KR100258799B1 - Method of fabricating spacer of fed - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method of making spacer is provided to pattern desired height and shape through once exposure and etch process and to perform an exhaust process effectively. CONSTITUTION: A lattice pattern of a mask is projected on an entire surface of a photosensitive glass(52) so that a portion except for a partition wall(54) can be etched. The portion except for the partition wall(54) is etched by an etch process using the exposed photosensitive glass by 50 percentages. At this time, a photoresist is coated on a cross portion of the exposed partition wall. After removing the photoresist, the portion except for the partition wall(54) and the cross portion are etched through an etch process by 50 percentages. A glass ball is put on a half-etched cross portion so that one end of the glass ball is protruded higher than an uppermost end of the partition wall(54). A spacer is aligned between a lower substrate and an upper substrate.

Description

Spacer manufacturing method of field effect electron emission display device

The present invention relates to a field effect display device (Field Emission Display), and more particularly, to form a spacer for separating the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate with a photosensitive glass, provided with a glass ball on the photosensitive glass for a smooth exhaust process It relates to a method of manufacturing a field effect electron emission display device.

Field Emission Display (hereinafter, abbreviated as FED) is a type of flat panel display that displays a desired pattern, letter, or symbol as electrons emitted from the cathode collide with phosphors and emit light. As a result, a color pattern with high resolution and high brightness can be realized.

The FED forms a microtip-shaped cathode that emits electrons for electric field concentration, and forms an anode coated with a gate and a phosphor for electric field induction to induce electron emission from a plurality of microtips. By impinging on the phosphor, the phosphor is stimulated to generate an image using light generated in the process of exciting and transitioning the outermost electrons of the phosphor.

This general FED configuration is shown in FIG.

On the lower substrate 10, the cathode electrode 12 of the column electrode separated by the insulating layer 18 and the gate electrode 16 of the row electrode cross each other in a checkerboard shape, and are formed on the lower substrate 10. The microtip-shaped emitter 14 is formed integrally with the cathode electrode 12 between each of the electrodes 18, and the upper gate electrode 16 is formed with the gate hole 20 open.

On the other hand, the anode 42 and the fluorescent film 44 of the transparent conductive film (ITO film) is formed on the bottom of the upper substrate 40, the upper substrate 40 and the lower substrate 10 is a plurality of spacers (30). The microtip shapes of the emitter 14 are formed to face each other so as to face the phosphor 44 through the medium, so that electrons are emitted from the tip of the emitter 14 even when only a low voltage is applied to the micro area.

In addition, the outermost part of the FED panel is vacuum packaged with a sealant (not shown in the figure).

In the FED having such a structure, when an appropriate amount of voltage is applied to the cathode electrode 12 and the gate electrode 16, a strong electric field is formed at the sharp microtip of the emitter 14, and electrons are emitted by the quantum mechanical tunnel effect. do. When the emitted electrons are attracted to the anode electrode 42 to which a voltage of several hundred volts is applied and collide with the phosphor 44, the outermost electrons of the phosphor are excited and emit light in the transition process.

On the other hand, the conventional FED manufacturing method is as follows. The get hole 20 and the cavity 24 are formed in a structure in which the cathode electrode 12, the insulating layer 18, and the gate electrode 16 are deposited on the lower substrate 10 using a conventional semiconductor process. By rotating the substrate 10, molybdenum (Mo) vapor is deposited using an electron beam deposition apparatus having a predetermined projection angle to form a microtip emitter 14 inside the cavity 24.

On the other hand, after forming an anode electrode 42 formed of an ITO transparent conductive film on a separate upper substrate 40 and applying a phosphor 44 thereon, the upper substrate 40 and the lower substrate 10 are mutually A plurality of spacers 30 are formed on the upper surface of the gate electrode 16 of the lower substrate 10 so as to face each other at regular intervals, and then the upper substrate 40 is bonded to the FED panel. On the other hand, the edge of the FED panel is sealed with a sealant (not shown in the drawing) and then evacuated so that a vacuum can be formed therein, thereby providing high vacuum packaging.

However, in the above-described conventional FED panel manufacturing process, the spacer 30 is typically formed by applying a polymer by spin coating or printing and then etching through a semiconductor process to sufficiently form the height of the spacer 30. Since the polymer layer must be repeatedly formed several times, the spacer forming process is cumbersome. Due to the cumbersome process, the uniformity of the spacer height is lowered.

In addition, in order to form a good degree of vacuum of the FED panel, a high vacuum packaging process must be performed at a high temperature. However, since the material is weak in temperature due to the material properties of the polymer, there is a limitation in that the vacuum packaging process must be performed in a temperature range where the polymer is not damaged. There is a problem that can not form a sufficient degree of vacuum.

In addition, the polymer spacer 30 does not sufficiently endure the stress due to the pressure difference due to the high vacuum, thereby causing deformation.

