KR20140035049A

KR20140035049A - Touch panel and method for maufacturing the same

Info

Publication number: KR20140035049A
Application number: KR1020120101341A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 이규상; 김슬기
Original assignee: 삼성전기주식회사
Priority date: 2012-09-13
Filing date: 2012-09-13
Publication date: 2014-03-21

Abstract

The present invention relates to a touch panel and a manufacturing method thereof, the touch panel comprising: a transparent substrate; a seed layer formed on the transparent substrate; a metal catalyst layer formed on the seed layer; a metal layer formed on the metal catalyst layer; and an electrode layer formed on the metal layer. The metal catalyst layer and the metal layer function as a blackening layer and are manufactured by an electroless plating method, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

Description

Touch Panel And Method For Manufacturing {Touch Panel And Method For Maufacturing The Same}

The present invention relates to a touch panel and a method of manufacturing the same.

With the development of computers using digital technology, auxiliary devices of computers are being developed together. Personal computers, portable transmission devices, and other personal information processing devices use various input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse And performs text and graphics processing.

However, as the use of computers is gradually increasing due to the rapid progress of the information society, there is a problem that it is difficult to efficiently operate a product by using only a keyboard and a mouse which are currently playing an input device. Therefore, there is an increasing need for a device that is simple and less error-prone, and that allows anyone to easily input information.

In addition, the technology related to the input device is shifting beyond the level that satisfies the general functions, such as high reliability, durability, innovation, design and processing related technology, etc. In order to achieve this purpose, As a possible input device, a touch screen has been developed.

The touch panel is provided on the display surface of a flat display device such as an electronic notebook, a liquid crystal display device (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), or an el (electroluminescence) and an image display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) And is a tool used to allow the user to select desired information while viewing the image display device.

The types of touch panel are resistive type, capacitive type, electro-magnetic type, SAW type, surface acoustic wave type, and infrared type. Separated by. These various types of touch panels are employed in electronic products in consideration of problems of signal amplification, differences in resolution, difficulty in design and processing technology, optical characteristics, electrical characteristics, mechanical characteristics, environmental characteristics, input characteristics, durability and economical efficiency Currently, the most widely used methods are resistive touch panels and capacitive touch panels.

On the other hand, Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2010-0095989 discloses a method of manufacturing a conventional touch panel.

The above-mentioned patent discloses a method of forming a metal electrode layer on a substrate. As such, recently, researches on touch panels for forming electrode layers using metals having much higher electrical conductivity than indium tin oxide (ITO) have been actively conducted.

However, the touch panel in which the metal electrode is formed has a problem in that visibility of the touch panel is deteriorated because sparkling occurs in the electrode when the metal electrode is visually recognized or light is irradiated from the outside.

In addition, since a vacuum deposition method is generally used as a method of forming an electrode layer made of a metal on a substrate, expensive vacuum deposition equipment is required, which increases the manufacturing cost of the touch panel.

The present invention is to solve the above problems of the prior art, one aspect of the present invention is a metal electrode layer formed on the substrate is formed by a plating method, wherein the blackening layer is formed to include a touch panel and a manufacturing method thereof It is to provide.

Touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, a transparent substrate; A seed layer formed on the transparent substrate; A metal catalyst layer formed on the seed layer; A metal layer formed on the metal catalyst layer; And an electrode layer formed on the metal layer.

In the touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, the seed layer may be formed in a mesh pattern.

In the touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, the seed layer is any one of poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene / polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT / PSS), polyaniline, polyacetylene or polyphenylenevinylene It may be made of a conductive polymer containing, or may be made of a metal oxide including Indum-Thin Oxide (ITO).

In the touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, the metal catalyst layer may include palladium (Pd).

In the touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, the metal layer may include nickel (Ni).

In the touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, the electrode layer may include gold (Au).

In the touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, the transparent substrate may be a window.

Method of manufacturing a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, (a) preparing a transparent substrate; (b) forming a seed layer on the transparent substrate; (c) forming a metal catalyst layer on the seed layer by electroless plating; (d) forming a metal layer on the metal catalyst layer by electroless plating; And (e) forming an electrode layer on the metal layer by an electroless plating method.

