TWI485589B - Touch panel and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

Touch panel and method of manufacturing same

The present invention relates to a panel and a method of fabricating the same, and more particularly to a touch panel and a method of fabricating the same.

With the rapid development and application of information technology, wireless mobile communication and information appliances, many information products have been transformed from traditional keyboards or mouse input devices to use for the convenience of portability, light weight and user-friendly operation. Touch the panel as an input device.

Currently, touch panels can be roughly classified into resistive, capacitive, infrared, and ultrasonic touch panels. Among them, resistive touch panels and capacitive touch panels are the most common products. In the case of a capacitive touch panel, the multi-touch feature provides a more user-friendly operation mode, and the capacitive touch panel is favored by the market.

In general, a capacitive touch panel detects a touch position of a finger or a conductive object by a change in a capacitance value caused by a user touching a capacitive touch panel through a finger or a conductive object. Further, capacitive touch panels typically have a two-layer conductive layer that is electrically insulated from each other. When the user does not touch the touch panel, there is an initial value of capacitance between the two layers of conductive layers. When the user touches the touch panel, a change in the capacitance value occurs between the two layers of the conductive layer, thereby changing the original initial value of the capacitor. At this time, it is possible to determine the position touched by the user by discriminating the position of the changed capacitance value.

As the development of touch panels matures, and users The product is light and thin, and the touch panel is required to further reduce its thickness, thus developing a single-layer touch panel. Since the single-layer touch panel has only a single-layer substrate and a single-layer conductive layer, the thickness of the touch panel is greatly reduced. However, under the different materials of the conductive layer and the substrate, the contact surface between the conductive layer and the substrate may have a high contact resistance value, and the adhesion between the conductive layer and the substrate is also affected, thereby reducing the touch sensitivity of the touch panel and Trustworthiness.

The invention provides a touch panel with good touch sensitivity and reliability.

The invention provides a method for manufacturing a touch panel, which can produce a touch panel with good touch sensitivity and reliability.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a touch panel including a substrate, a metal layer, and a metal buffer layer. The metal layer is disposed on the substrate. The metal buffer layer is laminated with the metal and is located between the metal layer and the substrate.

In an embodiment of the invention, the profile of the metal buffer layer is substantially the same as the profile of the metal layer.

In an embodiment of the invention, the material of the metal layer comprises copper, aluminum, silver, gold, nickel gold, nickel copper or aluminum nickel gold.

In an embodiment of the invention, the metal layer comprises a mesh metal mesh.

In an embodiment of the invention, the metal electrode has a line width of less than 7 microns.

In an embodiment of the invention, the material of the metal buffer layer comprises Palladium, Platinum, Rhodium, Cadmium, Cobalt, Iridium or Lanthanum. Lanthanide series) metal.

In an embodiment of the invention, the metal buffer layer has a thickness of less than 0.5 micrometers.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a touch panel, including the following steps. A metal buffer layer is formed on the substrate. A metal layer is formed on the substrate, wherein the metal buffer layer is located between the metal layer and the substrate.

In an embodiment of the invention, the profile of the metal buffer layer is substantially the same as the profile of the metal layer.

In an embodiment of the invention, the material of the metal layer comprises copper, aluminum, silver, gold, nickel gold, nickel copper or aluminum nickel gold.

In an embodiment of the invention, the metal layer comprises a grid-shaped metal electrode.

In an embodiment of the invention, the metal electrode has a line width of less than 7 microns.

In an embodiment of the invention, the aforementioned method of forming a metal buffer layer comprises screen priting, inkjet priting, sputtering, evaporation, dipping, roller coating or spin coating.

In an embodiment of the invention, the material of the metal buffer layer comprises palladium, platinum, rhodium, cadmium, cobalt, ruthenium or lanthanide metal.

In an embodiment of the invention, the metal buffer layer has a thickness of less than 0.5 micrometers.

Based on the above, the present invention can utilize a metal buffer layer between the metal layer and the substrate to reduce the contact resistance between the metal layer and the substrate, and increase the adhesion between the metal layer and the substrate. In this way, the touch panel has good touch sensitivity and reliability.

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

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel according to an embodiment of the invention. 2 is a top plan view of the touch panel of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , the manufacturing method of the touch panel 100 of the present embodiment is, for example, sequentially forming a metal buffer layer 120 and a metal layer 130 on the substrate 110 , wherein the metal buffer layer 120 and the metal layer 130 are stacked, and the metal The buffer layer 120 is located between the metal layer 130 and the substrate 110.

In the present embodiment, the material of the substrate 110 is, for example, a transparent material. Here, a transparent material generally refers to a material that generally has a high transmittance, and is not a material that defines a transmittance of 100%. Further, the substrate 110 may be a flexible substrate. In detail, the material of the substrate 110 may be a polymer material. The polymer material is, for example, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), nylon (Nylon), polycarbonate. Ester (PC), polyurethane (PU), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyimide (PI), acrylic resin or polymethyl A material such as a mixture of methyl acrylate and polycarbonate. Applying the flexible base The touch panel formed by the board can be flexible and thus suitable for being wrapped on a flexible surface or any flexible object that requires a touch function, such as a display panel. In other embodiments, the substrate 110 may also be a rigid substrate, wherein the hard substrate may be made of glass, quartz or other suitable materials.

