KR101441525B1 - Touch sensor and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A touch sensor of the present invention includes a substrate having a first region for contact detection and a second region for forming a wiring portion; a metal wiring pattern formed on the second region; An insulating layer formed on the metal wiring pattern and having an opening; and a conductive pattern formed on the insulating layer and connected to the metal wiring pattern through the opening.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a touch sensor and a method of manufacturing the touch sensor.

The present invention relates to a touch sensor, and more particularly, to a touch sensor suitable for suppressing the occurrence of a step due to an insulating film for connection / disconnection from a conductive pattern adjacent to a conductive pattern connected to a metal wiring pattern, and a manufacturing method thereof .

Recently, along with the development of mobile communication technology, portable electronic devices such as smart phones, PDAs, smart pads, tablet PCs, and the like have been used not only as means for displaying character information, but also as a device for displaying text information such as audio, video, wireless internet web browsing The function is expanding as a means to provide various complex multimedia.

Accordingly, it is required to realize a display screen as wide as possible within a limited size of a portable electronic device. In order to meet such a demand, a touch which enables key manipulation without requiring a separate key button or keypad for most portable electronic devices Screen panel (touch sensor panel) is applied.

Such a touch screen panel is disposed on an upper part of a display module (e.g., an LCD module, an LED module, or the like) or inside a display module to recognize a touch from a user and generate related key input information. A resistive method, a capacitive method, an ultrasonic method, an optical sensor method, and an electromagnetic induction method classified according to the present invention can be applied. The present invention relates to improvement of a capacitance method.

A typical conventional wiring substrate for a touch screen (for a touch sensor) includes a transparent substrate, a print layer formed on an external wiring region (non-display region) of the transparent substrate, a contact detection region (display region) An insulating layer formed to expose a part of the transparent electrode on the printing layer, a metal wiring pattern formed on the insulating layer and connected to the exposed transparent electrode, and the like. Here, the transparent electrode may include a sensing electrode and a driving electrode.

Here, the printing layer may be composed of an opaque material, for example, white or black, and the wiring pattern may be formed of one or more layers for more secure concealment and a clear coloring of the printing layer material, .

However, since the conventional wiring substrate for a touch screen typically forms a metal wiring pattern, there is a problem that the conductive pattern is damaged when the metal wiring pattern is formed.

In a typical conventional wiring substrate for a touch screen, when a print layer is formed of a plurality of layers, a step (vertical structure step) increases in a non-display region of a transparent substrate. In this case, There is a problem that disconnection occurs in the transparent electrode due to the step difference.

In addition, the conventional wiring substrate for a conventional touch screen has a problem that malfunctions such as recognition failure of the touch input and generation of a ghost touch may occur due to defective disconnection of the transparent electrode due to the step.

Korean Laid-Open Patent No. 2011-0047473 (Published on May 05, 2011)

The present invention reduces the occurrence of defects caused by the formation of metal wiring patterns in the process of manufacturing a touch sensor by first forming an insulating layer on a metal wiring pattern on a wiring substrate of a touch sensor and finally forming a conductive pattern It provides a new technique to do.

Further, according to the present invention, an insulating layer is formed on a display region of a metal wiring pattern and a transparent substrate, and a conductive pattern is formed on the insulating layer to improve the surface roughness. It provides a new technique that can be suppressed.

In addition, the present invention provides a novel technique that can suppress the occurrence of a step in a non-display area of a transparent substrate by forming an insulating layer using a spin coating process rather than a printing process.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device comprising a substrate composed of a first region for contact detection and a second region for forming a wiring portion, a metal wiring pattern formed on the second region, And a conductive pattern formed on the insulating layer and connected to the metal wiring pattern through the opening. The touch sensor of the present invention includes: a metal wiring pattern;

The insulating layer of the present invention may be a transparent insulating material formed through a spin coating process.

The present invention may further comprise a printing layer formed between the substrate and the metal wiring pattern in the second region.

The printed layer of the present invention may be an insulating film of an opaque material, and the conductive pattern may be a transparent conductive material, and the substrate may be a reinforced glass or a cover glass made of a high hardness plastic material.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: preparing a substrate composed of a first region for contact detection and a second region for forming a wiring portion; forming a metal wiring pattern on the second region; Forming an insulating layer on the metal wiring pattern; forming an opening for exposing an upper portion of the metal wiring pattern; forming a conductive pattern on the insulating layer, which is connected to the metal wiring pattern through the opening; The method comprising the steps of:

The method of the present invention may further include forming a print layer on the second region before forming the metal wiring pattern.

