JP2007031263A - Glass substrate for flat panel display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a glass substrate for a flat panel display device in which the high temperature viscosity of glass can be reduced without lowering the strain point of the glass. <P>SOLUTION: The glass substrate for a flat panel display device is composed of SiO<SB>2</SB>-RO(RO: alkaline-earth metal oxide)-R<SB>2</SB>O(alkali metal oxide) based glass, comprises, by mass, 0 to <2.5% Al<SB>2</SB>O<SB>3</SB>and >1 to 7% ZrO<SB>2</SB>, and satisfies Al<SB>2</SB>O<SB>3</SB>/ZrO<SB>2</SB><1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a glass substrate suitable for a flat panel display device, particularly a plasma display device.

  The plasma display device is manufactured as follows. First, a transparent electrode made of an ITO film, a nesa film or the like is formed on the surface of the front glass substrate, a dielectric material is applied thereon, and baked at a temperature of about 500 to 600 ° C. to form a dielectric layer. Further, a back dielectric material is applied to a back glass substrate on which an electrode made of Al, Ag, Ni, or the like is formed, and is baked at a temperature of about 500 to 600 ° C. to form a dielectric layer, on which a partition wall is formed. A circuit is formed by applying a material and baking it at a temperature of about 500 to 600 ° C. to form a partition. Thereafter, the front glass substrate and the rear glass substrate are opposed to each other to align the electrodes and the like, and the periphery is frit-sealed at a temperature of about 500 to 600 ° C.

In general, the glass substrate is made of soda-lime glass having a thermal expansion coefficient of about 84 × 10 ⁻⁷ / ° C. or high strain point glass (glass having a strain point of 570 ° C. or higher). Those molded to a thickness of 8 to 3.0 mm are used. In addition, the thermal expansion coefficient of peripheral materials such as insulating paste, rib paste, and frit seal is adjusted to the range of 70 to 90 × 10 ⁻⁷ / ° C. according to soda lime glass.

The high strain point glass has a higher strain point and volume resistivity than soda lime glass, so that the thermal deformation and thermal shrinkage of the glass substrate are small in the heat treatment process, and the front glass substrate and the back glass substrate are opposed to each other. At this time, the electrodes can be accurately aligned. In addition, the mobility of the alkali component in the glass is small, the reaction between the alkali component in the glass and the thin film electrode such as the ITO film or Nesa film is small, and the electrical resistance value of the electrode material can be stabilized. For these reasons, high strain point glass is now widely used as a glass substrate rather than soda-lime glass. (Patent Document 1)
However, since the glass substrate made of soda-lime glass or high strain point glass has a large thermal expansion coefficient of about 84 × 10 ⁻⁷ / ° C., heat treatment occurs at a temperature of 500 to 600 ° C. and then rapidly cools. Cracks due to stress occur. For this reason, the cooling rate of the heat treatment process is limited, the time required for the process becomes long, and the productivity is lowered. Therefore, in order to improve productivity, a glass substrate excellent in thermal shock resistance that is difficult to break even when rapidly cooled is desired.

Therefore, a glass substrate has been proposed in which the thermal expansion coefficient of the glass is reduced within a range in which consistency with peripheral materials such as a dielectric, a partition, and a frit can be obtained. (Patent Documents 2 and 3)
JP-A-8-290938 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-193635 JP-A-2004-277222

  However, since the glass disclosed in Patent Document 2 has a high high-temperature viscosity of the glass, it is necessary to increase the glass melting temperature and molding temperature, and it is difficult to melt and mold the glass. In particular, in the case of float forming, if the high-temperature viscosity of the glass is high, the temperature of the float bath for forming the molten glass into a plate shape must be increased, and the volatilization amount of tin from the float bath increases. It will adversely affect the surface.

  Further, in the composition system disclosed in Patent Document 3, when the high temperature viscosity of the glass is lowered to facilitate the melting and forming of the glass, the strain point of the glass is also lowered, and thus the display device is manufactured. There is a problem that the glass substrate is deformed or contracts in the heating process.

  The objective of this invention is providing the glass substrate for flat panel display apparatuses which can reduce the high temperature viscosity of glass, without reducing the strain point of glass.

