KR20050019937A - Method for manufacturing plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

It is a manufacturing method of the plasma display panel which can form a favorable film | membrane by appropriately controlling the state of a film-forming chamber in the film-forming of a plasma display panel to the board | substrate. A method of manufacturing a display panel having a film forming step of holding the front substrate 3 in a substrate holder 30 to form a film. In the film formation, the substrate holder 30 is repeatedly used to form a film. The process is carried out by mixing the substrate holder 30 in which the film is attached and the substrate holder 30 in the state in which the attached film is removed by repeatedly using the mixture in the deposition chamber 21 serving as a deposition chamber. The change of states, such as a vacuum degree, in the chamber 21 is made small.

Description

Manufacturing method of plasma display panel {METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING PLASMA DISPLAY PANEL}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for producing a PDP, which is a large screen, and forms a film on a substrate of a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as PDP) known as a thin, lightweight display device.

PDP is manufactured through the process of forming an electrode layer on the surface of board | substrates, such as glass, for example, covering this, forming a dielectric layer, and forming the protective film which consists of MgO on it.

Conventionally, as a method of forming the protective film, a method of coating and baking MgO paste, a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method using an electron beam, an ion beam, or the like has been used. Among them, a MgO film having a high film forming speed and relatively high quality can be formed. Electron beam deposition is widely used (see, e.g., 2001 FPD Technology Fair, eJournal, Inc., October 25, 2000, p598-p600).

The deposition of the PDP onto the substrate is usually performed in a state of being held in a substrate holder from the viewpoint of stably holding the substrate in the deposition chamber or stably transporting the substrate into the deposition chamber. Therefore, at the time of film formation on a substrate, a film formation material adheres to the substrate holder at the same time, and a film is formed.

Here, in order to stabilize the quality of the film formed on the substrate, it is important to stabilize the state in the film formation chamber such as vacuum degree. However, the substrate holder described above travels between the air and the film formation chamber during the film formation process, and the film deposition material adhering to the surface adsorbs gas including water well, thus greatly increasing the state in the film formation chamber such as vacuum degree. It is a factor to change.

Thus, in order to reduce the degree of influence that the substrate holder exerts on the state in the deposition chamber, for example, the substrate holder with the film forming material serving as the gas discharge source is exchanged with the substrate holder without the film forming material to form the film. By reducing the amount of gas emitted in the chamber, stabilization of a state in the film formation chamber such as vacuum degree is performed.

However, even in the direction of reducing the amount of gas emitted in the deposition chamber to improve the state in the deposition chamber such as vacuum degree, when the state change is large, the quality of the formed film is also greatly changed, causing variation in the characteristics of the PDP. I knew that.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to realize a PDP manufacturing method capable of forming a good film by appropriately controlling the state of the deposition chamber in the deposition of a PDP onto a substrate.

1 is a sectional perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a PDP;

2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a film forming apparatus used in a method for manufacturing a PDP in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a change in the vacuum degree attained in the film formation chamber when the substrate holder is used as the substrate holder with no film deposited in the PDP manufacturing method.

4 is a diagram showing an example of the timing of replacement of the substrate holder by the PDP manufacturing method in the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a vacuum degree state of a film formation chamber by replacing a substrate holder in the method of manufacturing the PDP; FIG.

6 (a) is a plan view showing the structure of the substrate holder in the method of manufacturing the PDP;

(B) is sectional drawing A-A of FIG. 6 (a).

In order to solve the said subject, the manufacturing method of the PDP of this invention is a manufacturing method of the PDP which has a film-forming process of carrying out film-forming, holding a board | substrate in a board | substrate holder, The substrate holder is used repeatedly at the time of film-forming, The film-forming process is performed by mixing the board | substrate holder which is in the state with a film | membrane, and the board | substrate holder which was in the state which removed the film | membrane by mixing repeatedly in a film-forming chamber.

According to such a manufacturing method, it is possible to appropriately maintain a state such as the degree of vacuum in the film formation chamber and to suppress a sudden state change, thereby achieving a stable and high quality film.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the manufacturing method of PDP by embodiment of this invention is demonstrated using drawing.