Accordingly, in order to overcome the problems and disadvantages of the polymer spacers, a spacer using glass podwer, glass bar, glass ball, etc. as a material of the spacer 30 is also conventionally manufactured. A method is proposed.

Meanwhile, Korean Patent No. 95-4305 filed by the present applicant discloses a spacer manufacturing method using photosensitive glass as a material of the spacer.

As the photosensitive glass used as the spacer material in the above-disclosed invention, for example, soda lime glass of a material such as an encapsulant may be used. It can be patterned, and has the same thermal expansion characteristics as the sealant, there is an advantage that can be carried out without a high temperature process for forming a high vacuum.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the method of manufacturing the spacer using the photosensitive glass having the above-described advantage, the photosensitive glass 52 is formed by forming a lattice pattern divided by pixel through an exposure process to form a lattice through an etching process. Remove all parts except Meanwhile, in order that the pixel and the neighboring pixel are not closed by the diaphragm 54, the crossover portion of the diaphragm 54 or one end of the diaphragm 54 is partially removed through an exposure and etching process so that the exhaust process proceeds smoothly. Form.

The spacer 30 thus prepared is aligned between the upper substrate 40 and the lower substrate 10 and vacuum-packed.

Meanwhile, the present invention is a further improvement of a spacer using a photosensitive glass filed by the present applicant, and a method of manufacturing a spacer which can bring about a smooth exhaust process and a simplified manufacturing process by applying a photosensitive glass patterning method and a separate glass ball. The purpose is to provide.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a spacer of a field effect electron emission display device, the method comprising: exposing and heat treating a photosensitive glass in a lattice shape on a pixel basis; Etching 50% of the portion excluding the lattice-like diaphragm; Etching 50% of the portion other than the diaphragm and the portion where the diaphragm crosses; And placing a glass ball on the intersected portion of the 50% etched diaphragm.

The above objects and various advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the preferred embodiments of the invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings by those skilled in the art.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a typical FED,

2 is a plan view showing the structure of a spacer of a pre- filed;

3a to 3c is a manufacturing process diagram of the upper substrate and the lower substrate according to the present invention,

4a to 4g is a spacer manufacturing process according to the present invention,

5 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of a spacer according to the present invention;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the spacer according to the present invention.

〈Explanation of the Signs of Major Parts of Drawings〉

10; Lower substrate 12; Cathode electrode

14; Emitter 16; Gate electrode

18; Insulating layer 20; Gate hole

22; Cavity 30; Spacer

40; Upper substrate 42; Anode electrode

44; Phosphor

52; Photo sensitive glass

54; Diaphragm 56; Glass ball

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a spacer of a field effect electron emission display device according to the present invention will be described in detail with the accompanying drawings.

First, the process preceding the spacer manufacturing process of the field effect electron emission display device according to the present invention will be briefly described as follows.

3A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of manufacturing a lower substrate, in which a cathode electrode 12 is deposited on the lower substrate 10 and patterned in a column direction, and SiO ₂ or the like is formed on the cathode electrode 12. The same insulating layer (not shown) is formed by chemical vapor deposition, and the gate electrode 16 is deposited on the insulating layer to pattern the gate electrode 16 in a direction orthogonal to the cathode electrode 12 to form a cathode. The electrode 12 and the gate electrode 16 are separated by an insulating layer and arranged in a checkerboard shape.

3B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of forming a hole, a cavity, and an emitter, in which a plurality of gate holes 20 are formed at one end of the gate electrode 16, and the insulation exposed by the gate holes 20 is shown. Layer 18 is removed to form cavity 22. Subsequently, a predetermined projection angle is rotated while rotating the structure in which the cathode electrode 12, the insulating layer 18, the gate electrode 16, the gate hole 20, and the cavity 22 are formed on the lower substrate 10 by the preceding process. A metal layer is formed by an electron beam evaporation apparatus having a to form an emitter 14 having a sharp tip inside the cavity 22.

FIG. 3C is a cross sectional view showing a process for forming an upper substrate. An anode electrode 42 formed of an ITO transparent conductive film is formed on an upper substrate 40, and a phosphor 44 is formed thereon.

On the other hand, Figure 4 is a view showing a spacer manufacturing process according to the present invention, referring to Figure 4a, the photosensitive glass 52 is a material that can easily pattern the desired shape through the exposure and etching process is desired The height can be formed highly reproducible in one patterning process, can withstand high temperature processes, and can sufficiently withstand the stress caused by the pressure difference inside the FED panel to maintain high vacuum. It is advantageous to use a photosensitive glass having properties similar to the thermal expansion characteristics of the encapsulant in consideration of thermal deformation during the vacuum packaging process proceeded to a high temperature process, soda lime glass (sodalime glass) and the like.