The glass substrate for a flat panel display device of the present invention is SiO ₂ —RO (RO: alkaline earth metal oxide) —R ₂ O (alkali metal oxide) -based glass, and is expressed as a percentage by mass, and Al ₂ O _3. It is characterized by being less than 0 to 2.5%, more than ZrO _{2 to} 7%, and Al ₂ O ₃ / ZrO ₂ <1.

The glass substrate of the present invention has a low high-temperature viscosity of glass, is excellent in meltability and formability, and has a high strain point. Further, if the glass composition is in a specific range, the thermal expansion coefficient can be further adjusted to 60 to 80 × 10 ⁻⁷ / ° C., and the thermal expansion coefficient and excellent thermal shock resistance that can be consistent with the surrounding materials can be obtained. Can have sex. Therefore, it is suitable as a glass substrate for flat panel display devices, particularly plasma display devices.

The glass substrate for a flat panel display device of the present invention is a SiO ₂ -RO (RO: alkaline earth metal oxide) -R ₂ O (alkali metal oxide) glass that can easily reduce the thermal expansion coefficient of glass. Al ₂ O ₃ , which increases the high temperature viscosity of the glass, is suppressed to less than 2.5% by mass, ZrO ₂ which is a component which increases the strain point of the glass is included more than 1% by mass, and the content of ZrO ₂ The amount is set to be larger than the content of Al ₂ O ₃ . By doing in this way, the high temperature viscosity of glass can be reduced without lowering the strain point of glass, and melting and shaping of glass become easy.

Further, in the glass substrate of the present invention, if the thermal expansion coefficient of the glass is set to 60 × 10 ⁻⁷ / ° C. or higher, consistency with the thermal expansion coefficient of the surrounding material can be obtained. Moreover, if the upper limit value is set to 80 × 10 ⁻⁷ / ° C., cracks due to thermal stress can be suppressed. The preferable range of the thermal expansion coefficient of the glass is 65 to 75 × 10 ⁻⁷ / ° C., and more preferably 67 to 73 × 10 ⁻⁷ / ° C. In the present invention, it goes without saying that the thermal expansion coefficient of the glass may be 80 × 10 ⁻⁷ / ° C. or more (equivalent to the conventional one).

  Moreover, in the glass substrate of the present invention, it is preferable to set the strain point of the glass to 580 ° C. or higher in order to suppress the occurrence of thermal deformation and thermal shrinkage of the glass substrate in the thermal process when manufacturing the display device. More preferably, it is 585 degreeC or more, More preferably, it is 595 degreeC or more.

Further, when the molten glass is formed into a plate shape, the glass melt temperature corresponding to a viscosity of 10 ⁴ dPa · s is preferably set to 1200 ° C. or lower in order to form the molten glass without imposing a burden on the forming apparatus. More preferably, it is 1180 degrees C or less, More preferably, it is 1170 degrees C or less.

Furthermore, in order to melt the glass satisfactorily, the temperature of the glass melt at a viscosity of 10 ^2.5 dPa · s is preferably lower, and is preferably 1500 ° C. or lower.

Moreover, in order to produce a large glass substrate in large quantities at a low cost, it is necessary to have excellent moldability, and it is preferable that the liquidus temperature is low and the liquidus viscosity is high. The liquidus temperature is preferably 1180 ° C. or lower, and the liquidus viscosity is preferably 10 ^3.8 dPa · s or higher.

In addition, the specific composition which can be used for the glass substrate for flat panel display devices of the present invention is, by mass percentage, SiO ₂ 55 to 74%, Al ₂ O ₃ 0 to less than 2.5%, MgO 1 to 15%, CaO 0~8%, SrO 1~15%, BaO 0~5%, MgO + CaO + SrO + BaO 15~27%, 0~5% ZnO, Li 2 O 0~5%, Na 2 O 0~8%, K 2 O 2 to 12%, ZrO ₂ 1 super _{~7%, Al 2 O 3 /} ZrO 2 < may suitably be selected within a range such that 1. Within this range, the glass melt temperature corresponding to a viscosity of 580 ° C. or higher and a viscosity of 10 ⁴ dPa · s is 1200 ° C. or lower, and the thermal expansion coefficient is 60 to 80 × 10 ^−7. It becomes easier to obtain glass at / ° C.

  In the glass substrate for a flat panel display device of the present invention, the reason for limiting the glass composition as described above is as follows.