First, an example of the structure of the PDP will be described. 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing an example of a schematic configuration of a PDP manufactured by the PDP manufacturing method in the first embodiment of the present invention.

The front plate 2 of the PDP 1 is, for example, a display electrode 6 composed of a scan electrode 4 and a sustain electrode 5 formed on one main surface of a transparent and insulating front substrate 3 such as glass. And a dielectric layer 7 covering the display electrode 6 and a protective layer 8 made of, for example, MgO, covering the dielectric layer 7. The scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5 have a structure in which bus electrodes 4b and 5b made of a metal material are laminated on the transparent electrodes 4a and 5a for the purpose of reducing electrical resistance.

In addition, the back plate 9 includes, for example, an address electrode 11 formed on one main surface of an insulating back substrate 10 such as glass, a dielectric layer 12 covering the address electrode 11, and a dielectric layer 12. The structure is provided with the partition 13 located in the place corresponded between the address electrodes 11 on (), and the phosphor layers 14R, 14G, and 14B between the partition 13.

The front plate 2 and the back plate 9 face each other so that the display electrode 6 and the address electrode 11 are orthogonal to each other with the partition 13 therebetween, and the sealing member is disposed around the outside of the image display area. It is a sealed composition. In the discharge space 15 formed between the front plate 2 and the back plate 9, for example, He-Xe-based and Ne-Xe-based discharge gases are sealed at a pressure of approximately 66.5 kPa. The intersection of the display electrode 6 and the address electrode 11 in the discharge space 15 operates as the discharge cell 16 (unit light emitting region).

Next, the above-described PDP 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 in the same manner.

The front plate 2 first forms the scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5 on the front substrate 3 in a stripe shape. Specifically, on the front substrate 3, a film of transparent electrodes 4a and 5a, for example, ITO or the like, is formed by a deposition process such as vapor deposition or sputtering, and then patterned by photolithography or the like to form a stripe shape. Transparent electrodes 4a and 5a are formed. In addition, the material of the bus electrodes 4b and 5b, for example, Ag, is formed by a deposition process such as vapor deposition, sputtering, or printing, and then patterned by photolithography or the like to form a stripe bus electrode 4b, 5b). By the above, the display electrode 6 which consists of the stripe-shaped scan electrode 4 and the sustain electrode 5 can be obtained.

Next, the display electrode 6 formed as described above is covered with the dielectric layer 7. The dielectric layer 7 is formed so as to have a predetermined layer thickness (approximately 20 to 50 µm, preferably 40 µm) by applying a paste containing lead-based glass material, for example, by screen printing or by firing. As a paste containing the lead-based glass material, for example, a mixture of PbO, B ₂ O ₃ , SiO ₂ , and CaO with an organic binder (eg, ethyl cellulose dissolved in α-terpineol) This is used. Herein, the organic binder is obtained by dissolving a resin in an organic solvent, and in addition to ethyl cellulose, an acrylic resin as a resin and butyl carbitol as an organic solvent can also be used. In addition, a dispersant (for example, glycerin trioleate) or the like may be incorporated into such an organic binder.

Next, the dielectric layer 7 formed as described above is covered with the protective layer 8. The protective layer 8 is formed of MgO, for example, and is formed to have a predetermined thickness (approximately 0.4 to 1 μm, preferably approximately 0.6 μm) by a film forming process such as vapor deposition or sputtering.

On the other hand, the back plate 9 forms the address electrodes 11 on the back substrate 10 in a stripe shape. Specifically, on the back substrate 10, a material of the address electrode 11, for example, a film made of Ag, is formed by a deposition process such as vapor deposition, sputtering, or printing, and then patterned by a photolithography method or the like. The address electrodes 11 are formed in a stripe shape.

Next, the address electrode 11 formed as described above is covered with the dielectric layer 12. The dielectric layer 12 is formed so as to have a predetermined layer thickness (approximately 10 to 50 µm, preferably approximately 10 µm) by, for example, applying a paste containing lead-based glass material and baking the same after screen printing. do.

