KR100994499B1 - Apparatus for assembling substrates and Method for assembling substrates - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a substrate bonding apparatus, the substrate bonding apparatus of the present invention comprises: an upper chamber; An upper surface plate provided in the upper chamber; An adhesive provided on the upper surface plate and attaching the upper substrate by adhesive force; A substrate separator for blowing the gas onto the upper substrate to detach the upper substrate and the adhesive; A lower surface plate on which a lower substrate to be bonded to the upper substrate is seated; And a lower chamber coupled to the upper chamber to form a bonding space for bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate. According to the present invention having the above-described configuration, a low-cost adhesive and a substrate separator having a simple structure are used. The substrate can be attached and the substrate can be easily separated. In addition, it is possible to replace the expensive electrostatic chuck has the effect of reducing the manufacturing cost of the substrate bonding apparatus.

Description

Apparatus for assembling substrates and Method for assembling substrates}

The present invention relates to a substrate bonding apparatus and a substrate bonding method, and more particularly, to a substrate bonding apparatus and a substrate bonding method for attaching a substrate using adhesive force.

As information society has developed, the demand for display devices has increased in various forms. Recently, various flat panel display devices such as liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display panel (PDP), electro luminescent display (ELD), and vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) have been studied, and some of them are already widely used in real life.

Among them, LCDs are widely used due to their excellent image quality, light weight, thinness, and low power consumption compared to CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), and the enlargement of display panels is progressing.

The LCD is formed by injecting a liquid crystal between a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) substrate having an electrode formed thereon and a CF (Color filter) substrate coated with phosphors. A sealer is provided on the outer circumferential surface of both substrates to prevent leakage of the liquid crystal material, and a spacer is disposed between the substrates to maintain a gap between the substrates at predetermined intervals.

Therefore, in the manufacturing process of LCD, the process of bonding both substrates and injecting the liquid crystal material into the space between them after manufacturing the TFT substrate and the CF substrate respectively is essential, and the process of bonding the substrate is an important process to determine the quality of the LCD. Is one of.

In general, the substrate bonding process is performed by a substrate bonding apparatus composed of an upper chamber and a lower chamber capable of forming an interior in a vacuum state, and the substrate bonding apparatus is an electrostatic chuck (ESC) for holding a substrate by electrostatic force. This is mainly used.

However, due to the recent increase in the size of the display panel, a large-size electrostatic chuck must be manufactured. However, the manufacturing of the display panel has a problem that the manufacturing cost of the substrate bonding apparatus is increased because it becomes very expensive.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to attach a substrate using an adhesive, and to provide a substrate bonding apparatus that can easily separate the substrate from the adhesive by spraying a gas on the substrate. It is.

The substrate bonding apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an upper chamber; An upper surface plate provided in the upper chamber; An adhesive provided on the upper surface plate and attaching the upper substrate by adhesive force; A substrate separator for blowing the gas onto the upper substrate to detach the upper substrate and the adhesive; A lower surface plate on which a lower substrate to be bonded to the upper substrate is seated; And a lower chamber coupled to the upper chamber to form a bonding space for bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate.

The pressure-sensitive adhesive may be a rubber made of polyisobutylene comprising 0.16 weight percent nitrogen, 66.36 weight percent carbon, and 10.70 weight percent hydrogen in the components.

The pressure-sensitive adhesive may be formed in a shape in which a surface attached to the upper surface plate and a surface attached to the upper substrate are flat and have a space penetrating between the two surfaces.

The substrate separator includes a gas outlet inlet and a gas outlet inlet and outlet for introducing gas into the space, and a substrate separator controller for controlling the bubble outlet.

The substrate bonding method according to the present embodiment includes attaching the upper substrate to the pressure-sensitive adhesive provided on the upper surface plate, and attaching the lower substrate to the lower surface plate; Aligning the upper substrate and the lower substrate; Separating the upper substrate from the adhesive by injecting a gas into the upper substrate attached to the adhesive; And bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate when the upper substrate is separated and falls on the lower substrate.

