JP2006350295A - Partial formation method of thin film, partial defect restoration method of thin film and defect restoration device of thin film - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a partial formation method of thin film capable of partially forming a thin film simply and efficiently without causing unevenness of film thickness. <P>SOLUTION: A thin film-forming material 15a including a solid component, a solidifying component and a solvent is partially dropped onto a substrate 11, the solvent is eliminated from the dropped thin film-forming material 15, the solidifying component in the thin film-forming material 15 of which the fluidity is lowered due to the removal of the solvent is softened, thereafter, the softened solidifying component is solidified, thereby, a thin film is partially formed on a defect-removed part 14 in a filter film 13 and a color filter for a liquid crystal panel is restored. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a thin film partial formation method, a thin film partial defect repair method, and a thin film defect repair apparatus.

  As one of the methods for forming a thin film on a substrate, a thin film forming method is known in which a liquid thin film forming material containing a solidifying component is dropped on a substrate and the dropped thin film forming material is solidified. It has been. According to the method of dropping and solidifying a liquid thin film forming material on the substrate, it is possible to form a thin film of any size by adjusting the dropping area of the thin film forming material.

  Therefore, if a minute amount of liquid thin film forming material is selectively dropped onto a partial region, the thin film can be formed only on the partial region. Although methods such as an ink jet method and a dispenser method can be used as a method of dropping a minute amount of a thin film forming material, these methods have limitations on physical properties such as viscosity and surface tension of the thin film forming material that can be dropped. For example, it is difficult to drop only the solidified component itself such as a curable resin.

  In order to allow a liquid thin film forming material to be dropped by, for example, an ink jet method, the solid component and the solidified component that are components of the thin film forming material are diluted with a solvent, and the physical property value is adjusted to enable the dropping. The method is taken. A thin film can be partially formed by removing the solvent from the dropped thin film forming material by drying, leaving only the solid component and the solidified component, and solidifying the solidified component in this state.

  Such a method of partially forming a thin film is used to repair the thin film. In particular, color filters for liquid crystal panels, which are a type of thin film used in liquid crystal displays for personal computers and mobile phones, and panel displays for liquid crystal televisions, are required to achieve both pixel refinement and cost reduction. Therefore, even if a defect occurs in the color filter, the defective part is repaired and commercialized by partially forming a thin film without being discarded (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In Patent Document 1, a defective portion of a color filter is removed with laser light, correction ink is dropped onto the removed portion, the dropped correction ink is cured and contracted, and a thin film is partially formed to repair the color filter. .

  However, in a method of forming a thin film partially by dropping a small amount of a thin film forming material containing a solvent such as correction ink, removing the solvent, and solidifying the remaining solidified component, the film thickness of the formed thin film is There is a problem that it is not uniform.

  FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a thin film partially formed by the prior art. FIG. 8 shows the color filter 2 formed on the substrate 1. The color filter 2 shows a state in which a filter thin film 4 is formed between black matrices 3 and a thin film 5 is partially formed in the filter thin film 4.

  The solidifying component used for forming the partial thin film 5 has many viscosities and surface tensions alone, and is not suitable for dropping by an ink jet method or a dispenser method, so that dilution with a solvent is required.

  After the thin film forming material diluted with such a solvent is dropped, evaporation in the peripheral portion of the dropped thin film forming material in the process of vaporization evaporation, that is, drying, of the thin film forming material is performed at the central portion. Therefore, a flow from the central portion to the peripheral portion occurs in the dropped thin film forming material, and a solid component and a solidified component are deposited on the peripheral portion. When such a phenomenon occurs, the dropped film forming material, that is, a partially formed thin film, has a film thickness unevenness in which the film thickness is increased at the periphery and decreased near the center. To do.

  The film thickness unevenness generated in the thin film, for example, in a color filter for a liquid crystal panel, leads to non-uniformity in color, non-uniformity in light transmission, etc. It causes a decrease.

  As a conventional technique for solving such a problem, the region including the defective portion of the color filter is removed, the colored ink is applied to the removed region, and the substrate on which the color filter is formed is vibrated before the applied colored ink is cured. Alternatively, it has been proposed to make the film thickness of the coating part uniform by applying acceleration (see Patent Document 2). However, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 requires a device including a drive system that imparts vibration or acceleration to the substrate, and there is a problem that the device configuration becomes complicated and large.

  As another conventional technique for preventing the occurrence of film thickness unevenness, in a method for correcting a defective portion of a color filter, when applying a correction coating material, the coating portion is shifted a plurality of times by shifting the position by a predetermined pitch. Application has been proposed (see Patent Document 3). However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 3, since it is necessary to repeatedly apply a plurality of times when correcting a defective portion in one place, there is a problem that the time required for executing the correction process becomes long and the production efficiency is lowered. .

JP 2001-66418 A JP 2003-43236 A JP 2004-13133 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a method for partially forming a thin film that can easily and efficiently form a thin film partially without causing unevenness of the film thickness, and a method for repairing a partial defect in a thin film using the method. Is to provide.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a thin film defect repairing apparatus capable of repairing a thin film partially with a simple structure and efficiently without causing unevenness in film thickness.

