JP2008123937A - Plasma display panel, and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a PDP and its manufacturing method wherein both adhesiveness of regions different in size and controllability of pattern dimensions are made compatible by a simple and sure method, peeling off of a barrier rib is eliminated without causing crosstalk, and image display of high display quality is possible. <P>SOLUTION: The barrier rib 34 has an image display region barrier rib formed in an image display region 12 and a non-image display region barrier rib formed in the non-image display region 13. The image display region barrier rib and the non-image display region barrier rib are equipped with a plurality of vertical barrier ribs 34b in parallel with a data electrode 32, and a plurality of lateral barrier ribs 34a crossing the vertical barrier ribs 34b. The outermost end part vertical barrier rib 34c positioned at the outermost end of the non-image display region barrier rib has a two-layer constitution of a first vertical barrier rib part 38 having the wider bottom part than the width of the bottom part of the vertical barrier rib 34e of the image display region barrier rib, and a second vertical barrier rib part 39 formed on the first vertical barrier rib part 38. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a plasma display panel used for a wall-mounted television, a large monitor, and the like, and a manufacturing method thereof.

  A plasma display panel (hereinafter abbreviated as “PDP”) has a configuration in which a front plate having display electrode pairs arranged in parallel to each other and a back plate having data electrodes arranged in parallel to each other are arranged to face each other. . And many discharge cells which display an image in the position where a display electrode pair and a data electrode cross | intersect are formed. Further, the front plate and the back plate are sealed at their outer peripheral portions with a sealing member, and a discharge gas containing xenon (Xe) is sealed inside.

  A dielectric layer is provided on the back plate so as to cover the data electrodes, and a partition is further provided thereon. The barrier ribs are formed in a grid pattern with vertical barrier ribs parallel to the data electrodes and horizontal barrier ribs perpendicular to the data electrodes. The grid-like barrier ribs partition each discharge cell and support the back plate and the front plate so that the distance between the back plate and the front plate is a predetermined distance.

  Further, along with the recent miniaturization of pixels, the barrier ribs are formed by a photolithography method because the barrier ribs constituting the discharge cells need to be formed minutely and with high accuracy. That is, a photosensitive material is applied on the back plate, exposed and developed using a photomask, and then baked. However, since shrinkage is accompanied when the partition walls are fired, particularly when the ratio between the height and the width of the partition walls is increased, the end portions of the partition walls may be swollen by contraction stress. When the end of the partition wall is rolled up, an unnecessarily large gap is generated between the front plate and the back plate, and crosstalk, which is a leakage current, is caused.

In order to solve such a problem, a method has been proposed in which the bottom width of the end portion of the partition wall is formed larger than the bottom width other than the end portion to improve the adhesiveness of the end portion of the partition wall (for example, see Patent Document 1). .
JP-A-11-191377

  However, in the photolithography method, it is difficult to form regions having different sizes such as different bottom widths by one exposure. In other words, there is an optimal exposure amount for each area size. When the exposure amount is adjusted to a small area, the large area is underexposed and the adhesiveness is weakened. When the exposure amount is adjusted to a large area, the small area is a negative type. If it is a photosensitive material, it will become too thick and a required pattern width cannot be formed.

  Therefore, Patent Document 1 proposes a method of selectively adjusting the light transmittance of the photomask according to the size of the region, or installing a material capable of changing the light transmittance on or below the photomask.

  However, in order to selectively adjust the light transmittance of the photomask, it is necessary to gradually change the concentration of chromium (Cr) that blocks light to be formed on the photomask. When the chromium concentration is changed, or when a material that changes the light transmittance is added to the photomask, the relationship between the light transmittance, the adhesiveness, and the pattern dimensions must be confirmed. It was difficult to properly form regions of different sizes.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and achieves both the adhesion of different size areas and the controllability of pattern dimensions by a simple and reliable method, and eliminates the peeling of the partition wall to cause crosstalk. An object of the present invention is to provide a PDP capable of displaying an image with high display quality and a method for manufacturing the same.

