TWI674192B - Hardcoat layer system and method for manufacturing a hardcoat layer system in a continuous roll-to-roll process - Google Patents

Abstract

A hard coating system (100) suitable for use in a touch screen panel. The hard coating system (100) includes a soft substrate (101) and a layer stack (110). The layer stack is disposed on the soft substrate (101). The layer stack (110) includes an adhesion promotion layer (111) and an inorganic hard coating upper layer (113). The adhesion promotion layer is disposed on the soft substrate (101). The adhesion-promoting layer (111) is assembled and covalently bonded to the surface of the soft substrate, and a mechanical property of the adhesion-promoting layer (111) to an interface (102) to the soft substrate (101) is suitable for the soft substrate One of the mechanical properties of wood (101).

Description

Hard coating system and method for manufacturing a hard coating in a continuous roll-to-roll process Coating system method

The embodiments disclosed herein are related to several hard coating systems suitable for use in an optoelectronic device and several methods for manufacturing such hard coating systems in a continuous roll-to-roll process. In particular, the embodiments of the present disclosure relate to several hard coating systems, including a stack of one of several layers deposited on a soft substrate. More specifically, the embodiments of the present disclosure relate to several hard coating systems manufactured by a continuous roll-to-roll vacuum deposition process.

In the packaging industry, semiconductor industry, and other industries, there is a high demand for the processing of soft substrates, such as plastic films or foils. The process can consist of coating a soft substrate with the required material, etching, and performing other process steps for the desired application on the substrate. The required materials are, for example, metals, in particular aluminum, semiconductors and dielectric materials. A system for performing a task typically includes a processing drum, such as a cylindrical roller. The processing drum is coupled to the processing system for transferring the substrate, and at least a part of the substrate is Processing on the drum. Therefore, a roll-to-roll (R2R) coating system can provide a high-throughput system.

Generally, the processing examples are physical vapor deposition (PVD) process, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Process. Treatment can be used to deposit a thin metal layer, which can be coated on a soft substrate. In particular, the roll-to-roll deposition system is facing a strong increase in demand in the display industry and the photovoltaic (PV) industry.

Examples of products made from coated soft substrates are touch panels or organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. In display applications, compared to liquid crystal displays (LCDs), organic light emitting diode displays have recently enjoyed faster response times, larger viewing angles, higher contrast, lighter weight, and lower power due to their faster response times. , And compliance with soft substrates (amenability) has received significant attention.

Therefore, after these years, optoelectronic devices such as display devices or touch panels have been developed into multilayer systems. In these multi-layer systems, different layers have different functions. However, the quality of traditional multilayer systems still needs to be improved. For example, scratch resistance still needs to be improved.

In view of the foregoing, there is a need to provide a hard coating system suitable for use in an optoelectronic device and a method for manufacturing such hard coating systems to overcome at least some of the problems in this field.

In view of the foregoing, a hard coating system and a method for manufacturing a hard coating system are provided according to the scope of the independent patent application. Other aspects, advantages, and features of this disclosure are clearer from the scope, description, and accompanying drawings of the patent application.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a hard coating system suitable for use in a touch screen panel is proposed. The hard coating system includes a soft substrate and a layer stack, and the layer stack is disposed on the soft substrate. The layer stack includes an adhesion promotion layer and an inorganic hard coating layer. The adhesion promotion layer is disposed on a soft substrate. The adhesion-promoting layer is assembled and covalently bonded to the surface of the soft substrate. A mechanical property of the adhesion-promoting layer at an interface to the soft substrate is suitable for a mechanical property of the soft substrate.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a hard coating system suitable for use in a touch screen panel is proposed. The hard coating system includes a soft substrate, selected from the group consisting of polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, poly (methacrylic acid methyl ester), and triacetic acid. Cellulose (triacetyl cellulose), cyclo olefin polymer (cyclo olefin polymer), poly (ethylene terephthalate) (poly (ethylene naphthalate)) group. Furthermore, the hard coating system includes a layer stack disposed on a soft substrate, wherein the layer stack includes an adhesion promotion layer and an inorganic hard coating upper layer, and the adhesion promotion layer is disposed on the soft substrate. The adhesion-promoting layer is assembled by covalent bonding on the surface of the soft substrate, and the hardness of the adhesion-promoting layer is assembled from the soft substrate to the inorganic hard coating layer. To increase. The inorganic hard coating upper layer has a pencil hardness from 2H to 9H. The adhesion promoting layer and the inorganic hard coating layer are deposited by using a roll-to-roll plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process using one and the same precursor.

