KR19990061355A - Spacer manufacturing method of field effect electron emission display device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a spacer of a field effect electron emission display device, comprising: forming a mask made of sus or ceramic material having holes formed so as to position a spacer at a desired place, and mixing a spherical spacer and a fixing agent; And aligning the mask to the substrate, applying the mixture to the hole and attaching the mask to the substrate, and drying the fixing agent to fix the spacer.

In addition, a hard mask for manufacturing a spacer of the field effect electron emission display device according to the present invention may be provided along a circumferential surface of a substrate made of a sus or ceramic material having a mask hole formed at a position where the spacer is to be fixed, and a tensile force of the substrate. And a protective layer applied to the rear surface of the substrate so that the frame can be brought into close contact with the cathode substrate or the anode substrate.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the spacer can be accurately positioned at a desired place by a simple screen printing method, thereby greatly shortening the manufacturing process and maintaining the height of the spacer uniformly.

Description

Spacer manufacturing method of field effect electron emission display device

The present invention relates to a field effect electron emission display device (hereinafter, abbreviated to FED), and more particularly, to forming a spacer separating the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate, The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a spacer of a field effect electron emission display device, which shortens the manufacturing process, maintains the height of the spacer uniformly, and enables the spacer to be accurately positioned at a desired place.

The field effect electron emission display device is a kind of flat panel display that displays a desired pattern or letter or symbol by emitting light emitted from the cathode by colliding with a phosphor. The field effect electron emission display device has a low power consumption and a high brightness color pattern.

The FED forms a microtips-shaped cathode that emits electrons for field concentration, and forms an anode coated with a gate and phosphor for electric field induction to induce electron emission from a plurality of microtips. When the electrons collide with the phosphor, the phosphor is stimulated to realize an image using light generated in the process of exciting and transitioning the outermost electrons of the phosphor.

Figure 1 shows the basic configuration of this FED. This is formed by crossing the cathode electrode 12 of the column electrode and the gate electrode 16 of the row electrode, which are separated by the insulating layer 18, on the cathode substrate 10. The microtip-shaped emitter 14 is formed integrally with the cathode electrode 12 between each of the electrodes 18, and a gate hole 20 is formed in the upper gate electrode 16 to open.

Meanwhile, the anode electrode 42 and the phosphor 44 of the transparent conductive film ITO are formed on the bottom surface of the anode substrate 40, and the anode substrate 40 and the cathode substrate 10 are formed through a plurality of spacers 30. The microtips of the emitter 14 are formed to face each other to face the phosphor 44 so that electrons are emitted from the tip of the emitter 14 even when only a low voltage is applied to the micro area. The outermost part is vacuum packaged with a sealant (Sealent 60).

In the FED having such a structure, when an appropriate amount of voltage is applied to the cathode electrode 12 and the gate electrode 16, a strong electric field is formed at the microtip of the emitter 14, and electrons are emitted by the quantum mechanical tunnel effect. . When the emitted electrons are attracted to the anode electrode 42 to which a voltage of several hundred volts is applied and collide with the phosphor 44, the emitted electrons are emitted on the phosphor 44.

On the other hand, the conventional FED manufacturing method is as follows. The gate hole 20 and the cavity 22 are formed in a structure in which the cathode electrode 12, the insulating layer 18, and the gate electrode 16 are deposited on the cathode substrate 10 using a conventional semiconductor process. By rotating the cathode substrate 10 and depositing molybdenum (Mo) vapor using an electron beam evaporation apparatus having a predetermined projection angle, the microtip-shaped emitter 14 is formed inside the cavity 22.

In addition, after forming an anode electrode 42 formed of an ITO transparent conductive film on a separate anode substrate 40 and applying a phosphor 44 thereon, the anode substrate 40 and the cathode substrate 10 are mutually A plurality of spacers 30 are formed on the upper surface of the gate electrode 16 of the cathode substrate 10 so as to be opposed to each other at a constant interval, and then the anode substrate 40 is bonded to the FED panel. Then, the edge of the FED panel is encapsulated with the encapsulation body 60 and exhausted through the exhaust port 24 to form a vacuum therein, thereby performing high vacuum packaging.

In addition, a screen printing process of several times a dielectric paste is performed at a predetermined position of the anode substrate 40 on which the phosphor 44 is applied or the cathode substrate 10 on which the emitter 14 is formed. After coating, the resultant is baked to form the spacer 30. FIG. 2 shows the formation of the spacer 30 in this manner, where the spacer 30 determines the spacing between the anode substrate 40 and the cathode substrate 10, thus increasing the height from several hundred microns to several thousand microns. It is formed to have.