Substrate bonding apparatus according to the invention the upper chamber; An upper surface plate provided in the upper chamber; A pressure-sensitive adhesive provided on the upper surface plate and attaching the upper substrate by adhesive force, wherein the pressure-sensitive adhesive is rubber of polyisobutylene material containing 0.16 weight percent nitrogen, 66.36 weight percent carbon, and 10.70 weight percent hydrogen; A lower surface plate on which a lower substrate to be bonded to the upper substrate is seated; And a lower chamber coupled to the upper chamber to form a bonding space for bonding the upper substrate and the lower substrate.

According to the substrate bonding apparatus according to the present embodiment, the adhesive and the substrate separator of a simple structure can be attached to the substrate with a low cost device and the substrate can be easily separated. In addition, it is possible to replace the expensive electrostatic chuck has the effect of reducing the manufacturing cost of the substrate bonding apparatus.

Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same members having the same function.

1 is a view schematically showing a substrate bonding apparatus according to the present embodiment.

The substrate bonding apparatus includes an upper chamber 100 on which the upper substrate S1 is seated and a lower chamber 200 on which the lower substrate S2 is seated. The lower chamber 200 is fixed to the base, and the upper chamber 100 is elevated by the lifting unit 300. Although not shown in the drawing, the lifting unit 300 is composed of a lift screw and a lift motor may be installed to be able to lift the upper chamber up and down. Unlike the present embodiment, the upper chamber 100 may be fixed and the lower chamber 200 may be elevated.

The upper chamber 100 has a pressure-sensitive adhesive 110 to attach the upper substrate S1 and a substrate separator 120 to separate the upper substrate S1 and the pressure-sensitive adhesive 110 by spraying gas onto the upper substrate S1. The lower chamber 200 is provided with a substrate chuck 210 for seating the lower substrate S2. The adhesive 110 is provided on the upper surface plate 101 provided in the upper chamber 100, and the substrate chuck 210 is installed on the lower surface plate 201 provided in the lower chamber 200.

The substrate chuck 210 may be an electrostatic chuck (ESC) that adsorbs the lower substrate S2 with electrostatic force, a vacuum chuck using a pressure difference, or the like.

The lift pin 220 lifts when the upper substrate S1 is carried into the process chambers 100 and 200 to receive the upper substrate S1, and then lifts up to attach the upper substrate S1 to the adhesive 110. Let's do it.

In addition, when the lower substrate S2 is carried into the process chamber, the lift pin 220 may rise to receive the lower substrate S2 and then descend to position the substrate chuck 210. In addition, when the bonding process of forming the panel by bonding the upper substrate (S1) and the lower substrate (S2) is completed, it serves to raise the bonded panel to be carried out to the outside of the process chamber. There may be a plurality of lift pins 220, and the lift pins 220 may move up and down through the substrate chuck 210 and the lower surface plate 201.

In addition, the upper chamber 100 is provided with a camera 130 for photographing alignment marks (Align marks) previously displayed on the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2 so as to check whether the substrates are positioned at the correct bonding points. The camera 130 photographs the alignment mark through the photographing hole passing through the upper chamber 100. At this time, the illumination device 230 is installed on the lower side of the lower chamber 200 so that the camera 130 can photograph the alignment mark to provide illumination to the camera 130.

In addition, although not shown, a high vacuum molecular pump (TMP) and a dry pump (Turbo Molecular Pump, TMP) for forming the inside of the vacuum chamber when forming a process space in close contact with the upper chamber 100 and the lower chamber 200 ( Dry pump is connected.

2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an adhesive and a substrate separator according to the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, the pressure-sensitive adhesive 110 is a device for attaching the upper substrate S1, and a material having a tacky rubber may be used. The rubber may be made using polyisobutylene, and polyisobutylene may be prepared by cationic polymerization using isobutylene as a monomer. Generally, polyisobutylene adds a small amount of isoprene to isobutylene and then performs polymerization at a temperature of about 100 ° C. The polyisobutylene according to this embodiment may comprise 0.15 to 0.17 weight percent nitrogen, 66.35 to 66.37 weight percent carbon, 10.69 to 10.71 weight percent hydrogen, and resin solids.