  In order to achieve the above object, the PDP of the present invention has a front plate having a display electrode pair and a back plate having a data electrode and a partition wall so that the display electrode pair and the data electrode intersect with each other. A plasma display panel in which an image display area and a non-image display area are formed outside the image display area, wherein the partition wall is an image display area partition wall formed in the image display area and a non-image display area formed in the non-image display area A partition wall, the image display area partition wall and the non-image display area partition wall including a plurality of vertical partition walls parallel to the data electrodes, and a plurality of horizontal partition walls intersecting the vertical partition wall, and the outermost edge of the non-image display area partition wall A first vertical partition having a bottom wider than a width of the bottom of the vertical partition of the image display region partition; a second vertical partition formed on the first vertical partition; It has a two-layer structure.

  In such a PDP, the width of the bottom of the outermost vertical partition is wider than the width of the vertical partition of the image display area, and therefore, the adhesiveness becomes strong and is difficult to peel off. In a cross-shaped partition wall with vertical and horizontal bulkheads, the outermost vertical partition wall is easily peeled off due to the balance of shrinkage stress from the horizontal partition wall. Although it becomes easy to produce a clearance gap between a faceplate and a backplate, according to this invention, generation | occurrence | production of the clearance gap between a front plate and a backplate can be suppressed, and generation | occurrence | production of the crosstalk of discharge can be suppressed.

  Further, it is desirable that at least a plurality of vertical partition walls in the non-image display region partition have the same shape as the outermost end vertical partition wall. Thus, if the plurality of vertical partition walls in the non-image display area have the above-described shape, the adhesiveness of the vertical partition adjacent to the outermost end vertical partition becomes stronger, and the shrinkage stress exerted on the outermost end vertical partition is increased. Therefore, the outermost end vertical partition wall is more difficult to peel off.

  The present invention also includes a front plate having a display electrode pair on a glass substrate, and a back plate having a partition made of a data electrode, a vertical partition parallel to the data electrode, and a horizontal partition intersecting the vertical partition. In the method of manufacturing a PDP, the step of forming a partition includes a first partition material layer forming step of applying and forming a first partition material layer on the substrate, and a first partition material layer. Exposure through a first photomask having a horizontal partition opening corresponding to the partition and an outermost vertical partition opening having a predetermined width provided at the outermost end of the horizontal partition opening and intersecting the horizontal partition opening. A first exposure step, a second barrier rib material layer forming step of applying and forming a second barrier rib material layer on the exposed first barrier rib material layer, and an outermost edge from the top of the second barrier rib material layer The vertical partition opening corresponding to the vertical partition is narrower than the predetermined width of the vertical partition opening. And a second exposure step of exposing through a second photomask.

  With such a PDP manufacturing method, the horizontal barrier rib is exposed with an optimal exposure amount in the first exposure step, the lower layer portion of the outermost vertical barrier rib is exposed, and the vertical barrier rib is optimally exposed in the second exposure step. The upper layer portion of the outermost vertical partition wall is exposed while being exposed in an amount. Therefore, the horizontal barrier ribs and the vertical barrier ribs can be exposed with an optimum exposure amount, and the barrier rib having the outermost vertical barrier rib having a large bottom width can be realized, and a highly accurate barrier rib can be realized.

  Furthermore, it is desirable that the first exposure step is performed at least twice by shifting the first photomask in the extending direction of the horizontal barrier ribs. According to such a method, the influence of the foreign matter on the first photomask can be eliminated, and the outermost end partition walls on both sides can be reliably exposed.

  According to the present invention, both the vertical partition wall and the horizontal partition wall can be formed according to dimensions, and the adhesion of the outermost end vertical partition wall at both ends of the vertical partition wall is enhanced, so that the outermost end vertical partition wall is not peeled off. A PDP capable of displaying an image with high display quality without causing crosstalk and a method for manufacturing the PDP can be provided.

  Hereinafter, a PDP according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a PDP according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a part of a front plate 20 is broken to show the inside of the PDP 10. In the PDP 10, the front plate 20 and the back plate 30 are disposed so as to face each other, and the outer peripheral portion thereof is sealed and bonded by a sealing member 11 made of glass frit or the like. The PDP 10 also has an image display area 12 that displays an image at the center thereof, and a non-image display area 13 outside the image display area 12.

