KR100908902B1 - Manufacturing Method of Substrate Module and Flexible Array Substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a flexible array substrate. First, a hard substrate is provided, and a buffer layer is formed on the hard substrate. A flexible substrate is attached on the buffer layer to form a substrate module. Thereafter, a thin film forming process is performed on the flexible substrate. In particular, the stress state caused by the formation of the buffer layer on the rigid substrate and the physical properties of the buffer layer can reduce the bending of the flexible substrate due to thermal expansion shrinkage during the thin film formation process. After performing the thin film forming process, the flexible substrate is not easily bent or deformed, thereby improving the process yield of the flexible array substrate.

Description

Substrate Module and Manufacturing Method of Flexible Array Substrate {SUBSTRATE MODULE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD OF FLEXIBLE ARRAY SUBSTRATE}

1A-1D are cross-sectional views of a manufacturing process of the flexible array substrate of the embodiment of the present invention.

1E is a perspective view of a substrate module in an embodiment of the invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: board module

110: rigid board

120: buffer layer

130: Flexible board

132 ： Panel

140: adhesion layer

150: thin film formation process

160: Array structure

B1 ： 1st bending direction

B2: 2nd bending direction

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a substrate module and an array substrate, and more particularly, to a method for manufacturing a substrate module and a flexible array substrate.

Whether or not the flat panel display is flexible depends on the material of the substrate used. When the substrate used for the flat panel display is a hard substrate (such as a glass substrate), the flat panel display does not have flexibility. Conversely, when the substrate used for the flat panel display is a flexible substrate (such as a plastic substrate), the flat panel display has good flexibility.

At present, the technology for fabricating thin film transistors (TFTs) on rigid substrates has already matured, but the technology for fabricating TFTs on flexible substrates still needs to be further developed. In general, when manufacturing a TFT on a flexible substrate, the flexible substrate is first adhered to the rigid substrate, and then a thin film forming process must be performed. Since the thermal expansion coefficient mismatch between the flexible substrate and the rigid substrate is very large, various thin film formation processes (high temperature processes), lithography processes, and etching processes are performed on the flexible substrate. The rise in operating temperature causes banding to the flexible substrate. It should be noted that when the thin film forming process is performed on a flexible band with severe banding, a serious mis-alignment may occur between the film layer and the film layer, causing the process to fail, making it difficult to increase the process yield of the flexible array substrate.

The present invention can provide a method of manufacturing a flexible array substrate can improve the problem that the banding occurs in the flexible substrate.

The present invention can provide a substrate module to increase the process yield of the flexible substrate.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a flexible array substrate, and includes the following steps. First, after providing a hard substrate, a buffer layer is formed on the hard substrate to form a first bending direction in the buffer layer and the hard substrate. The flexible substrate is bonded to the buffer layer, and a thin film forming process is performed on the flexible substrate. When the thin film forming process is performed, a second bending direction is formed on the flexible substrate, and the first bending direction and the second bending direction are approximately opposite.

The present invention also provides another method of making a flexible array substrate. First, a buffer layer is formed on the hard substrate. The material of the buffer layer is a metal or a metal compound. Thereafter, the flexible substrate is adhered on the buffer layer, and a thin film forming process is performed on the flexible substrate.

The present invention also provides another method of making a flexible array substrate. First, a buffer layer is formed on a hard substrate, and then a flexible substrate and a buffer layer are bonded using an adhesive layer, and a thin film forming process is performed on the flexible substrate.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the above-described thermal expansion coefficient of the buffer layer is less than or equal to the thermal expansion coefficient of the hard substrate. The thermal expansion coefficient of the buffer layer is also between the thermal expansion coefficient of the rigid substrate and the thermal expansion coefficient of the flexible substrate.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in the step of adhering the above-mentioned flexible substrate to the buffer layer, a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is formed on the buffer layer, a method of adhering the flexible substrate and the buffer layer using the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer, and the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer on the flexible substrate. And a method of forming a flexible substrate and a buffer layer using an adhesive layer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, after the thin film forming process is completed, a process of separating the flexible substrate and the buffer layer is included.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-described flexible substrate includes a plastic substrate, and the rigid substrate includes a glass substrate.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-described thin film forming process includes an active component array process, a color filter process, or a process in which the aforementioned process is combined. Active component array processes include a-Si TFT array processes and p-Si TFT array processes.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the material of the above-described buffer layer includes a metal or a metal compound. In particular, the material of the buffer layer may be a metal such as aluminum, copper, molybdenum, titanium, chromium, tantalum, or tungsten, or a compound thereof.

