TWI422912B - Substrate module, display panel, and touch panel - Google Patents

Description

Substrate module, display panel and touch panel

The present invention relates to a substrate module, a display panel, and a touch panel, and more particularly to a substrate module, a display panel, and a touch panel having ideal mechanical strength.

Thanks to the development of semiconductor technology and the advancement of information technology, panel devices such as display panels and touch panels have been widely used in various electronic products in daily life. The user can obtain the desired information by using the image displayed by the panel device or directly touch the panel device to perform the desired function. Thus, the development of the panel device brings great convenience.

The probability of the user directly touching the panel device is greatly increased, and the possibility of damage to the panel device due to insufficient mechanical strength is also increased. Therefore, the mechanical strength of the panel device becomes an important factor in the durability of the electronic product. Currently, reinforced substrates (such as reinforced glass substrates) are used to fabricate panel devices to increase their mechanical strength. However, the step of fabricating the panel device may cause the strengthened substrate to create a concentrated region of stress or create an improper crack. Therefore, such an approach is still limited in the improvement of the mechanical strength of the panel device.

The invention provides a substrate module with good mechanical strength.

The present invention provides a display panel having desirable mechanical strength.

The invention provides a touch panel with ideal mechanical strength.

The invention provides a substrate module comprising a first substrate, a second substrate, a sealant and an Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) film. The first substrate has a first inner surface, a first outer surface, and a first side surface. A second substrate has a second inner surface, a second outer surface, and a second side. The first inner surface is disposed opposite the second inner surface. The first inner surface of the first substrate and the second inner surface of the second substrate are joined together by a sealant. The atomic layer deposition film is disposed on the first outer surface and the second outer surface.

The present invention further provides a display panel comprising the substrate module as described above and a display medium, wherein the display medium is filled between the first substrate and the second substrate.

The invention further provides a touch panel comprising the substrate module as described above and an insulating material, wherein the insulating material is filled between the first substrate and the second substrate.

Based on the above, after the two substrates are assembled, an atomic layer deposition film is formed on the outer surface of the substrate module to improve the mechanical strength of the substrate module. The atomic layer deposited film has a high density and can be protected on the outer surface of the substrate module. Therefore, the phenomenon of cracks or stress concentration generated before the substrate module is assembled can be relieved, and the mechanical strength of the substrate module can be improved, and the display panel and the touch panel having the substrate module can be improved. Trustworthiness.

The above described features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a substrate module according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1 , the substrate module 10 includes a first substrate 100 , a second substrate 200 , a sealant 300 , and an atomic layer deposition film 400 . The first substrate 100 has a first inner surface 102 and a first outer surface 104. The second substrate 200 has a second inner surface 202 and a second outer surface 204. The first inner surface 102 is disposed opposite the second inner surface 202. The first inner surface 102 of the first substrate 100 and the second inner surface 202 of the second substrate 200 are joined together by a sealant 300. The atomic layer deposition film 400 is disposed on the first outer surface 104 and the second outer surface 204.

In one embodiment, the material of the atomic layer deposition film 100 comprises an inorganic material, an organic material, a polycrystalline material, or an amorphous material. The above inorganic materials include alumina, cerium oxide, titanium oxide, zinc oxide, and organic materials include polyimine. In addition, the material of the first substrate 100 and the second substrate 200 may be glass, germanium, or the like, but the material of the first substrate 100 and the second substrate 200 may be a polymer (or plastic) material or a flexible material.

In the present embodiment, the sealant 300 substantially only partially contacts the first inner surface 102 and partially contacts the second inner surface 202. Further, the sealant 300 may surround the circumference of the first substrate 10, for example. Therefore, after the first substrate 100, the second substrate 200, and the sealant 300 are assembled, a filling space S is formed. When the substrate module 10 is used to make a display panel, the filling space S can be filled with a display medium (not shown). In addition, when the substrate module 10 is used to manufacture the touch panel, the filling space S may be provided with an insulating material (not shown) or an insulating spacer (not shown). In other words, the substrate module 10 can be applied to display The panel is either a touch panel or a touch display panel.