  Here, the back plate 30 is provided with a grid-like partition wall 34 in which a horizontal partition wall 34a and a vertical partition wall 34b intersect. The partition 34 includes an image display region partition 48 formed in the image display region 12 and a non-image display region partition 49 formed in the non-image display region 13. The width of the bottom of the outermost end vertical partition 34 c located at the outermost end of the non-image display region partition 49 and the vertical partition 34 d adjacent to the outermost end vertical partition 34 c is determined by the vertical partition of the image display region partition 48. It is formed wider than the width of the bottom of 34e.

  FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of the PDP according to the embodiment of the present invention, and shows the image display area 12 of the PDP 10 of FIG.

  On the front glass substrate 21 of the front plate 20, a pair of strip-like display electrode pairs 24 each composed of a scanning electrode 22 and a sustain electrode 23 and a plurality of black stripes (light shielding layers) 25 are arranged in parallel to each other. Yes. A dielectric layer 26 serving as a capacitor is formed on the front glass substrate 21 so as to cover the display electrode pair 24 and the black stripe 25, and a protective layer made of magnesium oxide (MgO) or the like is further formed on the surface. 27 is formed.

  On the back glass substrate 31 of the back plate 30, a plurality of band-like data electrodes 32 are arranged in parallel to each other in a direction orthogonal to the scanning electrodes 22 and the sustain electrodes 23 of the front plate 20. The body layer 33 is covered.

  Here, the data electrode 32 is provided so as to form a discharge cell 37 between the display electrode pair 24. That is, the locations where the data electrode 32 and the display electrode pair 24 intersect each become the discharge cell 37.

  On the underlying dielectric layer 33 between the data electrodes 32, barrier ribs 34 having a predetermined height for forming discharge cells 37 are formed. The partition wall 34 is in the form of a cross beam in which the horizontal partition wall 34a and the vertical partition wall 34b parallel to the data electrode 32 intersect, and the height of the horizontal partition wall 34a is lower than the height of the vertical partition wall 34b. In addition, phosphor layers 35 that emit red, blue, and green light by ultraviolet rays are sequentially applied to the grooves between the barrier ribs 34 for each data electrode 32, and these red, blue, and green phosphor layers are formed. The discharge cell 37 having 35 becomes a pixel for color display.

  The reason that the height of the horizontal barrier ribs 34a is made lower than the height of the vertical barrier ribs 34b in this way is to provide a slight gap between the front plate 20 and the rear plate 30 so that the discharge gas can be sealed uniformly. It is to make it. The height of the vertical partition wall 34b is increased in order to prevent crosstalk of different hues of red, blue, and green.

Here, each of the scan electrode 22 and the sustain electrode 23 includes a transparent electrode made of indium oxide (ITO), tin oxide (SnO ₂ ), and the like, and a bus electrode formed on the transparent electrode. The bus electrode is used for the purpose of imparting conductivity in the longitudinal direction of the transparent electrode, and is formed of a conductive material mainly composed of a silver (Ag) material.

  Next, the shape in the vicinity of both ends of the vertical partition wall 34b will be described in more detail. 3A is an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 3A.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the width of the bottom of the outermost vertical partition 34c, which is the vertical partition at both ends of the vertical partition 34b, and the vertical partition 34d adjacent to the outermost vertical partition 34c is the image display area. 12 vertical partition walls 34e are formed wider than the bottom. The outermost vertical partition 34c and the vertical partition 34d adjacent to the outermost vertical partition 34c are connected to the first vertical partition 38 that is wider than the bottom of the vertical partition 34e in the image display area. The second vertical partition wall 39 having a narrower width than the portion 38 is laminated.