The present invention relates to a thin film portion that forms a thin film by partially dropping a thin film forming material containing at least a solidifying component and a solvent onto a substrate, removing the solvent from the dropped thin film forming material, and solidifying the solidifying component. In the formation method,
A dropping step of partially dropping the thin film forming material onto the substrate;
A solvent removal step of removing the solvent from the dropped thin film forming material;
A softening step for softening the solidified component in the thin film forming material whose fluidity has been reduced by removing the solvent;
And a solidification step of solidifying the softened solidified component.

Further, the present invention provides a dropping step,
The part on the substrate where the thin film forming material is dropped is formed in the recess,
The inner surface of the recess is processed in advance so that the wettability with respect to the thin film forming material is higher than the portion other than the inner surface of the recess on the substrate.

  The present invention is characterized in that the treatment for increasing the wettability of the inner surface of the recess to the thin film forming material is performed by irradiating the inner surface of the recess with ultraviolet (UV) light.

In the present invention, the treatment for increasing the wettability with respect to the thin film forming material on the inner surface of the recess is
Performing a surface treatment to reduce wettability to the thin film forming material in a region including the inner surface of the recess and a portion other than the inner surface of the recess;
And a step of removing a surface-treated portion having reduced wettability only on the inner surface of the recess.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that the surface treatment for reducing wettability with respect to the thin film forming material is performed by applying a material having poor wettability with respect to the thin film forming material.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that the surface treatment for reducing the wettability with respect to the thin film forming material is performed by a plasma treatment with a gas containing fluorine.

  In addition, the present invention is characterized in that the step of removing the surface-treated portion having reduced wettability is performed by irradiating with ultraviolet (UV) laser light.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that the softening step is performed by applying a solvent to the thin film forming material.

  The present invention is characterized in that the softening step is performed by heating the thin film forming material.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that the solidification component contained in the thin film forming material is contained in an amount of 30% by volume or more based on the total volume after solidification.

In the invention, the solidifying component is a thermosetting resin.
In the invention, the solidifying component is an ultraviolet curable resin.

  The present invention also provides a method for repairing a partial defect in a thin film, wherein a defective portion generated in the thin film is removed, and the thin film is partially repaired by any one of the partial thin film forming methods. .

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a color filter for a liquid crystal panel, wherein a defective portion is repaired by the thin film partial defect repairing method.

Further, the present invention provides a defect repair apparatus for a thin film that partially repairs a defect portion generated in a thin film formed on a substrate.
A defect removing means for removing a defective portion generated in the thin film;
A dropping means for dropping a thin film forming material containing a solid component, a solidifying component, and a solvent onto the defect removing portion;
A solvent removing means for removing the solvent from the dropped thin film forming material;
A thin film defect repairing apparatus comprising: a softening means for softening a solidified component in a thin film forming material whose fluidity is lowered by removing a solvent.

  Further, the invention is characterized in that the softening means is a solvent applying device for applying a solvent to the dropped thin film forming material.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that the softening means is a heating device for heating the dropped thin film forming material.

  According to the present invention, a thin film that forms a thin film by partially dropping a thin film forming material containing at least a solidifying component and a solvent onto the substrate, removing the solvent from the dropped thin film forming material, and solidifying the solidifying component. In the partial formation method, the solidification component in the thin film forming material whose fluidity has decreased due to the solvent removal is softened, and then the softened solidification component is solidified. In this way, by softening the thin film forming material that has lost its fluidity due to solvent removal, the difference in the amount of deposited thin film forming material at the peripheral and central portions is eliminated by the action of the surface tension of the thin film forming material itself. Therefore, it is possible to form a thin film partially without causing film thickness unevenness.

  According to the invention, in the dropping step, the portion on the substrate where the thin film forming material is dropped is formed in the recess, and the inner surface of the recess is thinner than the portion other than the inner surface of the recess on the substrate. Is processed in advance so as to increase the wettability with respect to the film, so that the upper end of the side wall surface constituting the inner surface of the recess can be wetted with the thin film forming material, and when softened again, a step difference from the periphery other than the recess, that is, the film The thickness unevenness can be further reduced.

  Further, according to the present invention, the treatment for increasing the wettability of the inner surface of the recess to the thin film forming material is performed by irradiating the inner surface of the recess with ultraviolet (UV) light. Since UV light can exert a mechanical and chemical action on the inner surface of the recess, for example, the wettability of the inner surface of the recess, which is a defect removal portion of the thin film, can be easily increased.

  Further, according to the present invention, the treatment for increasing the wettability with respect to the thin film forming material on the inner surface of the recess is a surface treatment for reducing the wettability with respect to the thin film forming material in a region including the inner surface of the recess and a portion other than the inner surface of the recess. Since it includes the step of performing and the step of removing the surface-treated portion whose wettability is reduced only on the inner surface of the recess, the relative wettability of the inner surface of the recess can be reliably realized.

