JP2005122947A - Manufacturing method of transparent thin-film electrode, film forming device, and manufacturing method of plasma display panel and plasma display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method of a transparent thin-film electrode capable of preventing a transparent conductive film from reduction of film thickness and increase of resistance, and realizing the transparent thin-film electrode with high precision and high quality even when a lift-off method is applied. <P>SOLUTION: The manufacturing method of the transparent thin-film electrode comprises a process of forming a pattern 22 made of a resist layer in an intended shape on a substrate 1a, a process of uniformly forming a first transparent conductive film layer 23 on the substrate including the resist layer, a process of uniformly forming a second transparent conductive film layer 24 on the first transparent conductive film layer, and a process of forming a transparent electrode 2 having an intended pattern made of the transparent conductive film layer superposed on the substrate, by removing the resist layer together with the respective transparent conductive film layers superposed thereon. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a transparent thin film electrode in a plasma display panel (PDP), and further includes a film forming apparatus for manufacturing the transparent thin film electrode, a method for manufacturing a plasma display panel, and a plasma display device. It relates to a manufacturing method.

  The plasma display device has a feature that it is thinner than a conventionally used cathode ray tube (CRT) display device or the like, and has a large screen structure compared with a liquid crystal display device or the like. And has advantages such as high response speed. Therefore, in recent years, it has been widely used as a television receiver and other display devices.

Among these, in an AC plasma display panel (AC-PDP) in which an electrode is covered with a dielectric layer and operated in an AC discharge state, in order to increase the aperture ratio of the display surface, A transparent electrode made of a thin film transparent conductive film such as indium oxide-tin (ITO) is used.
This type of transparent electrode is generally formed by forming a transparent conductive film on the entire surface of a substrate such as glass and performing etching using a resist layer having a pattern formed by photolithography as a mask to form a desired shape, or The transparent conductive film is uniformly formed on the substrate including the patterned resist layer, and then the resist layer is removed to form a transparent electrode having a desired shape.

  FIG. 13 is a process diagram for explaining a transparent electrode manufacturing method by a conventional etching method. In this manufacturing method, first, a transparent conductive film 112 made of ITO is formed on the entire surface of a glass substrate 111 as shown in (a), and then a transparent conductive film made of ITO as shown in (b). A resist layer is formed on 112, exposed and developed, and processed into a resist layer 113 having a desired shape. Next, as shown in (c), an unnecessary portion of the transparent conductive film 112 is removed using an etching solution made of hydrochloric acid (HCL) or the like, and then the resist layer 113 is removed as shown in (d). Thus, the transparent electrode 114 having a desired shape is obtained.

  FIG. 14 is a process diagram for explaining a transparent electrode manufacturing method by a conventional lift-off method. In this manufacturing method, first, as shown in (a), a resist layer 122 is formed on a glass substrate 121, exposed to light and developed, and processed into a desired shape. Next, as shown in (b), a transparent conductive film 123 made of ITO is formed on the entire surface of the substrate including the resist layer 122. Next, as shown in (c), the resist layer 122 is removed to obtain a transparent electrode 124 having a desired shape.

In recent years, the analysis of the surface discharge phenomenon in the AC-PDP has progressed, and the shape of the surface discharge electrodes such as the scan electrode and the sustain electrode has been optimized.
FIG. 15 exemplifies the shape of the transparent electrode in the AC-PDP, and various shaped panels such as the illustrated rectangular electrode 132 and T-shaped electrode 133 have been put into practical use. Compared with the case of the conventional strip electrode 131, the light emission efficiency is improved.

By the way, in this type of technology, the adhesion between the substrate and the transparent electrode is important. If the adhesion is low, the transparent electrode is easily peeled off from the substrate, which causes a problem in the reliability of the plasma display panel.
As a technique for improving the adhesion in such a case, a plasma processing technique has been proposed. For example, in Patent Document 1, a polymer material layer that is a laminated material of a circuit board is subjected to surface treatment with low-temperature plasma to roughen the surface, and the adhesion strength of the metal layer formed thereon to the substrate is increased. Technology to enhance has been proposed.
Also in Patent Document 2, a technique is proposed in which surface treatment of a substrate is performed by RF (high frequency) plasma or glow discharge, and adhesion of a metal film formed thereon to the substrate is improved.

In the case of a manufacturing method using the lift-off method, the conductive layer is formed on the entire surface of the substrate including the resist layer, so that the resist layer is covered with the conductive layer. In such a state, the resist layer In this removal process, the resist removal solution is blocked by the conductive film, so that it is difficult to reach the resist layer, and the removal process takes time.
On the other hand, a plasma processing technique for shortening the resist removal time has been proposed. For example, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for improving reachability of a resist remover to a resist layer by forming plasma on the surface of the resist layer to form irregularities on the surface of the resist layer.

