KR100767355B1 - Aluminium etching method for lcd preparation and device the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wet etching method and apparatus for manufacturing aluminum for LCD, and particularly, to a wet etching method for aluminum for LCD manufacturing, which simultaneously performs a pretreatment process and an etching process without changing the characteristics of mixed acid itself in the wet etching method. To the device.

In the present invention, by oxidizing the aluminum surface through the excimer ultraviolet light, the wettability of the aluminum and the mixed acid is improved without changing the properties of the mixed acid itself, and the pretreatment process of the aluminum is performed. By connecting and inlined with an etching apparatus, the aluminum pretreatment process and the etching process can be processed simultaneously in one facility.

Aluminum, LCD, Wet Etching Method, Excimer Ultraviolet, Pretreatment, Mixed Acid, Oxidation

Description

A wet etching method of aluminum for manufacturing a liquid crystal display and a device therefor {ALUMINIUM ETCHING METHOD FOR LCD PREPARATION AND DEVICE THE SAME}

Figure 1 shows a wet etching apparatus of aluminum for manufacturing LCD according to the present invention,

Figure 2 shows the Al etching defect generation form of the present invention,

3 is a view illustrating a change in contact angle according to excimer ultraviolet (EUV) irradiation time in comparison with conventional plasma ashing,

Figure 4 shows the comparative analysis of the Al surface state with or without the excimer ultraviolet (EUV) irradiation of the present invention by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

[Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawing]

10: excimer ultraviolet (EUV) part 20: Al etching part

30: deionized water (DI) washing unit 40: drying unit

The present invention relates to a wet etching method and apparatus for manufacturing aluminum for LCD, in particular, a wet etching method for aluminum for LCD manufacturing which simultaneously performs the pre-processing and etching process of aluminum without changing the characteristics of mixed acid itself in the wet etching method. And its device.

Aluminum (or Al alloy, hereinafter referred to as 'Al') is an electrode material that is widely used in LCD manufacturing, and an Al etching process must be performed to form a desired electrode pattern using Al. This is largely classified into wet etching process and dry etching process.

Among these, the wet etching process of Al is carried out by mixed acid, and the components and contents of the mixed acid are generally 63.71 ± 0.17% phosphoric acid, 8.31 ± 0.17% nitric acid, and 10.13 ± 0.22% acetic acid, and the rest is DI water. )

However, when Al is etched with the above composition, wettability between mixed acid and Al to be etched is not good and local Al residue is generated. In order to solve the Al residual problem, it is possible to eliminate the Al residue by the etching time is sufficient, in this case, since Al can be etched to the portion that does not want to be etched Al electrode pattern to improve the wettability, but does not occur Al residue There is a need for other ways of improving the process.

As such a method, conventionally, the Al surface is oxidized through the addition of plasma ashing as a pretreatment process before Al etching to improve wettability. That is, plasma ashing has been applied as a pretreatment process that suppresses the occurrence of Al etching defects during Al etching in a wet etching technique. The plasma ashing (plasma ashing) is O ₂ plasma using a vacuum (2000 ~ 4000 mtorr) AC power source (1000 ~ 4000 W) is applied, and O ₂ gas (1000 ~ 3000 SCCM) to between the two electrodes in a state with an active gas ( chamber volume: 180ℓ), which has the effect of removing organic matter and surface modification.

However, the plasma ashing process is a separate and independent process, which lowers productivity and weakens product competitiveness, such as equipment costs, process time loss, transportation burden, and clean room space requirements of up to about 2 billion won. It has acted as a factor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a wet etching method of aluminum for LCD manufacturing which simplifies the pretreatment method without changing the characteristic of mixed acid itself during aluminum etching using excimer ultraviolet rays in LCD manufacturing equipment in view of the problems in the prior art. For the purpose of

Another object of the present invention to provide an aluminum wet etching apparatus.

The present invention to achieve the above object,

In the etching method of aluminum for LCD manufacturing,

a) pre-treating aluminum by oxidizing the surface by irradiating excimer ultraviolet light to aluminum or an aluminum alloy deposited on a glass substrate introduced through an inlet of an aluminum wet etching apparatus;                     

b) etching the pretreated aluminum by mixed acid; And

c) providing a wet etching method of aluminum for manufacturing an LCD comprising the step of washing with deionized water and drying.