  Further, according to the present invention, the surface treatment for reducing the wettability with respect to the thin film forming material is performed by applying a material with poor wettability with respect to the thin film forming material. In this way, in order to obtain a difference in wettability between the inner surface of the recess and the other part, a material having poor wettability with respect to the thin film forming material is applied to the region including the inner surface of the recess and the other part. The process of once reducing wettability is easily realized.

  According to the invention, the surface treatment for reducing the wettability with respect to the thin film forming material is performed by a plasma treatment using a gas containing fluorine. As described above, in order to obtain a difference in wettability between the inner surface of the recess and the other portion, by performing plasma treatment with a gas containing fluorine on the region including the inner surface of the recess and the other portion, The process of reducing wettability is reliably and easily realized.

  In addition, according to the present invention, the step of removing the surface treatment portion with reduced wettability is performed by irradiating with ultraviolet (UV) laser light, so that only the surface treatment portion on the inner surface of the recess is accurately and reliably removed. can do.

  Further, according to the present invention, since the softening step is performed by applying a solvent to the thin film forming material or heating the thin film forming material, the softening of the thin film forming material dropped by a simple method is realized. Can do. In addition, when a solidification component swells by exposure to solvent vapor | steam and fluidity | liquidity is obtained, it is not limited to provision of a liquid solvent, Softening of a thin film forming material is realizable also by provision of a vapor-form solvent.

  Further, according to the present invention, since the solidified component contained in the thin film forming material is contained in an amount of 30% by volume or more based on the total volume after solidification, the mixture of the solid component and the solidified component is fluid, particularly in the softening step. Can be reliably expressed.

  Further, according to the present invention, since a thermosetting resin or an ultraviolet curable resin is used as a solidifying component, the thin film forming material is maintained in a liquid state until being dropped, and can be cured after the dropping. The solid component can be securely fixed to the substrate.

  Further, according to the present invention, a repaired thin film having a uniform film thickness and high quality is obtained by removing a defective portion generated in the thin film and partially forming the thin film by applying a partial thin film forming method to the removed portion. Can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, a color filter for a liquid crystal panel in which defective portions are repaired with a thin film having a uniform thickness can be obtained. For example, the defect was repaired with high accuracy by removing the defective portion of the thin film on which each of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) was formed, and partially repairing the removed portion. A high quality color filter for a liquid crystal panel can be obtained.

  Further, according to the present invention, a thin film defect repairing apparatus capable of repairing a thin film partially without causing uneven film thickness with a simple configuration is realized.

  The present invention relates to a thin film portion that forms a thin film by partially dropping a thin film forming material containing at least a solidifying component and a solvent onto a substrate, removing the solvent from the dropped thin film forming material, and solidifying the solidifying component. In a thin film forming material in which fluidity is reduced by removing the solvent, removing the solvent from the dropped thin film forming material, dropping the thin film forming material partially onto the substrate, A softening step of softening the solidified component and a solidifying step of solidifying the softened solidified component.

  Hereinafter, the case of applying the thin film partial formation method of the present invention to partial defect repair of a color filter for a liquid crystal panel will be exemplified and described in detail.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration of a color filter 10 for a liquid crystal panel. The color filter 10 for liquid crystal panel (hereinafter, simply referred to as “color filter”) includes, for example, a black matrix 12 formed in a lattice shape on a glass substrate 11 and a red formed in a region partitioned by the black matrix 12. (R), green (G), and blue (B) and the filter thin film 13 which is each color pattern. Such a color filter 10 has a defect such as so-called whitening in which a film thickness abnormality or a filter thin film 13 is not partially filled with a predetermined color thin film due to adhesion of foreign matters such as dust in the manufacturing process. May occur.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state in which a defective portion generated in the color filter 10 is removed. When a defect occurs in the filter thin film 13 of the color filter 10, the removed portion 14 is formed by removing the defective portion. For example, a laser irradiation apparatus is used to remove the defective portion. The laser irradiation device is not particularly limited, but a solid-state laser YAG laser, a gas laser excimer laser, or the like is preferably used. The defective portion is irradiated with laser light by a laser irradiation device to form a removed portion 14 from which the defect has been removed, and the color filter 10 is repaired on the removed portion 14 by using a method for partially forming a thin film.

  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the method for partially forming a thin film of the present invention. Hereinafter, each step of the method for partially forming a thin film will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3A shows a dropping process in which the thin film forming material 15 is partially dropped onto the substrate 11. The thin film forming material 15 is dropped toward the removal portion 14 as a droplet 15a by, for example, an ink jet apparatus. The thin film forming material 15 includes a solid component, a solidified component, and a solvent so that the thin film forming material 15 can be discharged as droplets 15a by, for example, an inkjet apparatus.

  As the solid component, a pigment or the like is used when used to repair the color filter 10. Examples of the pigment include organic pigments, inorganic pigments and processed pigments.

  As the solidifying component, a thermosetting resin or an ultraviolet curable resin is preferably used. Since the thermosetting resin or the ultraviolet curable resin is maintained in a liquid state before performing the curing process, it is suitable for maintaining the thin film forming material 15 in a liquid state in the dropping step and the softening step.