  In the PDP having such a shape, the width of the bottom of the outermost vertical partition 34c and the vertical partition 34d adjacent to the outermost vertical partition 34c is wider than the width of the vertical partition 34e of the image display area 12. Therefore, the adhesiveness becomes strong and it becomes difficult to peel off. In the cross-shaped partition 34, the outermost vertical partition 34 c tends to be peeled off due to the balance of shrinkage stress from the horizontal partition 34 a, but it becomes difficult to peel off by using the above-described shape. Since no unnecessary gap is formed between the face plate 30 and the crosstalk, no crosstalk occurs.

  Next, the manufacturing method of PDP10 is demonstrated using FIG.

  First, on the front glass substrate 21, the transparent electrodes constituting the scanning electrodes 22 and the sustain electrodes 23 are formed by patterning using a photolithography method or the like. Then, each paste layer to be a bus electrode is formed on the black stripe 25 and the transparent electrode by photolithography, screen printing, or the like. Here, the material of the bus electrode is a paste containing conductive black particles or a silver (Ag) material, and the material of the black stripe 25 is also a paste containing a black pigment.

  Next, a dielectric paste is applied by a die coating method or the like so as to cover the bus electrodes and the respective paste layers that become the black stripes 25, thereby forming a dielectric paste layer that becomes the dielectric layer. After the dielectric paste is applied, the surface of the applied dielectric paste is leveled to be a flat surface by leaving it for a predetermined time. Thereafter, the scan electrode 22, the sustain electrode 23, the black stripe 25, and the dielectric layer 26 are formed by collectively baking the paste layer of the bus electrode, the paste layer of the black stripe 25, and the dielectric paste layer. Here, the dielectric paste is a paint containing powdery dielectric glass frit, a binder and a solvent.

  Next, a protective layer 27 made of magnesium oxide (MgO) is formed on the dielectric layer 26 by a vacuum deposition method. Through the above steps, predetermined constituent members are formed on the front glass substrate 21, and the front plate 20 is completed.

  The back plate 30 is formed as follows. First, a method for screen-printing a paste containing silver (Ag) material on the rear glass substrate 31 or a method of patterning using a photolithography method after forming a metal film on the entire surface is used. A material layer to be a constituent is formed. Then, the material layer is fired at a desired temperature to form the data electrode 32.

  Next, a dielectric paste is applied to the rear glass substrate 31 on which the data electrodes 32 are formed by a die coating method so as to cover the data electrodes 32, thereby forming a dielectric paste layer. Thereafter, the base dielectric layer 33 is formed by firing the dielectric paste layer. The dielectric paste is a paint containing powdery dielectric glass frit, a binder, and a solvent.

  Next, a partition wall forming paste containing a partition wall material is applied on the base dielectric layer 33, patterned into a predetermined shape to form a partition wall material layer, and then fired to form the partition wall 34, for example, the horizontal partition wall 34a. Are formed to a height of 100 μm, and the vertical partition walls 34 b are formed to a height of 120 μm. Here, the partition wall paste applied on the underlying dielectric layer 33 is patterned by photolithography.

  Next, the phosphor layer 35 is formed by applying and baking a phosphor paste containing a phosphor material on the base dielectric layer 33 between the adjacent barrier ribs 34 and on the side surfaces of the barrier ribs 34. Through the above steps, predetermined constituent members are formed on the rear glass substrate 31, and the rear plate 30 is completed.

  In this way, the front plate 20 and the back plate 30 provided with predetermined constituent members are arranged to face each other so that the display electrode pair 24 and the data electrode 32 intersect, and the periphery is sealed with the sealing member. Then, a discharge gas containing neon (Ne), xenon (Xe), or the like is sealed in the discharge cell 37 to complete the PDP 10.