The substrate module provided by the present invention includes a hard substrate, a buffer layer, an adhesive layer, and a flexible substrate. The buffer layer is positioned over the rigid substrate, the adhesive layer is positioned over the buffer layer, and the flexible substrate is bonded with the buffer layer by the adhesive layer.

Another substrate module provided by the present invention includes a hard substrate, a buffer layer, a flexible substrate. The buffer layer is located on the rigid substrate, and the material of the buffer layer is a metal or a metal compound, and the flexible substrate is bonded onto the buffer layer.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the above-described thermal expansion coefficient of the buffer layer is less than or equal to the thermal expansion coefficient of the hard substrate. In addition, the thermal expansion coefficient of the buffer layer may be between the thermal expansion coefficient of the rigid substrate and the thermal expansion coefficient of the flexible substrate.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-described substrate module includes an adhesive layer, and the flexible substrate is bonded to the buffer layer by the viscous layer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-described substrate module includes an array structure and is positioned on the flexible substrate. In addition, the above-described array structure includes an active component array, a color filter array, or a combination of the foregoing. Among these, the active component array includes an a-Si TFT array or a p-Si TFT array.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-described flexible substrate includes a plastic substrate, and the rigid substrate includes a glass substrate.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the material of the above-described buffer layer includes a metal or a metal compound. In practice, the material of the buffer layer is a metal such as aluminum, copper, molybdenum, titanium, chromium, tantalum, or tungsten, or a metal compound.

Since the flexible substrate is bonded to the buffer layer in the present invention, the stress caused by the expansion or contraction of the flexible substrate by the temperature change can be canceled by the internal stress of the buffer layer. The thin film forming process of the flexible substrate is less likely to fail due to bending or deformation of the flexible substrate.

In order to understand the above-described contents and other objects, features, advantages, etc. of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following examples and drawings.

1A to 1D are cross-sectional views of a manufacturing process of the flexible array substrate of the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1E is a perspective view of the substrate module of the embodiment of the present invention.

With regard to FIG. 1A, first, a hard substrate 110 is provided. The hard substrate 110 is a glass substrate, a quartz substrate, a silicon substrate, or the like. The buffer layer 120 is formed on the hard substrate 110. In particular, the buffer layer 120 is made of a metal or a compound such as aluminum, copper, molybdenum, titanium, chromium, tantalum, or tungsten. In this embodiment, the buffer layer 120 is formed by forming a metal or a metal compound on the hard substrate 110 by a method such as PVD (physical vapor deposition, sputtering, etc.) or CVD (chemical vapor deposition). During the formation of the buffer layer 120, in this embodiment, by adjusting the conditions of the PVD or CVD process such as process temperature, reactor fluid flow rate, process pressure, and the like, the metal or metal compound adhered on the hard substrate 110 has different stress states. It can be provided. In the present exemplary embodiment, the buffer layer 120 and the hard substrate 110 may be bent in the first bending direction B1 by adjusting the process of forming the buffer layer 120.

FIG. 1B relates to a process of bonding the flexible substrate 130 and the buffer layer 120. An example of bonding the flexible substrate 130 onto the buffer layer 120 is illustrated. Specifically, in the present embodiment, first, the adhesive layer 140 is formed on the buffer layer 120, and the flexible substrate 130 and the buffer layer 120 are adhered using the adhesive layer 140. However, in other embodiments, the adhesive layer 140 is first formed on the flexible substrate 130, and then the flexible substrate 130 and the buffer layer 120 are adhered using the adhesive layer 140. Among these, the plastic substrate having good flexibility may be the flexible substrate 130.