According to yet another aspect of this disclosure, a photovoltaic device is provided having a hard coating system according to any of the embodiments described herein.

According to still other aspects of the present disclosure, a method for manufacturing a hard coating system in a continuous roll-to-roll process is proposed. The method includes providing a soft substrate to at least one first processing region and at least one second processing region without breaking the vacuum; depositing an adhesion promoting layer on the soft substrate in the at least one first processing region; And depositing an inorganic hard coating layer in the at least one second processing region, wherein depositing the adhesion promotion layer includes forming a covalent bond between the soft substrate and the adhesion promotion layer. Furthermore, depositing the adhesion-promoting layer includes adapting the mechanical properties of the adhesion-promoting layer to the mechanical properties of the soft substrate.

Several embodiments are also related to equipment for performing the disclosed methods, and include equipment components for performing each of the method aspects described. These method aspects may be implemented by hardware components, a computer programmed with suitable software, any combination of the two, or any other means. Furthermore, several embodiments according to the present disclosure also relate to a method for operating the device described. These methods for operating the described device include several method aspects for performing various functions of the device. In order to have a better understanding of the above and other aspects of the present invention, the following specific examples are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

100‧‧‧hard coating system

101‧‧‧ soft substrate

102‧‧‧ interface

108‧‧‧ Arrow

110‧‧‧layer stacking

111‧‧‧ Adhesion promoting layer

112‧‧‧Other adhesion promoting layers

113‧‧‧ inorganic hard coating

120‧‧‧Anti-reflective layer stack

121‧‧‧ First floor

122‧‧‧Second floor

123‧‧‧Third floor

124‧‧‧Fourth floor

150‧‧‧ Photoelectric device

200‧‧‧ Method

210, 220, 230‧‧‧ process steps

300‧‧‧treatment system

302A‧‧‧First chamber part

302A1‧‧‧Some units of mezzanine chamber

302A2‧‧‧Part of the substrate chamber

302B‧‧‧Second Chamber Section

302C‧‧‧The third chamber part

305, 766, 766’‧‧‧ mezzanine roller

312‧‧‧vacuum flange

392‧‧‧ pretreatment plasma source

394‧‧‧preheating unit

430‧‧‧etching station

492‧‧‧ionization unit

494‧‧‧Optical measurement unit

630‧‧‧Sedimentary source

701‧‧‧partition wall

710‧‧‧coating drum

740‧‧‧Gap gate

764‧‧‧first roller

764’‧‧‧Second Roller

T _HTL , T _APL ‧‧‧ thickness

In order to make the above-mentioned features of the present disclosure understandable in detail, a more specific description briefly extracted from the above disclosure may refer to several embodiments. The attached drawings are related to several embodiments of the disclosure and are described below: Figures 1 and 2 show schematic diagrams of a hard coating system according to the embodiments described herein; Figure 3 shows a diagram based on this Schematic diagrams of hard coating systems according to other embodiments described herein; Figures 4 to 6 illustrate schematic diagrams of hard coating systems according to yet other embodiments described herein; and Figure 7 illustrates embodiments according to the embodiments described herein A schematic diagram of a processing system for manufacturing a hard coating system; FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic diagram of an optoelectronic device having a hard coating system according to the embodiments described herein; and FIG. 9 illustrates an implementation according to the description herein An example flowchart of a method for manufacturing a hard coating system in a continuous roll-to-roll process.

Detailed reference will be made in several embodiments, and one or more examples of several embodiments are shown in the drawings. The examples are provided by way of illustration and are not meant to be limiting. For example, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used in or combined with any other embodiment to obtain yet further embodiments. This means that this disclosure includes such adjustments and changes.

In the description below the drawings, the same reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. Generally, only the differences regarding individual embodiments are performed. Instructions. Unless stated otherwise, the description of one part or aspect in one embodiment can also be applied to the corresponding part or aspect in another embodiment.