The insulating layer of the present invention may be a transparent insulating material formed through a spin coating process.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device comprising a substrate having a first region for contact detection and a second region for forming a wiring portion, a metal wiring pattern formed on the second region, And a conductive pattern formed on the first region and the insulating layer, the conductive pattern being connected to the metal wiring pattern through the opening, A touch sensor is provided.

The insulating layer of the present invention may be a transparent or opaque insulating material formed through a spin coating process.

The touch sensor of the present invention may further include a print layer formed between the substrate and the metal wiring pattern in the second region.

According to the present invention, by forming an insulating layer in a display region of a metal wiring pattern and a transparent substrate, and forming a conductive pattern on the insulating layer, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a step in a non- Defective disconnection of the transparent electrode due to the vertical structure step difference) can be effectively suppressed.

Further, according to the present invention, by forming an insulating layer using a spin coating process rather than a printing process, it is possible to further suppress the occurrence of a step in the non-display region of the transparent substrate, Occurrence of a malfunction can be effectively suppressed.

1 is a plan view schematically showing a planar structure of a touch sensor panel to which a touch sensor of the present invention is applicable;
2 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a part of a touch sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention,
3A to 3D are process flow diagrams illustrating a main process of manufacturing a touch sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention,
4 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a part of a touch sensor according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention,
5 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a part of a touch sensor according to another embodiment of the present invention,
6 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a part of a touch sensor according to a modified embodiment of another embodiment of the present invention.

First, the advantages and features of the present invention, and how to accomplish them, will be clarified with reference to the embodiments to be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

In the following description of the present invention, detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. It is to be understood that the following terms are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, and may be changed according to intentions or customs of a user, an operator, and the like. Therefore, the definition should be based on the technical idea described throughout this specification.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a planar structure of a touch sensor panel to which the touch sensor of the present invention is applicable. The substrate 100 includes a first region 110 defined as a display region (or a contact detection region) And may include a second region 120 that may be defined as a non-display region (or an external wiring region), wherein the first region includes a column electrode 111 and a patch electrode 112).

Here, the column electrodes 111 are arranged at regular intervals on the first axis to sense the input coordinates of the first axis (e.g., the transverse direction), and the patch electrodes 112 are arranged on the second axis Vertical direction) of the first axis and a plurality of the second axis are arranged at regular intervals on the second axis.

Each of the column electrodes 111 is elongated along the first axis direction, and each of the patch electrodes 112 is electrically connected to the patch electrodes 112 located at the same position on the second axis. The patch electrodes 112 located at the same position on the second axis may be electrically connected in the second region 120.

Referring to FIG. 1, the substrate 100 may be a transparent substrate. The substrate 100 may be a rigid material such as reinforced glass, acrylic resin, or a hard PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PC (polycarbonate), PES ), PI (Polyimide), PMMA (PolyMethly MethaAcrylate), or the like. Further, the substrate 100 may be a cover glass applied to a touch screen. In this case, the cover glass is made of a reinforced glass or a high hard plastic material and is designed to have a sufficient protection function by realizing a thickness of 0.3 T or more .

In the first region 110 functioning as the contact detection region (or display region), a plurality of electrodes 111 and 112, a conductive pattern (not shown) including a plurality of internal wirings for connecting the electrodes and the wiring pattern, And a plurality of metal wiring patterns 121 connected to the corresponding conductive patterns may be formed in the second region 120 that functions as a wiring portion or an external wiring region (or non-display region) , One or more printing layers (not shown) are formed on the external wiring region in order to conceal the metal wiring patterns 121 and the like existing in the external wiring region 120 (or the wiring portion) .

1, the external wiring region 120 is located at the upper and lower ends of the outer perimeter of the contact detection region 110. However, this is only an exemplary illustration for convenience of explanation and improvement of understanding. The invention is not necessarily limited to this. The external wiring region may be designed to be located at the left end and the right end of the contact detection region, or may be designed to surround the four contact detection regions, or the contact detection region and the external wiring region It is needless to say that they can be designed in a unified form.

2 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a part of a touch sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the touch sensor of the present embodiment includes a first region 201a that can be defined as a display region (or a contact detection region), and a second region 201a that can be defined as a non-display region A printed layer 204 having an arbitrary pattern is formed on the second region 201b on the substrate 202 and a metal wiring pattern 206 is formed on the printed layer 204 .

