JPH075199A - Anisotropic conductor and method for inspecting lighting of liquid crystal display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent malfunction of LCD(Liquid Crystal Display) by abutting an anisotropic conductive rubber indirectly on a conductor layer through an anisotropic conductor, thereby preventing foreign matters, e.g. silicon contained in the anisotropic conductive rubber, from adhering to the conductive layer. CONSTITUTION:An anisotropic conductor 1 for inspecting the lighting of an LCD panel is mounted on an inspection unit 10 which is then aligned with an LCD panel 15. When the LCD panel 15 is shifted in the direction of an arrow A, a first bump 4 on the anisotropic conductor 1 abuts on a conductor layer 16 and a second bump 5 abuts on an anisotropic conductive rubber 14. Since the first and second bumps 4, 5 are conducted through a conduction path 3, a signal having a specific frequency for inspecting the lighting of the LCD panel 15 is inputted through the anisotropic conductive rubber 14 and the anisotropic conductor 1 to the conductive layer 16 and the LCD panel 15 is checked for lighting.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as "LC
"D". ) An anisotropic conductor used when inspecting lighting of a panel and a method of inspecting lighting of a liquid crystal display panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the lighting inspection of an LCD panel, the LCD panel and a device for inspecting the lighting of the LCD panel are in direct contact with each other for the inspection. Usually LCD
An inspector of the panel lighting inspection device uses a projection-shaped anisotropic conductive rubber. When the anisotropic conductive rubber is brought into contact with the conductor of the LCD panel to perform the inspection, the anisotropic conductive rubber is used. Foreign matter such as silicon contained in the liquid crystal adheres to the LCD panel and causes a defect in the LCD panel.

[0003]

The object of the present invention is to provide LC
In the D panel lighting inspection, an LCD panel lighting inspection capable of preventing foreign matter such as silicon contained in the anisotropic conductive rubber, which is the inspector of the LCD panel lighting inspection device, from being transferred to the LCD panel. An anisotropic conductor, and an LCD panel lighting inspection method using the anisotropic conductor.

[0004]

The inventors of the present invention have made extensive studies to achieve the above object, and as a result, LCD
In the panel lighting inspection, by interposing an anisotropic conductor between the LCD panel and the LCD panel lighting inspection device, silicon or the like contained in the anisotropic conductive rubber that is the inspector of the LCD panel lighting inspection device We found that foreign matter was not transferred to the LCD panel, which is the object to be inspected.
The present invention was invented.

That is, the anisotropic conductive material for LCD panel lighting inspection of the present invention is the first conductive material for contacting the conductive material of the LCD panel.
The contact portion and the second contact portion that comes into contact with the inspector of the device for inspecting the lighting of the LCD panel are formed on both surfaces of the insulating layer so as to be electrically connected to each other.

Further, in the LCD panel lighting inspection method of the present invention, the above-mentioned anisotropic conductor for LCD panel lighting inspection is interposed between the conductor of the LCD panel and the inspector of the device for inspecting the lighting of the LCD panel. Then, the first contact portion of the anisotropic conductor is brought into contact with the conductor, and the second contact portion of the anisotropic conductor is brought into contact with the probe.

[0007]

According to the anisotropic conductor for inspecting the LCD panel lighting of the present invention, the LCD panel is inspected for the lighting of the LCD panel.
When the conductor of the panel and the inspector of the device for inspecting the lighting of the LCD panel are brought into contact with each other, the anisotropic conductor is interposed between the conductor and the inspector so that The first contact portion of the body contacts the conductor, and the second contact portion of the anisotropic conductor contacts the probe. Since the first and second contact portions are formed on both surfaces of the insulator layer so as to be electrically connected to each other, the probe and the conductor are electrically connected to each other via the first and second contact portions. Then, the lighting of the LCD panel can be inspected. Also, since the probe contacts the conductor indirectly via the anisotropic conductor, foreign matter such as silicon contained in the probe does not adhere to the conductor,
It is possible to prevent the occurrence of defects in the LCD panel.