Before the embodiments of the present disclosure are described in more detail, some aspects of the names and representations used herein are explained.

In this disclosure, "hard coating system" is understood as a stack of several layers. In a stack of several layers, at least the uppermost layer includes a hard coating. In particular, a "hard coating system" can be understood as a stack of several layers including an inorganic hard coating layer. More particularly, the hard coating may be characterized by a hard coating having a pencil hardness of at least 2H. In this regard, it will be understood that the resistance to coating, that is, the hardness of the coated layer, can be determined as the level of the hardest pencil, and will not be firmly pressed against the coated at an angle of 45 degrees Marks are left permanently on the floor. Generally, the pencil is pressed against the surface to be tested with a force of 7.5N. The pencil hardness test system is also known as the "Wolff-Wilborn test".

In the present disclosure, "layer stacking" is understood as a stack of several layers with different material compositions of at least two layers. In particular, a stack of several layers as described herein may be transparent. The name "transparent" as used herein may include, in particular, the ability of a structure to transmit light in a relatively low scattering manner such that, for example, the light through which it is transmitted can be seen in a substantially clear manner.

In the present disclosure, the “soft substrate” may have a feature that the substrate is flexible. For example, the soft substrate may be a foil. In particular, it will be understood that a soft substrate as described herein may be processed in a continuous roll-to-roll process as described herein, for example, in a roll-to-roll processing system as described herein. In particular, soft substrates as described herein are suitable for making coatings or electronic devices on soft substrates. particular Yes, the soft substrate as described herein may be transparent, for example, the soft substrate may be made of a transparent polymer material. More specifically, the soft substrate as described herein may include materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE), Polyimide (PI), polyurethane (PU), poly (methacrylic acid methyl ester), triacetyl cellulose, cellulose triacetate, TAC), cyclo olefin polymer, poly (ethylene naphthalate), one or more metals, paper, combinations thereof, and coated substrates. The coated substrates are like Hard Coated PET (HC-PET) or Hard Coated TAC (HC-TAC) and the like.

In this disclosure, "adhesion promoting layer" is understood as a layer disposed between two structures, such as a substrate and a layer between layers or a layer between two layers, and an assembly of adhesion promoting layers to promote Describe the adhesion between the two structures. For example, the adhesion promoting layer APL can be assembled and covalently bonded to at least one of the two structures, and the adhesion promoting layer is disposed between the two structures. Therefore, the adhesion-promoting layer APL can be assembled to be covalently bonded to a soft substrate as described herein and / or covalently bonded to a splicing layer deposited on the adhesion-promoting layer APL. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the adhesion promoting layer can be applied to the mechanical properties of the soft substrate as described herein. For example, the flexibility of the adhesion-promoting layer APL can be applied to the mechanical properties of soft substrates, and the flexibility is exemplified by elastic molds. number. Therefore, since the adhesion-promoting layer APL can follow the deformation of the soft substrate, the adhesion of the adhesion-promoting layer APL to the substrate can be improved.

In this disclosure, "hard-coated upper layer" will be understood as the uppermost layer of a stack of several layers. In particular, the hard-coated layer may be characterized as having a pencil hardness of at least 2H.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a hard coating system according to the embodiment described herein. According to several embodiments that can be combined with any of the other embodiments described herein, the hard coating system is suitable for use in a touch screen panel. In particular, the hard coating system includes a soft substrate 101 and a layer stack 110, and the layer stack 110 is disposed on the soft substrate 101. For example, the soft substrate 101 may include a polymer material selected from the group consisting of polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, and poly (methacrylic acid methyl ester). ), Triacetyl cellulose, cyclo olefin polymer, and poly (ethylene naphthalate). As exemplarily shown in FIG. 1, the layer stack 110 includes an adhesion promotion layer 111 and an inorganic hard coating upper layer 113. The adhesion promotion layer 111 is disposed on the soft substrate 101. The adhesion promoting layer 111 is assembled and covalently bonded to the surface of the soft substrate. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the adhesion promoting layer 111 at the interface 102 to the soft substrate 101 are suitable for the mechanical properties of the soft substrate 101. For example, the flexibility of the adhesion promoting layer APL can be applied to the mechanical properties of a soft substrate, and the flexibility is exemplified by the elastic modulus.