For example, when the substrate module 10 is applied to a display panel or a touch panel or a touch display panel, other components may be further included. 2 is a schematic view of a substrate module according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2 , the substrate module 10A includes a first component layer 110 and a second component layer 210 in addition to the first substrate 100 , the second substrate 200 , the sealant 300 , and the atomic layer deposition film 400 . The first component layer 110 is disposed on the first inner surface 102 of the first substrate 100, and the second component layer 210 is disposed on the second inner surface 202 of the second substrate 200. In an embodiment, the first component layer 110 or the second component layer 210 comprises a pixel array. The first component layer 110 or the second component layer 210 may also include a color filter array. In another embodiment, at least one of the first component layer 110 and the second component layer 210 includes a touch component. The substrate module 10A is an embodiment in which the element layer is disposed in the substrate module 10. The following embodiments will be described with the substrate module 10. However, those skilled in the art can understand that the substrate module 10A can also cover the phenomenon described below.

3 is a partial enlarged view of the substrate module of FIG. 1 , in which only an atomic layer deposition film and a first substrate are illustrated. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 simultaneously, the first substrate 100 may pass through a plurality of processing steps, such as a thin film deposition step, a photolithography etching step, etc., before assembling the second substrate 200, to obtain a desired component (for example, a pixel). The structure, the color filter array, the touch element, and the like are fabricated on the first substrate 100. Of course, the second substrate 200 also undergoes a number of processing steps to form the desired components thereon. However, FIG. 3 only shows the first substrate 100, so the first substrate 100 will be described below. Place It is understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the phenomena described below may also occur in the second substrate 200.

In detail, in the processing steps of deposition, etching, and the like, the first substrate 100 may generate the crack C. Although the crack C does not cause damage to the substrate module 10, when the first substrate 100 is impacted by an external force, stress is concentrated on the end V1. According to the Griffith fracture theory, when the maximum stress applied to the first substrate 100 is greater than a critical value, the crack C will expand to break the first substrate 100. That is to say, the stress accumulated at the end V1 may cause damage to the substrate module 10. In addition, the radius of curvature of the end V1 affects the effect of stress concentration, wherein the sharper the end V1, the smaller the radius of curvature, the more significant the stress concentration effect. Therefore, the sharper the end V1 is, the more likely it is to cause a significant stress concentration effect, and the reliability of the substrate module 10 after assembly is completed.

In this embodiment, after the first substrate 100 and the second substrate 200 are assembled into the substrate module 10, the atomic layer deposition film 400 is formed by an Atomic Layer Deposition Process. The atomic layer deposited film 400 is filled in the crack C to form a relatively rounded end V2. In contrast, the radius of curvature of the end V2 is greater than the radius of curvature of the end V1. Therefore, the effect of the stress concentration on the end portion V2 is weak, and the arrangement of the atomic layer deposition film 400 contributes to the effect of alleviating the stress concentration.

Under the same external force impact, the crack C deposited with the atomic layer deposition film 400 is not easily expanded, and the crack C of the atomic layer deposition film 400 is not easily expanded. Therefore, in this embodiment, the atomic layer deposition film 400 is formed on the first outer surface 104 of the first substrate 100 to reduce the substrate module 10 The possibility of damage. Similarly, the atomic layer deposition film 400 on the outer surface 204 of the second substrate 200 can also reduce the possibility of breakage of the substrate module 10. In addition, the atomic layer deposition film 400 produced by the atomic layer deposition method has a high density, and the substrate 10 can be further provided with better mechanical strength.

The substrate module 10 is superior to the conventional substrate module (without the atomic layer deposition film 400) in the performance of the three-point (or four-point) bending test. For example, the following results can be obtained by statistically analyzing the stress applied to the three-point (or four-point) bending test and the number of tests by Weibull's distribution, where B10 represents 10% of a batch of samples. The sample will have a ruptured stress. The conventional substrate module (without the atomic layer deposition film 400) has a B10 value of about 36.3 Newtons (N), and the substrate module 10 of the present embodiment (the atomic layer deposition film 400 is a 20 nm thick layer of aluminum oxide atoms). The film is exemplified as having a B10 value of about 40.5 Newtons (N). That is to say, in the configuration of the atomic layer deposition film 400, the substrate module 10 has a high ability to withstand stress. Further, in the arrangement of the atomic layer deposition film 400, the reliability of the substrate module 10 will also be improved. Of course, the above values are for illustrative purposes only. When the material and thickness of the atomic layer deposition film 400 are different from the manufacturing conditions (for example, process temperature), the mechanical properties thereof will be different, and thus the B10 value will also vary.