  This solidifying component is preferably contained in an amount of 30% by volume or more based on the total volume of the solidifying component and the solid component. When the particles of the solid component have a shape close to a sphere, the filling rate in the state where the spherical particles are deposited in a close-packed state is about 70% by volume, so that the particles have a filling rate of 70% by volume or less. In other words, the film forming material 15 can exhibit fluidity as a liquid material by filling the space between the particles with the solidified component so that the solidified component is 30% by volume or more. In particular, in the softening step after removal of the solvent, if the volume ratio of the solidified component that is also a liquid component (solidified component / (solidified component + solid component)) is less than 30% by volume, even if the viscosity of the solidified component itself is sufficiently small, Since the thin film forming material hardly exhibits the fluidity as a whole, the shape cannot be deformed by applying the surface tension. Therefore, the content ratio (volume ratio) of the solidified component is set to 30% by volume or more.

  Although the upper limit of the content ratio of the solidifying component is not particularly limited, it is preferably 70% by volume or less.

  As described above, the larger the content ratio of the solidified component that is a solidified component contained in the thin film forming material and is liquid until it is subjected to the curing treatment, the more easily the fluidity of the thin film forming material is expressed. However, the role of the solidifying component in the partial repair of the thin film is to fix the solid component pigment to the substrate, and what is required for the function as the thin film after the repair is the solid component. Therefore, when trying to repair with a thin film forming material with a large solid component content and a small solid component content, a large amount of thin film forming material is dripped in order to make the solid component concentration at the repaired part equal to the sound part. Must. This means that the time required for the dropping process is increased, and therefore the takt time for thin film repair is increased. Moreover, since the volume of the thin film forming material that can be dropped onto the repaired portion is limited, the content ratio of the solidified component cannot be excessively increased. Therefore, the upper limit is preferably 70% by volume.

  As the solvent, for example, organic solvents such as diethylene glycol and butyl carbitol acetate are preferably used.

  FIG. 3B shows a solvent removal step of removing the solvent from the thin film forming material 15 dropped on the substrate 11. The removal of the solvent is performed by drying by evaporating the solvent from the thin film forming material 15. The removal of the solvent may be performed by heating the thin film forming material to about 100 ° C. together with the substrate 11 using, for example, a hot plate as a heating means, or may be naturally dried. 13 may be housed in a chamber or the like, and reduced-pressure drying in which the atmosphere in the chamber is reduced in pressure and dried.

  In this solvent removal step, as described above, the evaporation of the dropped thin film forming material 15 at the peripheral edge portion 16 is faster than the evaporation at the central portion 17, so that the central portion 17 of the dropped thin film forming material 15. The flow toward the peripheral part 16 occurs from the bottom, and a phenomenon in which the solid component and the solidified component accumulate on the peripheral part 16 occurs. If the solidification component is cured as it is, film thickness unevenness occurs, and the thin film partial formation method of the present invention is characterized by performing the softening step shown in FIG.

  The softening step is performed by applying a solvent to the thin film forming material 15 whose fluidity has decreased due to the solvent removal. The application of the solvent to the thin film forming material 15 is realized, for example, by using an ink jet apparatus that can discharge the solvent.

  In the softening step, the amount of the solvent applied from the inkjet device to the thin film forming material is selected to be smaller than the amount of the solvent contained in the thin film forming material when the thin film forming material is initially generated.

  This is because if the amount of the solvent applied in the softening step is excessive, the fluidity is sufficiently developed, but the film thickness may be varied again during the evaporation process of the solvent. Therefore, it is desirable that the amount of the solvent applied in the softening process is a minimum at which the thin film forming material exhibits fluidity. Although the viscosity of the thin film forming material to which the solvent of the amount selected in this way is applied is deformable, it is not so small that it can be dripped by ink jet. It is not possible to drop the thin film forming material in a content ratio of the solid component and the solvent.

  In the above embodiment, only the solvent is directly dropped in order to soften the thin film forming material that has been dried by removing the solvent. The purpose of this is to soften the thin film forming material to a viscosity that can be deformed by its surface tension. Therefore, if it is appropriate, the present invention is not limited to dropping only the solvent directly. When the thin film forming material is softened by the vapor of the solvent, the thin film forming material is softened by a method such as exposing the thin film forming material to the vapor. May be.

  Moreover, a softening process may be performed by heating the thin film forming material 15 without being limited to solvent provision. When the thin film forming material 15 is softened by heating, the heating is realized by setting the heating temperature of the hot plate higher than that in the solvent removal step, for example, 200 ° C.

  By performing such a softening process, the thin film forming material 15 has a fluidity that can be freely deformed although it has a small fluidity compared to the fluidity in the dropping process. Due to the effect of its own surface tension, it deforms so that the surface area becomes smaller, that is, the film thickness difference is eliminated.

  After performing this softening step, a partial thin film is solidified in a state in which the film thickness unevenness is eliminated by applying heat curing or ultraviolet curing treatment to solidify the solidified component.

