JPH08115658A - Method for forming electrode on gas-discharge display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To accurately align the elements of an electrode panel formed by photolithography with those of a panel formed by printing method by forming alignment marks on a substrate on which electrodes are to be formed. CONSTITUTION: A conductive film is formed after the formation of at least one alignment mark 31 on a substrate 2, and a layer of a photosensitive resin is formed over the conductive film. Next, a light shielding mask with an electrode pattern placed thereon is positioned with respect to the alignment mark 31, and pattern development is carried out after the exposure of the layer of the photosensitive resin via the light shielding mask. After the conductive film is chemically etched with the patterned photosensitive resin used as a mask, the patterned photosensitive resin is peeled.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for forming electrodes arranged on two substrates constituting a gas discharge display panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are various types of gas discharge display panels, which are being developed with the aim of increasing their size, increasing their efficiency and increasing their definition. The most representative of these is 2
A panel of a system in which a cathode group and an anode group are respectively arranged on a sheet of transparent insulating substrate, these two substrates are sealed at a constant interval, and gas discharge is generated in the gap to emit light is provided. Are known. Furthermore, a panel in which a resistance element is installed in each discharge cell in order to control the discharge current has been proposed. As an example of this, Takano et al. “Pulse memory drive of discharge display panel with resistance” (1990, Television The annual conference, p 77-78).

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the structure of the gas discharge display panel shown in this report, (a) is a perspective view from the front of the panel, and (b) is a cross-sectional view of the panel.

This gas discharge display panel is composed of two substrates, a front plate 1 and a back plate 2. A cathode 3 installed on the front plate 1, an anode bus bar 4 and an auxiliary anode 5 installed on the back plate 2.
Are formed so as to be orthogonal to each other. Discharge cell 6
Is defined by a barrier 7, an anode terminal 8 is included in each discharge cell 6, and a cathode 3 crosses the vicinity of the center of each discharge cell 6. Further, the anode terminal 8 is electrically connected to the anode bus 4 via the resistance element 9. Then, when a predetermined voltage is applied between the cathode 3 and the anode bus bar 4, a current flows through the resistance element 9 to the anode terminal 8 to generate a discharge in the discharge cell 6, and the ultraviolet rays generated by this discharge are generated. The phosphors 10 of RGB three colors are adapted to emit light. This light emission is radiated to the outside through the front plate 1 to display a full-color image. In this case, the auxiliary anode 5 has a role of supplying charged particles serving as a pilot fire of discharge to the discharge cell 6 through the priming slit 11. Reference numeral 12 is a white back layer, which is intended to make color display clear. In this type of gas discharge display panel, the current is controlled by the function of the resistance element 9, so that there is an advantage that the current efficiency is improved and further the deterioration of the brightness due to the sputtering of the cathode 3 can be prevented and the panel life can be lengthened.

[0005]

By the way, in a large-sized gas discharge display panel, the components on the front plate and the back plate are formed by a thick film printing method typified by a screen printing method. The method has a drawback that the dimensions and thicknesses of the respective constituent elements vary depending on the manufacturing precision. In particular, in the display panel with resistance as described above,
The resistance value of each display cell greatly fluctuated due to inaccuracy in the positional relationship and size of the electrodes and the size and thickness of the resistance element. The variation in the resistance value directly leads to the variation in the discharge current of each discharge cell, that is, the variation in the light emission intensity, and there is a problem in that the brightness unevenness occurs on the display screen.

