KR100824960B1 - Apparatus and method for revising color filter - Google Patents

Abstract

A color filter correcting apparatus and method are provided to cut down the production cost and to reduce the size by removing defects with simple equipments such as an optical unit, a beam generating unit, and a thin film forming unit. A color filter correcting apparatus for correcting a defective part formed on a flat substrate(40) is composed of a laser oscillator for emitting a laser beam; a laser beam generating unit(20) for deforming the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator, according to the size of the defective part formed on the substrate; an optical unit for irradiating the laser beam on the substrate and controlling an optical path; and a thin film forming unit(30) containing materials for forming a thin film on a part of the substrate where the defective part is removed.

Description

Apparatus and method for revising color filter}

1 is a view showing a color filter correction device according to the prior art

2 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of modifying a color filter according to the related art.

3 is a view showing a color filter correction device according to the present invention

4 is a view showing the shape of the beam before and after passing through the beam forming means according to the present invention;

5 is a view showing that the beam passing through the thin film forming means according to the invention is irradiated to the substrate

6 is a view showing injecting a metal source into the thin film forming means according to the present invention;

7 is a view showing a process of removing and correcting a defect in accordance with the present invention

8 is a view showing the removal and correction according to the various types of failures in accordance with the present invention

<Description of names of main parts in drawing>

10 laser oscillator 20 beam forming means

21: beam shaper 22: beam slit

30 thin film forming means 40 substrate

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color filter correction apparatus and method for removing defective portions of a color filter substrate used for a display, and more particularly, to a color filter correction apparatus and method capable of removing and correcting defects formed on a substrate at one time.

Recently, a flat panel display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a PDP has been widely used as a display device.

The defects occurring in the color filter used in such a flat panel display apparatus generally include color missing defects, black defects, and projection defects. The color missing defect is a defect in which a predetermined color is not expressed in a certain pixel. Black defect is a defect which produces the black part which light does not permeate | transmit to a pixel. The causes of black defects include a black matrix sticking out of the pixel portion, a color of a certain pixel sticking out of the adjacent pixel, and a mixed color of the colors mixed with each other, or adhesion of foreign matter to the pixel. Probability defects refer to defects caused by projections due to adhesion of foreign matter or ink bubbles.

As a device for correcting color missing defects, a method of applying a correction liquid with a needle is used. As a device for correcting black defects, a method of cutting black defects with a laser to change the color missing defects and applying a correction liquid is used. As for the defective projection, a method of grinding and removing the projections with a polishing tape is used.

Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-189890 discloses an apparatus for removing such defects, comprising: an application unit for applying a correction liquid to a defective portion, a laser device for irradiating a laser beam to remove the defect, an observation optical system for observing the defect, And a correcting head portion including a tape polishing unit for polishing a defect, a work table on which a substrate is mounted, and a positioning device for positioning in the three-dimensional space by relatively moving the correcting head portion and the work table. It is described.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the correction head portion. In FIG. 1, a laser optical system 12 for guiding a laser beam emitted from the laser device 1 to a defective portion is fixed to a central portion of the Z-axis table 7. The observation optical system 2 and the laser optical system 12 are provided coaxially, and share the objective lens 13 etc. in common. The observation optical system 2 includes a microscope and a CCD camera 14 for enlarging and capturing a fine pattern on the water-modified glass substrate 10. The laser device 1 is fixed to the upper portion of the laser optical system 12.

2 (a) to 2 (c) are diagrams showing an embodiment of correcting color missing defects, black defects, and protrusion defects according to the prior art.

Looking at the process of correcting the color missing defect, as shown in 2 (a), the correction ink 45 is attached to the tip of the needle 21, and the tip of the needle 21 is replaced with the color missing defect 43 ) To attach the ink 45 to the color missing defect 43. And the needle 21 is separated from the color missing defect 43, the ink 45 is hardened by the correction liquid curing light source 4, and the correction of the color missing defect 43 is complete | finished.

In the process of correcting black defect, as shown in 2 (b), the black defect 48 is a defect in which the foreign material 47 attached to the glass substrate 10 is covered with ink and remains. While observing the black defects 48 by the observation optical system 2, the focus of the laser device 1 and the laser optical system 12 is positioned at the center of the black defects 48, and the laser beam 49 is placed in the black defects 48. Irradiated with the black defect 48 is removed. As a result, the black defect 48 is converted into the color missing defect 43. The color missing defect 43 is corrected by the method shown in Fig. 2A.