SiO ₂ is a component that forms a glass network former. Its content is 55-74%, preferably 56-70%, more preferably 58-70%. When the content of SiO ₂ increases, the high temperature viscosity of the glass increases, and melting and molding become difficult, and the coefficient of thermal expansion becomes too small to make it compatible with the surrounding materials. On the other hand, when the content decreases, the thermal expansion coefficient increases and the thermal shock resistance of the glass tends to decrease or the strain point of the glass tends to decrease, and the glass substrate is cracked in the thermal process when manufacturing the display device. Or heat deformation or shrinkage is likely to occur.

Al ₂ O ₃ is a component that increases the strain point of glass. Its content is 0-2.5%, preferably 0-1.5%, more preferably 0-1%. When the content of Al ₂ O ₃ is increased, the high-temperature viscosity of the glass is remarkably increased, so that melting and molding become difficult, and the thermal expansion coefficient becomes small, making it difficult to achieve consistency with surrounding materials.

  MgO is a component that lowers the high-temperature viscosity of glass and improves meltability and formability. Its content is 1 to 15%, preferably 6.5 to 11%, more preferably 7.5 to 11%. If the content of MgO is increased, the glass tends to be devitrified and it becomes difficult to mold. On the other hand, when the content decreases, the high-temperature viscosity of the glass increases, and melting and molding become difficult.

  CaO, like MgO, is a component that lowers the high-temperature viscosity of glass and improves meltability and formability. Its content is 0-8%, preferably 0-5%, more preferably 1-3.5%. If the content of CaO is increased, the glass tends to be devitrified and it becomes difficult to mold.

  SrO is a component that lowers the high-temperature viscosity of the glass and improves meltability and formability. Its content is 1 to 15%, preferably 7 to 13%, more preferably 7.5 to 13%. When the content of SrO increases, the glass tends to be devitrified and it becomes difficult to mold. On the other hand, when the content decreases, the high-temperature viscosity of the glass increases, and melting and molding become difficult.

  BaO is a component that lowers the high-temperature viscosity of the glass and improves meltability and moldability. The content is 0 to 5%, preferably 0 to 4%, more preferably 0 to 2.5%. When the content of BaO is increased, the glass tends to be devitrified and it is difficult to mold.

  Incidentally, the total amount of MgO, CaO, SrO and BaO is 15 to 27% (more preferably) in order to reduce the high temperature viscosity of the glass and improve the meltability and formability without increasing the devitrification property of the glass. 16.8 to 27%, more preferably more than 18 to 27%). When the total amount of these components increases, the glass tends to devitrify. Moreover, when the total amount of these components decreases, the high temperature viscosity of the glass increases, and melting and molding become difficult.

  ZnO is a component that lowers the high-temperature viscosity of glass and improves meltability and formability. Its content is 0 to 5%, preferably 0 to 3%, more preferably 0 to 1%. When the content of ZnO increases, the raw material cost increases remarkably.

Li ₂ O is a component that lowers the high-temperature viscosity of the glass and improves meltability and formability. It is also a component that adjusts the thermal expansion coefficient of glass. Its content is 0 to 5%, preferably 0 to 3%, more preferably 0 to 1%. When the content of Li ₂ O is increased, the strain point of the glass tends to be remarkably lowered, and thermal deformation and thermal contraction are likely to occur in the heat process when manufacturing the display device. Further, the thermal expansion coefficient becomes too large, and the thermal shock resistance of the glass is lowered, or it becomes difficult to match the thermal expansion coefficient of the surrounding material.

Na ₂ O is a component that lowers the high-temperature viscosity of the glass and improves the meltability and moldability. It is also a component that adjusts the thermal expansion coefficient of glass. Its content is 0-8%, preferably 1-5%, more preferably 1-3%. When the content of Na ₂ O increases, the strain point of the glass tends to decrease, and thermal deformation and thermal shrinkage are likely to occur in the thermal process when manufacturing the display device. Further, the thermal expansion coefficient becomes too large, and the thermal shock resistance of the glass is lowered, or it becomes difficult to match the thermal expansion coefficient of the surrounding material.