In the method of manufacturing a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, the seed layer may be formed in a mesh pattern.

In the method of manufacturing a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, the seed layer is poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene / polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT / PSS), polyaniline, polyacetylene or polyphenylenevinylene It may be made of a conductive polymer containing any one of, or may be made of a metal oxide including Indum-Thin Oxide (ITO).

In the method of manufacturing a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, in the step (b), the seed layer forming material is completely coated on the transparent substrate and then etched, or the seed layer is meshed through a direct patterning process. It may be a step of forming a pattern.

In the method of manufacturing a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, the metal catalyst layer may include palladium (Pd).

In the method of manufacturing a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, the metal layer may include nickel (Ni).

In the method of manufacturing a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, the electrode layer may include gold (Au).

The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description based on the accompanying drawings.

Prior to that, terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed in a conventional and dictionary sense, and the inventor may properly define the concept of the term in order to best explain its invention It should be construed as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention.

According to the present invention, the metal catalyst layer and the metal layer have a dark color to function as a blackening layer. Therefore, the electrode layer is prevented from shining even when light is radiated from the outside, thereby improving the visibility of the touch panel.

In addition, since the metal catalyst layer, the metal layer, and the electrode layer are formed by electroless plating, an expensive vacuum deposition apparatus is not required in the manufacturing process of the touch panel, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the touch panel.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 to 6 are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing the touch panel shown in FIG. 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The objectives, specific advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and examples taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, in the present specification, reference numerals are added to the constituent elements of each drawing, and the same constituent elements have the same number as far as possible even if they are displayed on different drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the following description of the present invention, detailed description of related arts which may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention will be omitted.

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

1 is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 6 are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing the touch panel shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the touch panel 1 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a transparent substrate 100, a seed layer 111 formed on the transparent substrate 100, and the seed layer 111. ), A metal catalyst layer 120 formed on the metal catalyst layer, a metal layer 130 formed on the metal catalyst layer 120, and an electrode layer 140 formed on the metal layer 130. In this case, since the metal catalyst layer 120 and the metal layer 130 have a dark color by mutual reaction, the metal catalyst layer 120 and the metal layer 130 may function as a blackening layer to prevent light reflection of the electrode layer 140 to be described later.

The transparent substrate 100 provides a region where the blackening layers 120 and 130 and the electrode layer 140 are to be formed. In this case, the transparent substrate 100 must have a supporting force capable of supporting the blackening layers 120 and 130 and the electrode layer 140 and transparency so that a user can recognize an image provided by the image display device.

In consideration of the above-described support and transparency, the transparent substrate 100 is made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyether sulfone (PES) , Cyclic olefin polymer (COC), Triacetylcellulose (TAC) film, Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film, Polyimide (PI) film, Polystyrene (PS), Biaxially stretched polystyrene (K resin-containing biaxially oriented PS, BOPS), glass or tempered glass and the like. However, the transparent substrate 100 is not necessarily limited to these examples.

In this embodiment, one surface of the transparent substrate 100 is preferably activated by high frequency treatment or primer treatment. By treating one surface of the transparent substrate 100 in this manner, the adhesion between the transparent substrate 100 and the seed layer 111 to be formed on one surface of the transparent substrate 100 may be further improved.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the transparent substrate 100 may be a window provided on the outermost side of the touch panel. When the transparent substrate 100 is a window, since the electrode layer 140 is directly formed on the window, the manufacturing process of the touch panel 1 is attached to the window after forming the electrode layer 140 on a separate transparent substrate 100. The process can be omitted. And the overall thickness of the touch panel can be reduced.

The metal catalyst layer 120 and the metal layer 130 may function as blackening layers as described above.

First, the metal catalyst layer 120 functions as an electroless plating catalyst in which a metal material included in the metal layer 130 to be described later may be electroless plated. The metal catalyst layer 120 may include metal fine particles such as palladium (Pd).

Meanwhile, the seed layer 111 may be formed on the transparent substrate 100 so that the metal catalyst layer 120 is formed on the transparent substrate 100 by plating. The seed layer 111 may include a conductive polymer or a metal oxide. The conductive polymer may include poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene / polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT / PSS), polyaniline, polyacetylene or polyphenylenevinylene. In addition, the metal oxide may include indium tin oxide (ITO).