  The color filter 10 in which the defective portion is repaired by using the thin film partial forming method of the present invention for forming the thin film of the removed portion 14 from which the defect of the color filter 10 is removed is also an embodiment of the present invention. .

  FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the method for partially forming a thin film according to the present invention. In another embodiment of the method for partially forming a thin film according to the present invention, in the dropping step, a portion on the substrate 11 on which the thin film forming material is dropped is formed as a recess 14, that is, the removed portion 14. The inner surface of the recess 14 (hereinafter referred to as the removed portion 14 because it is equal to the removed portion 14) is higher in advance so that the wettability to the thin film forming material is higher than the portion other than the inner surface of the removed portion 14 on the substrate. A process of irradiating with ultraviolet (UV) light 31 is performed.

  In the process of irradiating the UV light 31 only to the inner surface of the removed portion 14, the UV light 31 is emitted from the light source to the color filter 10 with the surface of the color filter 10 other than the removed portion 14 covered with the mask 32. Can be realized. As the light source that emits the UV light 31, for example, an excimer laser is preferably used.

  Since the UV light 31 can exert a mechanical and chemical action on the inner surface of the removal portion 14, the wettability of the inner surface of the removal portion 14 can be easily increased. In particular, when the wettability of the surface 14a (hereinafter referred to as the side wall surface 14a) constituting the side wall of the removed portion 14 forming the recess is increased, the dropped thin film forming material 15 can reach the upper end portion 14b of the side wall surface 14a. The removal portion 14 can be sufficiently filled by getting wet. Prior to the dropping step, the removed portion 14 that has been previously irradiated with the UV light 31 is partially formed into a thin film through the dropping step, the solvent removing step, and the softening step.

  FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a thin film is partially formed on the removed portion 14 that has been irradiated with UV light. As described above, when the wettability of the removed portion 14 is made higher than the portion other than the removed portion by irradiation with the UV light 31, in the step of dropping the thin film forming material, removing the solvent, and then softening, Since the removed portion 14 is wet up to the upper end portion 14b of the side wall surface 14a with the thin film forming material, its surface area is minimized with the upper end portion 14b of the side wall surface 14a serving as a fulcrum when the solvent is dripped or softened by heating. It deforms as follows. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the level difference between the partial thin film portion formed by filling the removed portion 14 with the thin film forming material 15 and the other portion, that is, the film thickness unevenness is further reduced. It is suppressed to 5 μm or less.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the method for partially forming a thin film according to the present invention. In this embodiment, prior to the dropping step, the inner surface of the removal portion 14 that is a recess is more wettable with respect to the thin film forming material than the portion other than the inner surface of the removal portion 14 on the substrate 11, as in the previous embodiment. It is processed in advance so as to increase.

  In this embodiment, it should be noted that the treatment for increasing the wettability of the inner surface of the removed portion 14 to the thin film forming material is applied to the thin film forming material in the region including the inner surface of the removed portion 14 and the portion other than the inner surface of the removed portion 14. It includes a step of performing a surface treatment for reducing wettability, and a step of removing a surface-treated portion whose wettability is reduced only on the inner surface of the removed portion 14.

  In still another embodiment of the method for partially forming a thin film shown in FIG. 6, the surface treatment for reducing wettability with respect to the thin film forming material includes an inner surface of the removed portion 14 and a portion other than the inner surface of the removed portion 14. And applying a material having poor wettability to the thin film forming material.

  In FIG. 6A, a material having poor wettability with respect to the thin film forming material is applied to a region including the inner surface of the removed portion 14 of the color filter 10 and a portion other than the inner surface of the removed portion 14 to form the wettability reducing layer 33. The formed state is shown. Examples of the material having poor wettability with respect to the thin film forming material include a fluorine-containing resin and a fluorine-based surfactant.

  The method for applying the material having poor wettability to the thin film forming material to the color filter 10 is not particularly limited, and each method may be used according to the characteristics of the material, but an ink jet method or a dispenser method is preferable. Used for.

  FIG. 6B is a diagram for explaining a process of removing a surface treatment portion having reduced wettability only on the inner surface of the removal portion 14. In the present embodiment, the step of removing the surface-treated portion having reduced wettability from the inner surface of the removal portion 14 is performed by applying ultraviolet (UV) laser light 31 to the wettability reduction layer 33 formed on the inner surface of the removal portion 14. This is done by irradiating.

  The process of irradiating only the wettability lowering layer 33 formed on the inner surface of the removed portion 14 with the UV laser light 31 is performed using the mask 32 on the wettability lowering layer 33 formed on the surface of the color filter 10 other than the removed portion 14. This can be realized by emitting UV laser light 31 from the light source to the color filter 10 in a covered state.

  The wettability reducing layer 33 formed on the inner surface of the removal portion 14 is removed by the mechanical and chemical action of the irradiated UV laser light 31. FIG. 6C shows a state in which the wettability lowering layer 33 is removed only on the inner surface of the removed portion 14. The wettability of the inner surface of the removed portion 14 from which the wettability reducing layer 33 has been removed with respect to the thin film forming material is higher than that of other portions where the wettability reducing layer 33 remains.