K ₂ O, like Na ₂ O, is a component that lowers the high-temperature viscosity of the glass and improves the meltability and moldability. It is also a component that adjusts the thermal expansion coefficient of glass. Its content is 2 to 12%, preferably 3 to 10%, more preferably 4 to 7%. When the content of K ₂ O increases, the strain point of the glass tends to decrease, and thermal deformation and thermal contraction are likely to occur in the thermal process when manufacturing the display device. Further, the thermal expansion coefficient becomes too large, and the thermal shock resistance of the glass is lowered, or it becomes difficult to match the thermal expansion coefficient of the surrounding material. On the other hand, when the content decreases, the high-temperature viscosity of the glass increases, and melting and molding become difficult. In addition, the thermal expansion coefficient becomes too small, making it difficult to match the thermal expansion coefficient of the surrounding material.

ZrO ₂ is a component that remarkably increases the strain point of the glass without increasing the high temperature viscosity of the glass. The content is more than 1 to 7%, preferably more than 1 to 5%, more preferably more than 1 to 3%. If the content of ZrO ₂ increases, devitrification will tend to occur and molding becomes difficult. On the other hand, when the content decreases, it becomes difficult to obtain the effect of increasing the strain point of the glass.

In the composition system in which the content of Al ₂ O ₃ is less than 2.5% (particularly less than 1%) in order to lower the high temperature viscosity of the glass and facilitate melting and forming of the glass, In order to increase the point, it is important to make the value of Al ₂ O ₃ / ZrO ₂ less than 1, preferably 0.95 or less, more preferably 0.90 or less.

In the present invention, in addition to the above components, for example, TiO ₂ is reduced to 5% to prevent ultraviolet coloring, and P ₂ O ₅ is decreased to 4% to improve crack resistance. In order to improve the moldability, Y ₂ O ₃ , La ₂ O ₃ and Nb ₂ O ₃ are added up to 3% each, and Fe ₂ O ₃ , CoO, NiO, Cr ₂ O ₃ and Nd ₂ O _{3 are} used as colorants. It is possible to add As ₂ O ₃ , Sb ₂ O ₃ , SnO ₂ , SO ₃ , C, F, Cl, etc. as a clarifier up to 1% in total. However, when forming by the float process, As ₂ O ₃ and Sb ₂ O ₃ are reduced in the float bath to become metal foreign matter, so introduction should be avoided.

  Next, a method for producing a glass substrate for a flat panel display device of the present invention will be described.

  First, a glass raw material is prepared so that it may become said glass composition range. Subsequently, the prepared glass raw material is put into a continuous melting furnace, heated and melted, defoamed, then supplied to a forming apparatus, formed into a plate shape, and slowly cooled to obtain a glass substrate.

  As a method for forming the glass substrate, there are various forming methods such as a float method, a slot down draw method, an overflow down draw method, and a redraw method, but it is preferable to form the glass substrate into a plate shape by the float method. The reason is that it is easy to obtain a large glass substrate at a relatively low cost.

  Hereinafter, the glass substrate for flat panel display devices of the present invention will be described in detail based on examples.

  Tables 1 to 4 show examples (samples Nos. 1 to 20) and comparative examples (samples Nos. 21 to 24) of the present invention. Sample No. Reference numeral 24 denotes a commercially available high strain point glass for a plasma display device.

  Each sample in the table was prepared as follows.

  First, the glass raw material was prepared so that it might become the composition of a table | surface, and it melted at 1450-1600 degreeC for 4 hours using the platinum pot. Thereafter, the molten glass is poured onto a carbon plate, formed into a plate shape, slowly cooled, then polished on both sides so that the plate thickness becomes 2.8 mm, and the obtained plate glass is cut into a size of 200 mm square. Sample glass was produced by processing.

For each sample thus obtained, the viscosity of the glass (temperature of the glass melt corresponding to the viscosity of strain point, annealing point, softening point, 10 ⁴ , 10 ³ and 10 ^2.5 dPa · s), liquid phase Temperature, liquid phase viscosity and coefficient of thermal expansion were measured. The results are shown in the table.

