TWI482223B - Method for manufacturing touch panel - Google Patents

Description

Touch panel manufacturing method

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a touch panel, in particular to a manufacturing method for applying a plasma technology to a touch panel patterning process.

At present, in the manufacturing process of the touch panel, the patterning process can be divided into a dry process and a wet process. Among them, the wet process includes steps such as photoresist coating and development, the process is complicated, the process of patterning is time consuming and the etching process is difficult to control.

The transparent conductive layer on the touch panel is mainly composed of indium tin oxide (ITO). Since the coating method of the conductive layer is basically the entire plane, it is impossible to perform sputtering on the desired pattern. A pattern is formed on the sputtered substrate, and the conductive layer is etched. At present, there are two ways of etching, namely wet etching and dry etching, wherein the patterning of wet etching is formed by a photomask, and the conventional method of manufacturing patterning is to adopt two etching processes, which are metal. Layer etching and conductive layer etching. During the etching of the conductive layer, the metal layer exposed after the previous etching process, the leads or wires included in the metal layer are easily corroded by the secondary etching solution, and the result of excessive etching The size of the metal layer is inaccurate and affects the conductivity of the conductive layer. Since the conductive layer is mostly composed of a crystalline oxide, the etching rate and stability are not easily controlled, and it is easy to cause uneven etching and product yield reduction.

In summary, a good solution is needed for the etching process of the touch panel to solve the aforementioned problems.

The invention discloses a method for manufacturing a touch panel by using a plasma technology, which is to modify the conductive film layer by a plasma bombardment method, and to improve the etching rate of the conductive film layer is the object of the invention.

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a touch panel, comprising the steps of: providing a substrate on which a transparent conductive layer and a metal layer are sequentially formed, forming a photoresist layer on the metal layer, and patterning the photoresist layer. The metal layer is etched to expose a portion of the transparent conductive layer, and the transparent conductive layer is bombarded with a plasma to etch the transparent conductive layer. And etching and patterning the metal layer, and the transparent conductive layer after bombardment and etching forms a complex sensing series.

Preferably, the photoresist layer can be formed by a screen printing method, a spray coating method, a spin coating method or a slit coating method.

Preferably, the photoresist layer can be a positive photoresist or a negative photoresist.

Preferably, the transparent conductive film layer is a crystalline indium tin oxide.

Preferably, the plasma bombardment can be bombarded using atmospheric plasma, low pressure plasma, high temperature plasma or low temperature plasma.

Preferably, the plasma bombardment is used to change the surface energy of the transparent conductive layer.

Preferably, the plasma bombardment is used to etch the surface of the transparent conductive layer.

Preferably, the atmosphere used for plasma bombardment may be nitrogen, argon, oxygen, and a mixed atmosphere thereof.

Preferably, the plasma bombardment time is from 10 seconds to 5 minutes.

Preferably, the foregoing steps are all performed by a roll-to-roll process.

Specific embodiments in accordance with the present invention are disclosed below with reference to the embodiments and claims. Various modifications, adaptations, and variations of the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is to be understood that all such modifications, adaptations, and variations of the present invention are intended to be within the scope and spirit of the invention.

The invention provides a method for manufacturing a touch panel. For detailed steps of the specific embodiment, please refer to FIG. 1a to FIG. 1d.

As shown in FIG. 1a, first, a substrate 1 is provided. A transparent conductive layer 2 and at least one metal layer 3 are sequentially formed on the surface of the substrate 1. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the metal layer 3 is a layer. The substrate 1 may be, for example, a composite of glass, tempered glass, polycarbonate (PC), and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), a composite of polycarbonate and polymethyl methacrylate, and polyester (PET). ), polyamine (PE), bismuth, glass, plastic, metal or ceramic. The transparent conductive layer 2 may be, for example, a metal oxide or a crystalline indium tin oxide. The metal oxide is, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), cadmium tin oxide (CTO), or aluminum zinc oxide (AZO). , indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO), zinc oxide, cadmium oxide, hafnium oxide (HfO), indium gallium zinc oxide (InGaZnO), Indium gallium zinc magnesium oxide (InGaZnMgO), indium gallium magnesium oxide (InGaMgO) or indium gallium aluminum oxide (indium gallium aluminum oxide, InGaAlO), etc. The metal layer 3 may be, for example, at least one conductive metal layer or a plurality of conductive metal layers, and the material thereof may be a conductive metal or a conductive alloy, such as a copper alloy, an aluminum alloy, gold, silver, aluminum, copper, molybdenum or the like. The structure of the multilayer conductive metal layer may be, for example, a stacked structure of a molybdenum layer/aluminum layer/molybdenum layer, or may be one or more materials selected from the group consisting of copper alloy, aluminum alloy, gold, silver, aluminum, copper or molybdenum. A multilayer conductive metal layer structure.