Looking at the process of correcting the projection defect 60 generated in the black matrix 42 or the color adding portion 41 of the color filter, the height h1 of the projection defect 60 by the height measuring sensor 55 and its surroundings Measure the height (h2) of the top of the. Subsequently, as shown in (c) of FIG. 2, the tip end portion of the pressing member 56 included in the polishing head 55 is positioned at the center of the protrusion failure 60, and the tip end portion of the pressing member 56 is positioned. The polishing tape 50 is driven while pressing the polishing tape 50 to the projection defect 60, and the projection defect 60 is scraped off. The depth which press-fits the press member 56 is determined based on the measurement result h2 of the height of the top part of the periphery of defect. As a result, the protrusion defect 60 is corrected.

However, according to the prior art as described above, it is necessary to determine the type of defect and to correct it by selecting an appropriate correction method accordingly. That is, in order to correct a defect, not only a laser irradiation device but also a device for applying correction ink, an optical system for observing a defect, and a tape polishing device, there is a problem in that the volume of the equipment is increased and the cost of the equipment is increased.

In addition, there is a problem that takes a lot of time to correct the movement required for each process. In particular, it takes a lot of time to go through the process of flattening with polishing tape after applying the correction liquid.

Further, according to the prior art, there is a problem that it is difficult to correct a defect when a defect occurs over several color portions.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to remove defective parts of a color filter substrate used for a display at one time using a laser.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to apply a deposition technique using a laser to the portion from which the defective part is removed, and to perform blackening treatment.

Moreover, an object of this invention is to provide the correction | amendment apparatus which correct | amends a defective part in a short time, and is low in apparatus price.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a color filter correction device for correcting a defective portion formed on a planar substrate, comprising: a laser oscillator for emitting a laser beam;

Laser beam forming means for transforming the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator according to the size of the defective portion formed on the substrate; Optical means for irradiating the laser beam onto a substrate and adjusting an optical path; And thin film forming means capable of accommodating a material capable of forming a thin film in a portion where the defect on the substrate is removed.

In addition, the present invention provides a color filter modification method for correcting a defective portion formed on a flat substrate, comprising: irradiating a laser beam to remove the defective portion formed on the substrate; And forming a thin film by irradiating a laser beam to a portion from which the defective portion is removed.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings looks at in detail with respect to the configuration and the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a block diagram showing a color filter correction apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the color filter correction apparatus according to the present invention includes laser oscillators 10a and 10b for emitting a laser beam, and a beam forming mechanism for expanding and adjusting the laser beam to a size of a defective part. 20) a thin film forming means 30 having an optical window through which the beam can pass and accommodating a material capable of forming a thin film in a portion where defects have been removed, and controlling a path of the beam to irradiate the substrate. Optical means (11a, 11b, 12, 13, 14, 15) to make it possible.

The first laser oscillator 10a is for use in oscillating a laser beam for removing defects on a substrate, and has a pulse energy of 1 mJ or more or a peak power of 1 MW or more and a wavelength of 200 to 20,000 nm. It is preferable to oscillate. The second laser oscillator 10b is for irradiating a laser beam for forming a thin film on a portion where defects have been removed, and it is preferable to oscillate a CW (continuous wave) laser having a wavelength of 200 to 500 nm.

In addition, since the wavelength of the laser selected according to the characteristics of the target is different and the transmission and reflection characteristics of the optical system such as the mirror 11a and the beam splitter 12 are different, the position of the first and second laser oscillators can be freely changed. And a suitable pulse laser or CW laser can be selected according to the characteristics of the target.

The beam forming mechanism 20 includes a beam shaper 21 and a beam slit 22.

The beam shaper 21 is composed of a beam expander for expanding the size of the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator 10 and a homogenizer for having an even energy distribution. That is, the initial beam is small in size and concentrated in the center in a Gaussian form, which is not suitable for irradiating the entire defective portion. Therefore, the beam can be enlarged and flattened to a size that can be irradiated to the defective portion.

The beam slit 22 functions to divide the beam enlarged and flattened by the beam shaper 21 according to the size of the defective portion.

