JP3261001B2 - Method of forming transparent electrode pattern - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a method for forming a transparent electrode pattern provided on a liquid crystal display panel, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A transparent electrode pattern has been employed as, for example, an electrode of a liquid crystal display panel.
No. 0047 or JP-A-62-37765 proposes a liquid crystal display panel having connection means for electrically transferring a transparent electrode provided on one transparent substrate to another transparent substrate. . This technology is used for chip-on-glass (C
HIP-ON-GLASS, hereinafter abbreviated as COG)
A case in which the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal display panel using a mounting technique of a system has also been proposed and has already been put to practical use.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the liquid crystal display panel 1 of the COG system, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. According to the drawing, a scanning side substrate 4 having transparent electrodes 2 and 3 formed on its inner surface and a signal side substrate 5 are arranged to face each other, and an alignment film of a polyimide resin is formed on each transparent electrode 2 and 3. (Not shown). Both substrates 4 and 5 are fixed via an epoxy-based sealant 6, and furthermore, a spacer 7 is used to keep the substrate interval constant. The liquid crystal 8 is sealed between the two substrates. Also, the scanning side substrate 4
The transparent electrode 2 is electrically connected to the transparent electrode 3 of the signal-side substrate 5 via an Ag paste 9 provided by a printing method at its end. 10 is a driving IC, and 11 is an input cable.

The Ag paste 9 is arranged in the form of dots, and the transparent electrodes 2 and 3 are provided with a terminal row corresponding to each dot. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the transparent electrode 2 has a neck portion 12c connecting the electrode portion 12a and the terminal 12b or the neck portion 12c connecting the electrode portion 12a and the terminal 12b.
And a plurality of these transparent electrodes 2 are arranged. The transparent electrode 3 has the same configuration.

The transparent electrode 2 and the transparent electrode 3 are patterned by photolithography. In this photolithography, there is a step of spraying an etching solution in a shower shape and etching and removing excess transparent conductor. .

[0006]

However, when the arrangement pattern of the transparent electrodes 2 is formed by the above-described etching process, it has been found that the outer transparent electrode 2 is more highly etched. Therefore, there is a problem that the line width of the neck portion 12c of the transparent electrode 2 located on the outside is excessively small due to the over-etching, or the line is broken in an extreme case.

Accordingly, the present invention has been completed in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for forming a transparent electrode pattern which does not reduce the line width of a wiring and further prevents disconnection.

[0008]

The method of forming a transparent electrode pattern according to the present invention comprises the following steps in order to make the line width of the neck portion of the outermost transparent electrode substantially equal to the line width of the neck portions of the other transparent electrodes. It is characterized by going through each of the steps a to e. a: A transparent conductor layer is formed on a substrate. b: A photoresist layer is formed on the transparent conductor layer. c: A plurality of transparent electrodes each including a terminal, an electrode part, and a neck part connecting both of them are arranged in parallel, and at least the neck part of the outermost transparent electrode in the transparent electrode row is another transparent electrode. The photoresist layer is exposed through a photomask having a transparent electrode pattern that is wider than the neck of the photoresist layer. d: developing the photoresist layer. e: The transparent conductor exposed by spraying the etching solution in a shower shape is removed by etching.

[0009]

According to the method of forming a transparent electrode pattern of the present invention, when exposing the photoresist layer as in the step (c), a plurality of transparent electrodes each comprising a terminal, an electrode part, and a neck part connecting both of them are provided. Along with juxtaposition, by using a photomask having a transparent electrode pattern in which at least the neck portion of the outermost transparent electrode of these transparent electrode rows is wider than the neck portions of other transparent electrodes, In the step e), when the etchant is sprayed in a shower shape to remove excess transparent conductor by etching, even if the outermost neck portion is etched the most, if it is the wide neck portion, , Is not affected by the over-etching.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by taking a liquid crystal display panel as an example. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the COG type liquid crystal display panel 13 according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line YY in FIG. FIG. 1 shows a terminal arrangement shape of the transparent electrode. The same parts as those of the conventional liquid crystal display panel 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The liquid crystal display panel 13 has an inner surface
The scanning-side substrate 4 on which the transparent electrodes 14 and 15 of TO are formed and the signal-side substrate 5 are arranged to face each other via a sealant 6 serving as the seal member, and the distance between the substrates is kept constant by the spacer 7. ing. An alignment film (not shown) is provided on each of the transparent electrodes 14 and 15. Further, the transparent electrode 14 of the scanning side substrate 4 is electrically connected to the transparent electrode 15 of the signal side substrate 5 via a dot-shaped Ag paste 9 serving as an electrical transfer member provided at the end portion by a printing method. Continuity has been achieved. 8 is a liquid crystal, 1
0 is a driving IC, and 11 is an input cable.

FIG. 1 shows a transparent electrode pattern 16 of the transparent electrodes 14 and 15. The transparent electrode pattern 16 is a pattern determined by the shape of the photomask in the step c of the present invention, and includes a plurality of transparent electrodes 14 and 15 (hereinafter referred to as a transparent electrode 17 in FIG.
, And each transparent electrode 17 is composed of an electrode part 18, a terminal 19, and a neck part 20 for connecting them, and a row of the terminals 19 corresponds to each dot of the Ag paste 9. However, some of the transparent electrodes 17 may not require the neck 20. For the outermost transparent electrode 17a in the row of the transparent electrodes 17, the neck 2
0a is wider than the other neck portions 20. Accordingly, the area of the terminal 19a is accordingly larger than the other terminals 19.