In order to suppress the above-mentioned variation in resistance value, the present applicant separately applied for an electrode forming method (Japanese Patent Application No. 6-250261). However, with this method, it was very difficult to align the electrode pattern formed by the photolithography method and each component element pattern of the panel including the resistance element formed by the thick film printing method in the subsequent step. This is because the thick film printing method uses a contact pin installed on the stage of a printing machine as a guide for alignment, but the photolithography method does not have a guide corresponding to this contact pin.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to form an electrode pattern formed by a photolithography method by forming an alignment mark on a substrate on which an electrode is formed. And a method capable of accurately aligning each component of a panel formed by the printing method with a printing method.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides at least one of a gas discharge display panel in which a plurality of electrode groups are arranged on opposing plate surfaces of a front plate and a back plate. A method of forming an electrode group arranged on the plate surface of (1) a first step of forming at least one alignment mark on the substrate (2) a conductive paste in a thick film on the substrate After coating, the conductive paste is dried and baked to form a conductive film on the substrate, or a thin conductive film is formed by a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method. Second step (3) The conductivity Third, forming a layer of photosensitive resin on the film
Step (4) Positioning of a light-shielding mask having an electrode pattern arranged on the basis of the alignment mark, exposing the photosensitive resin layer through the light-shielding mask, and then patterning the photosensitive resin layer Fourth step of developing (5) Fifth step of chemically etching the conductive film by using the patterned photosensitive resin as a mask (6) Each of sixth step of peeling the patterned photosensitive resin It is characterized by including at least a step.

Alternatively, in order to achieve the same object, the present invention provides a plurality of electrode groups on at least one plate surface of a gas discharge display panel in which the front plate and the back plate are arranged on opposite plate surfaces. A method for forming a group of arranged electrodes, which comprises: (1) applying a conductive paste as a thick film on a substrate and then drying and firing the conductive paste; or a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method. First step of forming at least one alignment mark on a substrate and forming a conductive film excluding the alignment mark by the thin film forming method according to (2) Photosensitive resin on the conductive film Second to form a layer of
Step (3) Positioning of a light-shielding mask having an electrode pattern arranged on the basis of the alignment mark, exposing the photosensitive resin layer through the light-shielding mask, and then patterning the photosensitive resin layer Third step of developing (4) Fourth step of chemically etching the conductive film using the patterned photosensitive resin as a mask (5) Each of the fifth step of peeling the patterned photosensitive resin It is characterized by including at least a step.

[0010]

According to the electrode forming method of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the photosensitive resin is exposed to the electrode pattern by using the alignment mark formed on the substrate by the thick film printing method as a guide. As a result, the electrode pattern formed by the photolithography method and each component of the panel formed by the thick film printing method in the subsequent step (resistive element, white back layer, phosphor, barrier, etc.)
It becomes easy to align with.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a structural example of a gas discharge display panel having electrodes formed according to the present invention.
Is a perspective view from the front surface of the panel, and (b) is a cross-sectional view of the panel.

As shown in the figure, the gas discharge display panel of this embodiment is composed of two substrates, a front plate 1 and a rear plate 2, on which a linear cathode 3 and a back plate are arranged. An anode bus bar 4, an anode terminal 8 and an auxiliary anode 5 are arranged on the face plate 2. The anode bus bar 4 is composed of a linear anode 4a and an anode branch portion 4b extending from the linear anode 4a in the vertical and horizontal directions. The auxiliary anode 5 is located between two adjacent anode buses 4. The discharge cells 6 are defined by barriers 7, and each discharge cell 6
The anode terminal 8 is installed at the center of the. This anode terminal 8
And the anode branch portion 4b are electrically connected by a resistance element 9.

Comparing the panel of this embodiment having the above-mentioned structure with the panel described in the prior art, although the shapes of the anode bus bar 4, the anode terminal 8 and the resistance element 9 are different, the respective constituent elements are different from those in the prior art. Since the operation is the same as that of the panel and the operation is the same, the description thereof will be omitted, and the method of forming the electrode according to the present invention will be described with reference to the process chart shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, the substrate on which the electrodes are formed is the back plate 2. The back plate 2 may be a flat or curved surface and is chemically stable, and a glass substrate, a resin substrate, or the like may be used. In this embodiment, a glass substrate is used, and cleaning and annealing treatment is performed before use. did. Further, for the purpose of improving the printing quality, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), a glass substrate is coated with a glass paste as a base layer 21 by a screen printing method, dried, and then fired to form a back plate. Used as 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the back plate viewed from the front. First, the alignment mark 31 was formed on the back plate 2 at the position shown in the figure by screen printing. The alignment mark 31 may be made of any material as long as it is not etched in the subsequent conductive film etching step, such as glass paste. In this embodiment, the alignment mark 31 is formed after the base layer 21 is formed on the back plate 2, but the order of these steps may be reversed. In that case, the alignment mark 31 may not be covered with the underlying layer 21.

