is, for example, as follows.
[0011]
Solution composition
Solvent ・ ・ dodecylbenzene / dichlorobenzene (1/1, volume ratio)
Red: polyfluorene / perylene dye (98/2, weight ratio)
Green: polyfluorene / coumarin dye (98.5 / 1.5, weight ratio)
Blue: polyfluorene
[0012]
The ratio of the solid to the solvent is, for example, 0.4% (weight / volume). Here, the substrate provided with such a solution is heated, for example, at 100 ° C., and after removing the solvent, an appropriate metal mask is formed on the substrate, and aluminum is vapor-deposited at 2,000 Å (not shown); Lead wires are drawn out from ITO and aluminum, and the device is completed using ITO as an anode and aluminum as a cathode. With an applied voltage of about 15 volts, an element that emits red, green, and blue light in a predetermined shape can be obtained.
In addition, an element is formed by forming an electrode on a substrate first, spraying a droplet of such a solution later to volatilize a volatile component in the solution, and leaving a solid content on the substrate. Formation may be performed.
[0013]
The substrate constituting such an element can be formed into an image display device such as a self-luminous organic EL display by arranging a transparent cover plate such as glass or plastic and opposing the casing (packaging). .
Here, although an organic EL element is considered as an example of the functional element, it is not necessarily limited to such elements and materials. For example, when considering an electron-emitting device, a solution containing a palladium-based compound is used. In this case, the final form is an electron-emitting display in which a face plate provided with a phosphor is opposed to the electron-emitting device substrate and packaged. Further, an organic transistor or the like can be suitably manufactured as the functional element. In addition, a resist material for forming the barrier 3 in the above example is also used as the solution used in the present invention.
[0014]
Here, as a means for applying a solution containing a functional material as described above, an ink jet technique is applied in the present invention. The specific method will be described below.
FIG. 2 is a view for explaining an embodiment of the apparatus for manufacturing a functional element substrate according to the present invention. In the figure, 11 is an ejection head unit (ejection head), 12 is a carriage, 13 is a substrate holding table, 14 Is a substrate for forming a functional element, 15 is a supply tube for a solution containing a functional material, 16 is a signal supply cable, 17 is an ejection head control box, 18 is an X-direction scan motor of the carriage 12, and 19 is a Y direction scan motor, 20 is a computer, 21 is a control box, 22 (22X ₁ , 22Y ₁ , 22X ₂ , 22Y ₂ ) Is a substrate positioning / holding means.
[0015]
FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a droplet applying apparatus applied to the production of the functional element substrate of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part of a discharge head unit of the droplet applying apparatus of FIG. It is.
The configuration of FIG. 3 differs from the configuration of FIG. 2 in that the functional element group is formed on the substrate by moving the substrate 14 side. 3 and 4, 31 is a head alignment control mechanism, 32 is a detection optical system, 33 is an ejection head, 34 is a head alignment fine movement mechanism, 35 is a control computer, 36 is an image identification mechanism, 37 is an XY direction scanning mechanism, 38 is a position detection mechanism, 39 is a position correction control mechanism, 40 is an ejection head drive / control mechanism, 41 is an optical axis, 42 is an element electrode, 43 is a droplet, and 44 is a droplet landing position.
[0016]
The droplet applying device (ejection head 33) of the ejection head unit 11 may be any mechanism as long as it can discharge arbitrary droplets in a fixed amount, and particularly an inkjet type mechanism capable of forming droplets of several to several hundred pl. Is desirable.
Examples of the ink jet system include a system disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,683,212 (Zoltan system), a system disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,747,120 (Stemme system), and US Pat. No. 3,946,398. As described in the method (Kyser method), an electric signal is applied to the piezo-vibration element, and the electric signal is converted into a mechanical vibration of the piezo-vibration element. There is a type in which droplets are ejected and fly, which is generally called a drop-on-demand system.
[0017]
As another method, there is a method (Sweet method) disclosed in US Pat. No. 3,596,275, US Pat. No. 3,298,030, and the like. In this method, droplets of a recording liquid whose charge amount is controlled by a continuous vibration generation method are generated, and the generated droplets whose charge amount is controlled are passed between deflection electrodes to which a uniform electric field is applied. The recording is performed on the recording member by flying, and is usually called a continuous flow method or a charge control method.
[0018]
Further, as another method, there is a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-9429. In this method, bubbles are generated in a liquid, and droplets are ejected and fly from a fine nozzle by the action force of the bubbles. The method is called a thermal inkjet method or a bubble inkjet method. As described above, the method for ejecting the liquid droplets includes a drop-on-demand method, a continuous flow method, a thermal ink jet method, and the like.