FIG. 4B is a process plan view illustrating an exposure process according to the present invention, and transfers a pattern of a mask through an exposure process on the entire photosensitive glass 52 using a mask having a lattice pattern in units of pixels. In this way, the portions other than the diaphragm 54 may be etched, and at the same time, one end of the portion intersecting the diaphragm 54 may be etched crosswise.

FIG. 4C is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B 'of FIG. 4B, which etches the exposed photosensitive glass to about 50% of the remaining portion except the diaphragm 54 by etching. At this time, the crossed cross-shaped portions of the exposed diaphragm 54 are etched in a state where a photoresist (not shown) is applied so as not to be etched.

FIG. 4D is a cross-sectional view taken along the line C-C 'of FIG. 4B, and after the photoresist is removed, the portion of the non-diaphragm 54 and the cross-shaped cross portion where the diaphragm 54 crosses are etched by etching again. Therefore, the portion other than the diaphragm 54 is completely removed through two etching processes, and the cross-shaped portion in which the diaphragm 54 crosses is kept about half etched, and the diaphragm 54 Only the part which does not cross | intersect becomes the state which maintained the state of the first diaphragm 54. FIG.

Referring to FIG. 4E, the glass ball 56 is placed on the cross-shaped portion where the diaphragm 54 etched about halfway so that one end of the glass ball 56 protrudes slightly higher than the top of the diaphragm 54. Then, the spacer 30 is completed to allow the exhaust process to proceed smoothly.

Referring to FIG. 4F, the spacer 30 is aligned between the lower substrate 10 and the upper substrate 40 prepared by the preceding process, and then bonded to complete the FED panel.

The bonding process is performed under a vacuum, and for this purpose, an exhaust process of the FED panel is performed. In this case, a predetermined space is spaced between the uppermost end of the spacer 30 and the upper substrate 40 by the glass ball 56. It can be vented with the pixel so that the exhaust process proceeds without being disturbed by the diaphragm 54.

Meanwhile, another embodiment of the spacer according to the present invention will be described.

Referring to FIG. 5, an embodiment in which an intersecting portion of the diaphragm on the upper and lower surfaces of the spacer is patterned to interpose a glass ball may be found to be advantageous in forming a high vacuum since the ventilation is performed through the upper portion and the lower portion of the spacer during the exhaust process.

Referring to FIG. 6, it can be seen that the glass ball is interposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the spacer, but the exhaust process can be performed more effectively by reducing the number of glass balls used through the glass balls so as to cross each other.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of a preferred embodiment of the present invention and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may make modifications and changes to the present invention without changing the subject matter of the present invention.

Therefore, the spacer using the photosensitive glass according to the present invention can easily pattern the desired height and shape in one step through the exposure and etching process, can withstand the high temperature process to form a high vacuum, glass There is an advantage that the air permeability is maintained by the ball so that the exhaust process can be carried out effectively.

Claims (9)

In the spacer manufacturing method of the field effect electron emission display device, Exposing the photosensitive glass to a pixel-like lattice; Etching 50% of the portion excluding the lattice-like diaphragm; Etching 50% of the portion other than the diaphragm and the portion where the diaphragm crosses; The method of manufacturing a spacer of a field effect electron emission display device comprising placing a glass ball on an intersection of the 50% etched diaphragm. The method of claim 1, The photosensitive glass is patterned through a single exposure process, the method of manufacturing a spacer of a field effect electron emission display device. The method of claim 1, The photosensitive glass is soda-lime glass (sodalime glass) characterized in that the manufacturing method of the spacer of the field effect electron emission display device. The method of claim 2, The exposure process is a method for manufacturing a spacer of a field effect electron emission display device, by using a mask having a lattice pattern in the pixel unit to enable etching of portions other than the diaphragm and cross-shaped portions intersecting the diaphragm. The method of claim 1, The etching process is a method for manufacturing a spacer of a field effect electron emission display device, characterized in that about half of the etching in the state in which the photoresist is applied to the cross-shaped cross portion of the diaphragm. The method of claim 1, The etching process, which is performed again, removes the photoresist and then etches half of the non-diaphragm portion and the cross-shaped cross portion where the diaphragm crosses, wherein the spacer of the field effect electron emission display device is etched. The method of claim 1, One end of the glass ball protrudes slightly higher than the top end of the diaphragm, the method of manufacturing a spacer of the field effect electron emission display device. The method of claim 1, The glass ball is interposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the spacer is formed so that the exhaust gas is advantageous, the spacer manufacturing method of the field effect electron emission display device. The method of claim 1, The glass ball is interposed between the upper and lower surfaces of the spacer, alternately interposed with each other to reduce the number of glass balls, the exhaust gas is formed to be more advantageous, the spacer manufacturing method of the field effect electron emission display device.

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