JP-A-6-69644 ([0009] to [0012]) JP 63-160394 A (2nd page, lower left column, lines 13 to 15) JP-A-10-92302 ([0014])

Since the above-described pattern formation method by the lift-off method does not include an etching process, it is considered to be very advantageous from the viewpoint of simplification of the process. However, when the lift-off method is used, a conductive film is formed on the entire surface including the resist, so the gas generated from the resist layer during film formation reduces the thickness of the transparent conductive film and increases the resistance based on the film quality change. Problems occur.
In addition, a cathode material made of a metal or a compound scattered from the surface of the cathode into the space by the impact of gas ions is adsorbed and deposited on the substrate that is the anode by a high voltage, and a sputtering method for obtaining a thin film, When forming a transparent conductive film made of an ITO film or the like using a thermal CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method in which a chemical reaction is caused by thermal energy to produce a solid material such as a thin film, the substrate temperature is set to 200 to 500 ° C. Although the resist layer is generally composed of a photosensitive organic material, if the substrate temperature when forming the transparent conductive film is increased, the resist layer may be altered and difficult to remove, or the resist layer may be removed. Problems such as ashing and pattern collapse occur.
In order to avoid this, it is necessary to set the substrate temperature low. However, if the substrate temperature is lowered, the amount of gas generated from the resist layer during film formation increases, and the film thickness of the transparent conductive film decreases and the film quality changes. The problem of high resistance due to the above becomes remarkable.

Moreover, the degree of the phenomenon of high resistance due to the decrease in film thickness and the change in film quality of the transparent conductive film varies depending on the electrode shape.
The conventional strip electrode 131 shown in FIG. 15 has a simple shape and a wide electrode width. Therefore, the gas released from the resist layer has a relatively small influence on the conductive film. Since the surface discharge electrode is isolated for each light emitting cell, such as the mold electrode 133, and the shape is complicated and the electrode width is narrow, the influence of the released gas from the resist layer on the conductive film is extremely However, the problems of a decrease in the thickness of the conductive film and an increase in resistance due to a change in film quality have become more prominent.

  Although the screen printing method can be said to be the simplest method, it is difficult to apply in the case of high definition because the patterning accuracy is lower than that of the photolithography method. In addition, when the above-described conventional plasma treatment is adopted, the problem of the degree of adhesion of the transparent electrode film to the substrate and the removability of the resist layer is improved, but the transparent gas emitted from the resist layer in the lift-off method is transparent. The adverse effect on the conductive film cannot be removed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and prevents the adverse effect of the gas released from the resist layer in the case of the lift-off method, thereby producing a transparent thin film electrode having high definition and excellent transparent conductive film characteristics. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a film forming apparatus, a method for manufacturing a plasma display panel, and a method for manufacturing a plasma display device.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention described in claim 1 relates to a method of manufacturing a transparent thin film electrode, and a step of forming a resist layer in a desired shape on a substrate, and uniformly on the substrate including the resist layer Forming a first transparent conductive film layer; forming a second transparent conductive film layer uniformly on the first transparent conductive film layer; and overlaying the resist layer thereon. And a step of forming a transparent electrode having a desired pattern shape including the transparent conductive film layer stacked on the substrate by being removed together with each of the transparent conductive film layers.

The invention described in claim 2 relates to the method for manufacturing a transparent thin film electrode according to claim 1, wherein the first transparent conductive film layer is formed by a high-frequency sputtering method using a sputtering gas mainly containing oxygen (O ₂ ). It is characterized by being formed by.

  The invention described in claim 3 relates to the method of manufacturing a transparent thin film electrode according to claim 2, characterized in that the sputtering gas is obtained by adding 0-30 wt% of argon (Ar) to oxygen. .

  The invention according to claim 4 relates to the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first transparent conductive film layer has a thickness of 10 to 30 nm. Yes.

  The invention according to claim 5 relates to the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the second transparent conductive film layer uses a sputtering gas in which oxygen is added to argon. It is characterized by being formed by a direct current sputtering method.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to the fifth aspect, characterized in that the sputtering gas is obtained by adding 0 to 10 wt% of oxygen to argon.

The invention according to claim 7 relates to the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first transparent conductive film layer and the second transparent conductive film layer are tin oxide (SnO). It is characterized by being formed by a sputtering method using an oxide target obtained by adding antimony oxide (Sb ₂ O _{3) 2).}

  The invention according to claim 8 relates to the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first transparent conductive film layer and the second transparent conductive film layer perform substrate heating. It is characterized by being formed by sputtering at room temperature.

  The invention according to claim 9 relates to the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the substrate is a glass substrate of a plasma display panel, and the first transparent conductive film layer and The second transparent conductive film layer is a transparent electrode formed in a required pattern on the glass substrate.

  The invention described in claim 10 relates to a film forming apparatus, wherein a charging chamber for loading and evacuating a substrate having a resist pattern formed on one surface thereof, and the formation of the resist pattern on the substrate moved from the charging chamber A first transparent conductive film layer forming chamber for forming a first transparent conductive film layer on the surface; a gas replacement chamber for moving the substrate from the first transparent conductive film layer forming chamber to evacuate; and the gas replacement A second transparent conductive film layer forming chamber for forming a second transparent conductive film layer on the substrate moved from the chamber, and a take-out chamber for returning the substrate moved from the second transparent conductive film layer forming chamber to atmospheric pressure The first transparent conductive film layer and / or the second transparent conductive film layer is formed by the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

The invention according to claim 11 relates to a method of manufacturing a plasma display panel, and includes a front substrate on which a surface discharge electrode composed of a scan electrode and a sustain electrode is formed, and an address electrode arranged to intersect the surface discharge electrode. And a rear substrate on which barrier ribs extending in parallel with the address electrodes are disposed opposite to each other, and a method of manufacturing a plasma display panel in which discharge cells are formed between the front substrate and the rear substrate,
The transparent electrode serving as the scan electrode and the sustain electrode is produced by the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a plasma display device, the step of manufacturing an analog interface for converting the format of an analog video signal and outputting digital image information, the step of manufacturing a plasma display panel, A step of manufacturing a plasma display panel module by a plasma display panel, a circuit for driving the plasma display panel according to the digital image information, and a power supply circuit; and the analog interface and the plasma display panel module are electrically connected A method of manufacturing a plasma display device comprising a connecting step,
In the step of manufacturing the plasma display panel, the transparent thin film electrode manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is executed.