As shown in FIG. 1b, first, a photoresist layer 4 is formed on the surface of the metal layer 3 of the substrate 1. The photoresist layer 4 can be, for example, a solid photoresist, a dry film photoresist, a liquid photoresist or a photoresist. Composed of substances. In addition, the photoresist layer 4 can be formed by hot-pressing film photoresist, screen printing, spray coating, spin coating or slit coating, and the photoresist layer 4 is not limited to a positive photoresist or a negative photoresist. Light resistance. Then, the photoresist layer 4 is patterned by exposure and development with a mask 5 of a specific pattern to obtain a patterned photoresist layer 4, wherein the patterning process is substantially achieved by photolithography. The shadow process includes photoresist coating, soft baking, mask aligning, exposure, post-exposure, and developing photoresist. With hard baking. Next, the etching of the metal layer 3 to the partial surface of the transparent conductive layer 2 is performed. In addition, in a specific embodiment of the present invention, the photoresist layer 4 may also be replaced by a coating layer having a protective coating function, such as a metal layer, a polymer layer or an adhesive layer.

As shown in Figure 1c, the surface of the transparent conductive layer 2 is modified by plasma bombardment. The type of plasma bombardment may be any one of atmospheric plasma, low pressure plasma, high temperature plasma or low temperature plasma. The gas used for plasma bombardment may be nitrogen, argon, oxygen or a mixed gas thereof. The time for the plasma bombardment to be modified is in the range of 10 seconds to 5 minutes, wherein, in the process of the touch panel, the substrate 1, the transparent conductive layer 2, the metal layer 3, and the photoresist layer 4 are all nanometers. Or micron grade, so the energy of plasma bombardment may also cause slight damage of the transparent conductive layer 2, that is, a slight etching effect, so plasma bombardment can also be applied to the surface of the transparent conductive layer 2.

As shown in FIG. 1d, the modified transparent conductive layer 2 is then etched. Since the transparent conductive layer 2 has been subjected to plasma bombardment, the etching time can be reduced during the etching process, and the effect of protecting the metal layer 3 is sufficiently achieved.

Referring to FIG. 1e, the transparent conductive layer 2 is etched to form a pattern, and then the photoresist layer 4 is removed. At the same time, the modified and etched transparent conductive layer 2 forms a complex sensing series 2'. Finally, the patterned metal layer forms a peripheral line (not shown) as an electrical connection between the sensing series 2' to obtain a patterned substrate.

The manufacturing method of the touch panel of the present invention has continuous production characteristics, and the substrate of the present invention is a flexible substrate. Therefore, the foregoing steps are all performed by a roll-to-roll process. Achieve high efficiency and low cost.

Since the transparent conductive layer of the present invention is modified by plasma bombardment, its surface energy changes, and its crystal structure is destroyed, so that the transparent conductive layer is more easily etched, thereby increasing the etching rate and avoiding metal during the etching process. The layer produces excessive side etching and achieves the effect of protecting the metal layer.

1‧‧‧Substrate

2‧‧‧Transparent conductive layer

2’‧‧‧Sensor series

3‧‧‧metal layer

4‧‧‧ photoresist layer

5‧‧‧Photomask

1a is a schematic view of a substrate having a transparent conductive layer and a metal layer of the present invention.

FIG. 1b is a schematic view showing the substrate of the present invention formed by forming a photoresist layer by exposure and development of a photomask, and etching the metal layer.

Figure 1c is a schematic illustration of plasma bombardment of a transparent conductive layer of a substrate.

Figure 1d is a schematic illustration of etching of a modified transparent conductive layer.

Figure 1e shows a schematic diagram of a complex sense series after etching of the transparent conductive layer.

1‧‧‧Substrate

2‧‧‧Transparent conductive layer

2’‧‧‧Sensor series

3‧‧‧metal layer

4‧‧‧ photoresist layer

5‧‧‧Photomask

Claims (10)

A method for manufacturing a touch panel, comprising the steps of: providing a substrate on which a transparent conductive layer and at least one metal layer are sequentially formed; forming a photoresist layer on the at least one metal layer, and patterning the light a resist layer; etching the at least one metal layer to expose a portion of the transparent conductive layer; bombarding the transparent conductive layer with a plasma; etching the transparent conductive layer; and etching and patterning the at least one metal layer after bombardment and etching The transparent conductive layer forms a plurality of sensing series. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the photoresist layer is formed by a screen printing method, a spray coating method, a spin coating method, or a slit coating method. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the photoresist layer is a positive photoresist or a negative photoresist. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the transparent conductive film layer is a crystalline indium tin oxide. The method for manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the step of bombarding the transparent conductive layer by plasma is bombarded with atmospheric plasma, low-voltage plasma, high-temperature plasma or low-temperature plasma. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the step of bombarding the transparent conductive layer with a plasma is performed to change a surface energy of the transparent conductive layer. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the step of bombarding the transparent conductive layer with a plasma is performed for plasma etching the surface of the transparent conductive layer. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the gas system used in the step of bombarding the transparent conductive layer by plasma is nitrogen gas, argon gas, oxygen gas or a mixed gas thereof. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the step of performing the step of bombarding the transparent conductive layer by plasma is from 10 seconds to 5 minutes. The method for manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the foregoing steps all adopt a roll-to-roll process.