[0019]
In the present invention, in the apparatus for manufacturing a functional element substrate as shown in FIG. 2, the substrate 14 is determined by adjusting the holding position by the substrate positioning / holding means 22 of the apparatus. Although simplified in FIG. 2, the substrate positioning / holding means 22 is in contact with each side of the substrate 14 and can be finely adjusted in the X direction and the Y direction orthogonal thereto in the order of μm. The control unit is connected to the ejection head control box 17, the computer 20, the control box 21, and the like, so that the positioning information and the fine adjustment displacement information and the like, and the position information and timing of the droplet application can be constantly fed back.
[0020]
Furthermore, the apparatus for manufacturing a functional element substrate of the present invention has a rotation position adjustment mechanism (not shown because it is located below the substrate 14) in addition to the position adjustment mechanisms in the X and Y directions. . In this regard, the shape of the functional element substrate of the present invention and the arrangement of the formed functional element groups will be described first.
[0021]
The functional element substrate of the present invention is made of quartz glass, glass with a reduced content of impurities such as Na, blue plate glass, SiO 2 ₂ And a ceramic substrate made of alumina or the like, on the surface of which is deposited. Also, various plastic substrates such as PET are preferably used for the purpose of weight reduction or flexibility. In any case, the shape of the substrate is rectangular (four sides at right angles) unlike economical production and supply of such a substrate or use of a functional element substrate to be finally manufactured, unlike an Si wafer. Shape). In other words, two vertical sides and two horizontal sides constituting the rectangular shape are substrates in which two vertical sides are parallel to each other, two horizontal sides are parallel to each other, and the vertical and horizontal sides are at right angles. .
[0022]
In the present invention, the functional element groups to be formed are arranged in a matrix with respect to the substrate as described above, and two orthogonal directions of the matrix correspond to the vertical side or the horizontal side of the substrate. The functional element groups are arranged so as to be parallel to the direction. The reason for arranging the functional element groups in a matrix and the reason for making the vertical and horizontal sides of the substrate parallel to two orthogonal directions of the matrix will be described below.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, according to the present invention, after the positional relationship between the substrate 14 and the solution ejection surface of the ejection head unit 11 is determined first, no particular position control is performed. That is, the ejection head unit 11 performs relative movement in the X and Y directions parallel to the surface on which the functional element group is formed while maintaining a certain distance from the substrate 14, and moves the solution (for example, an organic EL material, Alternatively, a solution in which a conductive material is dissolved, a resist material, or the like is sprayed. That is, the X direction and the Y direction are two directions orthogonal to each other, and when positioning the substrate, if the vertical side or the horizontal side of the substrate is set to be parallel to the Y direction or the X direction, Since the functional element groups to be formed are also parallel in the two directions of the matrix arrangement, high-precision element group formation can be performed only by a mechanism that performs ejection while performing relative movement. In other words, if the substrate shape and the matrix array of the functional element groups and the relative movement device in the two orthogonal X and Y directions as in the present invention are used, the positioning of the substrate before the droplet ejection for element formation is performed. This means that a highly accurate matrix-like arrangement of functional element groups can be obtained.
[0024]
Here, the description will return to the rotation position adjustment mechanism described above. As described above, in the present invention, the positioning of the substrate before the droplet ejection for element formation is performed accurately, the relative movement only in the X and Y directions is performed, and no other control is performed. The purpose is to obtain a matrix-like array of element groups. In this case, a problem is a deviation in a rotation direction (a rotation direction with respect to an axis perpendicular to a plane determined by the two directions X and Y) when the substrate is first positioned.
[0025]
In order to correct the deviation in the rotation direction, the present invention has a rotation position adjustment mechanism (not shown under the substrate 14 and not visible) as described above. Thus, when the deviation in the rotation direction is also corrected and the side of the substrate is positioned, the apparatus of the present invention can obtain a high-precision matrix-like arrangement of functional element groups by relative movement only in the X and Y directions.
[0026]
As described above, this rotation position adjusting mechanism is used as the substrate positioning / holding unit 22 (22X) of FIG. ₁ , 22Y ₁ , 22X ₂ , 22Y ₂ Although described as a mechanism separate from () and not visible under the substrate 14, the substrate positioning / holding means 22 may have a rotation position adjusting mechanism. For example, the substrate positioning / holding unit 22 is in contact with the side of the substrate 14 so that the position of the entire substrate positioning / holding unit 22 can be adjusted in the X direction or the Y direction. The angle can be adjusted by allowing two screws provided at a distance to move independently of each other at a portion of the substrate 22 that is in contact with the side of the substrate 14. The rotation position control information is also connected to the ejection head control box 17, the computer 20, the control box 21 and the like in the same manner as the above-described positioning information in the X and Y directions and the fine adjustment displacement information. Timing and the like can be constantly fed back.