FIG. 1C illustrates a process of forming the array structure 160 on the flexible substrate 130 by performing the thin film forming process 150 on the flexible substrate 130. Generally, the thin film forming process 150 is an active component array process, a color filter process, or a combination of the above processes. When the thin film forming process 150 is an active component array process, the array structure 160 formed on the flexible substrate 130 is an active component array, and when the thin film forming process 150 is a color filter process, the flexible substrate ( The array structure 160 formed over 130 is a color filter array. In addition, when the thin film forming process 150 includes both an active component array process and a color filter process, the array structure 160 formed on the flexible substrate 130 may be a color filter on array (COA) array structure, or AOC (array). on color filter) Array structure. The active component array process described above may be an a-Si TFT array process or a p-Si TFT array process.

In general, when the thin film forming process 150 is performed, the flexible substrate 130 has a relatively large expansion coefficient as the temperature changes, and a significant volume change occurs during the temperature increase process. When the thin film forming process 150 is performed, the flexible substrate 130 adhered on the rigid substrate 110 expands or contracts, and the flexible substrate 130 is bent or deformed in the second bending direction B2, thereby resulting in poor exposure or focus. Cause problems such as. Therefore, in the present invention, the arrangement of the buffer layer 120 reduces the degree to which the flexible substrate 130 is bent in the thin film forming process 150. Specifically, when the thermal expansion coefficient of the buffer layer 120 is between the flexible substrate 130 and the hard substrate 110, the flexible substrate 130 may be formed by a thin film forming process due to thermal expansion and contraction of the buffer layer 120. 150) it is possible to reduce the banding phenomenon caused. However, if the thermal expansion coefficient of the buffer layer 120 is less than or equal to the thermal expansion coefficient of the hard substrate 110, the stress generated when the buffer layer 120 is formed is generated in the flexible substrate 130 in the thin film forming process 150. The stress of the thermal expansion contraction can be canceled out. In the present embodiment, when the buffer layer 120 is formed, the first bending direction B1 of the banding generated in the buffer layer 120 and the hard substrate 110 and the banding generated in the flexible substrate 130 are controlled by controlling process conditions. The second bending direction B2 can be made approximately opposite. In this case, the flexible substrate 130 may change in volume according to temperature change, thereby greatly reducing the amount of bending in the second bending direction B2, thereby effectively increasing the process yield of the flexible array substrate. have.

1D, after the thin film forming process 150 is completed, in the present embodiment, the flexible substrate 130 and the rigid substrate 110 may be separated by processing such as heating, temperature drop, and illumination. Specifically, in the present embodiment, first, the viscosity of the adhesive layer 140 is reduced through a treatment method such as heating, temperature drop, and illumination, and then the flexible substrate 130 is separated from the rigid substrate 110. In fact, referring to the perspective view of the substrate module 100 of FIG. 1E, the flexible substrate 130 may be cut into a plurality of small panels 132. Specifically, before removing the flexible substrate 130 on the rigid substrate 110, the flexible substrate 130 is cut into a plurality of panels 132, and then the flexible substrate 130 and the rigid substrate 110 ) Or after separating the flexible substrate 130 and the rigid substrate 110, the flexible substrate 130 may be cut into a plurality of panels 132. Among these, laser cutting or mechanical cutting may be used as a method of cutting the flexible substrate 130.