According to the transparent thin film electrode manufacturing method and film forming apparatus of the present invention, a resist layer is formed in a desired shape on a substrate, and then the first transparent conductive film layer is uniformly formed on the substrate including the resist layer. Further, a second transparent conductive film is uniformly formed on the substrate including the first transparent conductive film layer, and the resist layer and the transparent conductive film layer formed thereon are removed together to form a desired pattern. However, the first transparent conductive film serves to prevent the gas generated from the resist layer during the film formation of the second transparent conductive film from affecting the film formation of the second transparent conductive film. Therefore, even when the lift-off method is used, a high-definition and high-quality transparent thin-film electrode can be obtained. In addition, since the first transparent conductive film is formed by a high-frequency sputtering method using a sputtering gas containing oxygen gas as a main component, a plasma treatment effect can be obtained simultaneously with the film formation, and the adhesion between the substrate and the transparent conductive film can be obtained. And improvement of resist layer removability.
Furthermore, by applying the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode of the present invention to a glass substrate of a plasma display panel so that the transparent conductive film becomes a transparent electrode formed in a desired pattern on the surface of the glass substrate, A plasma display panel manufacturing method with high definition and excellent transparent conductive film characteristics can be realized, and a high-performance plasma display device can be realized by using the plasma display panel manufactured in this way.

  A method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to the present invention includes a step of forming a resist layer in a desired shape on a substrate, a step of uniformly forming a first transparent conductive film on a substrate including the resist layer, Forming a second transparent conductive film uniformly on a substrate including one transparent conductive film, and removing the resist layer together with the first transparent conductive film and the second transparent conductive film formed thereon; Forming a desired pattern shape. The film formation method of the first transparent conductive film is preferably a high-frequency sputtering method, and it is preferable to use a sputtering gas mainly containing oxygen gas.

  A film forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a charging chamber for loading and evacuating a substrate having a resist pattern formed on one surface thereof, and a first transparent conductive film on the resist pattern forming surface of the substrate moved from the charging chamber. A first transparent conductive film layer forming chamber for forming a layer; a gas replacement chamber for moving the substrate from the first transparent conductive film layer forming chamber to evacuate; and a second substrate for moving the substrate from the gas replacement chamber. A first transparent conductive film layer forming chamber for forming a transparent conductive film layer, and a take-out chamber for returning the substrate moved from the second transparent conductive film layer forming chamber to atmospheric pressure. A layer and / or a 2nd transparent conductive film layer are formed with the manufacturing method of the transparent thin film electrode of this invention.

  A method of manufacturing a plasma display panel according to the present invention includes a front substrate on which a surface discharge electrode composed of a scan electrode and a sustain electrode is formed, an address electrode arranged to intersect the surface discharge electrode, and a parallel to the address electrode. A plasma display panel manufacturing method in which a rear substrate on which a partition wall extending is formed is disposed to face and a discharge cell is formed between the front substrate and the rear substrate, the scan electrode and the sustain electrode The transparent electrode which becomes becomes is produced by the manufacturing method of the transparent thin film electrode of this invention.

  A method for manufacturing a plasma display device according to the present invention includes a step of manufacturing an analog interface for converting an analog video signal to output digital image information, a step of manufacturing a plasma display panel, the plasma display panel, and the digital A step of manufacturing a plasma display panel module by a circuit for driving the plasma display panel according to image information and a power supply circuit; and a step of electrically connecting the analog interface and the plasma display panel module. A method for producing a plasma display device, wherein the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode of the present invention is performed in the step of producing the plasma display panel.

  FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of an AC-PDP to which the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 illustrates the main steps of the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a transparent conductive film forming apparatus used in the embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration of a first transparent conductive film forming apparatus used in the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the second transparent conductive film forming apparatus used in the embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film and the second transparent conductive film. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the amount of released gas, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the amount of decrease in the first transparent conductive film thickness and the second transparent conductive film thickness, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the conductive film resistivity, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the first transparent conductive film thickness and the resist layer removal time, and FIG. 10 is the first transparent conductive film. And is a diagram showing the relationship between peel strength of the transparent conductive film (adhesion).

