JP4760511B2 - Color filter manufacturing method and color filter - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to residue removal when producing a color filter, and in particular, there is no damage to a colored layer in UV processing, narrowness of the width of residue removal, and coloring when a polishing treatment is performed. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a color filter that can remove a residue even in an extremely narrow portion without scratching the layer.

  The black matrix and colored layer of a color filter formed by sequentially forming a black matrix, red, green and blue colored layers on a glass substrate are generally formed into a pattern by a photolithography technique using a pigment dispersion material. Is. In this case, in particular, the colored layer may cause a problem that residues remain on the glass substrate after development.

  Usually, a transparent conductive film is formed on this colored layer, but problems such as film peeling and characteristic deterioration occur due to the influence of the residue. Further, the sealing material may be peeled off when forming a panel. Therefore, in recent years, as a countermeasure against this, after the colored layer is formed, a residue removal process is performed by an ashing process such as a UV process, a UV ashing process, an excimer UV process, an atmospheric pressure plasma process, or a physical polishing process.

In the case of ashing treatment such as UV treatment, since it is a chemical decomposition reaction, the surface layer of the colored layer may be damaged or a decomposed residue may remain. For this reason, it is necessary to perform washing after the treatment firmly, and the surface layer must be further removed.
Further, if the UV irradiation is too strong, the inside of the colored layer is affected, so fine control is necessary. In addition, if the ashing process is performed too much, the decomposed resin remains in a low molecular state, which may lead to an influence on resistance and characteristic deterioration.

In the treatment using plasma, the cross-linking may progress depending on the conditions and lead to improvement of the resistance. However, there is a problem that the removal amount of the residue is reduced and the condition is narrowed to serve both purposes. It was.
That is, in the ashing treatment such as UV treatment, the range of residue removal is narrow and it is difficult to obtain a sufficient effect.

On the other hand, in the polishing process, the residue can be removed without giving chemical instability to the colored layer for physical removal. In some cases, the end portion of the colored layer is overlapped with the black matrix and the portion where the protrusion is formed is removed to improve poor liquid crystal alignment. The transparent conductive film formed on the glass substrate that had been subjected to the polishing treatment had good adhesion and did not cause problems such as peeling. In addition, there was no occurrence of defective peeling of the sealing material in the paneling process.
The advantage of the polishing treatment is that both the action of removing this residue and the action of flattening to stabilize the alignment of the liquid crystal can be achieved at the same time.

However, in the polishing process, since the rotation process is performed by applying pressure, fine scratches are generated on the surface layer, and the adhesiveness of the transparent conductive film may be lowered or the liquid crystal alignment may be affected.
Also, the structure of recent color filters has become complicated, and if processing is performed on a flat surface plate, residues may not be removed in the extremely narrow part of the colored layer, resulting in in-plane variations. It was.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-335439 describes that the residue is removed by sandblasting. The sand blasting method is a method of removing a target object by accelerating fine particles with air. When the particles become finer, they are affected by air resistance and are difficult to control. Furthermore, the sandblasting method causes work environment problems due to the influence of dust.
JP-A-8-335439

The present invention has been made in order to solve these problems. In producing a color filter, in the removal of the residue after development of the colored layer, the colored layer when the ashing treatment such as UV treatment is performed is performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a color filter which is free from damage and narrowness of residue removal, and has no scratches on the colored layer when subjected to polishing treatment, and can remove residues even in extremely narrow portions. It is what.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a color filter manufactured using the above-described color filter manufacturing method.

The present invention is a method for producing a color filter in which a black matrix, a colored layer, and a transparent conductive film are sequentially formed on a transparent substrate.
1) forming a black matrix and a colored layer on the transparent substrate;
2) the black matrix, a colored layer formed on a transparent substrate, and facilities to process the residue removal by accelerated inject fine particles in water pressure,
3) forming a transparent conductive film on the transparent substrate from which the residue is removed ;
The particle diameter of the fine particles is in the range of 0.05 μm to 5.0 μm, and the pH (hydrogen ion concentration) of the aqueous solution for pressurizing the fine particles or the aqueous solution in which the fine particles are mixed is on the acidic side. This is a method for manufacturing a color filter.

  The present invention also provides the method for producing a color filter according to the above-described invention, wherein the jetting in which the fine particles are accelerated by water pressure is a two-fluid shower method.

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  In the color filter manufacturing method according to the present invention, the fine particles may be alumina, zirconium oxide, cerium oxide, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon carbide indium oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, phenol resin, acrylic resin. A method for producing a color filter, wherein one or two or more kinds of polyurethane resin are mixed.

  Further, the present invention provides a method for producing a color filter according to the above invention, wherein when removing the residue, a protective layer is provided on the black matrix and the colored layer, and the black matrix and the colored layer are not formed on the transparent substrate. A method for producing a color filter, wherein residue removal is performed only on a portion.

  The present invention is also the color filter manufacturing method according to the invention, wherein the residue removal is simultaneously performed on both the front and back sides of the transparent substrate.

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Moreover, this invention is a color filter manufactured by the manufacturing method of the color filter of any one of Claims 1-5 .