[0027]
Next, other means and configurations for positioning according to the present invention will be described. In the above description, the substrate positioning / holding unit 22 is in contact with the side of the substrate 14 so that the position of the entire substrate positioning / holding unit 22 can be adjusted in the X direction or the Y direction. In the following, an example will be described in which strip-shaped patterns are provided not on the sides of the substrate 14 but in two directions orthogonal to each other on the substrate. As described above, in the present invention, a group of functional elements is formed on a substrate by arranging them in a matrix. It is formed so as to be parallel to the direction. Such a pattern can be easily formed on a substrate by a photofabrication technique.
[0028]
Alternatively, instead of forming the above-described pattern only for the purpose, the element electrodes 42 (see FIG. 4) and the wiring patterns such as the X-direction wiring and the Y-direction wiring of each element are orthogonal to each other according to the present invention. May be regarded as a two-way band pattern. If such a band-shaped pattern is provided, the pattern can be detected by a detection optical system 32 using a CCD camera and a lens, as described later with reference to FIG. 4, and can be fed back to position adjustment.
[0029]
Next, in the Z direction, which is a direction perpendicular to the X and Y directions, in the present invention, after the positional relationship between the substrate 14 and the solution ejection surface of the ejection head unit 11 is determined first, in particular, There is no position control. In other words, the ejection head unit 11 ejects the solution containing the functional material while performing relative movement in the X and Y directions while keeping a certain distance with respect to the substrate 14. Is not particularly controlled in the Z direction. The reason is that if the control is performed at the time of ejection, not only the mechanism and the control system become complicated, but also the formation of the functional element by applying the liquid droplets to the substrate 14 is delayed, and the productivity is significantly reduced. is there.
[0030]
Instead, in the present invention, the flatness of the substrate 14 and the flatness of the device holding the substrate 14 and the accuracy of a carriage mechanism and the like for relatively moving the ejection head unit 11 in the X and Y directions are improved. By doing so, the relative movement of the ejection head unit 11 and the substrate 14 in the X and Y directions is performed at high speed without performing the Z-direction control at the time of ejection, thereby improving productivity. As an example, the variation in the distance between the substrate 14 and the solution ejection surface of the ejection head unit 11 during application (injection) of the solution of the present invention is suppressed to 5 mm or less (the size of the substrate 14 is 200 mm × 200 mm or more). 4,000 mm × 4000 mm or less).
[0031]
Note that the device is usually configured so that the plane determined by the two directions of the X and Y directions is maintained horizontally (a plane perpendicular to the vertical direction), but when the substrate 14 is small (for example, 500 mm × 500 mm or less). In the case), it is not always necessary to make a plane determined by the two directions of X and Y horizontal, and the arrangement of the substrates 14 should be the most efficient positional relation for the device.
[0032]
Next, other embodiments of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. FIG. 3 shows an example in which the functional element substrate 14 is moved when the ejection head unit 11 and the substrate (functional element substrate) 14 are moved relative to each other, unlike the case of FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the ejection head unit 11 of the apparatus of FIG. 3 in an enlarged manner. First, in FIG. 3, reference numeral 37 denotes an XY-direction scanning mechanism, on which the functional element substrate 14 is mounted. The functional element on the substrate 14 has, for example, the same configuration as that of FIG. 1. As a single element, similarly to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the glass substrate 5 (corresponding to the functional element substrate 14), It comprises a barrier 3 and an ITO transparent electrode 4. The ejection head unit 11 for applying liquid droplets is located above the functional element substrate 14. In the present embodiment, the ejection head unit 11 is fixed, and the relative movement between the ejection head unit 11 and the functional element substrate 14 is realized by moving the functional element substrate 14 to an arbitrary position by the XY direction scanning mechanism 37. Is done.
[0033]
Next, the configuration of the ejection head unit 11 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 32 denotes a detection optical system which captures image information on the substrate 14, which is close to the ejection head 33 for ejecting the droplet 43 between the element electrodes 42, and which has the optical axis 41 and the focal position of the detection optical system 32. Are arranged so that the landing position 44 of the droplet 43 by the ejection head 33 matches. In this case, the positional relationship between the detection optical system 32 and the ejection head 33 shown in FIG. 3 can be precisely adjusted by the head alignment fine movement mechanism 34 and the head alignment control mechanism 31. The detection optical system 32 uses a CCD camera and a lens.
[0034]
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 36 denotes an image identification mechanism for identifying the image information captured by the detection optical system 32, and has a function of binarizing the contrast of the image and calculating the position of the center of gravity of the binarized specific contrast portion. It had. Specifically, a high-precision image recognition device VX-4210 manufactured by KEYENCE CORPORATION can be used. A means for giving the position information on the functional element substrate 14 to the obtained image information is the position detection mechanism 38. For this, a length measuring device such as a linear encoder provided in the XY direction scanning mechanism 37 can be used. A position correction control mechanism 39 performs position correction based on the image information and the position information on the functional element substrate 14, and the movement of the XY direction scanning mechanism 37 is corrected by this mechanism. Can be Further, the ejection head 33 is driven by the inkjet head control / drive mechanism 40, and droplets are applied onto the functional element substrate 14. The above-described control mechanisms are centrally controlled by the control computer 35.