4 is a view showing the shape of a beam passing through the beam forming means. 4A is a diagram comparing before and after passing through the beam shaper 21. The right figure of (a) shows the Gaussian Curve distribution before passing. The left side is a graph showing the energy distribution of the beam after passing through the beam shaper 21, and it can be seen that the energy distribution is even.

4 (b) shows the size of the defective portion of the substrate. If there are various sizes of defects as shown in the drawing, the size may be adjusted through the beam slit 22. The size of the laser beam can be made to a desired size by passing the open area of the beam slit 22.

The thin film forming means 30 is provided with an optical window so that the beam passing through the beam forming means 20 passes through the thin film forming means 30 and is irradiated to the color filter on the substrate.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing that the beam passing through the thin film forming means 30 is irradiated to the substrate, where (a) is viewed from the side and (b) is viewed from above.

The thin film forming means 30 includes an optical window 31 and an injection hole 32 for injecting a thin film forming material, a chamber 33 in which the injected thin film forming material is filled, and an exhaust port through which the thin film forming material is discharged. 34). Reference numeral 35 under the optical window 31 indicates the space where the process is performed. The thin film forming material filled in the chamber 33 is filled in a portion where the defective portion of the substrate is removed by the beam when the beam is irradiated. That is, the thin film is formed on the substrate by the laser beam irradiated with the thin film forming material indicated by reference numeral 35. It is preferable to use the metal source which mixed the metal material with inert gas or nitrogen gas as said thin film formation material.

6 is a view showing a process of injecting a thin film forming material into the thin film forming means 30 as an embodiment of the present invention.

The metal raw material is supplied through the metal raw material supply device, and gas and metal are combined to be injected through the injection hole 32 of the thin film forming means 30. As the gas, an inert gas such as argon (Ar) or helium (He) or nitrogen (N ₂ ) is used. The gas injected into the thin film forming means 30 forms a thin film on the substrate by the laser beam oscillated by the second laser oscillator 10b and then the remaining thin film forming material is discharged through the exhaust port 34.

Hereinafter, as an embodiment of the present invention, a process of irradiating a laser beam and correcting a color filter will be described in detail.

The laser beam oscillated by the laser oscillator 10 is refracted by the optical means and incident on the laser beam forming means 20. The optical means comprises a first reflecting mirror 11, a half mirror 12, a second reflecting mirror 13, a monitoring means 14 and an objective lens 15. The beam oscillated by the laser oscillator 10 is refracted by the first reflection mirror 11 and is incident on the laser beam forming means 20. As described above, the laser beam forming means 20 divides the beam by the beam shaper 21 and the beam slit 22 to equalize the energy distribution of the beam and fit the size of the defective portion of the substrate. The laser may be used a variety of lasers, such as CO ₂ laser in accordance with the characteristics of the object to be processed.

The beam split as described above passes through the half mirror 12 and is incident to the objective lens 15. Light condensed by the objective lens 15 passes through the thin film forming means 30 and is irradiated onto the substrate. The light reflected from the substrate passes through the objective lens 15 and is reflected by the half mirror 12 and the second reflection mirror 13 to be incident on the monitoring means 14. As the monitoring means, a CCD camera can be used, and the CCD camera can detect an image according to the reflected light of the substrate. Therefore, the monitoring means 14 can monitor in real time whether the defective part is properly removed or the correct irradiation is performed on the defective part according to the detected image.

The beam passing through the objective lens 15 passes through the optical window 31 of the thin film forming means 30 to remove the defective portion formed on the substrate.

After the defective portion is removed, the metal source is injected through the metal source injection hole 32 of the thin film forming means 30 to fill the chamber 33 with the metal source. The metal source is to fill a portion where defects are removed, and a metal is mixed with an inert gas or nitrogen gas. When the laser source is irradiated again after the metal source is sufficiently injected, the metal source injected into the chamber 33 is filled in a portion where the defective portion is removed by the laser beam to form a thin film. As described above, the laser beam at this time may use the same laser as the laser beam used to remove the defective portion, but it is preferable to use a laser beam having a different wavelength.

5 shows a space in which a process is performed, in which a metal source in the 35 space forms a thin film on a substrate by a laser beam.

FIG. 7 illustrates a process in which the defective part on the substrate is removed and the color filter is corrected by forming a thin film in the same manner as described above.

