JP2005134879A - Method for manufacturing bank structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing bank structure which can be applied in the case of manufacturing the color filter of a liquid crystal display by an ink jet method. <P>SOLUTION: A black matrix layer 102 is formed on color filter base material 100, and a 1st photoresist layer 104a is formed on the black matrix layer 102. Patterning is successively performed to the black matrix layer 102 and the 1st photoresist layer 104a by a mask and also the 1st photoresist layer 104a is removed. Then, a 2nd photoresist layer 106a is formed on the black matrix layer 102 to which the patterning has been performed. The bank structure 106b is obtained by performing patterning to the 2nd photoresist layer 106a by a back exposure system. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a bank structure for a color filter of a liquid crystal display, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a bank structure required when a color filter is manufactured by an inkjet method.

  A color filter (Color Filter) is a multi-faceted device such as a charge coupled device (CCD), a line sensor, or a thin film transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) as an image sensor. Has been applied. As the need for these products increases, so does the need for color filters. For this reason, reducing the manufacturing cost of the color filter has been an urgent issue to be solved.

  The reduction of the manufacturing cost of the color filter required for the TFT liquid crystal display has attracted particular attention. The manufacturing cost of the color filter has been greatly reduced by adopting the ink jet method. In the ink jet method, ink droplets are sprayed to directly color the inside of a lattice structure composed of a black matrix on a filter substrate. Each type of filter has a different color ink jet type, and generally three colors of red, green and blue (R, G, B) are set as one basic unit (pixel). However, since ink contains a carrier (or water or organic solvent), ink droplets often overflow when printing by spraying sub-pixels, and other sub-pixels A problem of color mixing may occur. For this reason, normally, by forming a bank by a photolithography manufacturing process and forming a high and deep space for containing ink droplets, the ink droplets are limited to fine subpixels and the effect of clarifying the color of the subpixels is achieved. Have achieved. The bank is generally formed by applying a photoresist solution on a substrate and exposing and developing it. Therefore, it is usually necessary to use a mask in the manufacturing process. The larger the size of the thin film transistor liquid crystal display, the larger the mask size required for the inkjet manufacturing process, and the higher the cost of the mask in the entire color filter. It was.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a bank structure of a color filter that reduces the cost of an expensive mask in the manufacturing process of an LCD color filter.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a bank structure applied when manufacturing a color filter of a liquid crystal display by an inkjet method. The manufacturing method of the bank structure includes the following steps. A black matrix layer is formed on the color filter substrate, and a first photoresist layer is formed on the black matrix layer. The black matrix layer and the first photoresist layer are patterned in order using a mask, the black matrix layer is formed by an etching and cleaning process, and the first photoresist layer is removed. Subsequently, a second photoresist layer is formed on the patterned black matrix layer. Further, the second photoresist layer is patterned into a bank structure by a back exposure method using the already formed black matrix layer as a shadow mask.

  By applying the bank structure manufacturing method of the present invention, the cost of expensive masks in the LCD color filter manufacturing process can be reduced. Also, in the manufacturing process of the bank structure, since the accurate alignment process can be omitted and reduced, the necessary manufacturing process time can be shortened compared with the conventional process.

  In the process of manufacturing a color filter by the inkjet method (Ink Jet Printing), the back exposure method is adopted in this embodiment instead of the front exposure in order to reduce the cost of the mask occupied by the entire color filter. The production cost is reduced by reducing the number of masks used. The concept of this embodiment is to use a black matrix structure as a direct shadow mask and to form a bank structure necessary for the inkjet method by a back exposure method using a positive photoresist material. .

  The so-called bank structure has a single layer film formed on the black matrix layer and patterned in the same manner as the black matrix layer. The lattice structure formed after patterning the bank structure and the black matrix layer is a position colored with ink droplets by an ink jet method. The present embodiment provides a low-cost bank structure manufacturing method and replaces the conventional bank structure manufacturing method. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments.

  1A to 1E are diagrams illustrating steps for manufacturing a bank structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1A, a black matrix layer 102 having a function of blocking light transmission is first formed on a color filter substrate 100. Then, a photoresist layer 104 a is formed on the black matrix layer 102 in order to pattern the black matrix layer 102. As shown in FIG. 1B, the photoresist layer 104a is patterned by conventional exposure and phenomenon steps using a patterned mask (not shown). The patterned photoresist layer 104 a (mask structure 104 b) is used as an etching shadow mask for the black matrix layer 102.