[0035]
In the above description, the ejection head unit 11 is fixed, and the relative movement between the ejection head unit 11 and the functional element substrate 14 is performed by moving the functional element substrate 14 to an arbitrary position by the XY direction scanning mechanism 37. However, needless to say, as shown in FIG. 2, the functional element substrate 14 may be fixed and the ejection head unit 11 may scan in the XY directions. In particular, when the present invention is applied to the production of a medium-sized substrate of about 200 mm × 200 mm to a large substrate of 2000 mm × 2000 mm or more, the functional element substrate 14 is fixed as in the latter case, and the X, Y It is preferable that the scanning is performed in the two directions described above, and the application of the solution droplets is sequentially performed in such two orthogonal directions.
[0036]
Conversely, for example, when a light plastic substrate is used and the size of the substrate is 200 mm × 200 mm to 400 mm × 400 mm, the paper transport of the inkjet printer may be performed. That is, the ejection head unit 11 mounted on the carriage 12 is scanned only in the X direction (or only in the Y direction), and the substrate is transported in the Y direction (or X direction). In that case, productivity is remarkably improved.
[0037]
When the substrate size is about 200 mm × 200 mm or less, the ejection head unit for applying droplets is of a large array multi-nozzle type capable of covering a range of 200 mm, and the relative movement between the ejection head unit and the substrate is perpendicular to two directions ( It is also possible to perform the relative movement only in one direction (for example, only the X direction) without performing the movement in the X direction and the Y direction, and to improve the mass productivity, but the substrate size is 200 mm × 200 mm. In the above case, it is difficult to technically and costly to manufacture a large-array multi-nozzle type ejection head unit that can cover such a range of 200 mm. Are scanned in two orthogonal directions, X and Y, and the application of the liquid droplets is sequentially performed in the two orthogonal directions. It is better to adopt a configuration in which
[0038]
In particular, as a final substrate, even when a substrate smaller than 200 mm × 200 mm is manufactured, when a plurality of large substrates are to be manufactured, the original substrate is 400 mm × 400 mm or more. Since a size of 2000 mm × 2000 mm or more is used, the ejection head unit 11 is made to scan in two orthogonal directions, X and Y, and the application of the solution droplet is performed in the two orthogonal directions. It is better to adopt a configuration in which the operations are performed sequentially.
[0039]
The material of the droplet 43 may be, for example, a polyphenylenevinylene-based (polyparaphenylenevinylene-based derivative), a polyphenylene-based derivative, or a low-molecular-weight organic material soluble in a benzene derivative, in addition to the organic EL material described above. Materials such as an EL material, a polymer organic EL material, and polyvinyl carbazole can be used. Specific examples of the organic EL material include rubrene, perylene, 9,10-diphenylanthracene, tetraphenylbutadiene, Nile Red, coumarin 6, quinacridone, and polythiophene derivatives. In addition, electron transporting and hole transporting materials, which are peripheral materials in organic EL displays, are also used as functional materials for manufacturing the functional element of the present invention.
[0040]
In addition to the above, as a functional material for producing another functional element of the present invention, a precursor of silicon glass for an interlayer insulating film often used in semiconductors or the like, or a silica glass forming material can be cited. Examples of such a precursor include polysilazane (for example, manufactured by Tonen), an organic SOG material, and the like. Further, an organometallic compound may be used.
[0041]
Still another example is a material for a color filter. Specifically, Sumika Red B (trade name, dye manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.), Kayaron Fast Yellow GL (trade name, dye manufactured by Nippon Kayaku), Diaserine Fast Brillian Blue B (trade name, dye manufactured by Mitsubishi Kasei), etc. A sublimation dye or the like can be used.
[0042]
In the solution composition of the present invention, the benzene derivative preferably has a boiling point of 150 ° C. or higher. Specific examples of such a solvent include O-dichlorobenzene, m-dichlorobenzene, 1,2,3-trichlorobenzene, O-chlorotoluene, p-chlorotoluene, 1-chloronaphthalene, bromobenzene, and O-dibromo. Examples thereof include benzene and 1-dibromonaphthalene. The use of these solvents is preferable because volatilization of the solvent can be prevented. These solvents are suitable because of their high solubility in aromatic compounds. It is preferable that the solution composition of the present invention contains dodecylbenzene. As dodecylbenzene, n-dodecylbenzene may be used alone, or a mixture of isomers may be used.