In addition, the present invention is an aluminum wet etching apparatus for manufacturing LCD,

An excimer ultraviolet unit for irradiating excimer ultraviolet rays to aluminum or an aluminum alloy deposited on a glass substrate from a front end of an inlet of an equipment for performing Al wet etching;

An aluminum etching portion containing mixed acid for etching aluminum,

Deionized water washing unit for washing the etched aluminum with deionized water, And

The drying unit for drying the cleaned aluminum is in-lined to provide an aluminum wet etching apparatus for LCD manufacturing.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, this invention is demonstrated in detail.

In the conventional semiconductor and LCD manufacturing equipment, there have been many cases where a wet etching method using plasma ashing is used as a pretreatment process before aluminum etching, or UV or EUV (Excimer UV) is used as a dry etching method. That is, the purpose of the O ₂ plasma ashing process is a pretreatment process for preventing local Al etching defects caused by poor wettability between Al etchant and Al. The Al surface was oxidized to improve wettability and to prevent Al etch failure. However, since the plasma ashing process has a cost burden of adding a separate process, there is a need for a method capable of replacing the same, and in the case of applying excimer ultraviolet (EUV) to wet etching equipment as in the present invention. Was not yet.

Therefore, the present invention was intended to examine whether it is possible to replace the plasma ashing process using the characteristics of excimer ultraviolet (EUV), and as a result, when the excimer ultraviolet light is applied to the wet etching method, the equipment price and equipment size, and the conventional plasma ashing equipment, and It has been found that plasma excimer UV is very advantageous in terms of ease of in-line formation with an etching apparatus, and thus, the present invention has been completed. This approach greatly improves productivity and allows for initial investment savings.

That is, in the semiconductor and LCD manufacturing apparatus, before the aluminum is etched by the aluminum etching method, the excimer UV is irradiated to oxidize and pretreat the aluminum surface, and the excimer UV (EUV) device is Al-etched (Etch). By inlining and installing them in line together in front of the equipment, the aluminum pretreatment process can be performed without changing the characteristics of the mixed acid itself.Inlined etching equipment can be used to process the aluminum pretreatment process and the etching process in one facility. The present invention provides a wet etching method and apparatus for aluminum for manufacturing LCD, which can be processed simultaneously.

To this end, the present invention simultaneously performs a pretreatment process and an etching process of aluminum by the following process.

Firstly, in the first process of manufacturing Al wet etching process during LCD manufacturing, the excimer ultraviolet light before etching the aluminum or aluminum alloy deposited on the glass substrate injected through the inlet of the wet etching apparatus. By irradiating light for a predetermined time to oxidize the aluminum surface, a pretreatment process is performed so that the aluminum etching can be efficiently performed. The excimer ultraviolet ray has a central wavelength of 172 nm and its irradiation time is irradiated with 10 to 50 seconds to oxidize the Al surface to be etched.

When the surface of the Al to be etched is oxidized by irradiating the excimer ultraviolet ray before Al etching through the excimer ultraviolet light device, the oxidized Al surface has improved wettability with the mixed acid for etching so that Al residue does not occur.

Next, wet etching is performed to etch the pretreated aluminum by mixing acid.

The constituents and the content of the mixed acid are 50 to 70% by weight of phosphoric acid, 3 to 12% by weight of nitric acid, and 5 to 20% by weight of acetic acid, and the rest is made up of DI water.

After the above process, by performing the step of washing and drying the etched aluminum with deionized water, thereby completing the etching of aluminum during LCD manufacturing.

In this case, the aluminum etching apparatus used in manufacturing the LCD according to the present invention is not formed separately from the plasma ashing equipment before the aluminum etching apparatus as in the prior art, as shown in FIG. It has the feature of being installed in-line.

Referring to FIG. 1, the aluminum etching apparatus of the present invention includes an excimer UV unit 10 for irradiating aluminum or aluminum alloy deposited on a glass substrate with excimer ultraviolet rays, and etching aluminum at a rear end thereof. The aluminum etching unit 20 containing mixed acid, the deionized water washing unit 30 for washing the etched aluminum with deionized water, and the drying unit 40 for drying the washed aluminum are inlined (In−). line) and connected.

By using the aluminum etching method and apparatus of the present invention as described above, as an alternative process that can greatly simplify the conventional plasma ashing process, the surface modification effect is sufficient to replace O ₂ plasma ashing when EUV is irradiated for a predetermined time. In detail, when irradiated for less than 25 seconds, there is an effect of reducing Al etching defects, and when irradiated for more than 30 seconds, there is an effect for preventing Al etching defects.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on the following examples, but the present invention is not limited by the examples.