Therefore, several embodiments as described herein provide improved hard coating systems. In particular, compared to traditional hard coating systems, hard coating systems as described herein have improved structural stability and integrity. Therefore, by applying several embodiments of the hard coating system as described herein in an optoelectronic device, and for example a display device or a touch panel, the structural stability and scratch resistance can be improved, making the improvement of the optoelectronic device Product durability can be achieved.

Exemplarily referring to FIG. 2, according to several embodiments that can be combined with any other embodiments described herein, the adhesion promotion layer 111 may have 100 nm T _APL 800 nm thickness T _APL .

For example, the thickness T _{APL of the} adhesion promotion layer 111 may be selected from a range having a lower limit and an upper limit. The lower limit is 100 nm, particularly 200 nm, more particularly 300 nm, and the upper limit is 600 nm, particularly 700 nm, and more particularly 800 nm. Therefore, by providing a hardness layer system having an adhesion promoting layer having a thickness T _APL as described herein, the stability of the entire hard coating system can be improved.

Furthermore, referring to FIG. 2 as an example, according to several embodiments that can be combined with any other embodiments described herein, the thickness T _{HTL of the} inorganic hard coating upper layer 113 may be 100 nm. T _HTL 1 μm. For example, the thickness T _{HTL of the} inorganic hard coating upper layer may be selected from a range having a lower limit and an upper limit. The lower limit is 100 nm, particularly 200 nm, more particularly 300 nm, and the upper limit is 600 nm, particularly 800 nm, and more particularly 1 μm. Therefore, by providing a hard-coating system having an inorganic hard-coating layer having a thickness T _HTL as described herein, the stability of the entire hard-coating system can be improved, and especially the scratch resistance can be improved.

According to several embodiments that can be combined with any of the other embodiments described herein, the adhesion promotion layer 111 includes silicon oxycarbide SiO _x C _y . In particular, the adhesion promotion layer 111 may be composed of silicon oxycarbide SiO _x C _y . Therefore, by applying an adhesion-promoting layer having a material composition as described herein, the adhesion-promoting layer is assembled to covalently bond to the surface of a soft substrate as described herein, which is beneficial to improving the structure of the hard coating system. stability.

According to several embodiments that can be combined with any of the other embodiments described herein, the inorganic hard coat overlayer 113 includes silicon oxide SiO _x . In particular, the inorganic hard coat upper layer 113 may be composed of silicon oxide SiO _x . Alternatively, the inorganic hard coating upper layer 113 may include silicon carbide SiC, and in particular, the inorganic hard coating upper layer 113 may be composed of silicon carbide SiC.

According to several embodiments that can be combined with any of the other embodiments, the inorganic hard coating has a pencil hardness from 2H to 9H. For example, the pencil hardness of the inorganic hard coating layer can be 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H, or 9H. The pencil hardness of the inorganic hard coating can be measured using a pencil hardness test, which is also known as the Wolff-Wilborn test. In particular, the hardness of the inorganic hard coating layer can be determined as the grade of the hardest pencil, and it will not permanently leave a mark on the inorganic hard coating layer when it is firmly pressed against the inorganic hard coating layer at an angle of 45 degrees. Generally, the pencil is pressed against the surface to be tested with a force of 7.5N, for example, the surface of an inorganic hard coating.

Exemplarily referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, according to several embodiments that can be combined with any of the other embodiments described herein, the layer stack 110 may further include an anti-reflection layer stack 120 disposed on the adhesion promotion layer 111 and the inorganic hard coating upper layer. 113. For example, the anti-reflection layer stack 120 may include a first layer 121 of SiO _x disposed on the adhesion promotion layer 111, a second layer 122 of NbO _x disposed on the first layer 121, and a second layer 122 disposed The third layer 123 of SiO _x is shown as an example in FIG. 4. Furthermore, the anti-reflection layer stack 120 may include a fourth layer 124 of indium tin oxide (ITO) disposed on the third layer 123, as shown by way of example in FIG. 5.