According to the LCD panel lighting inspection method of the present invention, the above-mentioned anisotropic conductive material for LCD panel lighting inspection is displayed on the LCD.
The first contact portion is brought into contact with the conductor and the second contact portion is brought into contact with the probe by interposing it between the conductor of the panel and the probe of the device for inspecting the lighting of the LCD panel. Since they are brought into contact with each other, the inspection element and the conductor are electrically connected to each other through the first and second contact portions, and the lighting of the LCD panel can be inspected. Further, similarly to the above, since the inspection element indirectly contacts the conductor via the anisotropic conductor, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defects in the LCD panel.

In the present invention, the "contact portion" refers to a conductor that conducts when it comes into contact with the conductor of the LCD panel or the inspection element of the LCD panel lighting inspection device, and the shape thereof is not particularly limited, and is triangular or square. It may be a flat surface such as a rectangle, a trapezoid, a parallelogram, another polygon, or a circle, or a solid such as a prism, a cylinder, a sphere, a cone (cone, a pyramid), or the surface of an insulator layer. It does not need to be formed so as to project more outward than the above, and can be arbitrarily set depending on the layout and shape of the conductor and the probe.

[0010]

EXAMPLES Examples will be given below to explain the present invention in detail, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of an anisotropic conductor for LCD panel lighting inspection according to the present invention. The LCD panel lighting inspection anisotropic conductor 1 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a conduction path 3 that communicates from one surface 21 to the other surface 22 of the insulator film 2 that is an insulator layer. Continuity path 3
Are rivet-shaped metal protrusions (hereinafter, simply referred to as “bumps”) 4, 5 which are first and second contact portions formed so as to protrude outward from the surfaces 21, 22 of the insulator film 2. Connected to each of the first bumps 4
Are electrically connected to the second bump 5 via the conduction path 3.

In the present invention, the contact portion does not rise like a rivet as described above, and the surface 2 of the insulator film 2 is not formed.
It goes without saying that it also includes a mode in which the conduction path 3 is formed on the same plane as the Nos. 1 and 22 and the end portion thereof serves as the contact portion.

The material of the insulator film 2 is not particularly limited as long as it can stably support the bumps and has electric insulation properties. Specifically, for example, polyester resin,
Thermosetting resin such as epoxy resin, urethane resin, polystyrene resin, polyethylene resin, polyamide resin, polyimide resin, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) copolymer resin, polycarbonate resin, silicone resin Alternatively, a thermoplastic resin may be used, and among these, a polyimide resin having excellent heat resistance and mechanical strength is particularly preferably used.

The thickness of the insulator film 2 is not particularly limited, but preferably has sufficient mechanical strength and flexibility, and is preferably set to 2 to 200 μm, particularly 10 to 100 μm.

The material forming the conducting path 3 is not particularly limited as long as it has conductivity, and known metal materials can be used. For example, gold, silver, copper, platinum, lead, tin, nickel, Single metals such as cobalt, indium, rhodium, chromium, tungsten, and ruthenium, or various alloys containing these as components, for example, solder, nickel-tin,
A conductive material such as gold-cobalt may be used. The material forming the bumps 4 and 5 may be the same as or different from the conductive material of the conductive path 3, but normally the same material is used. 3 and the bumps 4 and 5 are preferably formed integrally.

The height of the bumps 4 and 5 is not particularly limited, but it is preferably several microns to several tens of microns. Moreover, the bumps 4 and 5 are formed in a hemispherical shape, a mushroom shape (umbrella shape), or the like in addition to the rivet shape shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view showing another embodiment of the conductive path and the bump. In FIG. 2, a conductive path 3a filled with an inexpensive metal substance such as copper is formed in the fine through hole 23 formed in the insulator film 2, and the surface layer of the first and second bumps 4 and 5 is formed. 4a and 5a are made of a metal material such as gold having high connection reliability. The surface layer 4
Intermediate layers 4b and 5b made of nickel or the like as a barrier metal substance for preventing mutual reaction of metal substances are formed between a and 5a and the conduction path 3a. Furthermore, the structure is not limited to the above-described three kinds of conductive materials, and four or more kinds of conductive materials may be used.