3 is a perspective view showing the shape of the pressure-sensitive adhesive according to the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, the pressure sensitive adhesive 110 has a shape in which a surface attached to the upper surface plate 101 and a surface attached to the upper substrate S1 are flat and have a space penetrating between the two surfaces. The cross section of the pressure-sensitive adhesive 110 has a ring shape, and may be manufactured by directly forming an external shape by compression molding, injection molding, injection molding, or the like having a predetermined height.

4 is a cross-sectional view showing the shape of the pressure-sensitive adhesive according to another embodiment. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the shape of the pressure-sensitive adhesive according to another embodiment.

4 and 5, the adhesive 110 ′ according to another embodiment has a five-sided cross-sectional band shape, and the adhesive 110 ″ according to another embodiment has a four-sided cross-sectional band shape. The adhesives 110 ′ and 110 ″ have a shape having a predetermined height. The shapes of the adhesives 110, 110 ′ and 110 ″ are merely exemplary, and various modifications are possible to those skilled in the art.

However, when the adhesives 110, 110 ′ and 110 ″ are attached to the upper substrate S1 in a state provided on the upper surface plate 101, a closed space may be formed between the adhesive 110 and the upper substrate S1. It must be shaped. In other words, the space formed by the combination of the upper substrate (S1) and the adhesive 110 should be a shape to be a closed space. The adhesive 110 is preferably designed so that only the adhesive 110 can be easily replaced when the adhesive strength is weakened.

The substrate separator 120 is a device that separates the pressure-sensitive adhesive 110 and the upper substrate S1 and includes a gas outlet unit 121, a gas outlet tube 122, and a substrate separator controller 123. The substrate separator 120 may be disposed in the same number as the number of the adhesive 110 when a plurality of the adhesive 110 is disposed.

The gas inlet and outlet 121 flows gas into and out of a space formed by attaching the adhesive 110 and the upper substrate S1 through the gas outlet tube 122. In this case, the gas to be introduced may be nitrogen (N 2) gas, and the gas to be discharged may be the atmosphere. A Mass Flow Controller (MFC) can be used to measure the amount of gas flowing in and out.

The gas inlet and outlet pipe 122 serves as a passage through which gas flows in and out from the gas inlet and outlet 121 to a space formed by the adhesive 110 and the upper substrate S1 attached thereto.

The substrate separator control unit 123 will be described later.

6 is a view showing an upper chamber in which a plurality of adhesives and substrate separators according to the present embodiment are installed.

Referring to FIG. 6, the substrate separator control unit 123 is a part for controlling the operation of the substrate separator 120 by controlling the gas outlet unit 121. The substrate separator control unit 123 may be connected to a plurality of gas outlet units 121 and each gas outlet unit. Each of the mouths 121 is controlled. In other words, the substrate separator control unit 123 may allow all the gas outlets 121 to spray gas at the same time, or may cause only the selected predetermined gas outlets 121 to spray the gas. For example, the substrate separator control unit 123 is a gas outlet injector 121 which is located in the center of the upper substrate (S1) first to inject a gas, the gas outlet injector 121 is located in the outer portion of the upper substrate (S1). ) May control the respective gas outlets 121 as in the method of injecting the gas with a predetermined delay time.

7 is a plan view of the upper surface plate in a state where a plurality of the adhesive and the substrate separator according to the present embodiment are disposed.

Referring to FIG. 7, a method of arranging the adhesive 110 and the substrate separator 120 will be described. 7 is a plan view, it should be understood that only the hole portion of the gas outlet pipe 122 in the substrate separator 120 is shown.

The pressure sensitive adhesive 110 and the gas outlet pipe 122 are disposed in the center of the upper surface plate 101 at a wide interval, and are disposed in the outer portion of the upper surface plate 101 at a narrow interval. In this case, the adhesive 110 and the gas outlet pipe 122 may be installed only in the area of the upper surface plate 101 corresponding to the size in consideration of the size of the upper substrate S1 to be attached.