 Next, the partition 13 is formed in a stripe shape. Like the dielectric layer 12, the partition 13 is formed by repeatedly applying, for example, a paste containing a lead-based glass material at a predetermined pitch by, for example, a screen printing method and then firing. Here, the clearance dimension of the partition 13 is about 130 micrometers-360 micrometers in the case of 32 inches-65 inches, for example.

In the groove between the partition 13 and the partition 13, phosphor layers 14R, 14G, and 14B formed of phosphor particles of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are formed. . This is formed as phosphor layers 14R, 14G, and 14B formed by binding the phosphor particles by applying a paste-like phosphor composed of phosphor particles of each color and an organic binder and firing the same to dissipate the organic binder.

The front plate 2 and the back plate 9 produced as described above are overlapped so that the display electrode 6 of the front plate 2 and the address electrode 11 of the back plate 9 are perpendicular to each other. The sealing glass is inserted in the peripheral edge and sealed by an airtight sealing layer (not shown) formed by firing at a temperature lower than the firing temperature of the dielectric layer 7. Then, once the inside of the discharge space 15 is evacuated to high vacuum, the PDP 1 is produced by encapsulating a discharge gas of, for example, a He-Xe system or a Ne-Xe system at a predetermined pressure.

Next, the film-forming process in the manufacturing process of the PDP demonstrated above is demonstrated using drawing, taking the film-forming process of the MgO film of the protective layer 8 as an example. First, an example of the structure of the film-forming apparatus is demonstrated. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a film forming apparatus 20 for forming a protective layer 8.

The film forming apparatus 20 is constituted by a vacuum chamber in which MgO is deposited on the front substrate 3 of the front plate 2 of the plasma display panel to form a protective layer 8 which is a thin film of MgO. The film forming apparatus 20 is a vapor deposition chamber 21 which is a film formation chamber, a substrate input chamber 22 for preheating and preliminary exhaust gas before the front substrate 3 is introduced into the vapor deposition chamber 21, and vapor deposition. It consists of the board | substrate taking-out chamber 23 for cooling the front substrate 3 after vapor deposition in the chamber 21 is complete | finished.

Each of the above-described substrate input chamber 22, deposition chamber 21 which is a film formation chamber, and substrate take-out chamber 23 has a sealed structure so that the inside can be in a vacuum atmosphere, and each chamber is independently vacuum evacuation system 24a. And 24b and 24c), respectively.

Moreover, the conveying means 25 which consists of a conveyance roller, a wire, a chain, etc. is arrange | positioned through the board | substrate input chamber 22, the vapor deposition chamber 21, and the board | substrate taking-out chamber 23. Moreover, between the outside of the film-forming apparatus 20 and the board | substrate input chamber 22, between the board | substrate input chamber 22 and the vapor deposition chamber 21, between the vapor deposition chamber 21 and the board | substrate taking-out chamber 23, the board | substrate taking-out chamber ( 23 and the outside of the film-forming apparatus 20 are divided by the boundary walls 26a, 26b, 26c, and 26d which can be opened and closed, respectively. And by the drive | operation of the conveying means 25, and opening and closing of the boundary walls 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d, the degree of vacuum of each of the board | substrate input chamber 22, the vapor deposition chamber 21, and the board | substrate taking-out chamber 23 is Fluctuations are made to the minimum. The front substrate 3 is passed through the substrate input chamber 22, the deposition chamber 21, and the substrate take-out chamber 23 in order from the outside of the film forming apparatus 20 to perform a predetermined process in each chamber. After that, the film is taken out of the film forming apparatus 20. By the above operation, the plurality of front substrates 3 are continuously introduced, whereby MgO can be formed continuously.

In addition, the heating lamps 27a and 27b for heating the board | substrate 3 are provided in each chamber of the board | substrate input chamber 22 and the vapor deposition chamber 21, respectively. Moreover, as an apparatus structure, in addition to the above-mentioned, board | substrate heating for heating the board | substrate 3 between the board | substrate input chamber 22 and the vapor deposition chamber 21 according to the setting conditions of the temperature profile of the front substrate 3, for example. One or more chambers may be provided, or one or more substrate cooling chambers may be provided between the deposition chamber 21 and the substrate take-out chamber 23.