FIG. 3 shows an anisotropic conductor for LCD panel lighting inspection according to the present invention (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as "anisotropic conductor").
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the manufacturing process of, and can be manufactured as follows, for example.

First, as shown in FIG. 3A, a laminated base material 7 formed by laminating the insulating film 2 and the conductive material layer 6 is prepared. Examples of the method for forming the conductive material layer 7 on the surface of the insulator film 2 include a plating method, a sputtering method, a CVD method and the like. In addition, a conductive foil is used as the conductive material layer 6, and the insulating film 2 is laminated on the conductive foil, or an insulating material is applied and solidified on the conductive foil to form the conductive material layer 6. A method of forming the insulator film 2 on the surface may be mentioned. The laminated base material 7 is not limited to a two-layered base material in which the insulating film 2 and the conductive material layer 6 are directly laminated, and for example, an adhesive layer is provided between the insulating film 2 and the conductive material layer 6. It may be a three-layered base material that is interposed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, a plurality of fine through holes 23 (six holes in FIG. 3) are formed in a predetermined area of the insulator film 2 in the thickness direction. The fine through holes 23 are formed by mechanical punching such as punching, plasma processing, laser processing, photolithography processing, or chemical etching using a resist having different chemical resistance from the insulating film 2 and fine pitching. In order to deal with this, a method such as laser processing capable of fine processing can be performed, and among them, opening processing by irradiation of an excimer laser whose pulse number or energy amount is controlled is preferable. The fine through holes 23 are formed so as to penetrate only the insulating film 2, and the lower conductive material layer 6 is exposed at the bottom thereof. The size of the fine through holes 23 is 5 to 200 μm, preferably 8
It is about 10 μm.

Further, the exposed portion of the conductive material layer 6 is etched to form a rivet-shaped recess 61 as shown in FIG. 3 (c).

Next, as shown in FIG. 3D, a resist layer 8 is formed on the outer surface 62 of the conductive material layer 6 to insulate it, and then, as shown in FIG. Fine through hole 2
3 and the recess 61 are filled with a conductive material to form the conductive path 3, the first bump 4 and the second bump 5.

The conductive paths 3, the first bumps 4, and the second bumps 5 are formed by physically embedding a conductive material in the fine through holes 23, a CVD method, a plating method such as electrolytic plating or electroless plating, It can be performed by a chemical method in which the structure obtained by the above steps is immersed in a molten bath of a conductive substance and pulled up to deposit the conductive substance. Therefore, in the present invention, the filling of the conductive substance is a broad concept including not only the physical filling of the conductive substance but also the above-mentioned chemical deposition.

Then, as shown in FIG. 3 (f), the conductive substance layer 6 and the resist layer 6 are removed by a chemical etching solution or electrolytic corrosion to obtain the anisotropic conductor 1.
The formation of the first bump 3 may be performed after the step (f).

A more specific production example of the anisotropic conductor of the present invention will be shown below.

Polyamic acid was applied onto a copper foil having a thickness of 35 μm, dried and cured to form a polyimide layer having a thickness of 13 μm, to prepare a two-layer base material of a copper foil and a polyimide film.

Next, the surface of the polyimide film is irradiated with KrF excimer laser light having an oscillation wavelength of 248 nm through a mask to perform dry etching, and the polyimide film has fine through holes of 25 μmφ and a pitch of 50 μm of 100 cm.
^{Provided in} the area of ² .

Next, the surface of the copper foil exposed at the bottom of the fine through hole was etched to form a rivet-shaped recess as shown in FIG. 3 (c).