As described above, disposing the interval between the adhesive 110 in the middle of the upper surface plate 101 and narrowly disposed the interval between the adhesive 110 in the outer portion of the upper surface plate 101 is separated from the upper substrate S1. This is because a greater force is applied to the adhesives 110 positioned at the outer portion of the upper substrate S1 at the time.

When the upper substrate S1 is separated, the separation starts from the center of the upper substrate S1 because the separation starts from the outer portion such as the edge of the upper substrate S1 by the load of the upper substrate S1 itself. This is because the moment may act to cause a slight distortion in the upper substrate (S1).

As shown in FIG. 7, the gas outlet tube 122 is installed at the center of each adhesive 110 to allow gas to flow in and out of a space formed when the adhesive 110 and the upper substrate S1 are attached. desirable.

Hereinafter, a substrate bonding method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a substrate bonding method using the substrate bonding apparatus according to the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 8, first, the upper substrate S1 is carried into the process space between the chambers 100 and 200 by a conveying means such as a robot arm. The loaded upper substrate S1 is received by the lift pins 220 raised to a predetermined height (S61).

The lift pin 220 receiving the upper substrate S1 is raised again to attach the upper substrate S1 to the adhesive 110 provided on the upper surface plate 101 (S62). At this time, when the lift pin 220 is raised and the upper substrate S1 is in contact with the pressure-sensitive adhesive 110, the gas outlet device 121 sucks the atmosphere. At this time, since the process space inside the chamber is still at atmospheric pressure, a pressure difference occurs when the gas inlet / outlet 121 inhales the atmosphere, so that the upper substrate S1 is more closely adhered to the pressure-sensitive adhesive, thereby being firmly attached.

Thereafter, the lower substrate S2 is carried into the process space between the chambers 100 and 200 by a conveying means such as a robot arm. When the lower substrate S2 is carried in a predetermined position, the lift pin 220 is raised to support the lower substrate S2. Thereafter, the lift pin 220 descends to seat the lower substrate S2 on the electrostatic chuck 210 positioned on the lower surface plate (S63).

After the upper chamber 100 is lowered. When the upper chamber 100 continuously descends to closely contact the lower chamber 200, the process space inside the chambers 100 and 200 is blocked from the atmosphere outside the chamber. After the pre-alignment of the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2 is performed, the process spaces inside the chambers 100 and 200 are vacuumed by forced exhaust (S64). Forced evacuation can be achieved by a dry pump and a turbo molecular pump (TMP).

In this case, since the process space formed by combining the upper chamber 100 and the lower chamber 200 is in a vacuum state, the pressure difference between the pressure in the process space and the space formed by attaching the upper substrate S1 and the adhesive 110 is different. It is insignificant. Therefore, the upper substrate S1 is in a state in which adhesion with the adhesive 110 is maintained only by the adhesive force of the adhesive 110.

As described above, when the upper substrate S1 is attached to the adhesive 110, the alignment marks of the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2 are photographed by the camera 130 to achieve final alignment. (S65). This alignment process is a well-known technique, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

After the final alignment, the gas outlet unit 121 injects a gas such as nitrogen gas according to the control signal of the substrate separator control unit 123 (S66). The injected gas is introduced into the space formed by adhesion of the upper substrate S1 and the adhesive 110 through the gas outlet pipe 122. At this time, the substrate separator control unit 123 is a gas outlet injector 121 which is located in the center of the upper substrate (S1) first to inject a gas, the gas outlet injector 121 is located in the outer portion of the upper substrate (S1). ) Controls the respective gas outlets 121 by the method of injecting the gas with a predetermined delay time.

The pressure difference between the space formed by the adhesion of the upper substrate S1 and the adhesive 110 and the process space inside the chambers 100 and 200 is generated by the introduced gas. Because of this pressure difference, the upper substrate S1 is easily separated from the adhesive 110.

When the upper substrate S1 is separated from the adhesive 110, the upper substrate S1 falls by gravity toward the lower substrate S2, and a sealant applied between the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2. By close contact.