[0043]
This solvent has a characteristic of a boiling point of 300 ° C. or more and a viscosity of 6 cp or more (20 ° C.). This solvent may be used alone, but when added to another solvent, volatilization of the solvent can be effectively prevented and the solvent is preferably used. is there. In addition, since the viscosity of the above solvents other than dodecylbenzene is relatively small, the viscosity can be adjusted by adding this solvent, which is very preferable. According to the present invention, there is provided a method for forming a functional film in which the above-described solution composition is supplied onto a substrate by a discharge device by discharging, and then the substrate is processed at a temperature higher than the temperature at the time of discharging to form a film. The discharge temperature is room temperature, and it is preferable to heat the substrate after the discharge. By performing such a treatment, the content deposited due to the evaporation of the solvent at the time of ejection and the decrease in temperature are redissolved, and a uniform and uniform functional film can be obtained.
[0044]
In the above-described method for producing a functional film, it is preferable that, after the discharge composition is supplied onto a substrate by a discharge device, when the substrate is processed to a temperature higher than the discharge temperature, the substrate is heated while being pressed. By performing such treatment, volatilization of the solvent during heating can be delayed, and the re-dissolution of the content is further promoted. As a result, a uniform and uniform functional film can be obtained. In the above-described method for producing a functional film, it is preferable that the pressure be reduced immediately after the high-temperature treatment of the substrate to remove the solvent. By performing such treatment, phase separation of the contents at the time of concentration of the solvent can be prevented.
[0045]
In any material, or functional element, the present invention volatilizes a volatile component in a solution and forms an element by allowing a solid to remain on the substrate, and this solid is used for each of the solids. The solvent (volatile component) is used to generate the function of the element, and is a vehicle for ejecting and applying droplets based on the ink jet principle.
[0046]
When the droplet 43 is applied to a desired element electrode portion by the ejection head unit (ejection head) 11, the position to be applied is measured by the detection optical system 32 and the image identification mechanism 36, and the measurement data and the ejection head Correction coordinates are generated based on the distance between the ejection opening surface of the unit (ejection head) 11 and the functional element substrate 14 and the moving speed of the carriage, and the ejection head unit (ejection head) 11 is moved in the X and Y directions according to the correction coordinates. The liquid droplets are applied to the front surface of the functional element substrate 14 while being moved. As the detection optical system 32, a combination of a CCD camera or the like and a lens is used, and as the image identification mechanism 36, a commercially available one that binarizes an image and obtains the position of the center of gravity can be used.
[0047]
As described above, in the present invention, the ejection head unit (ejection head) 11 is parallel to the functional element substrate 14 in the X direction (or Y direction, or two directions of X and Y) while maintaining a certain distance. In step (1), the solution is ejected while moving the carriage to form a functional element group. At this time, if the carriage movement is stopped and the ejection is performed each time the solution for forming each element is ejected, a highly accurate element group can be formed. However, since the productivity is remarkably reduced, the solution is sequentially jetted without stopping the carriage movement as described above.
[0048]
Next, a liquid jet head suitably applied to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This example is an example of seven nozzles as shown in FIG. 6, and this liquid jet head 11 has a piezo element 46 as an energy acting part in a flow path 45 into which a solution 56 is introduced. When a pulse-like signal voltage is applied to the piezo element 46 to distort the piezo element 46 as shown in FIG. 5A, the volume of the flow path 45 decreases and a pressure wave is generated. A droplet 43 is ejected from the nozzle 1. FIG. 5B shows a state in which the distortion of the piezo element 46 is eliminated and the volume of the flow channel 45 is increased.
[0049]
Here, the solution 56 introduced into the flow channel 45 immediately before the nozzle 1 has passed through the filter 57 as shown in FIG. In the present invention, as described above, the filter 57 is provided in the ejection head 11 and the filter removal function is provided in the vicinity of the nozzle 1. Such a filter 57 can be incorporated in the ejection head 11 as shown in FIG. 6 by using a small simple filter. And the injection head 11 itself can also be made compact. As such a filter 57, for example, a stainless steel mesh filter is suitably used, and the pore size (filter mesh size) is set to 0.5 μm to 2 μm.
[0050]
Next, another example of the liquid jet head suitably applied to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This example is an example of a thermal type (bubble type) liquid ejecting head. The liquid ejecting head shown here is of a type in which droplets are ejected from an end of a flow path through which a solution flows, and is called an edge shooter type. Here, an example is shown in which the number of nozzles of the liquid ejecting head is four. This liquid ejecting head is formed by joining a heating element substrate 66 and a lid substrate 67 shown in FIG. 7B as shown in FIG. 7A, and the heating element substrate 66 is made of a silicon substrate. An individual electrode 69, a common electrode 70, and a heating element 71, which is an energy action section, are formed on the wafer 68 by a wafer process. Note that FIG. 7C shows the cover substrate 67 shown in FIG. 7B upside down.