An insulating layer 208 having an opening exposing a top portion of the metal wiring pattern 206 is formed on the first region 201a of the substrate 202 and the metal wiring pattern 206, A conductive pattern 210 electrically connected to the exposed metal wiring pattern 206 is formed on the upper surface of the upper surface of the metal wiring pattern 208 through an opening.

Here, the printed layer 204 formed on the second area 201b of the substrate 202 is an area that the user does not need to visually recognize. Therefore, the printed layer 204 can be formed of an opaque insulating material such as white ink or black ink And may be formed of a plurality of print layers so as to more reliably conceal the metal wiring patterns and the like existing in the second area 201b.

A plurality of metal wiring patterns 206 formed on the print layer 204 are formed by forming a metal wiring material (for example, silver or the like) on the entire surface of the print layer 204 by a sputtering process or the like , And then a photolithography process or the like using a mask pattern is performed to selectively remove a portion of the metal wiring material, thereby forming the metal wiring pattern 206 in a desired pattern. One end of the metal wiring pattern 206 is electrically connected to the corresponding And the other end is connected to a touch sensor chip (not shown).

Next, the insulating layer 208 formed over the first region 201a of the substrate 202 and the metal wiring pattern 206 is covered with a metal wiring pattern 206 corresponding to each other from a functional standpoint Only the conductive pattern 210 is connected and other conductive patterns adjacent to the corresponding conductive pattern 210 are prevented from being connected to the metal interconnection pattern 206. The metal interconnection pattern 206 and the conductive pattern 210, (That is, an opening exposing an upper portion of the metal wiring pattern 206) is formed. Here, the opening may be defined as a via hole.

Here, the insulating layer 208 may be formed as a transparent insulating material, for example, through a spin coating process, and the opening may be formed in such a manner that a part of the transparent insulating material is selectively removed through an etching process using an etching mask . The opening for exposing a part of the upper part of the metal wiring pattern 206 may be formed in a shape such as a circle, an ellipse, a square, or the like.

The conductive pattern 210 may be formed of a transparent conductive material such as an oxide such as ITO (indium tin oxide), IZO (indium zinc oxide), or ZO (zinc oxide), a carbon nanotube, a metal nanowire, And a transparent conductive material is formed (deposited) on the entire surface of the insulating layer 208 having an opening exposing a part of the upper part of the metal wiring pattern 206 by performing, for example, a sputtering process, A photolithography process or the like is performed to selectively remove a part of the transparent conductive material to form a pattern of a desired shape. Here, the conductive pattern 210 and the metal wiring pattern 206 are electrically connected through an opening formed in the insulating layer 208.

That is, the conductive pattern 210 may be formed over the first region 201a and the second region 201b of the substrate 202 for connection between the electrode (column electrode, patch electrode) (not shown) and the metal wiring pattern have. Here, the column electrodes are arranged in a plurality of regular intervals on the first axis to sense the input coordinates of the first axis (e.g., the horizontal direction), and the patch electrodes are arranged in the second axis A plurality of sensors may be arranged on the second axis at regular intervals.

3A to 3D are process flow diagrams illustrating a main process of manufacturing a touch sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3A, after a substrate 202 for manufacturing a touch sensor is prepared, a printing process using an opaque ink such as white ink or black ink is performed to form a second region 201b of the substrate 202, A printing layer 204 having an arbitrary pattern is formed.

Then, a metal wiring material is formed on the entire surface of the print layer 204 by performing a deposition process such as sputtering, and a photo process or the like using a mask pattern (not shown) is performed to selectively remove a part of the metal wiring material A plurality of metal wiring patterns 206 having an arbitrary pattern are formed on the print layer 204, for example, as shown in Fig. 3B. Here, one end of each metal wiring pattern 206 is connected to the conductive pattern 210 formed through a process described later, and the other end is connected to a touch sensor chip (not shown).

Subsequently, a spin-coating process is performed to apply a transparent insulating material (for example, an organic insulator material) over the entire surface of the substrate 202 on which the metal wiring pattern 206 is formed, and an etching process using an etching mask A portion of the upper portion of the metal wiring pattern 206 is exposed over the first region 201a and the upper portion of the metal wiring pattern 206 as shown in FIG. 3C, for example, by selectively removing a portion of the transparent insulating material. An insulating layer 208 having an opening 208a is formed. Here, the opening 208a may be defined as a via hole, and may be formed into a shape such as a circle, an ellipse, a square, or the like.