Next, the conductive paste is thick-film printed by the screen printing method except for the alignment marks 31 formed on the back plate 2, and after the paste is dried, the paste is fired to form the paste shown in FIG. 3B. A conductive film 22 was formed as shown in FIG. 3 (note that the underlying layer 21 is omitted in FIG. 3B and subsequent figures). Instead of the above method, the conductive paste on the alignment mark 31 may be wiped off after the conductive paste is printed. This conductive film 22 is patterned by an etching process in a later step to become the anode bus bar 4, the anode terminal 8 and the auxiliary anode 5. The material of the conductive paste is Au, Ag, Pd, A
l, Ni, Cu and other metals or their alloys, I
Any conductive oxide such as TO that can be formed into a paste for thick film printing and that can be chemically etched may be used. In this example, Au and Ag were good.

Alternatively, as the conductive film 22, a thin film formed by a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method may be used instead of the thick film as described above. In that case, the choice of materials for the conductive film 22 is greatly expanded, and conductive materials that are commercially available in the form of tablets or pellets for vapor deposition or sputtering targets can be used.
Al, Ni, Cu, etc. were good. The conductive film 22 may be formed while covering the alignment mark 31 using a metal mask so as not to cover the alignment mark 31.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, a liquid photosensitive resin 23 was applied onto the conductive film 22 and dried. As a coating method, spin coating, roll coating,
Any method may be used as long as it is a method for coating a liquid material such as blade coating, reverse coating, spraying or dipping. Further, the photosensitive resin 23 does not have to be liquid, and a film resist can be used. When a film resist is used, it may be directly attached onto the conductive film 22 using a laminator.

After that, as shown in FIG. 3D, the light shielding mask 24 on which the patterns of the anode bus bar 4, the anode terminal 8 and the auxiliary anode 5 are arranged is aligned with the alignment mark 31 as a reference. The photosensitive resin 23 was exposed through the light shielding mask 24. When the photosensitive resin 23 is a film-shaped resist, it is exposed at 70 to 90 ° C. for 5 to 5 ° C. after exposure.
The pattern resolution was better when the heat treatment was carried out for about 15 minutes to accelerate the curing of the exposed portion.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3E, pattern development of the layer of the photosensitive resin 23 is performed. Specifically, when the positive type is used as the photosensitive resin 23, the exposed part is chemically dissolved, and when the negative type is used, the unexposed part is chemically dissolved with a dedicated developer. The photosensitive resin 23 is pattern-developed. Then, after finishing the developing process, the photosensitive resin 23 is cured by heat treatment. As a result of this curing treatment, the adhesion between the conductive film 22 and the photosensitive resin 23 is increased, and it is possible to prevent the etching failure that occurs during the etching treatment in the subsequent process. This heat treatment is not always necessary depending on the photosensitive resin.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3F, the conductive film 22 is formed by using the patterned photosensitive resin 23 as a mask.
Was chemically etched to simultaneously form the anode bus bar 4, the anode terminal 8 and the auxiliary anode 5. After finishing the etching process, cleaning and drying were performed.

After etching the conductive film 22, FIG.
As shown in (g), the photosensitive resin 23 was peeled off, and the substrate was washed and dried to form the anode bus bar 4, the anode terminal 8 and the auxiliary anode 5 which were processed into a predetermined pattern.