Overall, in the manufacturing method of the substrate module and the flexible array substrate of the present invention, the stress state formed by depositing the buffer layer on the hard substrate through various process conditions can be adjusted as necessary. When the thermal expansion coefficient of the buffer layer is less than or equal to the thermal expansion coefficient of the hard substrate, by adjusting the process conditions, the stress caused by thermal expansion contraction of the flexible substrate during the thin film formation process may be offset by the stress of the buffer layer generated on the hard substrate. In addition, if the thermal expansion coefficient of the buffer layer is between the flexible substrate and the hard substrate, the banding phenomenon appearing on the flexible substrate can be effectively reduced through the thin film formation process. Therefore, the degree of bending or deformation of the flexible substrate due to the rise and fall of the temperature is greatly reduced, thereby increasing the counterpoint accuracy of the thin film forming process and the process yield of the flexible array substrate.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been listed, it is not limited to the present invention and used by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains may make minor modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the following claims.

According to the manufacturing method of the substrate module and the flexible array substrate of the present invention, the stress state formed by depositing the buffer layer on the hard substrate through various process conditions can be adjusted as needed. When the thermal expansion coefficient of the buffer layer is less than or equal to the thermal expansion coefficient of the hard substrate, by adjusting the process conditions, the stress caused by thermal expansion contraction of the flexible substrate during the thin film formation process may be offset by the stress of the buffer layer generated on the hard substrate. In addition, if the thermal expansion coefficient of the buffer layer is between the flexible substrate and the hard substrate, the banding phenomenon appearing on the flexible substrate can be effectively reduced through the thin film formation process. Therefore, the degree of bending or deformation of the flexible substrate due to the rise and fall of the temperature is greatly reduced, thereby increasing the counterpoint accuracy of the thin film forming process and the yield of the flexible array substrate.

Claims (15)

Providing a rigid substrate, Forming a buffer layer on the hard substrate, and bending the buffer layer and the hard substrate in a first bending direction; Adhering a flexible substrate to the buffer layer; Performing a thin film forming process on the flexible substrate, and bending the flexible substrate in a second bending direction opposite to the first bending direction. The method of claim 1, wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion of the buffer layer is less than or equal to the coefficient of thermal expansion of the rigid substrate. The method of claim 1, wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion of the buffer layer is between the coefficient of thermal expansion of the rigid substrate and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the flexible substrate. The method of claim 1, wherein the bonding of the flexible substrate and the buffer layer comprises: Forming an adhesive layer on the buffer layer; Bonding the flexible substrate and the buffer layer using the adhesive layer. The method of claim 1, wherein the bonding of the flexible substrate and the buffer layer comprises: Forming an adhesive layer on the flexible substrate, Bonding the flexible substrate and the buffer layer using the adhesive layer. The method of claim 1, further comprising separating the flexible substrate and the buffer layer after performing the thin film forming process. The method of claim 1, wherein the buffer layer comprises a metal or a metal compound. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the buffer layer comprises aluminum, copper, molybdenum, titanium, chromium, tantalum, or tungsten. Providing a rigid substrate, Forming a buffer layer on the hard substrate to form a stress in the first bending direction on the buffer layer and the binder substrate; Adhering a flexible substrate to the buffer layer; Performing a thin film forming process on the flexible substrate to form a stress on the flexible substrate in a second bending direction opposite to a first bending direction. The method of claim 9, wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion of the buffer layer is less than or equal to the coefficient of thermal expansion of the rigid substrate. The method of claim 9, wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion of the buffer layer is between the coefficient of thermal expansion of the rigid substrate and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the flexible substrate. The method of claim 9, wherein the bonding of the flexible substrate and the buffer layer comprises: Forming an adhesive layer on the buffer layer; Bonding the flexible substrate and the buffer layer using the adhesive layer. The method of claim 9, wherein the bonding of the flexible substrate and the buffer layer comprises: Forming an adhesive layer on the flexible substrate, Bonding the flexible substrate and the buffer layer using the adhesive layer. The method of claim 9, further comprising, after performing the thin film forming process, separating the flexible substrate from the buffer layer. The method of claim 9, wherein the material of the buffer layer comprises aluminum, copper, molybdenum, titanium, chromium, tantalum, or tungsten.

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