[0051]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7 (C), the lid substrate 67 contains a groove 74 for forming a flow path into which a solution containing a functional material is introduced, and a solution to be introduced into the flow path. A recessed region 75 for forming a common liquid chamber is formed, and the heating element substrate 66 and the lid substrate 67 are joined as shown in FIG. A common liquid chamber is formed. In a state where the heating element substrate 66 and the lid substrate 67 are joined, the heating element 71 is located on the bottom surface of the flow path, and the end of the flow path is provided with the solution introduced into these flow paths. A nozzle 65 for discharging a part as a droplet is formed. Here, the nozzle shape is rectangular, but this may be round. The lid substrate 67 is provided with a solution inlet 76 for supplying a solution into a supply liquid chamber by a supply unit (not shown).
[0052]
In the present invention, one functional element is formed by a plurality of droplets, or a pattern for forming a functional element or the like is formed by overlapping or contacting dots with a plurality of droplets. Therefore, when such a multi-nozzle type liquid ejecting head is used, a functional element can be formed very efficiently. In this example, a liquid ejecting head having four nozzles is shown. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to four nozzles. Needless to say, the larger the number of nozzles, the more efficient the formation of the functional element. No. However, this does not mean that simply increasing the number of the nozzles increases the cost of the liquid ejecting head and increases the probability of failure due to clogging of the ejection nozzles. (The balance between cost and production efficiency of functional elements).
[0053]
FIG. 8 is a view of the multi-nozzle type liquid ejecting head manufactured as described above as viewed from the nozzle side. In the present invention, such a multi-nozzle type liquid ejecting head is provided for each solution to be ejected and mounted on a carriage as shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a perspective view thereof.
[0054]
9 and 10, the multi-nozzle type liquid ejecting heads are denoted by A, B, C, and D. However, each of the liquid ejecting heads A, B, C, and D has a nozzle portion. A solution containing a functional material of a different type is ejected for each liquid ejecting head, while being configured separately for each liquid ejecting head.
[0055]
9 and 10 show examples in which each of the multi-nozzle type liquid ejecting heads according to the present invention is configured as an integrated head unit. Conceivable. In this example, one common nozzle plate 80 is used. However, different solutions are mixed between the adjacent nozzle plates along the surface of the common single nozzle plate, and the mixed solution is sprayed. When such a functional element is manufactured, there is a problem that the function expression is impaired or an element of poor quality is produced.
[0056]
An example as shown in FIG. 11 is used as an ink jet printer head. In the case of an ink jet printer, different inks are supposedly mixed along the surface of a common nozzle plate between adjacent ink jet printers. Even if the mixed ink is ejected, even if the image quality is slightly inferior, it does not matter much. This is because, in the case of ink jet, an image recorded on paper is not a functional element that performs functions as in the present invention.
[0057]
Therefore, such an integrated head unit having one common nozzle plate is used, but it is difficult to apply the present invention to the present invention. The reason is that the present invention uses such a multi-nozzle type liquid ejecting head to eject a solution containing a different type of functional material with each liquid ejecting head to manufacture a functional element substrate. However, unlike the ink jet recording, the functional element substrate finally manufactured has functions, such as an organic EL element and an organic transistor, respectively. Accordingly, if impurities are mixed in the formed element, the element performance naturally deteriorates, and the element cannot be used.
[0058]
In view of the above, in the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, each liquid ejecting head is configured such that the nozzle portion is separated for each liquid ejecting head. In other words, in the present invention, each liquid ejecting head is formed independently and then formed as a unit. However, since the nozzle portion is independent for each liquid ejecting head, the solution does not go next to it ( In the case of a common single nozzle plate structure as shown in FIG. 11, there is a high risk that the solution will move, adhere, and mix next to the nozzle plate surface.)
[0059]
In order to more effectively realize the idea of the present invention as described above, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, in a form in which each liquid ejecting head is completely separated, for example, a gap is provided between each liquid ejecting unit. What is necessary is just to unitize in a form.
[0060]
Next, other features of the present invention will be described. FIG. 13 shows the movement direction of the carriage when the carriage is mounted with the multi-nozzle type liquid ejecting head unit of the present invention shown in FIG. 9 while ejecting a solution containing a functional material, and the multi-nozzle type. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between an ejection head and an arrangement direction of multi-nozzles.
FIG. 13A shows an example in which the multi-nozzle arrangement direction of one type of ejection head is substantially perpendicular to the carriage movement direction, and FIG. 13B shows a slight angle with respect to the perpendicular direction. It is an example.
[0061]
On the other hand, in the examples of FIGS. 14 and 15, unlike the present invention, the multi-nozzle arrangement direction is parallel to the moving direction of the carriage, but this may impair the compactness of the head unit. (FIG. 14), the injection efficiency is poor (in the case of FIGS. 14 and 15, in this example, one type of solution must be driven in groups of four nozzles and the carriage must be moved in group units). There is a problem.