A method for manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel 13 having the above configuration will be schematically described. This manufacturing method includes the following steps A to E in order. The step A includes the steps a to e as the method for forming a transparent electrode pattern of the present invention.

Step A: A square or rectangular display area is provided by forming transparent electrode patterns of the transparent electrodes 14 and 15 on the scanning side substrate 4 and the signal side substrate 5 by photolithography, respectively.

According to this step, the following steps a to e are sequentially performed. a: A transparent conductor layer is formed on each of the scanning side substrate 4 and the signal side substrate 5. b: A photoresist layer made of a positive photosensitive resin is formed on each transparent conductor layer. c: A plurality of transparent electrodes 17 each including a terminal 19, an electrode portion 18, and a neck portion 20 connecting them are arranged in parallel, and at least a neck portion of an outermost transparent electrode 17a among these rows of the transparent electrodes 17 is provided. The photoresist layer is exposed through a photomask shape having a transparent electrode pattern 16 that makes 20a wider than the necks of other transparent electrodes. d: developing the photoresist layer. e: The exposed transparent conductor is removed by etching.

According to the photolithography, in the step e, the substrate is horizontally moved while slightly shaking, and an etching solution is sprayed on the substrate in a shower shape.
As a result, excess transparent conductor is removed by etching. Thereafter, the excess photoresist layer is removed with a stripper.

Step B: Along the periphery of the display area on the scanning side substrate 4, an epoxy-based adhesive resin is applied to the filaments to provide a sealant 6. Further, an Ag paste 9 is applied and formed on the inside of the signal side substrate 5 along one side of the display area.

Step C: scanning-side substrate 4 or signal-side substrate 5
A plurality of spacers 7 are dispersed on one of the substrates.

Step D: The scanning side substrate 4 and the signal side substrate 5 are bonded together via a sealant 6. At this time, each transparent electrode pattern of the scanning side substrate 4 and the signal side substrate 5 is individually A
It is set to be conductive through the g paste 9.

Step E: The liquid crystal 8 is sealed in the space of the display area of the bonded substrate.

Thus, according to the above-described manufacturing method, in the photolithography in the step A, the neck portion 20a of the transparent electrode 17a located at the outermost position of the transparent electrode 17 is provided wider than the other neck portions 20. This neck part 20
When a is over-etched, the width is reduced, but there is no problem, and the other neck portions 20 are not further etched. The line width of the neck portion 20a was substantially the same as that of the other neck portions 20 by this over-etching.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the liquid crystal display device as in the above embodiment, but may be applied to other various device products as long as the device has a transparent electrode pattern without departing from the gist of the present invention. Can also be applied.

Further, in the liquid crystal display device of the above embodiment,
Various improvements and improvements can be made without any problem. For example, the sealant 6 may be applied on the signal-side substrate 5 and the Ag paste 9 may be applied on the scanning-side substrate 4. In the step A, one of the scanning-side substrate 4 and the signal-side substrate 5 may be applied. The present invention may be applied only to a substrate.

Alternatively, in step b, a photoresist layer made of a positive photosensitive resin was used, but a photoresist layer made of a negative photosensitive resin was formed, and in step c, a photoresist layer was formed using a similar photomask. And exposing the photoresist layer in step d to remove the non-exposed areas, and then removing the transparent conductor exposed in step e by etching.

[0025]

As described above, according to the method for forming a transparent electrode pattern of the present invention, when the photoresist layer is exposed as in step c, the transparent electrode pattern is formed by the terminal, the electrode portion, and the neck portion connecting these. Use a photomask that forms a transparent electrode pattern in which a plurality of electrodes are juxtaposed and the neck portion of the outermost transparent electrode of these transparent electrode rows is wider than the neck portions of other transparent electrodes. Therefore, when the outermost neck portion is etched most in the etching removal in the subsequent e-step, the wide neck portion is not affected by the over-etching. As a result, the production yield is improved, and as a result, device products such as a liquid crystal display panel with high quality and high reliability can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged view of a main part of a transparent electrode pattern in a liquid crystal display panel according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the liquid crystal display panel of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal display panel of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a conventional liquid crystal display panel.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a conventional liquid crystal display panel.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part of a transparent electrode pattern in a conventional liquid crystal display panel.

[Description of sign]

 4. Scanning substrate 5. Signal substrate 6. Sealing agent 7. ······ Spacer 9 ··· Ag paste 8 ··· Liquid crystal 13 ······ Liquid crystal display panel 14 15 Transparent electrode 16 Transparent electrode pattern 17 Transparent electrodes 12a, 18 Electrode unit 12b 19, 19a Terminal 12c, 20, 20a Neck

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A line width of a neck portion of an outermost transparent electrode.
Should be approximately the same as the line width of the neck of the other transparent electrode.
Ku, the method of forming the transparent electrode pattern through the steps of sequentially following a to e. a: A transparent conductor layer is formed on a substrate. b: A photoresist layer is formed on the transparent conductor layer. c: A plurality of transparent electrodes each including a terminal, an electrode part, and a neck part connecting both of them are arranged in parallel, and at least the neck part of the outermost transparent electrode in the transparent electrode row is another transparent electrode. The photoresist layer is exposed through a photomask having a transparent electrode pattern that is wider than the neck of the photoresist layer. d: developing the photoresist layer. e: The transparent conductor exposed by spraying the etching solution in a shower shape is removed by etching.