JPS5913132B2 - Display panel electrode formation method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for forming electrodes for display panels such as gas discharge chambers, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a method for forming electrodes for display panels such as gas discharge chambers. The present invention relates to an improvement in a method for forming electrodes of a display panel having a display panel.

For example, linear conductive layers, which are to become discharge electrodes, are arranged at regular intervals on glass substrates, and the surfaces of the conductive layers are coated with a dielectric layer. are orthogonal to each other and face each other through a thin discharge space filled with easily dischargeable gas, and selectively apply a voltage to the linear electrodes. By using the discharge luminescence generated at these intersection points, the desired emission can be achieved. Gas discharge panels designed to display the image of a person are well known.

In such a panel, it is natural that low cost and high resolution are required, but in order to obtain high resolution, the conductor layer pattern must be made fine and precisely patterned. Further, since a discharge current flows through the conductive layer, the conductive layer must be made of a low resistivity metal in order to avoid an unreasonable voltage drop. Therefore, Cu is used as an inexpensive low resistivity metal, but Cu has poor adhesion to the glass substrate. Therefore, when using Cu as an electrode material, first chromium Cr is vapor-deposited as a base layer on the surface of the glass substrate, and then Cu is vapor-deposited on the surface of the Cr layer to form a two-layer conductor film. The discharge electrodes are patterned by photolithography, and a dielectric layer is formed by depositing a dielectric substance on the surfaces of these electrodes. When patterning the conductor film to form a discharge electrode in this way,
The discharge electrode is formed by first etching the upper Cu layer of the conductor film into a predetermined pattern using an etching solution, and then using the Cu layer as a mask to etch and remove the lower 5Cr layer. For etching the layer, an oxidizing etching solution such as Hybrite (trade name) is used. This Hybrite is a mixed liquid containing sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide, and since it contains approximately 203,096 hydrogen peroxide, it has extremely strong oxidizing power. Therefore, if such an oxidizing etching solution remains on the surface of the Cu layer exposed by etching, oxidation of the exposed surface of the Cu layer will progress and cause various problems, so cleaning treatments such as ultrasonic cleaning should not be carried out. As a result, the exposed surface of the Cu layer is unavoidably oxidized due to residual liquid, resulting in deterioration of the pattern accuracy of the discharge electrode, local increase in electrode resistance, and further oxidation of the Cu layer on the discharge electrode. This causes deterioration of the adhesion between the Cu layer and the dielectric layer covering the Cu layer, and after the panel is assembled, the discharge characteristics become uneven due to the oxidation of the Cu layer, resulting in a decrease in manufacturing yield. The present invention was made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to facilitate the oxidation of the exposed surface of the Cu layer when forming an electrode of a predetermined pattern made of a Cu layer on a substrate via a base layer. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for forming electrodes of a display panel that can prevent the formation of a conductive film made of Cu on a substrate through an underlayer.
The conductor film is etched into a predetermined pattern using an oxidizing etching solution, and then immersed in a solution containing sodium bisulfite, which acts as a reducing agent, to inactivate the etching solution remaining on the exposed surface of the Cu. This is where I inserted the process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A case in which an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a gas discharge panel will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 5 are process diagrams for explaining one example of the method for forming discharge electrodes of a gas discharge panel according to the present invention, and in each figure, A is an enlarged sectional view of the main part, and B The figure is a cross-sectional view of the discharge electrode part Y-Y" in figure A. First, as shown in Figure 1, a Cr layer 2 serving as a base layer is formed on the surface of a glass substrate 1, and a Cu layer is further formed on the surface of the Cr layer 2. 3 is prepared by a thin film method such as vapor deposition, and then a resist layer 4 of a predetermined pattern is formed on the surface of the Cu layer 3 as shown in FIG. 2. Thereafter, a resist layer 4 is formed as shown in FIG. 4 as a mask, unnecessary portions of the Cu layer 3 are removed by etching.As mentioned above, an oxidizing etching solution such as Hybright (trade name) is used as the etching solution when etching the Cu layer 3. This high bright has an extremely strong oxidizing power because it contains about 20% hydrogen peroxide.Therefore, the Cu layer 3 exposed by etching
If the etching solution remains on the exposed surface of the Cu layer 3, oxidation of the exposed surface of the Cu layer will progress, so a cleaning treatment such as ultrasonic cleaning is performed after etching the Cu layer 3. However, even such a cleaning process is not complete, and the etching solution may remain without being washed away, and the exposed surface of the Cu layer 3 will be oxidized by this remaining solution. Therefore, in the present invention, in order to prevent the exposed surface of the Cu layer 3 from oxidizing, it is then immersed in a rinsing solution for about 10 seconds, for example. This rinsing treatment liquid is, for example, Hybrite 500CC and pure water 500C.
C and sodium bisulfite (NaHSOl) 350
The sodium hydrogen sulfite acts as a strong reducing agent for the hydrogen peroxide in the residual liquid, inactivating the residual liquid, and as a result, the oxidation progresses on the exposed surface of the Cu layer 3. can be prevented.