Next, a resist was applied to the surface of the copper foil and cured to insulate it, and then immersed in a chemical polishing liquid at 50 ° C. for 2 minutes. After washing these with water, connect the copper foil part to the electrode and
When a gold crystal is slightly projected from the polyimide film surface by immersing it in a gold cyanide plating bath at ℃, and using the copper foil as a negative electrode to grow gold plating in the fine through holes and rivet-shaped recesses of the two-layer substrate. (Projection height approx. 15μ
m), the plating process was interrupted.

Next, the coated resist layer was peeled off, and the copper foil of the two-layer substrate was dissolved and removed with cupric chloride to obtain an anisotropic conductive film.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the LCD panel lighting inspection method of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the LCD panel lighting inspection device 10 is electrically connected to a wiring circuit 11 connected to a tester T (not shown), a pair of glass epoxy substrates 12 and 13 laminated with the wiring circuit 11 interposed therebetween, and the wiring circuit 11. , And an anisotropic conductive rubber 14 penetrating the glass epoxy substrate 12 in the thickness direction and protruding.

When performing the lighting inspection of the LCD panel 15, the LCD panel lighting inspection device 10 and the LCD panel 15
The anisotropic conductive material 1 of the present invention is interposed between the anisotropic conductive material 1 and the anisotropic conductive rubber 14, so that the anisotropic conductive material 1 is placed on the LCD panel lighting inspection device 10 and the LCD panel lighting inspection is performed. The device 10 and the LCD panel 15 are aligned with each other.
When the LCD panel 15 is displaced in the direction of the arrow A, the anisotropic conductive rubber 14 projects outward from the surface of the glass epoxy substrate 12, so that the anisotropic conductive material 1 is made into the anisotropic conductive rubber 14. And the conductor layer 16 formed on the surface of the LCD panel 15 to be sandwiched. At this time, the first bumps 4 of the anisotropic conductor 1 contact the conductor layer 16, and the second bumps 5 contact the anisotropic conductive rubber 14.

Since the first bump 4 and the second bump 5 are conducted through the conduction path 3, a signal of a specific frequency for inspecting the lighting of the LCD panel 15 is transmitted from the tester T to the wiring circuit 11 to the wiring circuit 11. It is input to the conductor layer 16 through the anisotropic conductive rubber 14 and the anisotropic conductor 1, and the lighting inspection of the LCD panel 15 is performed.

[0034]

According to the anisotropic conductor for LCD panel lighting inspection of the present invention, the inspector of the LCD panel lighting inspection device indirectly contacts the conductor of the LCD panel through the anisotropic conductor. A foreign substance such as silicon contained in the inspection element does not adhere to the conductor, so that it is possible to prevent a defect from occurring in the LCD panel.

Further, according to the LCD panel lighting inspection method of the present invention, since the above LCD panel lighting inspection anisotropic conductor is used, the occurrence of a defect in the LCD panel is prevented for the above reasons.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of an anisotropic conductor for LCD panel lighting inspection of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another example of the conductive path and the bump.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a manufacturing process of an anisotropic conductor for LCD panel lighting inspection of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an LCD panel lighting inspection method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Anisotropic Conductor for LCD Panel Lighting Inspection 2 Insulator Film 3 Conducting Path 4 First Bump 5 Second Bump 10 LCD Panel Lighting Inspection Device 14 Anisotropic Conductive Rubber 14 15 LCD Panel 16 Conductor Layer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first unit for contacting a conductor of a liquid crystal display panel
A liquid crystal display characterized in that a contact portion and a second contact portion that comes into contact with an inspector of an apparatus for inspecting lighting of the liquid crystal display panel are formed on both surfaces of an insulating layer so as to be electrically connected to each other. Anisotropic conductor for panel lighting inspection. 2. The anisotropic conductor for liquid crystal display panel lighting inspection according to claim 1, which is interposed between the conductor of the liquid crystal display panel and an inspector of an apparatus for inspecting lighting of the liquid crystal display panel. The first contact portion of the anisotropic conductor is brought into contact with the conductor,
A method for inspecting lighting of a liquid crystal display panel, wherein a second contact portion of the anisotropic conductor is brought into contact with the probe.