  Here, a method for forming the partition wall 34 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 4A is a plan view of the first photomask for forming the partition walls of the PDP according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4B is a plan view of the second photomask for forming the partition walls of the PDP, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a process cross-sectional view illustrating the formation of the PDP partition wall according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. As described above, the barrier ribs 34 are formed by patterning the photosensitive material barrier rib paste by a photolithography method. In the embodiment of the present invention, a case where a negative photosensitive material is used will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4 (a), the first photomask 50 has an outermost end portion serving as a plurality of horizontal barrier rib openings 52 serving as a plurality of horizontal barrier ribs and outermost end vertical barrier ribs 34c serving as vertical barrier ribs at both ends of the horizontal barrier ribs. A vertical partition opening 53 is provided. Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, the second photomask 51 is provided with vertical barrier rib openings 54 serving as a plurality of vertical barrier ribs. The width L _a of the vertical partition wall opening 54 to be vertical barrier ribs is narrower than the width L _b of the outermost end portion the vertical partition wall opening 53 to be outermost end vertical partition wall 34c.

Next, a procedure for forming the partition wall 34 will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, a photosensitive material serving as a partition material is applied on the base dielectric layer 33 formed to cover the data electrodes 32 of the rear glass substrate 31. The photosensitive material is a photosensitive paste composed mainly of an aggregate such as aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ), a glass frit made of a low-melting glass powder, an oxide filler powder, and a photosensitive binder. Then, a photosensitive material is applied to the height of the horizontal barrier ribs 34a by a die coating method or the like and dried to form a first barrier rib material layer 40 (first barrier rib material layer forming step: S1).

  Next, the first partition wall material layer 40 is exposed to, for example, ultraviolet light through the first photomask 50 shown in FIG. Further, the first photomask 50 is shifted in the extending direction of the horizontal partition wall 34a and exposed again, and the photocuring portions 42 and 43 of the first vertical partition wall portion and the photocuring portion 44 of the horizontal partition wall of the outermost end vertical partition wall 34c. (First exposure step: S2).

  Next, on the first barrier rib material layer 40 exposed through the first photomask 50, the same photosensitive material as in the first barrier rib material layer forming step is applied to a height that becomes the vertical barrier ribs 34b by a die coating method or the like. The second partition wall material layer 41 of the second layer is formed by drying (second partition material layer formation step: S3).

  Next, the second partition wall material layer 41 is exposed to ultraviolet light through the second photomask 51 shown in FIG. 4B, and the photocured portion of the second vertical partition wall portion of the outermost end vertical partition wall 34c. 45 and 46 and the photocuring part 47 of a vertical partition are formed (2nd exposure step: S4).

  Then, after developing with a predetermined developer such as an alkaline developer (monoethanolamine, sodium hydroxide), a portion of the photosensitive material that has not been photocured by exposure is removed, whereby a predetermined cross beam is obtained. The shape of the partition wall 34 is obtained (development step: S5).

  Then, firing is performed at a temperature of 500 ° C. to 600 ° C. under a predetermined condition such as 60 minutes to complete the formation of the grid-like partition walls 34 (firing step: S6).

  FIG. 6 is a plan view of the first partition wall material layer 40 through the first photomask 50 and shows only the end portion of the first photomask 50. In the first exposure step described above, the first photomask 50 at the first exposure is a position indicated by a broken line. Then, the first photomask 50 is shifted to the position indicated by the solid line in the extending direction of the horizontal barrier rib indicated by the arrow in FIG. 6, and the second exposure is performed.

  In such a PDP manufacturing method, the horizontal barrier rib 34a is exposed with an optimal exposure amount in the first barrier rib material layer forming step, and the first vertical barrier rib portion of the outermost end vertical barrier rib 34c is exposed. Further, in the second partition wall material layer forming step, the vertical partition wall 34b is exposed with an optimal exposure amount, and the second vertical partition wall portion of the outermost end vertical partition wall 34c is exposed. For this reason, both the horizontal barrier ribs 34a and the vertical barrier ribs 34b are exposed with an optimal exposure amount, so that the required pattern dimensions can be obtained. Further, since the outermost vertical partition 34c is exposed at least twice in the first partition material layer forming step and the second partition material layer forming step, the photocuring of the photosensitive material becomes more reliable, and the adhesiveness is strong. Become.

  Further, if the first photomask 50 is shifted and exposed twice, even if the foreign matter 55 is on the first photomask 50 as shown in FIG. 6, the position of the foreign matter 55 is also shifted during the second exposure. This eliminates the lack of defects and improves the yield.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the negative type photosensitive material has been described. However, if a positive type photosensitive material is used, the light transmitting portion of the photomask is reversed, and a partition wall can be formed in the same manner. it can.