Furthermore, since this rinsing liquid has an extremely weak etching effect on Cu, it has the effect of smoothing the exposed surface of the Cu layer 3, and also has the effect of improving the coverage of the dielectric layer to be covered later. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4, the Cr layer 2 is etched away using the Cu layer 3 as a mask, thereby forming a Cr base layer on the glass substrate 1.
A linear discharge electrode 5 with a two-layer structure consisting of a layer 2 and a Cu layer 3
is formed. After removing the resist layer 4, the fifth
As shown in the figure, the surface of the discharge electrode 5 is coated with, for example, alumina (
A dielectric layer 6 is formed by evaporating AlOl). Further, although not shown in the drawings, MgO is vapor-deposited on the surface of the dielectric layer 6 to form a surface layer, which is the same as in the prior art. Two glass substrates having such a configuration are arranged facing each other so that a discharge space surrounded by a sealing material such as low melting point glass is formed between them, and the linear discharge electrodes are orthogonal to each other.
After completing processes such as firing and sealing, evacuation, and charging gas for discharge, a completed gas discharge panel is created. By selectively applying a voltage to the discharge electrodes of the bar constructed in this manner, a predetermined image is displayed using the discharge light generated at these intersections. In the above-described embodiments, the present invention was applied to the formation of discharge electrodes of gas discharge panels. However, the present invention is not limited to the formation of electrodes of gas discharge panels. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to the formation of electrodes of other display panels having electrodes of a predetermined pattern made of the formed Cu layer.

As is clear from the above description, the present invention easily prevents oxidation of the exposed surface of the Cu layer when forming an electrode of a predetermined pattern made of a Cu layer on a substrate with an underlying layer interposed therebetween; The exposed surface of the Cu layer can be smoothed, preventing deterioration of electrode pattern accuracy, local increase in electrode resistance, and deterioration of adhesion of thin film components to the electrode surface. This is extremely effective in improving the manufacturing yield and reliability of display panels by eliminating problems caused by the oxidation of oxidation.

[Brief Description of the Drawings] Figures 1 to 5 are process diagrams for explaining the manufacturing process when the present invention is applied to electrode formation of a gas discharge panel, and A in each figure is an enlarged view of the main part. This is a cross-sectional view, and Figure B is a cross-sectional view of the discharge electrode section Y-Y'' in Figure A. 1...Glass substrate, 2...Cr layer (base layer), 3 ...Cu layer, 4...Resist layer, 5...Discharge electrode, 6...Dielectric layer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. After forming a conductor film made of copper Cu on a substrate via a base layer, the conductor film of Cu is etched into a predetermined pattern using an oxidizing etching solution, and then sodium hydrogen sulfite, which acts as a reducing agent, is etched. by immersing it in a solution containing C.
1. A method for forming an electrode for a display panel, characterized in that a step is inserted to inactivate the etching solution remaining on the exposed surface of the substrate.