In recent years, the price of flat panels, which are representative of liquid crystal panels, has fallen significantly, and the market has also shown significant growth. In manufacturing companies, various improvements have been tried and achieved as a device for responding to market needs and securing profits.
Cost reduction is one of the major pillars that capture profits and capture future market needs, and requires more efforts than ever.

  In the present invention, a black matrix and a colored layer are formed on a transparent substrate, and the residue is removed on the transparent substrate on which the black matrix and the colored layer are formed by spraying fine particles accelerated by water pressure. Since this is a color filter manufacturing method for forming a transparent conductive film on a transparent substrate, there is no damage to the colored layer when the ashing treatment such as UV treatment is applied, and there is no narrowness of residue removal. In addition, there is no scratch on the colored layer when the polishing process is performed, and the color filter manufacturing method can remove the residue even in an extremely narrow portion.

  The present invention can be said to be a technique that uses a recyclable material that is cheaper than the processes that have been carried out in the past, and that does not generate dust or gas and that takes into consideration the working environment. In addition, the color filter produced thereby is a technology that ensures sealing strength and removes surface layer residues, leading to higher panel quality and product stability.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.
In the color filter manufacturing method according to the first aspect, the fine particles are sprayed while being accelerated by water pressure, so that the fine particles strike the entire surface of the glass substrate on which the black matrix and the colored layer are formed, and the adhered residue is removed. That is, there is no damage to the colored layer when the ashing treatment such as UV treatment is performed, the width of the residue removal is narrow, and there is no scratch on the colored layer when the polishing treatment is performed. The residue can also be removed in As a result, the color filter obtained is more stable and cheaper than the conventional method.
In addition, the color filter manufacturing method according to the present invention is particularly suitable as a method for processing varieties that do not require flattening of the protrusions, color filters using a black matrix of a metal thin film, and the like.
Further, the color filter manufacturing method according to the first aspect specifies the size of the fine particles, and it is desirable that the size is smaller than the pixel size based on the previous experiments. Furthermore, in consideration of the effect of removing the gaps between the pixels and the overlapping portion of the resin, the size of the residue and dirt adhering to the periphery of the glass surface, 10 μm or less is desirable. On the other hand, if it is too small, the energy of the fine particles becomes small and the effect of physical removal can be halved. For this reason, as a result of keen examination, the above range was reached.
In the color filter manufacturing method according to the first aspect of the invention, there are cases where the fine particles are aggregated when the order is from the micron order to the submicron order. Therefore, in the case of particles having polarity to prevent aggregation, it can be prevented by making the pH acidic in order to adjust the charge. It is also an object to prevent the adhesion to the glass substrate from causing dirt.

The method for producing a color filter according to claim 2 is a method in which the fine particles are mixed with an aqueous solution and used, and it is easier to reuse the fine particles, so that the processing can be performed at low cost.
The two-fluid shower is a method in which an aqueous solution applied with a certain pressure is mixed with compressed air and then injected from a slit nozzle. The fine particles are mixed in an aqueous solution. Generally, the water pressure is in the range of 0.05 MPa to 0.5 MPa and the compressed air is in the range of 0.05 MPa to 0.3 MPa. Set it lower.

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The method for producing a color filter according to claim 3 shows various materials, and the effect can be confirmed by treatment with a commonly used abrasive or resinous fine particles. Metal oxides and the like have a higher removal effect, but damage is large, so that the processing conditions need to be finely controlled. The resin material has little removal effect, but the damage is small, so the work margin is wide.
It is common to use properly depending on the situation, but there are cases where a better result is obtained with a synergistic effect by using a mixture. These are properly used according to the status of the color filter. The shape of the fine particles is not particularly specified from a distorted distorted state to a spherical one, but the spherical one may cause less damage to the surface layer, but the effect on removal becomes smaller, so optimization of the conditions is necessary It is.

In the method for producing a color filter according to claim 4 , the black matrix and the colored layer are not processed, and only the seal coating surface and the glass surface are processed.
In particular, this is used for special applications such as varieties that do not require processing of a black matrix or a colored layer, or those having strict color characteristics.
Since the main object of the invention described in claim 4 is to remove residues and dirt on the seal portion and the glass portion, such a method is used to achieve only this object. On the other hand, when the nozzle is made small and processing is performed only on a limited part such as a seal portion, a method of processing while moving the two-fluid nozzle is also conceivable.

In the present invention, the processing equipment is not particularly limited, and processing is performed with slit-type nozzles while transporting on a conveyor, or processing is performed while moving only necessary portions using a small cylindrical nozzle. May be. It is also possible to process both front and back at the same time.
The method for producing a color filter according to claim 5 proposes a method for removing residues simultaneously on both the front and back sides of a transparent substrate. As a special method, a combination with an ashing process such as a UV process may be used. However, since the cost is particularly high, it is not the original purpose.