In the above embodiment, the alignment mark 31 is first formed on the back plate 2, and then the conductive film 22 is formed on the entire surface of the back plate 2. However, the alignment mark 31 and the conductive film 22 are formed. It is also possible to do simultaneously. The process will be described below.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the back plate 2 as viewed from the front. First, as shown in FIG.
May be formed) on the alignment mark 31
At the same time, the conductive film 22 was formed on the entire surface of the back plate 2 excluding the alignment mark 31 by the screen printing method. When the alignment mark 31 and the conductive film 22 are formed of a thin film, a metal mask may be used for patterning.

Comparing this embodiment with the above embodiment,
While this embodiment has an advantage that the printing process can be omitted once, since the alignment mark 31 is formed of the same material as the conductive film 22, the alignment mark 31 is also formed by etching the conductive film 22 in a subsequent process. It has the drawback of being etched. In order to solve this problem, the alignment mark 31 may be protected by the photosensitive resin 23 that is applied and pattern-developed in a later process to prevent the alignment mark 31 from being etched. For further improvement, a patterned photosensitive resin 23 is formed on the alignment mark 31, and the alignment mark 31 is etched using the photosensitive resin 23 as a mask to accurately align the alignment mark 31. Can be finished.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
First, a circular alignment mark 31 was formed by a screen printing method, and then a photosensitive resin was patterned into a fan shape so as to divide the alignment mark 31 into four. Then, the alignment mark 31 was etched by using this photosensitive resin as a mask to form the alignment mark 31 having a shape as shown in FIG. 6B.

In this embodiment, the shape of the alignment mark 31 formed by the screen printing method is circular, but
The shape of the alignment mark does not have to be circular. For example, after a square alignment mark is formed by screen printing, the alignment mark 31 is finally formed into a shape as shown in FIG.
May be processed. Alternatively, after forming a cross-shaped alignment mark by a screen printing method, finally, as shown in FIG.
You may make it form the alignment mark 31 of the shape shown to (b). The above is only an example, and the shape of the alignment mark may be linear or polygonal, and the patterning of the photosensitive resin does not need to be divided into four.

The steps after forming the alignment mark 31 and the electrodes (in this embodiment, the anode group, that is, the anode bus bar 4, the anode terminal 8 and the auxiliary electrode 5) by the above method are the same as those in the prior art. As will be specifically described, the resistance element 9, the white back layer 12, and the phosphor 10 were formed by a screen printing method, and the barrier 7 was formed by a screen printing method or a sandblast method. When these panel components are formed, the back plate 2 is aligned with the alignment mark 31 as a reference, so that the electrodes formed by the photolithography method and the respective components formed by the printing method are aligned. Accurate alignment is possible. In particular, it is effective to install the alignment mark 31 in a printer of a type that automatically reads the alignment mark on the substrate with a camera and aligns the substrate.

Further, a cathode 3 is formed on the front plate 1 by a screen printing method, and a gas (Ne-Xe or He-Xe) is sealed together with the back plate 2 manufactured in the above process, A target gas discharge display panel was produced.

Although the embodiment described above is the type in which the resistance element 9 is formed on the anode group side of the discharge cell 6, the resistance element 9 may be installed on the cathode group side. You may replace all the anode groups with the cathode group. Alternatively, it is possible to install the resistance elements 9 on both sides of the anode group and the cathode group, or even to have no resistance element 9. Regarding the wiring pattern of the electrodes, not only the structure shown in FIG. 2 but also the one without the auxiliary anode 5, the auxiliary anode 5 arranged three-dimensionally, the anode bus bar 4,
A structure in which the position, shape and size of the anode terminal 8 and the resistance element 9 are different can be applied.

Further, instead of the anode group and the cathode group, a structure in which an electrode group related to display is formed so as to be orthogonal to the facing plate surfaces of the front plate 1 and the rear plate 2 and a structure related to display A pair of electrodes arranged in parallel is formed on either the front plate 1 or the back plate 2, and address electrodes are arranged on the substrate on which the electrodes are not installed so as to be orthogonal to these electrodes. It may have a different structure.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the gas discharge display panel having the structure shown in FIG. 2. For example, the colored light of gas discharge using Ne-based gas as the discharge gas is used as it is without utilizing the phosphor emission. It can also be applied to a panel taken out to the outside.