Generally, the first substrate 110 and the second substrate are respectively cut by a first motherboard (not shown) and a second motherboard (not shown). The substrate module 10 is formed by, for example, joining a first motherboard (not shown) facing each other with a second motherboard (not shown) by using a plurality of seals 300, wherein each seal 300 is A substrate module 10 as shown in FIG. 1 can be defined. Subsequently, an atomic layer deposition method is performed on the first mother board (not shown) and the second mother board (not An atomic layer deposition film 400 is formed on the outer surface of the drawing. Then, the assembled first motherboard (not shown) and the second motherboard (not shown) are cut into a plurality of substrate modules 10 as shown in FIG. Therefore, in the substrate module 10 fabricated in this fabrication order, the atomic layer deposition film 400 is located on the first outer surface 104 of the first substrate 100 and the second outer surface 204 of the second substrate 200.

However, in other embodiments, the cutting step of the motherboard is interchangeable with the fabrication sequence of the atomic layer deposition method to form the substrate module as illustrated in FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a substrate module according to still another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4 , the substrate module 20 includes a first substrate 100 , a second substrate 200 , a sealant 300 , and an atomic layer deposition film 410 . In this embodiment, the arrangement relationship between the first substrate 100, the second substrate 200, and the sealant 300 is the same as that of the previous embodiment, and the first substrate 100 and the second substrate 200 similarly surround the filling space S with the sealant 300. However, the manufacturing method of the substrate module 20 is slightly different from that of the substrate module 10. After the first substrate 100 and the second substrate 200 are cut from the mother substrate, atomic layer deposition is performed to form an atomic layer deposition film. 410. Therefore, the first substrate 100, the second substrate 200, and the sealant 300 are surrounded by a continuous film (ie, the atomic layer deposition film 410).

Specifically, the first substrate 100 of the present embodiment has a first inner surface 102, a first outer surface 104, and a first side surface 106, wherein the atomic layer deposition film 410 is directly disposed on the first outer surface 104 and the first surface. On the side 106. The second substrate 200 has a second inner surface 202, a second outer surface 204, and a second side 206. The atomic layer deposition film 410 is disposed directly on the second outer surface 204 and the second side 206. In addition, The atomic layer deposition film 410 is disposed directly on the third side 302 of the sealant 300 away from the filling space S.

The atomic layer deposition film 410 of the present embodiment is a continuous film, and the atomic layer deposition film 410 has a high density. Therefore, in addition to the phenomenon that the surface crack can be filled to reduce the stress concentration, the dense atomic layer deposition film 410 can strengthen the bonding force of the substrate module 20 to make the substrate module 20 have the desired mechanical strength. In addition, the atomic layer deposition film 410 is formed after the first substrate 100 and the second substrate 200 are assembled, and thus the protection and enhancement provided by the atomic layer deposition film 410 are not damaged by the steps of deposition, etching, and the like. In other words, when the substrate module 20 is applied to a display panel or a touch panel or a touch display panel, good mechanical strength can be maintained to help improve the reliability of the panel device.

In addition, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a substrate module according to still another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5 , the substrate module 20A is similar to the substrate module 20 . Specifically, the substrate module 20 includes a first component layer 110 and a second component layer 210 in addition to the first substrate 100, the second substrate 200, the sealant 300, and the atomic layer deposition film 410. The first component layer 110 is disposed on the first inner surface 102 of the first substrate 100, and the second component layer 210 is disposed on the second inner surface 202 of the second substrate 200. In an embodiment, the first component layer 110 or the second component layer 210 comprises a pixel array. The first component layer 110 or the second component layer 210 may also include a color filter array. In another embodiment, at least one of the first component layer 110 and the second component layer 210 includes a touch component. That is, the substrate module 20A is an embodiment in which the element layer is disposed in the substrate module 20.

In an embodiment, when the substrate module 20A is used to make a display panel, the filling space S may be filled with a display medium (not shown). The display medium (not shown) may be a liquid crystal molecule, an electrophoretic material, or an electrowetting material or the like. Further, when the display panel is an organic light emitting display panel, the filling space S may be filled with an inert gas. When the substrate module 20A is used to fabricate the touch panel, an insulating material, an insulating spacer, or the like may be disposed in the filling space S.