This method can also be used to remove dirt after polishing. After polishing, the scraped resin residue is attached and needs to be removed by brush cleaning or the like, but it is also effective in removing such dirt. However, this also has to be a method capable of obtaining a sufficient advantage in terms of cost as described above.
For this purpose, in order to use it together with the polishing method, for example, the purpose is to remove a residue or dirt after performing a treatment for smoothing the level difference on the surface of the color filter. Is required. Therefore, the present invention is not particularly limited to the processing by the combination as described above.
Incidentally, it is more effective to use the one having a small particle size when removing the above-mentioned dirt.

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The color filter according to claim 6 proposes a color filter manufactured by the above-described color filter manufacturing method.

According to the present invention, the color filter improves the sealing strength by removing the residue such as development of the colored layer, the resin adhering to the glass substrate and the resin and dirt that sneak around the back surface, and the reliability of the panel Will improve. In addition, since the glass substrate is free from dirt, the display quality is improved and the influence of contamination can be reduced. The present invention also proposes a curler filter manufacturing method and a curler filter that can be manufactured at a lower cost by being processed in a continuous process as part of the improvement of the quality of the panel and the cleaning process.

  Example 1 of the color filter of the present invention will be described. After the resin black matrix was formed on the glass substrate, a colored layer was laminated. Both are patterned using a photolithography technique. Thereafter, a white layer was further formed to form a four-color filter layer.

Next, as a pretreatment to be put into the washing machine, using a two-fluid shower nozzle, a solution in which pure water and phenol resin fine particles were mixed was applied to a glass substrate to remove residues. At this time, an average particle diameter of 2 μm and 10 wt% dispersed was used. The water pressure was treated at 0.1 MPa. The glass substrate was passed under the slit type two-fluid nozzle while being conveyed. The conveyance speed was 1.5 m / min.
Next, after washing with water to remove fine particles, a normal washing process was performed. After the shower treatment, brush cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, and high-pressure water cleaning were performed, followed by replacement with ultrapure water, drying with an air knife, and completion of cleaning through a drying furnace at 150 ° C.

As a result, the development residue and the like on the colored layer and the peripheral glass substrate were removed. Thereafter, a transparent conductive film was formed by a sputtering method. As the transparent conductive film, an ITO (mixed oxide of indium oxide and tin oxide) film having a thickness of 150 nm was formed without heating. Thereafter, annealing treatment was performed to obtain predetermined characteristics.
The ITO film formed on the colored layer was able to be processed without any problem in sealing strength at the time of forming a panel.

  Example 2 of the color filter of the present invention will be described. After the resin black matrix was formed on the glass substrate, a colored layer was laminated. Both are patterned using a photolithography technique.

Next, as a pretreatment to be put into the washing machine, using a two-fluid shower nozzle, a solution in which pure water and fine particles of acrylic resin were mixed was applied to the glass substrate to remove the residue. At this time, the average particle size of the fine particles was 0.7 μm and 10 wt% dispersed. The water pressure was treated at 0.5 MPa. The glass substrate was passed through a slit type two-fluid nozzle installed up and down while being conveyed. The conveyance speed was 1.5 m / min.
Next, after washing with water to remove fine particles, a normal washing process was performed. After the shower treatment, brush cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, and high-pressure water cleaning were performed, and then the cleaning was completed by replacing with ultrapure water and drying with an air knife. As a result, the development residue and the like on the colored layer and the peripheral glass substrate were removed.

  Thereafter, a transparent conductive film was formed by a sputtering method. As the transparent conductive film, an ITO (mixed oxide of indium oxide and tin oxide) film having a thickness of 150 nm was formed without heating, and then an annealing process was performed to obtain predetermined characteristics. Thereafter, a photo spacer was formed to obtain a color filter. This color filter was satisfactory without problems in pasting with the array.

Claims (6)

In the method for producing a color filter in which a black matrix, a colored layer, and a transparent conductive film are sequentially formed on a transparent substrate,
1) forming a black matrix and a colored layer on the transparent substrate;
2) the black matrix, a colored layer formed on a transparent substrate, and facilities to process the residue removal by accelerated inject fine particles in water pressure,
3) forming a transparent conductive film on the transparent substrate from which the residue is removed ;
The particle diameter of the fine particles is in the range of 0.05 μm to 5.0 μm, and the pH (hydrogen ion concentration) of the aqueous solution for pressurizing the fine particles or the aqueous solution in which the fine particles are mixed is on the acidic side. A method for producing a color filter.   2. The method for producing a color filter according to claim 1, wherein the jetting of the fine particles accelerated by water pressure is a two-fluid shower method. The fine particles are one kind or a mixture of two or more kinds of alumina, zirconium oxide, cerium oxide, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon carbide indium oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, phenol resin, acrylic resin, polyurethane resin. claim 1 or claim 2 Symbol mounting method of manufacturing a color filter, characterized in that is obtained by. 2. When removing the residue, a protective layer is provided on the black matrix and the colored layer, and the residue is removed only on a portion of the transparent substrate on which the black matrix and the colored layer are not formed. claim 2, or claim 3 Symbol mounting method of manufacturing a color filter. Claim the residue removal, characterized in simultaneously applying it on both sides of the transparent substrate 1, claim 2, claim 3, or claim 4 Symbol mounting method of producing a color filter. Color filter characterized by being manufactured by the method of manufacturing a color filter according to any one of claims 1 to 5.