[0062]
In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 13, the arrangement direction of the multi-nozzles of the multi-nozzle type ejection head is arranged so as to be non-parallel to the moving direction of the carriage when the carriage moves while ejecting. By doing so, the disadvantages shown in the examples of FIGS. 14 and 15 can be solved, a compact head unit can be realized, and a certain type of solution can be ejected in response to continuous movement of the carriage. What is necessary is just to drive two ejection heads appropriately and to inject as needed, and the control for every group unit is not required as mentioned above.
[0063]
In the example shown in FIG. 13B, there is an advantage that the injection density can be higher than the nozzle row arrangement density, and the ejection head in which the nozzles cannot be arranged at high density (for example, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6). This is effective when a liquid jet head using a piezo element is used.
[0064]
Next, an example of conditions in the case where an organic EL element is formed as a functional element by actually injecting a solution using the above-described manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described below.
The ejecting head used was a drop-on-demand type liquid ejecting head using a piezo element as shown in FIG. 6, and was a multi-nozzle type having a nozzle diameter of 22 μm and 32 nozzles. The nozzle array density was 200 dpi, one-row array. Three of these were stacked and mounted on a carriage with an inclination as shown in FIG. 13 (B). The angle of inclination was such that 32 multi-nozzle rows made an angle of 45 ° with respect to the direction in which the carriage was scanned while jetting. As a result, the density at which the solution was applied as dots on the substrate could be about 283 dpi.
[0065]
The solutions used were the following three types of solutions. In the mixed solution of O-dichlorobenzene / dodecylbenzene, solution 1 was polyfluorene / perylene dye (98/2, weight ratio), and solution 2 was poly. Solution 3 is a solution in which fluorene / coumarin dye (98.5 / 1.5, weight ratio) is mixed with 0.1% by weight of polyfluorene.
[0066]
The input voltage to the piezo element was 24 V, and the driving frequency was 12 kHz. At that time, 8 m / s was obtained as the initial jet velocity, and the mass of one drop was 4 pl. The carriage scanning speed (X direction) was 5 m / s. The distance between the ejection head nozzle and the substrate was 3 mm.
[0067]
In addition, the shape of the droplet at the time of droplet flight is separately jetted and observed under the same conditions as the element formation, and the shape is changed to a substantially round droplet immediately before adhering to the substrate surface (3 mm in the present invention example). Injection was performed by controlling the drive waveform. In addition, even if a perfectly round spherical shape was not obtained and the column shape was extended in the flight direction, the drive waveform was controlled to make the length within three times the diameter. In this case, a driving condition (driving waveform) that does not involve a plurality of fine droplets behind the flying droplet was selected.
Thereafter, a lead wire was pulled out from ITO and aluminum, and a voltage of 10 V was applied using ITO as an anode and aluminum as a cathode. As a result, red, green, and blue light emission was successfully obtained.
Note that the present invention is not limited to the example of the drop-on-demand type ink jet head using such a piezo element, and it goes without saying that the jet head based on the thermal ink jet principle can be suitably used.
[0068]
By the way, FIG. 1 shows an example in which droplets are jetted into the barrier 3 first. However, in forming the functional element group of the present invention, the barrier 3 as shown in FIG. It is not necessary to form the electrode pattern directly on the substrate on the flat plate, or to form the functional element by applying droplets. FIG. 4 shows a diagram in which the droplets are ejected obliquely to the substrate surface. This is because the droplets fly obliquely in order to show the detection optical system 32 and the ejection head 33 together. However, in practice, the spray may be applied so as to hit the substrate almost perpendicularly.
[0069]
In the description, a light-emitting element is formed as a functional element. However, the formed light-emitting element substrate is then disposed with a transparent cover plate made of glass, plastic, or the like, and then casing (packaging). Thereby, it is utilized as a display device.
In addition to simply applying the present invention to a display device, an organic transistor or the like as a functional element is suitably manufactured using the method of the present invention. Further, the present invention is also applied to a case where a three-dimensional structure is formed by a resist pattern or a resist material by using a resist material or the like as a spray solution, and the functional element according to the present invention is defined as such a resist material. It also includes a film pattern or a three-dimensional structure formed of such a resin material.
[0070]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, a functional element group that emits a function by inputting a predetermined drive signal sprays droplets of a solution containing a functional material on a substrate, and volatilizes volatile components in the solution. In the apparatus for manufacturing a functional element substrate formed by allowing a solid content to remain on the substrate, a jetting unit for jetting a solution containing a functional material onto the substrate comprises a plurality of types of solutions. A plurality of multi-nozzle ejection heads that eject independently for each, a nozzle portion that ejects for each of the plurality of types of solutions is configured to be separated for each solution, and is disposed at a position facing the substrate, The ejection means is mounted on a carriage, and the arrangement direction of the multi-nozzles of the multi-nozzle ejection head is arranged non-parallel to the movement direction of the carriage when the carriage moves while ejecting. As a result, a new and compact manufacturing apparatus for forming a functional element group and a functional element substrate can be proposed, and this apparatus can efficiently produce a high-performance functional element substrate at low cost. It became so.