Here, the spin coating process for forming the insulating layer 208 includes a second region 201b in which the print layer 204 and the metal wiring pattern 206 are laminated, and a second region 201b in which no layer (or pattern) It is possible to smoothly adjust the stepped inclination (angle) between the regions 201a (the effect of alleviating the step difference), and realize the effect of improving the surface roughness.

A transparent conductive material is formed on the entire surface of the insulating layer 208 by performing a deposition process such as sputtering, and a photo process or the like using a mask pattern (not shown) is performed to selectively remove a part of the transparent conductive material A conductive pattern 210 is formed on the insulating layer 208 and connected to the metal wiring pattern 206 under the opening 208a through an opening 208a as shown in FIG. 3D as an example.

As the conductive pattern 210, a transparent conductive material such as an oxide such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide), IZO (Indium Zinc Oxide), or ZO (Zinc Oxide), a carbon nanotube, a metal nanowire, Can be applied (used).

4 is a partially cut-away sectional view showing a part of a touch sensor according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

4, the touch sensor of this embodiment differs from the embodiment of FIG. 2 in that an opening is formed in the insulating layer so that an upper part of a substantially central portion of the metal wiring pattern is exposed, The structure, material, function, and manufacturing process are different from each other in that the structure, function, material, and manufacturing process of the corresponding constituent members shown in Fig. 2 are different from each other in that they form an exposed region 408a exposing the top of the termination, . Here, the conductive pattern 410 is connected to the metal wiring pattern 406 formed on the lower portion of the insulating layer 408 through the exposed region 408a.

2, the second region 401b corresponds to the second region 201b in FIG. 2, the substrate 402 corresponds to the substrate 202 in FIG. 2, the first region 401a corresponds to the first region 201a, The printed wiring layer 404 is formed on the printed layer 204 in Fig. 2, the metal wiring pattern 406 on the metal wiring pattern 206 in Fig. 2, the insulating layer 208 in Fig. 2 on the insulating layer 408, The conductive pattern 410 corresponds to the conductive pattern 210 of FIG. 2, and these corresponding components are substantially the same in structure, function, and manufacturing process, and the metal pattern 406 and the conductive pattern The metal wiring pattern 410 is electrically connected through the exposed region 408a formed at one end of the metal wiring pattern 406. [ Here, the insulating layer 408 may be formed of, for example, four layers having different lamination areas when four metal wiring patterns 406 are formed.

Meanwhile, in the above-described embodiments of the present invention, the insulating layer is formed on the front surface (the first region and the second region) of the substrate formed through the spin coating, and the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. (For example, a structure in which an insulating layer is formed only in the second region) may be applied to the contact detection region or the display region.

5 is a partially cut-away sectional view showing a part of a touch sensor according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5, the touch sensor of the present embodiment is different from the embodiment of FIG. 2 in that an insulating layer is formed over the entire surface of the first region and the second region, and an insulating layer is not formed in the first region 501a The structure, the material, the function, and the manufacturing process are different from each other in that the insulating layer 508 is selectively formed only in the second region 501b, and the structure, function, and function of the corresponding constituent members shown in FIG. Material and manufacturing process. Here, the insulating material formed in the first region 501a through the spin coating may be simultaneously removed when the insulating material is selectively removed (etched) to form the opening.

2, the second region 501b corresponds to the second region 501b in FIG. 2, the substrate 502 corresponds to the substrate 502 in FIG. 2, the first region 501a corresponds to the first region 201a, The printed layer 504 is printed on the printed layer 204 of Fig. 2, the metal wiring pattern 506 is printed on the metal wiring pattern 506 of Fig. 2, the insulating layer 208 of Fig. 2 of the insulating layer 508, The conductive patterns 510 correspond to the conductive patterns 210 of FIG. 2, respectively, and these corresponding components are substantially the same in terms of structure, function, and manufacturing process.

Here, since the insulating layer 508 is formed only in the second region 501b which can be defined as a non-display region (a wiring portion or an external wiring region), an opaque insulating material other than a transparent insulating material may be applied.

Therefore, in order to avoid unnecessary redundant description for the sake of simplification of the specification, the description of the structure, function, material, manufacturing process, etc. of each constituent member constituting the touch sensor is omitted in this embodiment.

6 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a part of a touch sensor according to a modified embodiment of another embodiment of the present invention.