The vapor deposition chamber 21 is provided with a Hurst 28b containing MgO particles serving as the vapor deposition source 28a, an electron gun 28c, a deflection magnet (not shown) for applying a magnetic field, and the like. The electron beam 28d irradiated from the electron gun 28c is deflected by the magnetic field generated by the deflection magnet to irradiate the vapor deposition source 28a to generate a vapor flow 28e of MgO which is the vapor deposition source 28a. The generated vapor stream 28e is deposited on the surface of the front substrate 3 to form the protective layer 8 of MgO. The vapor stream 28e can be shut off by the shutter 28f except when necessary.

In the film-forming apparatus 20 demonstrated above, in the film-forming apparatus 20, the board | substrate holder 30 is connected or contacted with the conveying means 25, in the state which hold | maintained the front board | substrate 3 in the board | substrate holder 30. Is returning.

Next, the flow of the process at the time of forming an MgO film on the front substrate 3 will be described below. First, the substrate holding device 30 holding the front substrate 3 is introduced into the substrate loading chamber 22 and heated by the heating lamp 27a while preliminarily evacuating by the vacuum exhaust system 24a. Here, the front substrate 3 is in a state where the display electrode 6 and the dielectric layer 7 are formed.

When the inside of the substrate input chamber 22 reaches a predetermined degree of vacuum, the boundary wall 26b is opened, and the substrate 3 in the heated state is held in the substrate holder 30 by using the conveying means 25. It conveys to the vapor deposition chamber 21 in a state.

In the vapor deposition chamber 21, the board | substrate 3 is heated by the heating lamp 27b, and this is kept at a fixed temperature. This temperature is set to about 200-300 degreeC or less so that the display electrode 6 and the dielectric layer 7 may not deteriorate thermally. Then, in the state where the shutter 28f is closed, the electron beam 28d is irradiated to the deposition source 28a from the electron gun 28c and preheated, so that predetermined gas emission from the MgO particles is performed. Thereafter, when the shutter 28f is opened, the vapor stream 28e of MgO is radiated toward the front substrate 3 held by the substrate holder 30, and a deposition film of MgO is deposited on the front substrate 3. The protective layer 8 is formed.

In this film-forming process, a film-forming material will also adhere to the board | substrate holder 30 holding the front substrate 3. Then, when the film thickness of the protective layer 8 which is a vapor deposition film of MgO reaches a predetermined value (approximately 0.4 to 1 mu m, preferably approximately 0.6 mu m), the shutter 28f is closed and the front substrate is passed through the boundary wall 26c. (3) is conveyed to the board | substrate taking-out chamber 23. FIG. Here, the conveying means 25 is a structure which contacts or connects only the both ends of the board | substrate holding tool 30, and conveys. Therefore, the conveying means 25 forms the shadow of the vapor stream 28e in the front substrate 3, and does not cause a problem in the quality of the protective layer 8.

The front substrate 3 in which the protective layer 8 is formed in the vapor deposition chamber 21 is conveyed to the board | substrate taking-out chamber 23, and is taken out from the board | substrate holder 30 cooled below predetermined temperature. Subsequently, the substrate holding tool 30 after being transported out of the film forming apparatus 20 and separating the vapor-deposited front substrate 3 is returned immediately before the substrate feeding chamber 22 to form a new thin film. After holding the front substrate 3 of), it is reinserted into the film forming apparatus 20.

On the other hand, in order to stabilize the quality of the protective layer 8 formed, it is important to stabilize the state in the vapor deposition chamber 21. However, as described above, the substrate holder 30 travels in the atmosphere and the vapor deposition chamber 21, and a film forming material is attached to the surface of the substrate holder 30 during the film formation. The deposited film-forming material adsorbs gas including water and causes a large deterioration of the state in the deposition chamber 21 such as vacuum degree. Therefore, in order to reduce the influence degree in the vapor deposition chamber 21 of the board | substrate holder 30, the following process may be performed. That is, after exiting from the substrate take-out chamber 23, the front substrate 3 which has been deposited is separated, and the front substrate 3 of the new film is held, and the surface is again put into the film forming apparatus 20. The substrate holder 30 to which the film forming material is attached is replaced with the substrate holder 30 to which the film forming material is not attached. Therefore, it replaces with the board | substrate holding tool 30 which has no adhesion of film-forming material, and is holding | maintaining the front substrate 3 of a new unfilmed film, and is reprocessing it into the film-forming apparatus 20. FIG.