  As described above, the above-described dropping step, solvent removing step and softening step are performed on the color filter 10 in which the inner surface of the removed portion 14 has been subjected to the treatment for improving the wettability with respect to the thin film forming material in advance. After that, the thin film is partially formed. In the color filter 10 in which the thin film is partially formed, as in FIG. 5 described above, the level difference between the partial thin film portion formed by filling the thin film forming material 15 in the removal portion 14 and the other portions. That is, the film thickness unevenness is further reduced, and is suppressed to, for example, 0.5 μm or less.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, the surface treatment for reducing the wettability with respect to the thin film forming material forms a thin film in a region including the inner surface of the removed portion 14 and a portion other than the inner surface of the removed portion 14. Although it is performed by applying a material having poor wettability to the material, other methods may be used without being limited thereto.

For example, the surface treatment for reducing the wettability with respect to the thin film forming material may be performed by a plasma treatment using a gas containing fluorine. The color filter 10 on which the removal portion 14 before being put into the dropping process is formed is inserted into a chamber of a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PCVD) apparatus, for example, and fluorine (F) gas, Introducing tetrafluoromethane (CF ₄ ) gas or trifluoride methane (CHF ₃ ) gas and an inert gas, and forming fluorine as an excited active species by, for example, bipolar discharge, activated fluorine and a color filter The surface treatment layer having low wettability with respect to the thin film forming material is formed by reacting with 10 surface layers.

  Next, the color filter 10 on which the surface treatment layer with low wettability with respect to the thin film forming material is formed is taken out from the chamber of the PCVD apparatus, and the surface treatment layer with low wettability formed on the surface of the color filter 10 other than the removal portion 14 is removed. While covered with a mask, UV laser light is emitted from the light source to the color filter 10. As a result, the wettability of the inner surface of the removed portion 14 to the thin film forming material can be made higher than that of the portion other than the inner surface of the removed portion 14. The removal portion 14 treated so as to have high wettability with respect to the thin film forming material is subjected to a dropping step, a solvent removal step, and a softening step, and a thin film is partially formed. Can be played.

  FIG. 7 is a system diagram showing a simplified configuration of a thin film defect repairing apparatus 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. A thin film defect repair apparatus 20 (hereinafter simply referred to as a defect repair apparatus) is an apparatus that can suitably execute the thin film partial formation method of the present invention.

  The defect repairing apparatus 20 generally drops a defect removing means 23 for removing a defective portion generated in the thin film 22 formed on the substrate 21 and a thin film forming material containing a solid component, a solidified component, and a solvent onto the defect removing portion. Dropping means 24, solvent removing means 25 for removing the solvent from the dropped thin film forming material, softening means 26 for softening the solidified component in the thin film forming material whose fluidity is reduced by removing the solvent, A moving means 27 for placing the substrate 21 and the thin film 22 and changing the relative position of the thin film 22 with the defect removing means 23, the dropping means 24, and the softening means 26, and a controller 28 for controlling the overall operation of the apparatus. Consists of including.

  Examples of the substrate 21 and the thin film 22 include a glass substrate as described above and a color filter formed thereon. In the present embodiment, the substrate 21 and the thin film 22 are placed on the solvent removing means 25. In the present embodiment, a hot plate 25 that is a heating device is used as the solvent removing means 25. The hot plate 25 receives power supply from a power source (not shown) in accordance with an operation command from the control unit 28, and heats a predetermined portion of the thin film 22 to remove the solvent of the thin film forming material.

  The hot plate 25 on which the substrate 21 and the thin film 22 are placed is further placed on the moving means 27. The moving means 27 is, for example, a three-axis table 27 that can move in the three-axis directions of XYZ. The moving means 27 does not necessarily need to be movable in the three-axis direction, and may be a table that can be moved in the XY two-axis direction, or a table that is uniaxial and rotationally movable. Also good.

  The moving means 27 detects, for example, a defective portion of the thin film 22. For example, the moving means 27 is combined with an image processing device and inputs the position of the defective portion of the thin film 22 detected by the image processing device to the control unit 28. It is desirable that the thin film 22 is configured to move to a position where processing is executed in accordance with the detection result in accordance with the operation command.

  In the present embodiment, a laser irradiation apparatus is used as the defect removing means 23. The laser irradiation device 23 irradiates the thin film 22 moved by the moving means 27 so that the defect position corresponds to the laser irradiation device 23, and removes the defective portion.

  The dripping means 24 includes an accumulator that stores a liquid thin film forming material including a solid component, a solidified component, and a solvent, and an ejection unit that ejects the thin film forming material stored in the reservoir. Realized by the device. The discharge unit may be a piezo type or a thermal type. Since the inkjet device 24 can accurately eject fine droplets, a fine repair region such as a defect-removed portion of the thin film 22 can be accurately filled with a necessary amount of thin film forming material.