Hereinafter, the structure of an AC-PDP to which the method for producing a transparent thin-film electrode of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 1, on the front glass substrate 1a, a pair of transparent electrodes adjacent to each other in parallel are formed so as to be repeatedly arranged. In the figure, reference numerals 2a and 2b denote a pair of transparent electrodes, which respectively become a scan electrode and a sustain electrode. On the transparent electrodes 2a and 2b, a bus electrode 3a for supplying a driving voltage to the scanning electrodes and a bus electrode 3b for supplying a driving voltage to the sustain electrodes are arranged. Furthermore, a dielectric layer 7a is formed to cover each transparent electrode and bus electrode.
Further, an address (data) electrode 4 is formed on the rear glass substrate 1b facing the front glass substrate 1a with a small gap so as to face the transparent electrode 2 and the front glass substrate 1b is formed on the upper surface. Similar to the glass substrate 1a side, a dielectric layer 7b is formed.

Further, a partition wall 5 is formed between the glass substrates 1a and 1b so as to divide the substrates into a plurality of discharge spaces 6 and partition each unit light emitting region, and on the surface of the dielectric layer 7a. A protective layer 8 is provided for protecting the dielectric layer from ion bombardment due to discharge, and predetermined light emission for selectively emitting light from the unit light emitting region is provided on the surface of the dielectric layer 7b and the partition wall 5. A colored phosphor 9 is arranged. The portion 7a1 provided on the dielectric layer 7a indicates a color filter having the same color as the emission color, and the portion 7a2 indicates a black stripe layer for blocking light. Are not directly related to each other, and therefore, description thereof will be omitted below.
Although not shown, the discharge space 6 is filled with, for example, a mixed gas of neon (Ne) and xenon (Xe) as a discharge gas. The dielectric layers 7a and 7b are formed by printing a low melting point glass paste in a predetermined shape and then baking it.

Such an AC-PDP includes a step of separately providing predetermined components for the glass substrates 1a and 1b, a step of sealing the gaps between the glass substrates 1a and 1b, and a discharge gas. Is manufactured through a process of encapsulating in a space between the glass substrates 1a and 1b.
According to the AC-PDP having such a configuration, a predetermined drive voltage is applied to the pair of transparent electrodes 2a and 2b so that the relative potential between them is alternately inverted, so that a dielectric is applied for each application. A plasma discharge is generated on the surface of the body layer 7a, and the phosphor 9 is excited and emits light by the ultraviolet rays generated thereby. By taking out the emitted light from the front glass substrate 1a side through the transparent electrode, a plasma display panel is obtained. The function is realized.

In FIG. 2, the formation procedure of the transparent electrode 2 mentioned above is typically shown by sectional drawing.
First, as shown in FIG. 2A, for example, a dry film resist (hereinafter abbreviated as DFR) having a thickness of about 15 μm is pasted on a glass substrate 1a, and a desired resist pattern 22 is obtained through an exposure and development process. Get.
This substrate is set in the preparation chamber 31 of the film forming apparatus shown in FIG. 3, and the preparation chamber 31 is evacuated by an exhaust device (not shown). After reaching a predetermined degree of vacuum, the substrate is moved to the first transparent conductive film deposition chamber 32, and the first transparent conductive film is formed according to the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode of the present invention.
In the first transparent conductive film deposition chamber 32, after evacuating by an exhaust device and exhausting to a predetermined degree of vacuum, 10 wt% of argon (Ar) gas is added to, for example, oxygen (O ₂ ) gas in the chamber. Sputtering gas is introduced, the gas flow rate and the exhaust speed are adjusted so that the gas pressure in the chamber becomes 1 Pa, for example, and the first transparent conductive film layer 23 is formed by high frequency sputtering.
In this case, the range of the addition amount of the argon gas to the oxygen gas of the sputtering gas is preferably 0 to 30 wt%.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the first transparent conductive film layer forming chamber 32, for example, tin oxide (SnO ₂ ) and antimony oxide (SnO ₂ ) are formed on the glass substrate 1a. A high frequency power of about 13.56 MHz is applied from a high frequency power source 37 to the oxide target 36 to which Sb ₂ O ₃ ) has been added. The high frequency power is adjusted according to the processing time so that the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film layer is about 20 nm, for example. In addition, the film formation rate at this time is desirably a low rate (about 1 nm / sec). Furthermore, the amount of argon to be added, the deposition pressure, and the like can be arbitrarily adjusted according to the quality of the first transparent conductive film layer.

After forming the first transparent conductive film layer, the substrate is moved to the gas replacement chamber 33 and evacuated by an exhaust device. After exhausting to a predetermined degree of vacuum, the substrate is moved to the second transparent conductive film layer deposition chamber 34.
In the second transparent conductive film layer forming chamber 34, the chamber is evacuated by an evacuation device and evacuated to a predetermined degree of vacuum. Then, for example, a sputtering gas obtained by adding 5 wt% of oxygen gas to argon gas is introduced into the chamber. The gas flow rate and the exhaust speed are adjusted so that the internal gas pressure becomes, for example, 0.5 Pa, and in this state, the second transparent conductive film layer 24 is formed by DC sputtering.
In this case, the range of the amount of oxygen gas added to the argon gas in the sputtering gas is preferably 0 to 10 wt%.