As a result, the film-forming material adhering to the surface of the substrate holder 30, which is a gas emission source in the vapor deposition chamber 21, is removed and the amount of gas emitted is reduced. It becomes possible to aim at stabilization of the state inside.

However, according to the investigation by the present inventors, even if the amount of gas emitted in the deposition chamber 21 is reduced and the degree of vacuum is improved, if the state is largely changed, the quality of the film to be formed also greatly changes, and thus the characteristics of the PDP. I found this affected.

3, the state of the change of the achieved vacuum degree in the vapor deposition chamber 21 by the exchange of the board | substrate holding tool 30 is shown. As shown in Fig. 3, the attained vacuum degree A1 in the deposition chamber 21 at the beginning of the deposition process is a deposition chamber as the deposition is repeated and the deposition amount of the deposition material on the surface of the substrate holder 30 increases. Since the amount of outgassing in 21 increases, as shown by arrow B1, it deteriorates gradually and approaches the limit value C which is the limit vacuum degree of a limit for maintaining the quality of the film | membrane formed.

If this limit value C is exceeded, the quality of the PDP will be influenced beyond the acceptable range of the quality of the formed film. Therefore, before exceeding this limit value C, that is, before the attained vacuum degree of the deposition chamber 21 is further deteriorated, for example, the entirety of the substrate holder 30 having the film deposition material adhered to the surface is unattached. When the substrate holder 30 is replaced at the same time, the vacuum degree in the vapor deposition chamber 21 changes rapidly to the initial state A2 shown in FIG. 3.

In other words, when all of the substrate holders 30 having the film-forming material adhered to the surface are simultaneously replaced, the state of the vapor deposition chamber 21 such as vacuum degree becomes large, and thus the state of the film also changes significantly, and the characteristics of the PDP also change. There was a case to change. That is, it is important to make small so that the change of the state in the vapor deposition chamber 21, such as a vacuum degree, may not become sudden.

Here, in this embodiment, the substrate holder 30 in the state where the film is attached and the substrate holder 30 in the state where the attached film is removed are repeatedly stored in the deposition chamber 21 serving as the deposition chamber. It is mixed. In other words, only a part of the substrate holder 30 existing in the deposition chamber 21 which is the film forming chamber is replaced at the same time, and the other is performed so as to be replaced at different times. Therefore, as described with reference to FIG. 3, compared with the case where all of the substrate holders 30 in the deposition chamber 21 are replaced with the substrate holders 30 to which no film is attached, the deposition chamber 21 such as vacuum degree or the like. The change of the state in the inside can be suppressed small.

This method is, for example, a configuration in which three substrate holders may exist in the deposition chamber 21, and a case where the entire substrate holders 30 are Nos. 1 to 9 is shown in FIG. It will be described in detail using. As shown by the black dots and arrows of the matrix in Fig. 4, the exchange to the substrate holder 30 from which the adhered film was removed was No. 1, No. 4, No. 7, No. 2, No. 5, No. .8, No.3, No.6, No.9 are executed in this order. By replacing the substrate holder 20 in this manner, the substrate holder 30 holding the substrate 3 is sequentially transferred into the deposition chamber 21 which is the film forming chamber by the progress of the film forming process. Even if the three substrate holders 30 present in the vapor deposition chamber 21 are not all replaced at the same time, only one of the three substrate holders 30 is replaced. That is, in the vapor deposition chamber 21, the number of the substrate holders 30 in which the film is attached is larger than the number of the substrate holders 30 in which the attached film is removed. Therefore, it becomes possible to maintain an appropriate state without changing the state, such as the degree of vacuum in the vapor deposition chamber 21, largely. An example of the state of the vacuum degree in the vapor deposition chamber 21 at the time of such an exchange method is shown in FIG. Compared with the state shown in FIG. 3, it turns out that the change of vacuum degree becomes small and it is possible to stabilize the characteristic of the film formed into a film.