  In the present embodiment, a solvent application device is provided as the softening means 26, and the solvent application device 26 includes an ink storage unit that stores a solvent and a solvent discharge unit that discharges the solvent stored in the solvent storage unit. Realized by the device. As in the case of the dripping means 24, the ink jet apparatus can accurately eject fine droplets, so that an amount of solvent necessary to soften the thin film 22 can be accurately applied.

  Note that the hot plate 25 described above may be used as another softening means 26a. The thin film forming material can be softened by operating the hot plate 25 and heating and heating the thin film 22 so as to have a higher temperature than in the previous solvent removal. Either one of the solvent application device 26 and the hot plate 26a may be selected and used as a softening means, or both may be used in combination.

  The control unit 28 is realized by a microcomputer having a central processing unit (CPU), for example. The control unit 28 comprehensively performs operations of the moving unit 27, the defect removing unit 23, the dropping unit 24, the solvent removing unit 25, and the softening unit 26 based on an operation control program stored in advance in a memory 29 that is a storage unit. By controlling, the defect repair apparatus 20 is operated so as to repair the defective portion of the thin film 22.

  Moreover, in the defect repair apparatus 20, the moving table 27 which mounts the board | substrate 21, the thin film 22, and the hot plate 25, the laser irradiation apparatus 23, the inkjet apparatus 24 which is a dripping means, and the inkjet apparatus 26 which is a softening means, Is accommodated in a chamber capable of adjusting the atmosphere. With such a configuration, instead of removing the solvent by the hot plate 25 or simultaneously with removing the solvent by the hot plate 25, the inside of the chamber can be decompressed and the solvent can be removed by drying under reduced pressure.

Examples of the present invention will be described below.
Example 1
Example 1 shows an example in which the defect repairing apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 7 is prepared and a defect portion generated in an R filter film of a color filter for a liquid crystal panel is repaired.

In the thin film forming material, as a solid component, a red pigment; Chromofine (manufactured by Dainichi Seika Kogyo Co., Ltd., 3.5 cm ³ ; as a solidifying component, an ultraviolet curable resin; Dicure (manufactured by Dainippon Ink Co., Ltd.), 1.5 cm ³ As a solvent, a mixture of 50 mL (milliliter) of butyl carbitol acetate as an organic solvent was used.

  First, a defective portion generated in the R filter film of the color filter was removed by a laser irradiation device so as to be 100 μm square in a planar shape, thereby forming a removed portion. The thin film forming material was dropped onto the removed portion from the ink jet device, which is a dropping device loaded with the above thin film forming material, and the removed portion was filled with the thin film forming material. Next, the portion filled with the thin film forming material was heated to 100 ° C. by a hot plate as a solvent removing means, and the solvent was removed. The thin film forming material whose fluidity was lowered by the solvent removal was further heated to 200 ° C. by a hot plate, which is another softening means, and softened. Thereafter, the filled portion of the thin film forming material was irradiated with ultraviolet rays by an ultraviolet irradiation device (not shown) to solidify the ultraviolet curable resin, and the defective portion of the R filter film was repaired.

  After completion of solidification, the thickness distribution of the thin film in the repaired part where the thin film was partially formed, in particular, the film thickness difference between the peripheral part and the central part was measured with a level difference measuring machine (manufactured by ULVAC, Inc.).

  As a result of measuring the film thickness distribution, the film thickness difference within a 100 μm square region was only 1 μm. In this way, the color filter with small film thickness difference and no film thickness unevenness has no unevenness in color and light transmittance in the repaired area, and performs the same function as a healthy part that is formed normally without causing defects. can do. By making it possible to repair the defective portion generated in the color filter with high quality, it is possible to achieve the cost reduction effect of manufacturing the color filter.

  For comparison, after removing the solvent, the film thickness distribution was measured for the thin film repaired portion solidified by irradiation with ultraviolet rays without taking a softening step. As a result, a 5 μm film was obtained in a 100 μm square region. A thickness difference occurred. As a result, the effect of preventing the film thickness unevenness due to the softening step can be understood.

(Example 2)
In Example 2, 1.5 cm ³ of Nikkalite (manufactured by Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.), which is a thermosetting resin, is used as a solidifying component instead of an ultraviolet curable resin, and solvent removal is replaced with heating by a hot plate. Restoration of the R filter film in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the inside of the chamber was dried under reduced pressure using a vacuum pump, and the softening was performed by applying a solvent by an ink jet apparatus instead of heating by a hot plate. Went.

  As the solvent applied by the inkjet device in the softening process, an organic solvent; butyl carbitol acetate was used as in Example 1, but the applied amount was less than that at the time of forming the thin film forming material, about 5 pL. (Picoliter). As a result of measuring the film thickness distribution of the thin film after the repair, the film thickness difference was 1 μm or less.

(Example 3)
Example 3 shows the volume ratio (ultraviolet curable resin / (ultraviolet curable resin + red pigment)) of the ultraviolet curable resin that is a solidified component in the formation of the thin film forming material; the red pigment that is the die cure and the solid component; The R filter film was repaired in the same manner as in Example 1 except that it was changed in three stages as shown in FIG. After the restoration, the film thickness distribution was measured for each volume ratio test. The measurement results are shown together in Table 1.