EXAMPLES 1-4

In this embodiment, as a pre-treatment process before Al etching, excimer UV was irradiated in place of the conventional plasma ashing. The irradiation time is as shown in Table 1 below, Al etching was performed after excimer UV irradiation, and auto etching (Al) was performed to confirm whether or not Al etching (etching) was defective. (Table 1 and FIG. 2)

[Comparative Example]

Aluminum etching was performed in the same manner as in Examples 1 to 4, but the number of Al etching defects was confirmed by performing plasma ashing as a pretreatment process, and the results are shown in Table 1 below.

division Glass No. EUV irradiation time (seconds) ACI CD (μm) Number of Al etching defects () Comparative example # One 0 4.127 55 Example 1 # 2-# 5 20 4.108 13 Example 2 # 6-# 10 25 4.124 5 Example 3 # 11-# 15 30 4.201 0 Example 4 # 16-# 20 35 4.120 0

[Examples 5 to 7 and Comparative Example 2]

Aluminum etching was performed in the same manner as in Examples 1 to 4, but Example 5 was subjected to EUV irradiation as shown in Table 2, and Comparative Example 2 was subjected to plasma ashing as shown in Table 2 as a pretreatment process.

In addition, a change in contact angle according to excimer UV irradiation time on the Al surface of Example 5 was compared with that of plasma ashing of Comparative Example 2 (Table 2, FIG. 3).

division Processing time (seconds) Contact angle (degree) EUV Plasma ashing Comparative Example 2 0 76.19 78.20 Example 5 15 17.11 9.87 Example 6 30 5.09 4.21 Example 7 45 3.99 4.02

As can be seen from the above results, according to the present invention, the EUV irradiation removes organic contaminants on the Al surface caused by photo process and environmental pollution, and improves wettability through Al surface oxidation. Etching failure can be prevented. This was verified by splitting the sample according to the presence or absence of EUV irradiation and analyzing the surface of the sample by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) (FIG. 4). In brief description of the measuring principle of the XPS, when X-rays (photons) having a constant energy are applied to a sample, photoelectrons are emitted from the sample. When the kinetic energy of the photoelectrons is measured, the energy required to emit the photoelectrons from the sample is measured. The binding energy can be known. Since the binding energy is inherent to the atoms emitting the photoelectrons, the binding energy can be analyzed. Therefore, qualitative analysis of the sample is made by measuring the binding energy of the photoelectrons.

As described above, the present invention uses an inlined aluminum etching device equipped with an excimer ultraviolet light device to oxidize the aluminum surface before etching aluminum, thereby improving wettability with mixed acid and using conventional plasma ashing equipment. Compared to this, the system can be configured with much lower cost and space saving, and the process processing is completed in one facility, which can greatly reduce the process progress time and cost.

Claims (4)

In the etching method of aluminum for LCD manufacturing, a) pre-treating aluminum by oxidizing the surface by irradiating excimer ultraviolet light to aluminum or an aluminum alloy deposited on a glass substrate introduced through an inlet of an aluminum wet etching apparatus; b) etching the pretreated aluminum by mixed acid; And c) a method of wet etching aluminum for manufacturing an LCD comprising the step of washing with deionized water and drying. The method of claim 1, wherein the excimer ultraviolet irradiation of step a) is carried out for 10 to 50 seconds wet etching method of aluminum for manufacturing LCD. The LCD of claim 1, wherein the mixed acid of step b) is 50 to 70% by weight of phosphoric acid, 3 to 12% by weight of nitric acid, and 5 to 20% by weight of acetic acid, and the rest is made of DI water. Wet etching method for manufacturing aluminum. In the aluminum wet etching apparatus for manufacturing LCD, An excimer ultraviolet unit for irradiating excimer ultraviolet rays to aluminum or an aluminum alloy deposited on a glass substrate from a front end of an inlet of the equipment for performing Al wet etching; An aluminum etching portion containing mixed acid for etching aluminum; Deionized water cleaning unit for cleaning the etched aluminum with deionized water; And Drying unit for drying the washed aluminum Aluminum wet etching apparatus for manufacturing an LCD, characterized in that the in-line (In-line) connection is installed.

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