The above description is a case where only one of the three substrate holders existing in the deposition chamber 21 is replaced. For example, when five substrate holders 30 exist in the deposition chamber 21. If the degree of change in the state is within the allowable range, the two units may be replaced. The above may be determined by the allowable degree of change in the degree of vacuum and the balance of workability at the time of exchange.

Next, the board | substrate holder 30 is demonstrated using FIG.

6A is a plan view of a schematic configuration of the substrate holder 30, and FIG. 6B is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 3A. The substrate holder 30 includes a plurality of components such as a first substrate holder 31 made of a frame and a second substrate holder 33 having a frame and a dummy substrate 32 provided to be easily separated from the frame. The front substrate 3 of the PDP is disposed on the frame of the second substrate holder 33 and formed into a film. Moreover, the 2nd board | substrate holder 33 is arrange | positioned on the 1st board | substrate holder 31, and the 1st board | substrate holder 31 is connected or contacted with the conveyance means 25 of the film-forming apparatus 20, and is formed into a film. The inside of the apparatus 20 is conveyed. Accordingly, the second substrate holder 33 on which the front substrate 3 to be formed is disposed does not directly contact the conveying means 25.

In this invention, the board | substrate holder 30 has a some component part in this way, and the film | membrane attached to at least one of the component parts is removed, and the board | substrate holder 30 and the film | membrane in which the attached film was removed were attached. The substrate holder 30 is made to be mixed in the deposition chamber 21 serving as the film formation chamber. Among the substrate holders 30, the components of the substrate holder 30 from which the film is removed may be the first substrate holder 31 or the frame of the second substrate holder 33. Or the dummy substrate 32 of the second substrate holder 33. Compared to the case where the entire substrate holder 30 is replaced with a component without adhesion of a film, a part of the components of the substrate holder 30 is replaced so that a sudden change in the state of vacuum or the like in the deposition chamber 21 can be achieved. It can be suppressed.

In the dummy substrate 32 of the second substrate holder 33 on which the front substrate 3 is disposed, most of the vapor deposition streams 29e formed in addition to the front substrate 3 are formed during the film formation. Therefore, as part of the component parts of the substrate holder 30, by replacing these dummy substrates 32 with dummy substrates without a film, workability or poor quality due to detachment of the attached film can be suppressed. Can be.

Moreover, since the board | substrate holder 30 is used repeatedly, it is natural that these component parts can be replaced with the part which does not have a film | membrane adhesion suitably at the time of film-forming, and a frame, a 1st board holder, or a 2nd board | substrate It may be a frame of the holder 33, the entire second substrate holder 31, or the like.

In addition, in the above description, although the case where the protective layer 8 is formed by vapor deposition by MgO material was demonstrated as an example, it is not limited to this in particular, Even if it is other than MgO material, even if it is a film deposition method other than vapor deposition, it forms into a film. WHEREIN: The effect of this invention can be acquired similarly, if the change of the state in a film-forming chamber affects the quality of a film | membrane. In addition, the index of the state of a film-forming chamber is also not limited to a degree of vacuum.

As described above, according to the present invention, in the film formation on the substrate of the PDP, by appropriately controlling the state of the film formation chamber, a PDP manufacturing method capable of forming a good film is realized, and a plasma display device having excellent display performance. Can be realized.

Claims (4)

A method of manufacturing a plasma display panel having a film forming step of forming a film by holding a substrate in a substrate holder. At the time of film formation, the substrate holder is repeatedly used, and the film forming step is performed by repeatedly using the substrate holder with the film attached thereto and the substrate holder with the attached film removed therein. Method of manufacturing a plasma display panel, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, A method of manufacturing a plasma display panel, wherein the number of substrate holders in which the film is attached by repeated use in the deposition chamber is larger than the number of substrate holders in which the attached film is removed. The method according to claim 1 or 2, A substrate holder has a plurality of component parts, and the substrate holder in a state where the attached film is removed removes the film attached to at least one of the component parts. The method of claim 3, wherein A plurality of component parts have a frame holding a board | substrate, and the dummy board | substrate hold | maintained in the frame which does not hold a board | substrate, The removal of the film | membrane affixed is performed with respect to a dummy board | substrate.