6, the touch sensor of this embodiment differs from the embodiment of FIG. 5 in that an opening is formed in the insulating layer so that an upper part of a substantially central portion of the metal wiring pattern is exposed, The structure, the material, the function, and the manufacturing process are different from each other in that the structure, the function, the material, and the manufacturing process of the corresponding constituent members shown in Fig. 5 are different from each other in that they form an exposed region 608a, . Here, the conductive pattern 610 is connected to the metal wiring pattern 606 formed on the lower portion of the insulating layer 608 through the exposed region 608a.

5. That is, the first region 601a corresponds to the first region 501a, the second region 601b corresponds to the second region 501b shown in FIG. 5, and the substrate 602 corresponds to the substrate 502 shown in FIG. 5 of the insulating layer 608, the insulating layer 508 of FIG. 5, the metal wiring pattern 606, the metal wiring pattern 506 of FIG. 5, the printed layer 604, the printed layer 604, The conductive pattern 610 corresponds to the conductive pattern 510 of FIG. 5, and these corresponding components are substantially the same in terms of structure, function, and manufacturing process, and the metal pattern 606 and the conductive pattern The metal wiring pattern 610 is electrically connected through the exposed region 608a formed at one end of the metal wiring pattern 606. [ Here, the insulating layer 608 may be formed of four layers having different lamination areas when, for example, four metal wiring patterns 606 are formed.

Meanwhile, the touch sensor manufactured according to the present invention can be manufactured as a touch sensor of a portable electronic device, and the touch sensor can be manufactured as a single touch sensing device.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. It is easy to see that this is possible. In other words, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention but to limit the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be construed in accordance with the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope of equivalents should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

201a, 401a, 501a, and 601a:
201b, 401b, 501a, and 601a:
202, 402, 502, 602:
204, 404, 504, 604: printing layer
206, 406, 506, 606: metal wiring patterns
208, 408, 508, 608: insulating layer
208a: opening
210, 410, 510, 610: conductive pattern
408a, 608a:

Claims (13)

A substrate having a first region for contact detection and a second region for forming a wiring portion,
A metal wiring pattern formed on the second region,
An insulating layer formed on the metal wiring pattern and having an opening exposing an upper portion of the metal wiring pattern;
A conductive pattern formed on the insulating layer and connected to the metal wiring pattern through the opening;
A column electrode connected to each of the metal wiring patterns through the conductive pattern,
/ RTI >
Wherein the plurality of column electrodes are arranged at regular intervals on the first axis to sense input coordinates of the first axis and the patch electrodes are arranged on the second axis at a predetermined interval to sense input coordinates of the second axis, Respectively,
Each of the column electrodes is elongated along the direction of the first axis, and each of the patch electrodes is electrically connected to the patch electrodes positioned at the same position on the second axis in the second region
And the touch sensor.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the insulating layer
Formed through a spin-coating process
Touch sensor.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the insulating layer
Transparent insulating material
Touch sensor.
The method according to claim 1,
And a printed layer formed between the substrate and the metal wiring pattern in the second region
Further comprising a touch sensor.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the print layer comprises:
Insulating film of opaque material
Touch sensor.
The method according to claim 1,
In the conductive pattern,
A transparent conductive material
Touch sensor.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein:
Cover glass made of tempered glass or high hard plastic material
Touch sensor.
delete delete delete A substrate having a first region for contact detection and a second region for forming a wiring portion,
A metal wiring pattern formed on the second region,
An insulating layer formed on the first region and the metal wiring pattern and having an opening exposing an upper portion of the metal wiring pattern;
A conductive pattern formed on the first region and the insulating layer, the conductive pattern being connected to the metal wiring pattern through the opening;
A column electrode connected to each of the metal wiring patterns through the conductive pattern,
/ RTI >
Wherein the plurality of column electrodes are arranged at regular intervals on the first axis to sense input coordinates of the first axis and the patch electrodes are arranged on the second axis at a predetermined interval to sense input coordinates of the second axis, Respectively,
Each of the column electrodes is elongated along the direction of the first axis, and each of the patch electrodes is electrically connected to the patch electrodes located at the same position on the second axis in the second region
And the touch sensor.
12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the insulating layer
A transparent or opaque insulating material formed through a spin coating process
Touch sensor.
12. The method of claim 11,
The touch sensor includes:
And a printed layer formed between the substrate and the metal wiring pattern in the second region
Further comprising a touch sensor.

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