However, in the conventional spacer manufacturing process as described above, by repeatedly performing the screen printing process and the heat treatment process several times in order to sufficiently form the height of the spacer 30, a lot of time is put into the process and the already formed device Has a disadvantage of prone to contamination by exposure to the surrounding environment for a long time. In addition, there is a problem that the height of the formed spacer 30 is not uniform.

The present invention has been invented to solve the conventional problems as described above, an object of the present invention is to use a spherical spacer as a means for separating between the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate, the mask hole is formed in the position where the spacer is to be fixed By using a hard mask to provide a spacer manufacturing method that allows the spacer to be fixed in one heat treatment process while maintaining the height of the spacer uniformly, as a device for implementing the above manufacturing method by applying a spacer mixed with a fixing agent The present invention provides a hard mask for manufacturing spacers made of sus or ceramics in which holes are formed to be positioned at a desired place.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a spacer of a field effect electron emission display device, the method comprising: forming a mask made of sus or ceramic material having holes formed so as to position a spacer at a desired place; Mixing the spacer and the fixing agent, aligning the mask on the substrate, applying the mixture to the hole and attaching the substrate, and drying the fixing agent to fix the spacer. .

In addition, a hard mask for manufacturing a spacer of the field effect electron emission display device according to the present invention may be provided along a circumferential surface of a substrate made of a sus or ceramic material having a mask hole formed at a position where the spacer is to be fixed, and a tensile force of the substrate. And a protective layer applied to the rear surface of the substrate so that the frame can be brought into close contact with the cathode substrate or the anode substrate.

According to the present invention, a hard mask having a mask hole formed thereon is aligned on a substrate so that the spacer can be positioned at a desired place, and the spherical spacer is mixed with a fixing agent and then inserted into the mask hole of the hard mask so as to be attached to the substrate. By being fixed through one drying process, the spacer can be accurately positioned at a desired place and the height of the spacer can be maintained uniformly. At this time, since the substrate and the substrate are in close contact with each other by the protective layer applied on the back surface of the hard mask, the fixing agent can be prevented from flowing or spreading, and thus the phosphor is covered by the fixing agent to prevent the resolution from being lowered. Can be.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a typical FED,

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a spacer produced by a conventional screen printing method,

3a to 3c is a process diagram showing a process preceding the spacer manufacturing process according to the present invention,

Figure 4a is a plan view showing a hard mask according to the present invention for use in the manufacture of the spacer in the FED manufacturing process,

4b is a cross-sectional view of a hard mask according to the present invention;

5a to 5d is a spacer manufacturing process according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

10: cathode substrate 12: cathode electrode (Cathode electrode)

14: emitter 16: gate electrode

18: insulating layer 20: gate hole

22: Cavity 24: Exhaust vent

30: spacer 32: fixing agent

40: anode substrate 42: anode electrode

44: color phosphors 50: hard mask

52: frame 54: substrate

56: mask hole 58: protective layer

60: Sealant

Such a characteristic configuration and the effects thereof according to the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the process preceding the spacer manufacturing process of the field effect electron emission display device according to the present invention will be briefly described as follows.

3A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of manufacturing a cathode substrate, in which a cathode electrode 12 is deposited on the cathode substrate 10 and patterned in a column direction, and SiO ₂ or the like is deposited on the cathode electrode 12. The same insulating layer (not shown) is formed by a deposition method, and the gate electrode 16 is deposited on the insulating layer to pattern the gate electrode 16 in a direction orthogonal to the cathode electrode 12 to form the cathode electrode 12 and the gate. The electrodes 16 are separated by an insulating layer and arranged in a lattice shape.

3B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of forming a hole, a cavity, and an emitter, in which a plurality of gate holes 20 are formed at one end of the gate electrode 16, thereby removing the exposed insulating layer 18. To form the cavity 22. Subsequently, a predetermined projection angle is rotated while rotating the structure in which the cathode electrode 12, the insulating layer 18, the gate electrode 16, the gate hole 20, and the cavity 22 are formed on the cathode substrate 10 by the preceding process. A metal layer is formed by an electron beam evaporation apparatus having a to form an emitter 14 having a sharp tip inside the cavity 22.

FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view showing a process for forming an anode substrate. An anode electrode 42 formed of an ITO transparent conductive film is formed on an anode substrate 40, and a phosphor 44 is applied thereon to form a predetermined shape. Pattern.

4A and 4B illustrate a hard mask 50 according to the present invention for positioning a spacer at a desired place in an FED manufacturing process, wherein a mask or ceramic material having a mask hole 56 formed at each position to which the spacer is to be fixed is shown. And a frame 52 provided along the circumferential surface of the substrate 54 and generating a tensile force of the substrate 54. A protective layer 58 is formed on the rear surface of the substrate 54. do.