The material of the metal layer 130 includes copper, aluminum, silver, gold, nickel gold, nickel copper, aluminum nickel gold or other conductive materials. In the present embodiment, the metal layer 130 includes, for example, a grid-shaped metal electrode E. The metal electrode E can be formed by interlacing a plurality of metal traces, wherein a part of the metal traces extend along the first direction X and are arranged along the second direction Y, and the other part of the metal traces along the second direction Y Extending and aligning in the first direction X. The first direction X of the present embodiment is, for example, perpendicular to the second direction Y, but the present invention does not have to define the first direction X to be perpendicular to the second direction Y, and is not intended to define the shape of the metal electrode E. In other embodiments not shown, the metal electrode E may also be a honeycomb or other polygonal metal electrode.

In the present embodiment, the metal electrode E is made of a metal material having a low light transmittance. However, by setting the line width L of the metal electrode E to be lower than the width visible to the naked eye, for example, the line width L of the metal electrode E is smaller than At 7 micrometers, the user does not directly see the metal electrode E when using the touch panel 100. In this way, visual interference can be avoided and the aesthetics of the touch panel 100 is also increased.

The metal buffer layer 120 serves as a catalyst for the metal layer 130 or as a catalyst conversion layer for the metal layer 130, and the conductivity of the metal layer 130 can be improved. In detail, the material of the metal buffer layer 120 may be palladium, platinum, rhodium, cadmium, cobalt, rhodium or lanthanide metal. The thickness H of the metal buffer layer 120 is, for example, less than 0.5 μm. In the present embodiment, the thickness of the metal buffer layer 120 is as an example. If it falls between 0.1 microns and 0.4 microns. Further, the method of forming the metal buffer layer 120 may include screen printing, inkjet printing, sputtering, evaporation, dipping, roller coating, or spin coating.

As a buffer layer between the metal layer 130 and the substrate 110, the metal buffer layer 120 is formed, for example, at a position where the metal layer 130 of the substrate 110 is to be formed. In the present embodiment, the outline of the metal buffer layer 120 is substantially the same as the outline of the metal layer 130. In other words, after the metal layer 130 is formed in the present embodiment, the metal buffer layer 120 is completely covered by the metal layer 130, for example. However, the present invention is not intended to define the pattern of the metal buffer layer 120 or its size relative to the metal layer 130.

The touch panel of the prior art is formed by forming a transparent metal oxide layer on the substrate for touch detection, wherein the contact resistance between the metal oxide layer and the substrate is generally greater than 150 ohms. In contrast, the touch panel 100 of the present embodiment can increase the adhesion between the metal layer 130 and the substrate 110 and reduce the contact resistance by the arrangement of the metal buffer layer 120, for example, reducing the contact resistance to less than 20 ohms. . Therefore, the touch panel 100 of the present embodiment can have better touch sensitivity and reliability than the touch panel of the prior art.

In addition, the capacitive touch panel of the prior art has a double-layer conductive layer electrically insulated from each other as a touch structure, and the present embodiment uses the metal electrode E of the metal layer 130 as a touch. The touch panel 100 of the present embodiment can have a relatively thin thickness and is more suitable for the user's appeal to the information product, and has a higher structural strength and is more suitable for application on the flexible object. . In addition, the metal electrode E of the touch panel 100 of the present embodiment also has a relatively low resistance value and a relatively low value. Process costs, therefore, have a relatively wide range of applications and commercial competitiveness.

In summary, the present invention can utilize a metal buffer layer between the metal layer and the substrate to increase the adhesion between the metal layer and the substrate and reduce the contact resistance between the metal layer and the substrate. In this way, the touch panel has good reliability and touch sensitivity.

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.

100‧‧‧ touch panel

110‧‧‧Substrate

120‧‧‧Metal buffer layer

130‧‧‧metal layer

E‧‧‧Metal electrode

L‧‧‧ line width

H‧‧‧thickness

X‧‧‧ first direction

Y‧‧‧second direction

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel according to an embodiment of the invention.

2 is a top plan view of the touch panel of FIG. 1.

100‧‧‧ touch panel

110‧‧‧Substrate

120‧‧‧Metal buffer layer

130‧‧‧metal layer

H‧‧‧thickness

Claims (13)

A touch panel includes: a substrate; a metal layer disposed on the substrate; and a metal buffer layer stacked on the metal and located between the metal layer and the substrate, wherein the metal buffer layer is contoured It is substantially the same as the outline of the metal layer. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the metal layer comprises copper, aluminum, silver, gold, nickel gold, nickel copper or aluminum nickel gold. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the metal layer comprises a grid-shaped metal electrode. The touch panel of claim 3, wherein the metal electrode has a line width of less than 7 micrometers. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the material of the metal buffer layer comprises palladium, platinum, rhodium, cadmium, cobalt, ruthenium or lanthanide metal. The touch panel of claim 1, wherein the metal buffer layer has a thickness of less than 0.5 micrometers. A method for manufacturing a touch panel, comprising: sequentially forming a metal buffer layer and a metal layer on a substrate, wherein the metal buffer layer is laminated with the metal and located between the metal layer and the substrate, wherein the metal The outline of the buffer layer is substantially the same as the outline of the metal layer. The method for manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 7, wherein the material of the metal layer comprises copper, aluminum, silver, gold, nickel gold, nickel. Copper or aluminum nickel gold. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 7, wherein the metal layer comprises a grid-shaped metal electrode. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 9, wherein the metal electrode has a line width of less than 7 micrometers. The method of manufacturing the touch panel of claim 7, wherein the method of forming the metal buffer layer comprises screen printing, inkjet printing, sputtering, evaporation, dipping, roller coating or spin coating. The method for manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 7, wherein the material of the metal buffer layer comprises palladium, platinum, rhodium, cadmium, cobalt, ruthenium or lanthanide metal. The method of manufacturing a touch panel according to claim 7, wherein the metal buffer layer has a thickness of less than 0.5 μm.