In the touch panel 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment, the metal catalyst layer 120 is formed on the seed layer 111, the metal layer 130 is formed on the metal catalyst layer 120, and the electrode layer 140 is formed on the metal layer 130. Since the structure is formed, the pattern form of the electrode layer 140 is eventually formed corresponding to the pattern form of the seed layer 111. The pattern of the electrode layer 140 is preferably formed of thin lines so that the touch panel 1 has good visibility. In addition, it is preferable that the transparent substrate 100 is made of a uniform shape as a whole. The electrode layer 140 may be formed, for example, in a mesh pattern so that the electrode layer 140 may be formed in a thin wire and in a uniform pattern. In this case, the seed layer 111 is also formed as a mesh pattern as an example.

The metal catalyst layer 120 may be formed on the seed layer 111 formed on the transparent substrate 100 by an electroless plating method. In addition, the metal layer 130 may be formed on the metal catalyst layer 120 by an electroless plating method. In this case, when the metal catalyst layer 120 includes palladium (Pd) as described above, the metal layer 130 may include nickel (Ni). In this case, the metal catalyst layer 120 and the metal layer 130 have a dark color as shown in the experimental photograph below.

Therefore, the metal catalyst layer 120 and the metal layer 130 function as a blackening layer to prevent light reflection from occurring in the electrode layer 140 to be described later.

Meanwhile, the metal catalyst layer 120 and the metal layer 130 are not limited to the above materials. As long as the material is dark, any metal material may form the metal catalyst layer 120 and the metal layer 130.

The electrode layer 140 serves to generate a signal when the user touches and to recognize the touch coordinates in the controller (not shown).

The electrode layer 140 may be formed on the metal layer 130 by an electroless plating method. As described above, when the seed layer 111 is formed in the mesh pattern, the electrode layer 140 formed on the metal layer 130 is also formed in the mesh pattern corresponding to the seed layer 111.

The electrode layer 140 may include various metal materials having excellent electrical conductivity such as copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), gold (Au), silver (Ag), titanium (Ti), palladium (Pd), and chromium (Cr). Can be. However, the electrode layer 140 may be formed of gold (Au) as a specific example in order to be formed on the metal layer 130 by an electroless plating (substitution plating) method.

Referring to the manufacturing method of the touch panel according to the above-described embodiment as follows.

Method of manufacturing a touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, (a) preparing a transparent substrate 100, (b) forming a seed layer 111 on the transparent substrate 100, (c ) Forming a metal catalyst layer 120 on the seed layer 111 by an electroless plating method, (d) forming a metal layer 130 on the metal catalyst layer 120 by an electroless plating method, and (e ) Forming the electrode layer 140 on the metal layer 130 by an electroless plating method.

Step (a) is a step of preparing the transparent substrate 100 as shown in FIG. The transparent substrate 100 may be a window provided at the outermost portion of the touch panel. The transparent substrate 100 may be a unit cell substrate included in one touch panel, or may be a disc divided into a plurality of unit cell substrate regions before being cut into the unit cell substrate.

In addition, step (a) may include a process of treating the transparent substrate 100 with a high frequency or a primer.

Step (b) is a step of forming the seed layer 110 on the transparent substrate 100 as shown in FIG. The seed layer 110 may include a conductive polymer or a metal oxide.

Conductive polymers may include poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene / polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT / PSS), polyaniline, polyacetylene or polyphenylenevinylene.

The metal oxide may include indium tin oxide (ITO).

The seed layer 110 may be formed in a mesh pattern. Specifically, the seed layer 110 may be formed by vacuum evaporation coating, dip coating, or spin coating of the conductive polymer or metal oxide material. (Spin coating), roll coating (Roll coating), spray coating (Spray coating) using a method such as forming the entire surface on the transparent substrate may be formed into a mesh pattern through an etching process. Alternatively, it may be formed into a mesh pattern through a direct patterning process such as screen printing, gravure printing, inkjet printing, or the like.