As shown in FIG. 7A, a color filter 41 is formed on the substrate 40 to which the colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are added. There is a defective portion 42 due to foreign matter or the like in the middle portion. The defective portion 42 is removed by irradiation of the laser beam. After the defective portion 42 is removed, the metal source is injected into the thin film forming means 30 and the laser beam is irradiated again to fill the portion 43 in which the defective portion is removed. FIG. 7B illustrates a state in which the defective portion 42 is removed, and FIG. 7C illustrates a state in which a thin film is formed by filling a metal source in the removed portion. In other words, the defective portion is removed using a laser, and the blackened process is performed by depositing a metal source using the laser again on the removed portion.

The removal of the defective portion may be removed by one irradiation by adjusting the size of the beam to match the size of the defective portion, or may be removed by scanning by reducing the size of the beam. Since the size and position of the defective portion can be known by a separate defect detection equipment, the size of the beam can be precisely adjusted and the correct position can be irradiated.

8 is a view showing an embodiment according to various sizes of defective parts.

According to the present invention, it is possible to variously adjust the size of the beam irradiated by the beam forming means 20, and thus it is possible to remove the defective portion regardless of the size of the defective portion. In particular, even when the defective portion is formed in several colors as shown in FIG. 8B, it is possible to remove the defective portion by irradiating a laser beam.

According to the present invention, defects can be eliminated by simple equipment such as optical means, beam forming means, and thin film forming means. Therefore, the present invention not only lowers the manufacturing cost of the equipment but also has the effect of reducing the size of the equipment.

In addition, according to the present invention there is an effect that the process time can be shortened by irradiating a laser beam to remove defects at once.

In addition, according to the present invention, even if the defective portion is widely distributed over several colors, the defective portion can be removed accurately at once.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to sequentially remove and correct defects according to the presence or absence of source injection on the same optical path.

In addition, according to the present invention there is an effect that can be removed at the same time with the same equipment without the distinction between projection defects and color defects.

In addition, the present invention has the effect of monitoring in real time that the defect is removed and corrected.

Claims (15)

In the color filter correction device for correcting a defective portion formed on a flat substrate, A laser oscillator for emitting a laser beam; Laser beam forming means for transforming the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator according to the size of the defective portion formed on the substrate; Optical means for irradiating the laser beam onto a substrate and adjusting an optical path; And And thin film forming means for accommodating a material capable of forming a thin film in a portion where the defect on the substrate is removed. 2. The color filter correcting apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the laser oscillator oscillates a pulse laser when removing a defect of a substrate, and oscillates a CW laser when forming a thin film at a position where the defect is removed. The color filter correction apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the pulse laser has a wavelength range of 200 nm to 20,000 nm, and has a pulse energy of 1 mJ or more. 3. The color filter correction apparatus of claim 2, wherein the pulse laser has a wavelength range of 200 nm to 20,000 nm and has a peak output per pulse of 1 kW / cm ² or more. The color filter correction apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the CW laser has a wavelength range of 200 nm to 500 nm. The laser beam forming means according to claim 1, wherein the laser beam forming means extends the processable area of the beam and flattens the shape of the beam, and a beam slit for adjusting the size of the beam according to the size of the defect. Color filter correction apparatus comprising a. 7. The color filter correction apparatus of claim 6, wherein the beam shaper includes a beam expander for enlarging the size of the beam and a homogenizer for evening the energy distribution of the beam. The color filter correction apparatus of claim 1, wherein the laser beam forming means adjusts the intensity and size of the beam to remove the defective portion at a time or to irradiate the defective portion by scanning to remove the defective portion. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the thin film forming means comprises an optical window through which a laser beam can pass and a chamber containing a thin film forming material forming the thin film. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the thin film forming means further comprises an inlet for providing a material capable of forming the thin film and an exhaust port for discharging the injected material. 10. The color filter correcting apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the chamber includes a space in which a processing for forming a thin film when the laser beam is irradiated is performed. The color filter correction apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the material capable of forming the thin film is a metal material mixed with an inert gas or nitrogen gas. In the color filter correction method for correcting the defective portion formed on the flat substrate, Irradiating a laser beam to remove a defective portion formed in the substrate; And And injecting a thin film forming material into a portion from which the defective portion is removed and irradiating a laser beam to form a thin film. delete The method of claim 13, wherein the thin film forming material is a material obtained by mixing a metal raw material with an inert gas or nitrogen gas.

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