  The PDP of the present invention is useful in the field of display devices and the like because it can display images with high display quality without causing crosstalk.

The top view of PDP of embodiment of this invention An exploded perspective view showing the structure of the PDP (A) Enlarged view of part A in FIG. 1 (b) Cross-sectional view along line BB in FIG. 3 (a) (A) Plan view of the first photomask for forming the PDP barrier ribs according to the embodiment of the present invention (b) Plan view of the second photomask for forming the PDP barrier ribs Process sectional drawing explaining formation of the partition of the PDP Explanatory drawing of the 1st exposure step of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10 PDP
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Sealing member 12 Image display area 13 Non-image display area 20 Front plate 21 Front glass substrate 22 Scan electrode 23 Sustain electrode 24 Display electrode pair 25 Black stripe (light shielding layer)
26 Dielectric layer 27 Protective layer 30 Back plate 31 Back glass substrate 32 Data electrode 33 Base dielectric layer 34 Partition 34a Horizontal partition 34b Vertical partition 34c Outermost end vertical partition 34d Vertical partition 34e adjacent to the outermost end vertical partition 34e Vertical barrier ribs 35 of the image display area 35 Phosphor layer 37 Discharge cell 38 First vertical barrier rib portion 39 Second vertical barrier rib portion 40 First barrier rib material layer 41 Second barrier rib material layer 42, 43 Photocuring portion 44 of the first vertical barrier rib portion 44 Photocuring part 45, 46 Photocuring part of the second vertical partitioning part 47 Photocuring part of the vertical partitioning part 48 Image display region partitioning 49 Non-image display region partitioning 50 First photomask 51 Second photomask 52 Opening of the lateral partitioning Part 53 Outermost end vertical partition opening 54 Vertical partition opening 55 Foreign matter

Claims (4)

A front plate having a display electrode pair and a back plate having a data electrode and a partition wall are arranged to face each other so that the display electrode pair and the data electrode intersect with each other, and a non-image is formed outside the image display area and the image display area A plasma display panel formed with a display region,
The partition includes an image display region partition formed in the image display region and a non-image display region partition formed in the non-image display region, and the image display region partition and the non-image display region partition are connected to the data electrode. A plurality of parallel vertical barrier ribs and a plurality of horizontal barrier ribs intersecting the vertical barrier ribs, and an outermost edge vertical barrier rib positioned at an outermost end of the non-image display area barrier ribs A plasma display panel having a two-layer structure of a first vertical partition having a bottom wider than the bottom of the partition and a second vertical partition formed on the first vertical partition. 2. The plasma display panel according to claim 1, wherein at least a plurality of vertical barrier ribs in the non-image display area barrier rib have the same shape as the outermost vertical barrier rib. A plasma comprising: a front plate having a display electrode pair on a glass substrate; and a back plate having a partition made up of a data electrode, a vertical partition parallel to the data electrode, and a horizontal partition intersecting the vertical partition on the substrate. A display panel manufacturing method comprising:
The step of forming the barrier ribs includes a first barrier rib material layer forming step of coating and forming a first barrier rib material layer on the substrate, and a horizontal barrier rib corresponding to the horizontal barrier rib. First exposure is performed through a first photomask having an opening and an outermost vertical barrier rib opening having a predetermined width provided at an outermost end of the horizontal barrier rib opening and intersecting the horizontal barrier rib opening. A step of forming a second barrier rib material layer by applying a second barrier rib material layer to the exposed first barrier rib material layer; and the outermost edge portion from above the second barrier rib material layer. And a second exposure step of exposing through a second photomask having a vertical partition opening corresponding to the vertical partition that is narrower than a predetermined width of the vertical partition opening. 4. The method of manufacturing a plasma display panel according to claim 3, wherein in the first exposure step, exposure is performed at least twice by shifting the first photomask in the extending direction of the horizontal barrier rib.

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