  In test number 3-2, which is exactly the same conditions as in Example 1 described above, the film thickness difference was 1 μm. Further, even in the test number 3-3 in which the volume ratio of the UV curable resin as the solidifying component is 50%, the film thickness difference is suppressed to about 1.2 μm, but in the test number 3-1 in which the volume ratio is as small as 25%, The film thickness difference was as large as 4 μm, and the film thickness unevenness was not sufficiently suppressed.

2 is a plan view showing a configuration of a color filter for a liquid crystal panel. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state where a defective portion generated in the color filter 10 is removed. FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the embodiment of the partial formation method of the thin film of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows another embodiment of the partial formation method of the thin film in this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in which partial formation of the thin film was performed with respect to the removal part 14 in which the irradiation process by UV light was performed. It is sectional drawing which shows another embodiment of the partial formation method of the thin film in this invention. It is a systematic diagram which simplifies and shows the structure of the defect repair apparatus 20 of the thin film which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the thin film 1 partially formed by the prior art.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Color filter for liquid crystal panels 11 Glass substrate 12 Black matrix 13 Filter film 14 Removal part 15 Thin film formation material 20 Thin film defect repair apparatus 21 Substrate 22 Thin film 23 Defect removal means 24 Dropping means 25 Solvent removal means 26 Softening means 27 Moving means 28 Control unit

Claims (17)

In a method for partially forming a thin film, a thin film forming material containing at least a solidifying component and a solvent is partially dropped on a substrate, and the thin film is formed by removing the solvent from the dropped thin film forming material and solidifying the solidifying component. ,
A dropping step of partially dropping the thin film forming material onto the substrate;
A solvent removal step of removing the solvent from the dropped thin film forming material;
A softening step for softening the solidified component in the thin film forming material whose fluidity has been reduced by removing the solvent;
A method of partially forming a thin film, comprising: a solidifying step of solidifying the softened solidified component. In the dropping process,
The part on the substrate where the thin film forming material is dropped is formed in the recess,
2. The method for partially forming a thin film according to claim 1, wherein the inner surface of the recess is treated in advance so that the wettability with respect to the thin film forming material is higher than the portion other than the inner surface of the recess on the substrate. The treatment to increase the wettability to the thin film forming material on the inner surface of the recess,
3. The method for partially forming a thin film according to claim 2, wherein the method is performed by irradiating the inner surface of the recess with ultraviolet (UV) light. The treatment to increase the wettability to the thin film forming material on the inner surface of the recess,
Performing a surface treatment to reduce wettability to the thin film forming material in a region including the inner surface of the recess and a portion other than the inner surface of the recess;
3. The method for partially forming a thin film according to claim 2, further comprising a step of removing a surface-treated portion having reduced wettability only on the inner surface of the recess. Surface treatment that reduces wettability to thin film forming materials
5. The method for partially forming a thin film according to claim 4, wherein the method is performed by applying a material having poor wettability to the thin film forming material. Surface treatment that reduces wettability to thin film forming materials
5. The method for partially forming a thin film according to claim 4, wherein the method is performed by plasma treatment with a gas containing fluorine. The process of removing the surface-treated portion with reduced wettability
The method for partially forming a thin film according to any one of claims 4 to 6, which is performed by irradiating with ultraviolet (UV) laser light. The softening process
The method for partially forming a thin film according to claim 1, wherein the method is performed by applying a solvent to the thin film forming material. The softening process
The method for partially forming a thin film according to claim 1, wherein the thin film forming material is heated. The solidified component contained in the thin film forming material is
The method for partially forming a thin film according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the content is 30% by volume or more based on the total volume after solidification.   The method of forming a partial thin film according to claim 1, wherein the solidifying component is a thermosetting resin.   The method for partially forming a thin film according to claim 1, wherein the solidifying component is an ultraviolet curable resin. Remove the defects that occur in the thin film,
A thin film partial defect repairing method comprising repairing a thin film partially on the removed portion by the thin film partial formation method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.   14. A color filter for a liquid crystal panel, wherein a defective portion is repaired by the method for repairing a partial defect in a thin film according to claim 13. In a thin film defect repairing apparatus for partially repairing a defective portion generated in a thin film formed on a substrate,
A defect removing means for removing a defective portion generated in the thin film;
A dropping means for dropping a thin film forming material containing a solid component, a solidifying component, and a solvent onto the defect removing portion;
A solvent removing means for removing the solvent from the dropped thin film forming material;
A thin film defect repairing apparatus comprising: a softening means for softening a solidified component in a thin film forming material whose fluidity has been lowered by removing the solvent. Softening means
The thin film defect repairing device according to claim 15, wherein the thin film defect repairing device is a solvent applying device for applying a solvent to the dropped thin film forming material. Softening means
The thin film defect repairing device according to claim 15, wherein the thin film defect repairing device is a heating device that heats the dropped thin film forming material.

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