As can be seen from the table, the sample No. Each of the samples 1 to 20 has a strain point of 600 ° C. or higher, and can suppress thermal deformation and thermal shrinkage of the glass substrate in the heat treatment step. Further, the temperature of the glass melt corresponding to the viscosity of 10 ⁴ dPa · s is 1194 ° C. or lower, and the temperature of the glass melt corresponding to the viscosity of 10 ^2.5 dPa · s is as low as 1485 ° C. or lower, which places a burden on the molding apparatus. And can be melted satisfactorily. Further, the liquidus temperature is 1180 ° C. or lower, the liquidus viscosity is 10 ^3.8 dPa · s or more, the moldability is excellent, and a large-sized glass substrate can be produced in large quantities at a low cost. Furthermore, it had a thermal expansion coefficient of 67 to 70 × 10 ⁻⁷ / ° C., excellent thermal shock resistance, and a thermal expansion coefficient that matched well with the surrounding materials.

On the other hand, sample No. which is a comparative example. No. 21, although the temperature of the glass melt corresponding to a viscosity of 10 ⁴ dPa · s was as low as 1100 ° C., the strain point was also as low as 570 ° C. Sample No. Although 22 and 23 had a high strain point of 599 ° C. or higher, the temperature of the glass melt corresponding to a viscosity of 10 ⁴ dPa · s was as high as 1201 ° C. or higher.

  In addition, about the strain point and the annealing point, it measured based on ASTMC336-71. The softening point was measured based on ASTM C338-93. In addition, the higher the strain point, the more the thermal deformation and thermal shrinkage of the glass substrate in the thermal process when manufacturing the display device can be suppressed.

The temperature of the glass melt corresponding to the glass viscosity of 10 ⁴ , 10 ^3, and 10 ^2.5 dPa · s was measured by a platinum ball pulling method. Note that the temperature of the glass melt corresponding to 10 ⁴ dPa · s is a guideline when the glass is formed into a plate shape, and a lower temperature can be formed without placing a burden on the forming apparatus. Further, the temperature of the glass melt corresponding to 10 ^2.5 dPa · s is a guide for melting the glass, and the lower the temperature, the better the melting.

  The liquidus temperature was measured as follows. First, each sample is pulverized and mixed to a size of 300 to 500 μm, put into a platinum boat, transferred to a temperature gradient furnace at 900 to 1300 ° C. and held for 24 hours. I took out the boat. Thereafter, the glass was taken out from the platinum boat. The sample thus obtained was observed with a polarizing microscope, and the crystal precipitation point was measured. Moreover, the liquid phase viscosity created the viscosity curve from the viscosity measured by the said method, and calculated | required the viscosity corresponded to liquid phase temperature from the viscosity curve. In addition, the one where liquid phase temperature is low and liquid phase viscosity is high is excellent in a moldability, and can produce a large sized glass substrate in large quantities at low cost.

  Regarding the thermal expansion coefficient, a cylindrical sample having a diameter of 5.0 mm and a length of 20 mm was prepared, and the average thermal expansion coefficient at 30 to 380 ° C. was measured with a dilatometer.

  The glass substrate for a flat panel display device of the present invention is not limited to the plasma display device application, and can be used for, for example, a field emission display and an electroluminescence display.

Claims (6)

SiO ₂ —RO (RO: alkaline earth metal oxide) —R ₂ O (alkali metal oxide) glass, which is in percentage by mass, Al ₂ O ₃ 0 to less than 2.5%, more than ZrO ₂ A glass substrate for a flat panel display device, which is ˜7%, Al ₂ O ₃ / ZrO ₂ <1. By mass percentage, SiO ₂ 55~74%, Al less than _{2 O 3 0~2.5%, 1~15%} MgO, CaO 0~8%, SrO 1~15%, BaO 0~5%, MgO + CaO + SrO + BaO 15~ 27%, 0~5% ZnO, Li 2 O 0~5%, Na 2 O 0~8%, K 2 O 2~12%, ZrO 2 1 super _{~7%, Al 2 O 3 /} ZrO 2 <1 The glass substrate for a flat panel display device according to claim 1, wherein The glass substrate for a flat panel display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a coefficient of thermal expansion at 30 to 380 ° C is 60 to 80 × 10 ^-7 / ° C.   The glass substrate for a flat panel display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the strain point is 580 ° C or higher. The glass substrate for a flat panel display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the temperature of the glass melt corresponding to a viscosity of 10 ⁴ dPa · s is 1180 ° C or lower.   It uses as a glass substrate for plasma display apparatuses, The glass substrate for flat panel display apparatuses in any one of Claims 1-5 characterized by the above-mentioned.