As shown in FIG. 5, the second transparent conductive film layer 24 is formed in the second transparent conductive film layer forming chamber 34 by oxidation, for example, by adding antimony oxide to tin oxide to the glass substrate 1a. This is performed by applying a negative DC voltage from the DC power source 39 to the object target 38. The direct current voltage is adjusted according to the processing time so that the film thickness of the second transparent conductive film layer is about 200 nm. At this time, the amount of oxygen added, the film forming pressure, and the like can be arbitrarily adjusted according to the quality of the second transparent conductive film layer.
Thereafter, the substrate is moved to the take-out chamber 35, and the pressure is restored to atmospheric pressure to take out the substrate. This series of film forming processes is performed at room temperature. The substrate 1a thus formed is immersed in a DFR stripping solution made of a 5% aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to remove the DFR pattern and obtain the transparent electrode 2.

The gas generated from the resist layer is water (H ₂ O), oxygen, carbon dioxide gas (CO ₂ ), etc., and these gases are used to form the transparent conductive film when the transparent conductive film is formed. Is changed to cause problems such as an increase in resistance of the transparent conductive film. Further, there is a problem that the film thickness of the transparent conductive film in the vicinity of the resist layer is reduced due to the gas released from the resist. In particular, these defects occur remarkably in the case of a high-definition transparent electrode shape.
Thus, the second transparent conductive film layer 24 is covered by covering the resist layer 22 with the first transparent conductive film 23 to prevent the influence of gas generated from the resist layer 22 when the second transparent conductive film 24 is formed. Therefore, it is possible to improve the high resistance and the reduction in film thickness, and to obtain a high-definition and high-quality transparent electrode 2.
In addition, in the method for producing the transparent thin film electrode of this example, a high-frequency sputtering method is employed when forming the first transparent conductive film, and a sputtering gas mainly containing oxygen gas is used. A plasma treatment effect can be obtained simultaneously with the film, and an effect of improving the adhesion between the substrate and the transparent conductive film and improving the removability of the resist layer can also be obtained.

Thus, according to the manufacturing method of the transparent thin film electrode of this example, since the influence of the gas generated from the resist layer can be prevented by the first transparent conductive film layer, the thickness of the second transparent conductive film layer is reduced. And high resistance can be effectively prevented, so that a high-definition and high-quality transparent thin film electrode can be obtained.
Furthermore, by applying the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode of the present invention to a glass substrate of a plasma display panel so that the transparent conductive film becomes a transparent electrode formed in a desired pattern on the surface of the glass substrate, A high-definition plasma display panel manufacturing method with excellent transparent conductive film characteristics can be realized, and a high-performance plasma display device can be realized by using the plasma display panel manufactured in this way.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 6 thru | or FIG. 10, the effect at the time of using the manufacturing method of the transparent thin film electrode of this invention is demonstrated.
FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film and the amount of gas released when the second transparent conductive film is formed.
As shown in the figure, when there is no first transparent conductive film, the amount of gas released during the formation of the second transparent conductive film is large, but when the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film increases and becomes about 10 to 30 nm or more. The amount of released gas during the formation of the second transparent conductive film is significantly reduced. Therefore, it can be seen that the provision of the first transparent conductive film having a thickness greater than this can effectively prevent the influence of the gas generated from the resist layer during the formation of the second transparent conductive film.

FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film and the amount of decrease in the film thickness of the second transparent conductive film.
As shown in the figure, when there is no first transparent conductive film, the amount of decrease in the film thickness of the second transparent conductive film is large, but when the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film increases to about 10 to 30 nm or more, The amount of decrease in the film thickness of the two transparent conductive films is significantly reduced. Therefore, it can be seen that by providing the first transparent conductive film having a film thickness equal to or greater than this level, it is possible to effectively prevent a decrease in the film thickness of the second transparent conductive film.

FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film and the resistivity of the transparent conductive film.
As shown in the figure, the resistivity of the transparent conductive film is large when there is no first transparent conductive film, but when the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film is increased to about 10 to 30 nm or more, the resistivity of the transparent conductive film is increased. Is significantly reduced. Therefore, it can be seen that the resistivity of the transparent conductive film can be effectively reduced by providing the first transparent conductive film having a thickness greater than this.

FIG. 9 shows the relationship between the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film and the resist layer removal time.
As shown in the figure, when there is no first transparent conductive film, the resist layer removal time is large, but as the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film increases, the resist layer removal time decreases, When the film thickness is about 10 to 30 nm, the resist layer removal time becomes minimum, and when the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film further increases, the resist layer removal time increases conversely. Therefore, it can be seen that the resist layer removal time can be minimized by providing the first transparent conductive film having a thickness of about 10 to 30 nm.

FIG. 10 shows the relationship between the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film and the peel strength (adhesion) of the transparent conductive film.
As shown in the figure, when there is no first transparent conductive film, the peel strength of the transparent conductive film is small, but as the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film increases, the peel strength of the transparent conductive film increases, When the film thickness of one transparent conductive film is about 10 to 30 nm, the peel strength of the transparent conductive film is maximized, and when the film thickness of the first transparent conductive film is further increased, the peel strength of the transparent conductive film is decreased. Therefore, it can be seen that the peel strength of the transparent conductive film can be maximized by providing the first transparent conductive film having a thickness of about 10 to 30 nm.