FIG. 1C shows the black matrix layer 102 patterned by an etching method. As shown in FIG. 1D, a photoresist layer 106a is spin-coated on the patterned black matrix layer 102 and in the patterned recesses. An exposure step is performed on the photoresist layer 106 a by an ultraviolet (UV light) exposure source 112 provided on the back surface of the color filter substrate 100. When performing the exposure step, the patterned black matrix layer 102 becomes a complete mask, and the object to be exposed (photoresist layer 106a) has already completed self-alignment with the mask. The alignment step can be omitted. FIG. 1E shows an already patterned photoresist layer 106a (bank structure 106b). The photoresist layer 106a described above is a positive photoresist material, and the patterned photoresist layer 106a needs to be a bank structure 106b. The method of performing back exposure using the black matrix layer 102 as a mask can reduce the number of masks by one. In consideration of the production volume of the LCD color filter manufacturing process, a one-shot method is adopted. Therefore, the mask size needs to correspond to the size of the color filter substrate, and the cost of the mask is required. Increase. Taking a fourth generation color filter as an example, an 800 × 920 mm ² mask must be used for a substrate of size 680 × 880 mm ² , and its commercial price is about 2 million Taiwan dollars. Therefore, the mask provided for the LCD color filter manufacturing process can be reduced by the method provided by this embodiment.

  2A to 2C show the coloring step of the inkjet method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2A, the inside of the lattice formed by patterning the bank structure 106b and the black matrix layer 102 is colored by spraying ink droplets 108 by an inkjet method. Ink drops 108 may be red, green or blue, or other colors as required. FIG. 2B shows a state where ink droplets adhere to the grid. In order to quickly deposit ink droplets in the lattice, the curing rate may be increased by a method such as vacuum suction, baking, or ultraviolet irradiation. FIG. 2C shows the state after the cured ink droplet 110 is cured.

  As can be seen from the above-described preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the bank structure manufacturing method of this embodiment is applied, it is possible to reduce the expensive mask cost for the manufacturing process of the LCD color filter. In addition, since the number of manufacturing steps of the mask structure is reduced, the process time required for manufacturing is shortened compared to the conventional one.

  In the present invention, preferred embodiments have been disclosed as described above. However, these embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention, and any person who is familiar with the technology can use various embodiments within the scope and spirit of the present invention. Changes and modifications can be made. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention is based on the contents specified in the claims.

It is sectional drawing which shows the manufacturing step of the bank structure of preferable one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the manufacturing step of the bank structure of preferable one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the manufacturing step of the bank structure of preferable one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the manufacturing step of the bank structure of preferable one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the manufacturing step of the bank structure of preferable one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the coloring step of the inkjet method of suitable one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the coloring step of the inkjet method of suitable one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the coloring step of the inkjet method of suitable one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100: Color filter substrate 102: Black matrix layer 104a: Photoresist layer 106a: Photoresist layer 108: Ink droplet 110: Cured ink droplet

Claims (13)

A manufacturing method of a bank structure applied when manufacturing a color filter of a liquid crystal display by an inkjet method,
Forming a black matrix layer on the color filter substrate and forming a first photoresist layer on the black matrix layer;
Patterning the black matrix layer and the first photoresist layer with a mask;
Removing the first photoresist layer;
Forming a second photoresist layer on the patterned black matrix layer;
And patterning the second photoresist layer to form a bank structure by a back exposure method.   2. The method of manufacturing a bank structure according to claim 1, wherein the back exposure method uses ultraviolet light as an exposure source.   3. The method of manufacturing a bank structure according to claim 2, wherein the back exposure method uses the patterned black matrix layer as a mask to pattern the second photoresist layer through exposure and development steps.   The method of claim 1, wherein the first photoresist layer is patterned by conventional exposure and development steps.   2. The method of manufacturing a bank structure according to claim 1, wherein the black matrix layer is patterned by an etching method.   2. The method of manufacturing a bank structure according to claim 1, wherein the second photoresist layer is a positive photoresist material. A method for producing a color filter to be applied to a liquid crystal display,
Forming a black matrix layer on the color filter substrate and forming a first photoresist layer on the black matrix layer;
Patterning the black matrix layer and the first photoresist layer with a mask to remove the first photoresist layer;
Forming a second photoresist layer on the patterned black matrix layer;
Patterning the second photoresist layer into a bank structure by a back exposure method;
And a step of directly coloring a lattice structure formed by patterning the black matrix layer and the bank structure by color ink droplets by an inkjet method.   The method for producing a color filter according to claim 7, further comprising a step of curing the color ink droplets by a baking method.   8. The method of manufacturing a color filter according to claim 7, wherein the back exposure method uses ultraviolet light as an exposure source.   8. The method of manufacturing a color filter according to claim 7, wherein the back exposure method uses the patterned black matrix layer as a mask to pattern the second photoresist layer through exposure and development steps.   8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first photoresist layer is patterned by conventional exposure and development steps.   8. The method of manufacturing a color filter according to claim 7, wherein the black matrix layer is patterned by an etching method. 8. The method of manufacturing a color filter according to claim 7, wherein the second photoresist layer is a positive photoresist material.

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