After the fall of the upper substrate S1, a high-pressure nitrogen gas is injected through a separate exhaust pipe (not shown) or the gas outlet pipe 122 to pressurize the upper substrate S1. Accordingly, the interior of the chambers 100 and 200 is in a vacuum state to an atmospheric pressure state. In this case, since the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2 are in a vacuum state and the process spaces inside the chambers 100 and 200 are at atmospheric pressure, the pressure difference between the substrates S1 and S2 in close contact with each other. , The adhesion is made by the pressing force of the pressurized gas (S67).

At the same time as the bonding of the two substrates S1 and S2, the liquid crystal coated with the sealant is injected. Injection of the liquid crystal may be performed separately after bonding.

The two bonded substrates S1 and S2 are lifted by the lift pins 220 and are positioned in the unloading position. Then, the transfer means such as the robot arm from the outside of the chamber (100, 200) enters the chamber (100, 200) to take out the two bonded substrates (S1, S2) to complete the bonding process.

1 is a view schematically showing a substrate bonding apparatus according to the present embodiment.

2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an adhesive and a substrate separator according to the present embodiment.

3 is a perspective view showing the shape of the pressure-sensitive adhesive according to the present embodiment.

4 is a cross-sectional view showing the shape of the pressure-sensitive adhesive according to another embodiment.

5 is a cross-sectional view showing the shape of the pressure-sensitive adhesive according to another embodiment.

6 is a view showing an upper chamber in which a plurality of adhesives and substrate separators according to the present embodiment are installed.

7 is a plan view of the upper surface plate in a state where a plurality of the adhesive and the substrate separator according to the present embodiment are disposed.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a substrate bonding method using the substrate bonding apparatus according to the present embodiment.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

101: upper surface plate

201: lower surface plate

110: adhesive

120: substrate separator

121: gas outflow

122: gas outflow pipe

123: substrate separator control unit

Claims (10)

Upper chamber; An upper surface plate provided in the upper chamber; An adhesive provided on the upper surface plate and attaching the upper substrate by adhesive force; A lower surface plate on which a lower substrate to be bonded to the upper substrate is seated; A lower chamber coupled to the upper chamber to form a bonding space in which the upper substrate and the lower substrate may be bonded; And a substrate separator which separates the upper substrate and the pressure-sensitive adhesive by injecting gas between the upper surface plate and the upper substrate through a flow path passing through the upper surface plate. delete The method of claim 1, wherein the pressure-sensitive adhesive, And a surface attached to the upper surface plate and a surface attached to the upper substrate, and having a space penetrating between the two surfaces. The method of claim 3, wherein the substrate separator is A gas outflow injector for providing or inhaling gas into a closed space formed by adhesion of the pressure-sensitive adhesive and the substrate; A gas outlet tube connecting the gas outlet and the waste space; And a substrate separator control unit controlling the gas outlet unit. According to claim 1, wherein the pressure-sensitive adhesive Substrate bonding apparatus characterized in that a plurality is provided on the upper surface plate. The method of claim 5, wherein the adhesives The substrate bonding apparatus, characterized in that the separation between the upper substrate is wider spaced apart from each other, the farther apart from the separation starting portion, the narrower the space between each other. The method of claim 5, The substrate separator is provided in the same number as the plurality of pressure-sensitive adhesive, the substrate separator control unit substrate bonding apparatus, characterized in that to independently control the gas inlet and outlet of each of the plurality of substrate separator. Attaching the upper substrate to the pressure-sensitive adhesive provided on the upper surface plate, and attaching the lower substrate to the lower surface plate; Aligning the upper substrate and the lower substrate; Separating the upper substrate from the adhesive by injecting a gas between the upper substrate attached to the adhesive and the upper surface plate; And joining the upper substrate and the lower substrate when the upper substrate is separated and falls on the lower substrate. The method of claim 8, wherein the separating the pressure-sensitive adhesive from the upper substrate, And a pressure-sensitive adhesive that is separated first from the pressure-sensitive adhesive attached to the center of the upper substrate and separated later from the pressure-sensitive adhesive positioned farther from the middle portion. delete

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