FIG. 11 is a process diagram showing the main parts of the method of manufacturing a plasma display panel (PDP) according to the second embodiment of the present invention in the order of processes. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 11, the main part of the manufacturing method of the PDP of this example will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 11 (a), a transparent electrode 41A is formed on the first insulating substrate 40 made of a transparent glass plate by the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode of the present invention shown in the first embodiment. , 42A, and bus electrodes 41B, 42B are formed on the transparent electrodes 41A, 42A, respectively, by screen printing or the like, thereby forming the required number of parallel scan electrodes 41 and sustain electrodes 42 alternately. .
Next, the compounding ratio is determined based on the experimental results so as to cover the display electrode composed of the scan electrode 41 and the sustain electrode 42, for example, a resin such as acrylic (about 1.0% by weight), for example, lead oxide ( The first paste 43 containing a low melting point glass powder (75 to 85% by weight) as a solid content such as PbO) and a solvent (remainder) such as isopropyl alcohol is applied to a 150 mesh nylon screen mask. After using, it is dried at 100 ° C.

Next, as shown in FIG. 11B, the blending ratio is determined based on the experimental results, for example, a resin such as acrylic (about 4.0% by weight) and a solid content such as lead oxide. After applying a second paste 44 containing a low melting point glass powder (75 to 85% by weight) and a solvent (remainder) such as isopropyl alcohol using a 150 mesh nylon screen mask, the temperature is 100 ° C. dry.
Next, as shown in FIG. 11C, the first dielectric thin layer (film thickness adjusting layer) 45A based on the first paste 43 and the second paste 44 are baked at about 580 ° C. A second dielectric thin layer (film defect prevention layer) 45B is formed at the same time.

In the case of the manufacturing conditions described above, a paste having a resin weight ratio of approximately 1.0% is used for the first dielectric layer, and a paste having a resin weight ratio of approximately 4.0% is used for the second dielectric layer. The first dielectric thin layer (film thickness adjusting layer) 45A having a film thickness of approximately 20 μm is formed by firing at once, and there is almost no film defect, and the film thickness is approximately 10 μm. Since the experimental results show that the second dielectric thin layer (film defect prevention layer) 45B is formed, the first dielectric layer 45A and the second dielectric thin layer 45B thereby A dielectric layer 45 having a desired film thickness of approximately 30 μm can be formed.
Further, as shown in FIG. 11C, a front substrate 48 is completed by forming a protective film 46 made of magnesium oxide (MgO) or the like so as to cover the dielectric layer 45 by an electron beam evaporation method or the like. To do.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 11D, aluminum (Al), formed on the second insulating substrate 50 made of a transparent glass plate or the like in a direction intersecting with the scanning electrode 41 and the sustaining electrode 42, An address electrode (data electrode) 51 made of copper (Cu), silver (Ag) or the like, a dielectric layer 52 covering the address electrode 51, and light emitted by being excited by ultraviolet rays generated by plasma discharge in the discharge gas. A rear substrate 54 including a phosphor layer 53 that is sequentially coated in red (R), green (G), and blue (B) is disposed to face the front substrate 48, and between the substrates 48 and 54. The discharge gas space 55 is filled with a discharge gas such as helium (He), neon (Ne), and xenon (Xe) alone or mixed to complete the PDP 58.

  In the plasma display panel manufacturing method of this example, the transparent thin film electrode manufacturing method described in the first embodiment is applied to form the transparent electrodes 41A and 42A, thereby having no film defects and a desired film thickness. The dielectric layer 45 having the dielectric layers can be produced by one firing, and a high-definition plasma display panel having excellent transparent conductive film characteristics can be manufactured.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the plasma display device manufactured by the plasma display device manufacturing method according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
The plasma display device of this example is characterized in that it is configured using a plasma display panel manufactured by the plasma display panel manufacturing method of the second embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 12, the plasma display device 60 of this example is designed to have a module configuration, and includes an analog interface 70 and a plasma display panel (PDP) module 80. Hereinafter, each of these parts will be described.

  The analog interface 70 converts the received analog video signal into a digital video signal and supplies it to the PDP module 80. As shown in FIG. 12, a Y / C separation circuit 71 having a chroma decoder, An A / D conversion circuit 72, a synchronization signal control circuit 73 including a PLL circuit, an image format conversion circuit 74, an inverse γ (gamma) conversion circuit 75, a system control circuit 76, and a PLE control circuit 77 Has been.

In the analog interface 70, for example, an analog video signal input from a TV tuner or the like is decomposed into luminance signals of RGB colors in a Y / C separation circuit 71, and then converted into a digital signal in an A / D conversion circuit 72. Is done. Thereafter, when the pixel configuration of the PDP module 80 is different from the pixel configuration of the input video signal, the video format conversion circuit 74 performs conversion of a required image format.
In addition, the display luminance characteristic for the input signal of the plasma display panel changes linearly, but the normal video signal is corrected (γ conversion) in advance according to the characteristics of the cathode ray tube (CRT). After A / D conversion of the video signal in the A / D conversion circuit 72, the inverse γ conversion circuit 75 performs inverse γ conversion on the video signal to generate a digital video signal restored to linear characteristics. . The generated digital video signal is output to the PDP module 80 as an RGB video signal.

  Further, since the analog video signal does not include the A / D conversion sampling clock and data clock signals, the analog video signal includes the PLL circuit built in the synchronization signal control circuit 73. A sampling clock signal and a data clock signal are generated on the basis of the horizontal synchronization signal and output to the PDP module 80. The PLE control circuit 77 of the analog interface 70 increases the display luminance in the plasma display panel according to whether the average luminance level of the video signal input to the PDP module 80 is equal to or lower than a predetermined value or exceeds a predetermined value, or Control to lower. The system control circuit 76 outputs various control signals to the PDP module 80.