It is worth mentioning that the component layers described in the above embodiments are simply drawn in a single layer structure. However, in actual structural design, these element layers may be stacked from a plurality of patterned film layers or may be composed of a single film layer. Similarly, the atomic layer deposition films described in the above embodiments are all illustrated in a single film layer. However, in actual structural design, the atomic layer deposition film may be composed of a single atomic layer or stacked by a plurality of atomic layers. Made.

In addition, the thickness of the atomic layer deposited film can be determined depending on the substrate material, process conditions (such as temperature), and strength requirements. In an embodiment, the thickness of the atomic layer deposition film may be several tens of nanometers, but the invention is not limited thereto. The process temperature for producing the atomic layer deposition film may be 100 ° C to 200 ° C, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In summary, the present invention performs atomic layer deposition on the substrate to form an atomic layer deposition film on the outer surface of the substrate module. Atomic layer deposited films have dense properties and can fill the cracks on the surface of the substrate. Therefore, the substrate module of the present invention has good mechanical strength and is not easily damaged by external force. When the substrate module of the present invention is applied to a panel device such as a display panel or a touch panel, it contributes to improving the reliability of the device.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

10, 10A, 20, 20A‧‧‧ substrate module

100‧‧‧First substrate

102‧‧‧First inner surface

104‧‧‧First outer surface

106‧‧‧ first side

110‧‧‧ first component layer

200‧‧‧second substrate

202‧‧‧Second inner surface

204‧‧‧Second outer surface

206‧‧‧ second side

210‧‧‧Second component layer

300‧‧‧Box glue

302‧‧‧ third side

400, 410‧‧‧Atomic layer deposition film

C‧‧‧ crack

S‧‧‧filled space

End of V1, V2‧‧‧

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a substrate module according to an embodiment of the invention.

2 is a schematic view of a substrate module according to another embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a partial enlarged view of the substrate module of FIG. 1 , in which only an atomic layer deposition film and a first substrate are illustrated.

4 is a schematic diagram of a substrate module according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a substrate module according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

10‧‧‧Substrate module

100‧‧‧First substrate

102‧‧‧First inner surface

104‧‧‧First outer surface

200‧‧‧second substrate

202‧‧‧Second inner surface

204‧‧‧Second outer surface

300‧‧‧Box glue

400‧‧‧Atomic layer deposition film

S‧‧‧filled space

Claims (12)

A substrate module includes: a first substrate having a first inner surface, a first outer surface, and a first side; a second substrate having a second inner surface, a second outer surface, and a first Two sides, and the first inner surface is opposite to the second inner surface; a frame glue, the first inner surface of the first substrate and the second inner surface of the second substrate are joined by the sealant And an atomic layer deposition film disposed on the first outer surface and the second outer surface. The substrate module of claim 1, wherein the first substrate, the second substrate, and the sealant form a filling space. The substrate module of claim 1, wherein the atomic layer deposition film is disposed on the first side, the second side, and the third side of the sealant away from the filling space. The substrate module of claim 1, wherein the atomic layer deposition film is a continuous film surrounding the first substrate, the second substrate, and the sealant. The substrate module of claim 1, further comprising a first component layer and a second component layer, the first component layer being disposed on the first inner surface of the first substrate, and the The two component layers are disposed on the second inner surface of the second substrate. The substrate module of claim 5, wherein the first component layer or the second component layer comprises a pixel array. The substrate module of claim 5, wherein the first component layer or the second component layer comprises a color filter array. The substrate module of claim 5, wherein at least one of the first component layer and the second component layer comprises a touch component. The substrate module of claim 1, wherein the material of the atomic layer deposition film comprises an inorganic material, an organic material, a polycrystalline material or an amorphous material. The substrate module of claim 9, wherein the inorganic material comprises alumina, cerium oxide, titanium oxide, zinc oxide, and the organic material comprises polyimine. A display panel comprising: the substrate module according to claim 1; and a display medium filled between the first substrate and the second substrate. A touch panel comprising: the substrate module according to claim 1; and an insulating material disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.