JPH02235062A - Pattern forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the omission of a pattern caused by a bridge by forming a recessed part on the bridge part by half etching work and making the obtained recessed part side of a mask closely contact with a substance to be transferred so that a pattern forming material may be applied there. CONSTITUTION:Etching work is performed to a metallic plate consisting of a stainless plate, etc., to form the metallic mask. In such case, the half etching work by which a metallic part is left in a specified depth at specified intervals in the pattern direction of an opening part is performed so as to form the bridge part 9 provided with the recessed part 10. The mask 2 is placed on a glass plate 1 with the side of the recessed part 10 down and conductive paste, etc., functioning as the pattern forming material 6 is applied from above the mask 2 by a blade 5. Since all the surfaces of the side in contact with the glass 1 are made open, the continuous pattern is formed without disconnection and the omission of the pattern caused by the bridge 9 is prevented.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is applicable to the general process of forming a thick film with fine patterns on a transfer target with high precision, and is particularly applicable to electrodes of large-area image display devices. It also concerns pattern formation methods applied when forming thick films such as spacer barriers. [Prior art] In recent years, electrode patterns, spacers, barriers, etc. with fine line widths of about 100 to 200 pm have been used in LCDs, PDPs, EL, E
This is required for the panels of image display devices such as CDs. In the case of electrode patterns formed by a thick film method using conductive paste, a film thickness of 60 to 100 llm is required to improve conductivity, and the required film thickness is increasing year by year. Similarly, spacers, barriers, etc. are required to have a similar thickness or higher due to the characteristics of the image display device. Conventionally, the method of forming a pattern having a fine line width of about 100 to 200 μm is to use a screen mesh as a support and use a photosensitive emulsion, photosensitive resin, etc. on the screen mesh by photolithography. A printing method using a screen plate formed using a metal mask has been widely used, but in recent years, a pattern forming method using a metal mask has been studied. A pattern forming method using a metal mask involves forming a metal mask by opening a pattern in a metal plate of a predetermined thickness, bringing the metal mask into close contact with an object to be transferred, and then applying a paste-like pattern forming material to the pattern. A pattern is formed on the object to be transferred by applying it uniformly from the upper surface of the metal mask to fill the openings of the metal mask, and then peeling off the material mask No. 011 from the object to be transferred. ．． [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The shape of the open pattern of the metal mask does not matter, except for isolated patterns. However, this feature is especially exhibited in linear patterns, so to take a linear pattern as an example, in the case of forming a long linear pattern, as the pattern area has become larger and the pattern line width has become finer in recent years,
Metal masks do not have enough strength to withstand forces in the lateral direction to the linear openings and are easily deformed, so insert reinforcing briss into the linear openings of the metal mask as appropriate. However, in the case of a bridge having the same thickness as a conventional metal, the opening pattern is no longer linear due to its presence, and becomes circular or slotted depending on the shape of the bridge. When a paste pattern is transferred using such a reinforced metal mask, the bridge portion obstructs the transfer and passage of the paste, resulting in disconnection of the pattern. As described above, due to the restriction of reinforcing the metal mask, a problem arises in which a predetermined pattern shape cannot be obtained in the pattern after transfer. [Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention reduces the thickness of the bring portion of the metal mask used by making it thinner than the metal thickness.
At least all surfaces that come into contact with the printing material are left open, and the inside of the bridge is also filled with pattern forming material using the sagging of the paste pattern to obtain a linear pattern without any disconnections. That is, in the pattern forming method of the present invention, when forming a metal mask by etching a metal plate of a predetermined thickness to open a twisted pattern shape, a part of the open pattern forming area is half-etched. By doing so, the metal mask is formed into a bridge shape having a concave portion without being completely opened, and then the metal mask is brought into close contact with the object to be transferred from the concave surface side of the bridge portion, and a paste-like pattern forming material is applied to the upper surface of the metal mask. The method is characterized in that a pattern is formed on the object by applying the metal mask evenly and filling the openings of the metal mask, and then peeling off the metal mask from the object. The metal plate may be any material that can be etched, such as stainless steel or Ni, and the thickness of the metal plate is preferably the same as or slightly thicker than the desired thickness of the pattern forming material. In particular, the present invention is suitable for forming patterns applied when forming thick films such as electrodes, spacers, and barriers in plasma displays. 200 μm is desirable.

A good method for processing a metal mask is photo-1 etching. In particular, a method called half etching has been conventionally most suitable for forming a portion thinner than the metal plate thickness as in the present invention. In addition, during the etching process, it is possible to appropriately control the cross-sectional shape of the opening and the opening size 10, and the cross-sectional shape of the opening is not limited to the cross-sectional shape of the opening illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3. .

The pattern-forming material may be a conductive pattern paste such as Ag paste, or an insulating paste such as glass paste, as long as it can form a pattern to be applied when forming a thick film such as an electrode, a spacer, or a barrier.

The pattern on the side of the metal mask that contacts the printing material is preferably a linear pattern, but it may also be an isolated pattern. Further, it is preferable that the blade be moved in the same direction as the pattern, but it is not limited to this direction.