Here, the thickness of the substrate 54 is made somewhat thicker than the diameter of the spherical spacer 30 to be used as a spacer, the mask hole 56 is produced using a laser. According to this, there is an advantage that the size of the hole 56 can be easily adjusted. In addition, the protective layer 58 allows the substrate 54 of the hard mask 50 to be in close contact with the cathode substrate 10 or the anode substrate 40 so that a gap does not occur therebetween, and a photosensitive agent or polymer It is formed by applying a spin coater (Spin coater) method.

The hard mask 50 for screen printing thus formed is aligned on the anode substrate 40 on which the anode electrode 42 and the phosphor 44 are patterned, as shown in FIG. 5A.

The spherical spacer 30 to be used as a spacer may be made of glass beads or a nonconducting material, and may be mixed with the fixing agent 32 in a predetermined ratio to be fixed after being placed on the anode substrate 40. The material of the fixing agent 32 is preferably the same as that of the sealing material 60 so that plastic deformation may occur at the same time when the sealing material 60 is sintered for vacuum packaging, and frit glass or the like is typically used as the sealing material 60. Assuming that it is used as, the material of the fixing agent 32 is also the same.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 5B, the spherical spacer 30 is scattered on the hard mask 50 for manufacturing the spacer to be inserted through the mask hole 56.

At this time, since the hard mask 50 and the anode substrate 40 are closely contacted by the protective layer 58 and the gap between them is maintained closely, the fixing agent 32 applied to the spherical spacer 30 flows or smears. Will be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the phosphor from being covered by the fixing agent 32 which is not fixed.

Meanwhile, in the above-described process, the process of forming the spacer 30 on the anode substrate 40 is described. However, the spacer 30 may be formed on the cathode substrate 10.

5C and 5D, after the spacer 30 is fixed by removing moisture and binder contained in the fixing agent 32 through a heating process, the substrate on which the spacer 30 is formed is replaced with another substrate. After aligning, the bonding is performed by a vacuum packaging process to form a FED panel.

This vacuum packaging process is performed while maintaining the vacuum of the panel through the exhaust process, the sealing material 60 of the frit glass material is sintered at a temperature of about 400 ℃ or more to seal the panel. At this time, the anode substrate 40 and the cathode substrate 10 are pressed at a predetermined pressure, and the fixing agent 32 made of frit glass material also undergoes plastic deformation at the sintering temperature, so that the internal spacing between the panels is the same as that of the spacer 30. Is formed.

The foregoing has described the present invention with reference to the preferred embodiments, and the technical idea of the present invention is not limited thereto, and modifications and changes may be made without changing the scope within the scope of the claims.

As described above, according to the spacer manufacturing method of the field effect electron emission display device according to the present invention, the spacer can be accurately positioned at a desired place by a simple screen printing method, thereby greatly shortening the manufacturing process and maintaining the height of the spacer uniformly. It becomes possible.

In addition, since the hard mask and the substrate for positioning the spacer are closely contacted by the protective layer to prevent the fixer applied to the spherical spacer from flowing or smearing, the fixer covers the phosphor to prevent the resolution from being lowered. Using a spherical spacer made of glass material can shorten the process compared to the conventional spacer manufacturing process using a dielectric paste, and can reduce the contamination of the device, thereby greatly improving the yield in panel manufacturing. The effect can be obtained.

Claims (8)

In the spacer manufacturing method of the field effect electron emission display device, Forming a mask made of sus or ceramic material in which holes are formed to position the spacers in a desired place; Mixing the spherical spacer and the fixing agent, Aligning the mask to the substrate, Applying the mixture and inserting the mixture into a hole and attaching the mixture to a substrate; And drying the fixing agent to fix the spacers. The method of claim 1, The spherical spacer is a method of manufacturing a spacer of a field effect electron emission display device, characterized in that made of a glass material. The method of claim 1, And the spacer is formed on the anode substrate. The method of claim 1, And the spacer is formed on the cathode substrate. In the spacer manufacturing apparatus of the field effect electron emission display device, A substrate made of sus or ceramic material having a mask hole formed at a position where the spacer is to be fixed; A frame installed along a circumferential surface of the substrate to generate a tensile force of the substrate; And a protective layer coated on a rear surface of the substrate so that the substrate is in close contact with the cathode substrate or the anode substrate. The method of claim 5, The substrate is a hard mask for manufacturing a spacer of the field effect electron emission display device, characterized in that the thickness is made thicker than the diameter of the spherical spacer. The method of claim 5, The mask hole is a hard mask for manufacturing a spacer of the field effect electron emission display device, characterized in that the laser processing. The method of claim 5, The protective layer is a hard mask for manufacturing a spacer of a field effect electron emission display device, characterized in that formed by applying a photosensitive agent or polymer in a spin coater method.