[0071]
In addition, since the solution containing the plurality of types of functional materials is a solution in which organic EL materials each emitting a different color are dissolved, a functional element substrate capable of emitting color light can be easily realized.
[0072]
In addition, since a functional element substrate is manufactured by using a solution containing a plurality of types of functional materials and overprinting or contacting a dot pattern with the solution, the functional element substrate can be formed by a simple method without using complicated photolithography. It has become possible to realize a flexible element substrate.
[0073]
Further, since the functional element substrate manufactured efficiently and at low cost as described above is used for an image display device, a low-cost image display device can be obtained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing one step of producing a functional element using a discharge composition according to an example of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view for explaining an embodiment of the functional element substrate manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a droplet applying apparatus applied to manufacture of a functional element substrate of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a main part of a discharge head unit of the droplet applying apparatus shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the principle of droplet ejection of an ejection head utilizing a piezo element which is suitably used in the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a view showing the structure of a jet head utilizing a piezo element which is suitably used in the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a thermal (bubble) liquid jet head suitably applied to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a view of the multi-nozzle type liquid ejecting head as viewed from the nozzle side.
FIG. 9 is a view in which a multi-nozzle type liquid ejecting head is stacked and unitized for each solution to be ejected.
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a head unitized as in FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a unitized head having one common nozzle plate.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example in which each liquid ejecting head is unitized in a separated form.
FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the moving direction of the carriage and the arrangement direction of the multi-nozzles.
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a multi-nozzle arrangement direction is parallel to a moving direction of a carriage.
FIG. 15 is a view showing another example in which the multi-nozzle arrangement direction is made parallel to the moving direction of the carriage.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... (Liquid ejection head) Nozzle, 2 ... Organic EL material (solution), 3 ... Barrier, 4 ... ITO transparent electrode, 5 ... Glass substrate, 11 ... Ejection head unit (ejection head), 12 ... Carriage, 13 ... Substrate Holder, 14 ... substrate, 15 ... supply tube for solution containing functional material, 16 ... signal supply cable, 17, 21 ... control box, 18 ... X direction scan motor, 19 ... Y direction scan motor, 20 ... computer , 22: substrate positioning / holding means, 31: head alignment control mechanism, 32: detection optical system, 33: ejection head, 34: head alignment fine movement mechanism, 35: control computer, 36: image identification mechanism, 37: XY direction scanning Mechanism, 38: position detection mechanism, 39: position correction control mechanism, 40: inkjet head drive / control mechanism, 41: light Reference numerals 42, Device electrodes, 43 Drops, 44 Drop landing positions, 45 Flow paths, 46 Piezo elements, 56 Solutions, 57 Filters, 65 Nozzles, 66 Heating element substrates, 67 Lid substrates 68, a silicon substrate, 69, an individual electrode, 70, a common electrode, 71, a heating element, 74, a groove, 75, a concave area, 76, a solution inlet, 80, a nozzle plate.

Claims (4)

A functional element group that emits a function by inputting a predetermined drive signal sprays and applies droplets of a solution containing a functional material on a substrate, volatilizes volatile components in the solution, and solidifies the solid component. In a device for manufacturing a functional element substrate formed by remaining on a substrate, there is provided a jetting unit for jetting a solution containing a functional material on the substrate, and the jetting unit is used for jetting a plurality of types of solutions. Each comprising a plurality of multi-nozzle-type ejection heads independently ejecting, the multi-nozzle-type ejection head is configured such that a nozzle portion that ejects for each of the plurality of types of solutions is separated for each solution, The multi-nozzles are arranged at a position facing the substrate and mounted on the carriage, and the arrangement direction of the multi-nozzles is arranged non-parallel to the movement direction of the carriage when the carriage moves while ejecting. Apparatus for manufacturing a functional element substrate according to claim. A functional element substrate on which a functional element group formed by the functional element substrate manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 is formed, wherein the solutions containing the plurality of types of functional materials have different colors, respectively. A functional element substrate, which is a solution in which a color-forming organic EL material is dissolved. A functional element substrate on which a functional element group formed by the functional element substrate manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the functional element group is a solution containing a plurality of types of functional materials. A functional element substrate characterized by being formed by overlapping or contacting a dot pattern according to claim 1. An image display device comprising: the functional element substrate according to claim 2; and a cover plate disposed to face the functional element substrate.

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