The PDP module 80 includes a digital signal processing / control circuit 81, a panel unit 82, and an in-module power supply circuit 83 incorporating a DC / DC converter.
Further, the digital signal processing / control circuit 81 includes an input interface signal processing circuit 84, a frame memory 85, a memory control circuit 86, and a driver control circuit 87.
In the PDP module 80, for example, the average luminance level of the video signal input to the input interface signal processing circuit 84 is calculated by an input signal average luminance level calculation circuit (not shown) in the input interface signal processing circuit 84. Output as 5-bit data. At this time, the frame memory 85 holds the video signal for each frame.
Further, the PLE control circuit 77 sets PLE control data according to the calculated average brightness level and supplies it to a brightness level control circuit (not shown) in the input interface signal processing circuit 84.

  In the digital signal processing / control circuit 81, the input interface signal processing circuit 84 processes various input signals, and then sends a control signal to the panel unit 82. At the same time, the memory control circuit 86 sends a memory control signal to the panel unit 82, and the driver control circuit 87 sends a driver control signal to the panel unit 82.

  The panel unit 82 drives the plasma display panel (PDP) 100 manufactured by the plasma display panel manufacturing method of the present invention, the scan driver 88 that drives the scan electrode of the PDP 100, and the data (address) electrode of the PDP 100. Data driver 89, a high voltage pulse circuit 90 that supplies a pulse voltage to PDP 100 and scan driver 88, and a power recovery circuit 91 that recovers surplus power from high voltage pulse circuit 90.

The PDP 100 is configured to have pixels arranged in, for example, 1365 × 768 (50-type panel). In the PDP 100, the scan driver 88 controls the scan electrodes and the sustain electrodes, and the data driver 89 controls the data electrodes, thereby controlling the lighting or non-lighting of a predetermined pixel of the plurality of pixels, and the desired The image is displayed.
A logic power supply (not shown) supplies logic power to the digital signal processing / control circuit 81 and the panel unit 82. Further, the in-module power supply circuit 83 is supplied with DC power from a display power supply (not shown), converts the voltage of the DC power into a predetermined voltage, and then supplies it to the panel unit 82.

Next, a method for manufacturing the plasma display device shown in FIG. 12 will be outlined.
First, the PDP 100 manufactured by the plasma display panel manufacturing method of the second embodiment, the scan driver 88, the data driver 89, the high voltage pulse circuit 90, and the power recovery circuit 91 are arranged on the substrate, and the panel A part 82 is created. Further, a digital signal processing / control circuit 81 is created separately from the panel unit 82.
Thereafter, the digital signal processing / control circuit 81, the panel unit 82, and the in-module power supply circuit 83 are assembled as one module to create the PDP module 80. Further, an analog interface 70 is created separately from the PDP module 80.

In this way, after the analog interface 70 and the PDP module 80 are separately formed, and both are electrically connected, the plasma display device 60 as shown in FIG. 12 is completed.
In this way, by making the PDP module 80 into a modular configuration, the PDP 100 can be manufactured independently of other components constituting the plasma display device.

  According to the plasma display device manufacturing method of this example, in the plasma display device 60, for example, when the PDP 100 fails, the entire PDP module 80 is replaced, thereby simplifying the repair and shortening the repair period. Since the plasma display panel to which the transparent thin film electrode manufacturing method shown in the first embodiment is applied is provided, a high-definition plasma display device with excellent transparent conductive film characteristics can be obtained. .

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and even if there is a design change or the like without departing from the gist of the present invention. Included in the invention. For example, in the first embodiment, oxygen gas alone may be used as a sputtering gas when forming the first transparent conductive film layer 23. In this case, the deposition rate of the first transparent conductive film layer 23 is decreased, but the plasma treatment effect is increased. Further, as the material of the first transparent conductive film layer 23 and the material of the second transparent conductive film layer 24, a transparent conductive film such as ITO can also be used. Further, the material of the first transparent conductive film 23 may be a transparent film and does not require conductivity, so silica (SiO ₂ ) or the like may be used, or an active gas such as oxygen is added to argon. Thus, a method of forming a transparent oxide film by using a reactive sputtering method in which a metal material is formed as an oxide can also be used. The first transparent conductive film layer 23 has a relationship as shown in FIGS. 6 to 10 between the film thickness and various characteristics, and the film thickness can be set according to the required characteristics. It is understood that 10 to 30 μm is preferable. In addition, the substrate heating temperature is preferably set to a low temperature in terms of the removability of the resist layer, but the substrate heating can be performed by setting the temperature according to the desired characteristics of the transparent conductive film.

  The manufacturing method of the transparent thin film electrode of the present invention can be applied to a liquid crystal display panel. However, the plasma display panel and the liquid crystal display panel have different characteristics required for the transparent electrode, so that appropriate measures are required. It seems to be. Further, the plasma display panel and the plasma display device according to the manufacturing method of the present invention are suitable for a display device of a television device, but are not limited to this, and various display devices for other uses, particularly large-sized direct view. It is also suitable for a mold display.