[Effect]

In the Bakoon forming method of the present invention, when forming a metal mask by etching a metal plate of a predetermined thickness to form a pattern, a bridge portion is formed by half-etching an appropriate part of the opening pattern forming area. By using a metal mask that has been removed, the remaining metal part can be used as a reinforcing bridge for the pattern, providing strength against lateral forces and improving pattern positioning accuracy. It is something. Furthermore, by forming the bridge portion by half-etching, the entire surface in contact with the printing medium can be opened, so that a continuous linear pattern can be formed without disconnection.

〔Example〕

This will be explained below using drawings. FIG. 1(a) is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a state in which a pattern forming material is applied using the metal mask of the present invention, and FIG. 1(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A'. Figure, Figure 1 (
C) is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B', and Figure 1 (d) is c-c'.
2(a) is a sectional view taken along a line, and FIG. 2(a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1(b) showing the state after applying the pattern forming material, and FIG. 2(b) is similar to FIG. 2(c) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1(d), and FIG. 3(a) is a state in which the metal mask is peeled off from the state shown in FIG. 2(a). 3(b) is a sectional view similarly corresponding to FIG. 2(b), FIG. 3(c) is a sectional view similarly corresponding to FIG. 2(c), and FIG. Middle 1 is the transferred object, 2
3 is a metal mask, 3 is a metal mask opening, 4 is an opening dimension, 5 is a blade, 6 is a pattern forming material, 7 is a pattern, 8 is a metal thickness, and 9 is a bridge portion.

The metal plate shown in Figure 1 has an outer diameter of 200mXl50.
+nm, thickness 0.1mm SUS304 plate, pattern area 160ao x 110■, opening line width 10
A metal mask 2 having a line pattern of 0 μm and a non-opening line width of 100 μm was fabricated by etching.

In addition, in this etching process, the opening butter/direction is 200
Half etching was simultaneously performed to leave a metal portion at a depth of 50 μm from the side where the pattern forming material was applied and filled every 0 μm, thereby forming a bridge portion 9 having a recess 10. AA' line and B- of the formed metal mask 2
Figure 1(b) shows the cross-sectional views along the B' line and the c-c' gland.
, as shown in the same figure (C) and the same figure (d).

Next, as shown in FIG. 1(a), this metal mask 2
was placed on the glass plate 1 from the opening side of the bridge portion 9, and Ag paste (7713 manufactured by DuPont), which is a conductive pattern paste, was placed on the metal mask 2 as the pattern forming material 6, as indicated by the arrow. Apply with blade 5 in the long direction of the line pattern. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the openings of the metal mask are filled with pattern forming material. Next, as shown in Figure 3, when the metal mask is peeled off and removed, the film thickness at the bottom of the bridge part is thin immediately after transfer, but due to sagging (deformation) of the paste, the difference in film thickness almost disappears, and a film with a thickness of 95 μm is left on the glass plate l. The Ag electrode line pattern 7 was formed. In addition, in Figures 2 and 3, (a) and (b)
) and (c) correspond to those in FIG. 1, respectively. After drying and firing, the Ag electrode film thickness was 70 μm. This Ag
The e-electrode film showed sufficient conductivity. Furthermore, when an insulating paste was used instead of a conductive paste as a pattern forming material, a pattern could be formed using the same method as in the above example. [Effects of the Invention] In the pattern forming method of the present invention, when forming a metal mask by etching a metal plate of a predetermined thickness to form a pattern, half-etching is performed at appropriate locations where the opening pattern is formed. By using a metal mask with a bridge formed by the metal mask, it is possible to improve the positional accuracy of the pattern, and since the entire surface in contact with the printing material can be opened, it is possible to create a continuous linear pattern. It can be formed without disconnection, prevents missing patterns due to the presence of bridges, and can also be applied to isolated patterns.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1(a) is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a state in which a pattern forming material is applied using the metal mask of the present invention, and FIG. 1(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A''. Figure, Figure 1 (
C) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B', and Figure 1 (d) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B'.
2(a) is a sectional view taken along a line, and FIG. 2(a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1(b) showing the state after applying the pattern forming material, and FIG. 2(b) is similar to FIG. 2(C) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1(d), and FIG. 3(a) is a state in which the metal mask is peeled off from the state shown in FIG. 2(a). FIG. 3(b) is a sectional view similarly corresponding to FIG. 2(b), and FIG. 3(c) is a sectional view similarly corresponding to FIG. 2(c). In the figure, 1 is a transfer target, 2 is a metal mask, 3 is a metal mask opening, 4 is an opening size, 5 is a blade, 6 is a pattern forming material, 7 is a pattern, 8 is a metal thickness, 9 is a bridge part, IO indicates a recess. Applicant Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Nobuhiko Uchida (5 others) Figure 1 (a) Figure 2 (a) (b) (b) (C) (d)

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) When forming a metal mask by etching a metal plate of a predetermined thickness to form an opening in a pattern, half-etching is applied to a part of the opening pattern forming area, so that the recessed part is not completely opened. Next, the metal mask is brought into close contact with the transferred object from the concave surface side of the bridge portion, and a paste-like pattern forming material is evenly applied from the upper surface of the metal mask to form the metal mask. A pattern forming method in which a pattern is formed on a transfer target by filling an opening and then peeling off the metal mask from the transfer target. (2) The pattern forming method according to claim 1, wherein the metal plate has a thickness of 60 to 200 μm. (3) The pattern forming method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pattern forming material is a conductive or insulating paste. (4) The pattern forming method according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the pattern shape of the metal mask is linear.