Step (c) is a step of forming the metal catalyst layer 120 on the seed layer 111 as shown in FIG. The metal catalyst layer 120 may include palladium (Pd). This step may be performed by immersing the transparent substrate 100 on which the seed layer 111 is formed in an electroless plating solution containing a palladium catalyst. Through the electroless plating process, the palladium catalyst layer 120 may be formed on the seed layer 111.

Step (d) is a step of forming the metal layer 130 on the metal catalyst layer 120 as shown in FIG. The metal layer 130 may include nickel (Ni). This step may be performed by immersing the transparent substrate 100, which has passed through the step (c), in an electroless plating solution containing nickel (Ni). When the metal catalyst layer 120 includes palladium (Pd) as described above, the metal catalyst layer 120 may be electroless plated with nickel (Ni) metal. Therefore, as the nickel (Ni) is deposited on the palladium (Pd) catalyst layer 120 through the electroless plating process, the metal layer 130 may be formed.

Step (e) is a step of forming the electrode layer 140 on the metal layer 130, as shown in FIG. The electrode layer 140 may include various metal materials having excellent electrical conductivity. However, the electrode layer 140 is a metal that can be formed on the metal layer 130 by an electroless plating method, and when the metal layer 130 includes nickel (Ni) as described above, nickel (Ni) and substitution plating It may be made of a metal, and may be made of gold (Au) as an example of the metal that can be substituted plating. This step may be performed by immersing the transparent substrate 100 that has undergone the step (d) in an electroless plating solution containing gold (Au). In addition, an electrode layer 140 including gold (Au) may be formed on the metal layer 130 by substitution plating of nickel (Ni) and gold (Au).

As described above, the metal catalyst layer 120 and the metal layer 130 may have a dark color according to the mutual reaction, and thus may function as a blackening layer. In addition, since the metal catalyst layer 120, the metal layer 130, and the electrode layer 140 are formed by an electroless plating method, there is no need to use expensive vacuum deposition equipment, thereby providing an advantage of reducing the manufacturing cost of the touch panel. do.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It is obvious that the modification or the modification is possible by the person.

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 invention as defined by the appended claims.

One; Touch panel 100; Transparent substrate
110, 111; Seed layer 120; Metal catalyst layer
130; Metal layer 140; Electrode layer

Claims

A transparent substrate;
A seed layer formed on the transparent substrate;
A metal catalyst layer formed on the seed layer;
A metal layer formed on the metal catalyst layer; And
And an electrode layer formed on the metal layer.

The method according to claim 1,
The seed layer is a touch panel formed in a mesh (mesh) pattern.

The method according to claim 1,
The seed layer is made of a conductive polymer comprising any one of poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene / polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT / PSS), polyaniline, polyacetylene or polyphenylenevinylene, or indium-tin A touch panel made of a metal oxide containing an oxide (Indum-Thin Oxide; ITO).

The method according to claim 1,
The metal catalyst layer includes palladium (Pd).

The method according to claim 1,
The metal layer includes nickel (Ni).

The method according to claim 1,
The electrode layer comprises a gold (Au).

The method according to claim 1,
The transparent substrate is a touch panel (window).

(a) preparing a transparent substrate;
(b) forming a seed layer on the transparent substrate;
(c) forming a metal catalyst layer on the seed layer by electroless plating;
(d) forming a metal layer on the metal catalyst layer by electroless plating; And
(e) forming an electrode layer on the metal layer by an electroless plating method.

The method according to claim 8,
The seed layer is a manufacturing method of the touch panel is formed in a mesh (mesh) pattern.

The method according to claim 8,
The seed layer is made of a conductive polymer comprising any one of poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene / polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT / PSS), polyaniline, polyacetylene or polyphenylenevinylene, or indium- Method of manufacturing a touch panel made of a metal oxide containing tin oxide (Indum-Thin Oxide; ITO).

The method according to claim 8,
The step (b)
And coating the seed layer forming material on the transparent substrate and etching the whole surface, or forming the seed layer in a mesh pattern through a direct patterning process.

The method according to claim 8,
The metal catalyst layer is a manufacturing method of a touch panel comprising palladium (Pd).

The method according to claim 8,
The metal layer comprises a nickel (Ni) manufacturing method of the touch panel.

The method according to claim 8,
The electrode layer is a manufacturing method of a touch panel comprising gold (Au).