It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the structure of AC-PDP to which the manufacturing method of the transparent thin film electrode of this invention is applied. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the main processes of the manufacturing method of the transparent thin film electrode of 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the transparent conductive film film-forming apparatus used in the Example. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the 1st transparent conductive film film-forming apparatus used in the Example. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the 2nd transparent conductive film film-forming apparatus used in the Example. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the amount of discharge | release gas at the time of 1st transparent conductive film film thickness and 2nd transparent conductive film film formation. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a 1st transparent conductive film film thickness and a 2nd transparent conductive film film thickness reduction amount. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a 1st transparent conductive film film thickness and a transparent conductive film resistivity. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a 1st transparent conductive film film thickness and a resist layer removal time. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a 1st transparent conductive film thickness and the peel strength (adhesion) of a transparent conductive film. It is process drawing which shows the principal part of the manufacturing method of the plasma display panel (PDP) which is 2nd Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the plasma display apparatus manufactured by the manufacturing method of the plasma display apparatus which is 3rd Example of this invention. It is process drawing for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the transparent electrode by the conventional etching method. It is process drawing for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the transparent electrode by the conventional lift-off method. It is a figure which illustrates the shape of the transparent electrode in AC-PDP.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1a, 1b Glass substrate 2a, 2b Transparent electrode 3a, 3b Bus electrode 4 Address electrode 5 Partition 6 Discharge space 7a, 7b Dielectric layer 8 Protective layer 9 Phosphor 22 Resist pattern 23 First transparent conductive film layer 24 Second transparent conductive Film layer 31 Preparation chamber 32 First transparent conductive film layer deposition chamber 33 Gas replacement chamber 34 Second transparent conductive film deposition chamber 35 Extraction chamber 36 Target 37 High frequency power supply 38 Target 39 DC power supply

Claims (12)

  A step of forming a resist layer in a desired shape on the substrate, a step of uniformly forming a first transparent conductive film layer on the substrate including the resist layer, and a step on the first transparent conductive layer. In the same manner, the second transparent conductive film layer is formed, and the resist layer is removed together with the transparent conductive film layers formed on the substrate, and the transparent conductive film layer formed on the substrate is removed. Forming a transparent electrode having a desired pattern shape. A method for producing a transparent thin-film electrode. The method of manufacturing a transparent thin film electrode according to claim 1, wherein the first transparent conductive film layer is formed by a high frequency sputtering method using a sputtering gas mainly containing oxygen (O ₂ ).   3. The method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to claim 2, wherein the sputtering gas is one in which 0 to 30 wt% of argon (Ar) is added to oxygen.   The method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first transparent conductive film layer has a thickness of 10 to 30 nm.   5. The method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to claim 1, wherein the second transparent conductive film layer is formed by a direct current sputtering method using a sputtering gas in which oxygen is added to argon. .   6. The method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to claim 5, wherein the sputtering gas is one in which oxygen is added in an amount of 0 to 10 wt% to argon. The first transparent conductive film layer and the second transparent conductive film layer are formed by a sputtering method using an oxide target obtained by adding antimony oxide (Sb ₂ O ₃ ) to tin oxide (SnO ₂ ). The method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 6.   8. The production of a transparent thin film electrode according to claim 1, wherein the first transparent conductive film layer and the second transparent conductive film layer are formed by a sputtering method at room temperature without performing substrate heating. Method.   The substrate is a glass substrate of a plasma display panel, and the first transparent conductive film layer and the second transparent conductive film layer are to be transparent electrodes formed in a required pattern on the glass substrate. The manufacturing method of the transparent thin film electrode as described in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 8.   A charging chamber in which a substrate having a resist pattern formed on one surface is charged and evacuated, and a first transparent conductive film that forms a first transparent conductive film layer on the resist pattern forming surface of the substrate moved from the charging chamber A film layer forming chamber; a gas replacement chamber for moving the substrate from the first transparent conductive film layer forming chamber to evacuate; and forming a second transparent conductive film layer on the substrate moved from the gas replacement chamber A second transparent conductive film layer forming chamber and an extraction chamber for returning the substrate moved from the second transparent conductive film layer forming chamber to atmospheric pressure, and A film forming apparatus, wherein the two transparent conductive film layers are formed by the transparent thin film electrode manufacturing method according to claim 1. A front substrate on which surface discharge electrodes composed of scan electrodes and sustain electrodes are formed, a rear substrate on which address electrodes arranged to intersect the surface discharge electrodes and barrier ribs extending in parallel with the address electrodes are formed And a plasma display panel manufacturing method for forming a discharge cell between the front substrate and the rear substrate,
A method for producing a plasma display panel, wherein the transparent electrode serving as the scan electrode and the sustain electrode is produced by the method for producing a transparent thin film electrode according to claim 1. A step of manufacturing an analog interface for converting an analog video signal to output digital image information, a step of manufacturing a plasma display panel, and driving the plasma display panel according to the plasma display panel and the digital image information A method for manufacturing a plasma display device, comprising: a step of manufacturing a plasma display panel module by a circuit and a circuit for power supply; and a step of electrically connecting the analog interface and the plasma display panel module,
A method for manufacturing a plasma display device, wherein the method for manufacturing a transparent thin film electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is executed in the step of manufacturing the plasma display panel.

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