Further, regarding the alignment mark 31, the shape, the installation position and the number thereof may be arbitrary as long as they have the same function as in this embodiment.

[0035]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

In the prior art, in the gas discharge display panel with resistance, where high-precision electrode processing applying the photolithography method is required in order to suppress the variation in the resistance value of each discharge cell, it is necessary to use a panel other than the electrodes. The constituent elements are often formed by screen printing, and it was very difficult to align the constituent elements created by these different pattern forming methods. However, in the present invention, the constituent elements are formed on the substrate on which the electrodes are formed. By installing the alignment mark on
It is possible to accurately align the electrodes formed by the photolithography method and the panel constituent elements formed by the printing method.

Further, by printing the conductive film and the alignment mark at the same time, forming a patterned photosensitive resin on the alignment mark, and then etching the conductive film and the alignment mark. By performing the electrode formation and the finishing process of the alignment mark at the same time, one printing step can be omitted and a highly precise alignment mark can be processed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of the structure of a conventional gas discharge display panel, FIG. 1 (a) is a perspective view from the front surface of the panel, and FIG. 1 (b) is a cross-sectional view of the panel.

2A and 2B show a structural example of a gas discharge display panel having electrodes formed according to the present invention, FIG. 2A is a perspective view from the front surface of the panel, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the panel. Is.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a manufacturing process of a panel according to the electrode forming method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a panel showing an example of an installation position of an alignment mark.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a panel showing an example of a printed pattern of a conductive film and an alignment mark.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure for forming an alignment mark.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a modified example of the alignment mark.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Front Plate 2 Back Plate 3 Cathode 4 Anode Bus 5 Auxiliary Anode 6 Discharge Cell 7 Barrier 8 Anode Terminal 9 Resistance Element 10 Fluorescent Material 11 Priming Slit 12 White Back Layer 21 Underlayer 22 Conductive Film 23 Photosensitive Resin 24 Light-shielding Mask 31 Alignment mark

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method for forming an electrode group arranged on at least one plate surface of a gas discharge display panel, wherein a plurality of electrode groups are arranged on opposite plate surfaces of a front plate and a back plate. (1) First step of forming at least one alignment mark on the substrate (2) After applying the conductive paste as a thick film on the substrate, the conductive paste is dried and baked to form the substrate. Second step of forming a conductive film on the conductive film, or forming a thin conductive film by a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method (3) A third step of forming a photosensitive resin layer on the conductive film
Step (4) Positioning of a light-shielding mask having an electrode pattern arranged on the basis of the alignment mark, exposing the photosensitive resin layer through the light-shielding mask, and then patterning the photosensitive resin layer Fourth step of developing (5) Fifth step of chemically etching the conductive film using the patterned photosensitive resin as a mask (6) Sixth step of peeling the patterned photosensitive resin A method for forming an electrode in a gas discharge display panel, which comprises at least a step. 2. A method of forming an electrode group arranged on at least one plate surface of a gas discharge display panel, wherein a plurality of electrode groups are arranged on opposite plate surfaces of a front plate and a back plate. (1) At least one conductive paste is applied on the substrate by applying a thick film of the conductive paste and then drying and baking the conductive paste, or by a thin film forming method such as vapor deposition or sputtering. Forming the alignment mark and forming a conductive film excluding the alignment mark (2) Forming a photosensitive resin layer on the conductive film
Step (3) Positioning of a light-shielding mask having an electrode pattern arranged on the basis of the alignment mark, exposing the photosensitive resin layer through the light-shielding mask, and then patterning the photosensitive resin layer Third step of developing (4) Fourth step of chemically etching the conductive film using the patterned photosensitive resin as a mask (5) Fifth step of peeling the patterned photosensitive resin A method for forming an electrode in a gas discharge display panel, which comprises at least a step.