For example, the first layer 121 may have 5 nm T ₁ A thickness T _{1 of} 10 nm. For example, the thickness T _{1 of the} first layer 121 may be selected from a range having a lower limit and an upper limit. The lower limit is 5 nm, particularly 6 nm, more particularly 7 nm, and the upper limit is 8 nm, particularly 9 nm, and more particularly 10 nm.

The second layer 122 may have 5 nm T ₂ 10 nm thickness T ₂ . For example, the thickness T _{2 of the} second layer 122 may be selected from a range having a lower limit and an upper limit. The lower limit is 5 nm, particularly 6 nm, more particularly 7 nm, and the upper limit is 8 nm, particularly 9 nm, and more particularly 10 nm.

The third layer 123 may have 40 nm T ₃ A thickness T _{3 of} 80 nm. For example, the thickness T _{3 of the} third layer 123 may be selected from a range having a lower limit and an upper limit. The lower limit is 40 nm, particularly 45 nm, more particularly 50 nm, and the upper limit is 60 nm, particularly 70 nm, and more particularly 80 nm.

The fourth layer 124 may have 20 nm T ₄ 60 nm thickness T ₄ . For example, the thickness T _{4 of the} fourth layer 124 may be selected from a range having a lower limit and an upper limit. The lower limit is 20 nm, especially 25 nm, more particularly 30 nm, and the upper limit is 40 nm, especially 50 nm, and more particularly 60 nm.

Compared to the conventional layer structure, providing a hard coating system with an anti-reflection layer stack 120 as described herein can be beneficial to enhance the optical performance of the hard coating system, especially for use in photovoltaic devices, such as Is OLED display Device. For example, layer stacks as described herein can be advantageous for obtaining hard coating systems with anti-reflective properties.

Referring to FIG. 6 as an example, according to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, other adhesion promoting layers 112 may be disposed between the anti-reflection layer stack 120 and the inorganic hard coating upper layer 113. For example, the thickness of the other adhesion promoting layer 112 may be selected from a range having a lower limit and an upper limit. The lower limit is 100 nm, particularly 200 nm, more particularly 300 nm, and the upper limit is 600 nm, particularly 700 nm, and more particularly 800 nm. Therefore, by providing a hard coating system having other adhesion promoting layers, and the other adhesion promoting layers have a thickness as described herein, the stability of the entire hard coating system can be improved.

Furthermore, according to some embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, other adhesion promoting layers 112 can be assembled and covalently bonded to the uppermost layer of the anti-reflection layer stack 120, for example, covalently bonded to Three layers 123 or fourth layer 124. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of other adhesion promoting layers 112 may be applicable to the mechanical properties of the uppermost layer of the anti-reflection layer stack 120, such as the third layer 123 or the fourth layer 124. For example, the flexibility of other adhesion-promoting layers can be applied to the mechanical properties of the uppermost layer of the anti-reflection layer stack 120, and the flexibility is exemplified by the elastic modulus. Therefore, the structural stability and integrity of the hard coating system as described herein can be improved more than the traditional hard coating system.

According to an example that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, a hard coating system 100 suitable for use in a touch screen panel includes a soft substrate 101. The soft substrate 101 is selected from the group consisting of polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, poly (methacrylic acid methyl ester), and triacetyl cellulose. Cyclo olefin polymer, A group of poly (ethylene naphthalate). Furthermore, the hard coating system 100 includes a layer stack 110, which is disposed on the soft substrate 101, wherein the layer stack 110 includes an adhesion promotion layer 111 and an inorganic hard coating upper layer 113, and the adhesion promotion layer 111 is disposed on the soft substrate 101. on. In particular, the adhesion promotion layer 111 is assembled and covalently bonded to the surface of the soft substrate, and the hardness of the adhesion promotion layer can be assembled to gradually increase from the soft substrate to the inorganic hard-coated upper layer 113. The inorganic hard coating upper layer 113 may have a pencil hardness from 2H to 9H. Generally, the adhesion promoting layer 111 and the inorganic hard coat upper layer 113 are deposited by a roll-to-roll PECVD process using one and the same precursor.

Therefore, in view of the embodiments of the hard coating system described herein, it will be appreciated that the hard coating system is very suitable for manufacturing in a continuous roll-to-roll process, especially in a continuous vacuum deposition roll-to-roll process.中 Manufacture.

As an example, the processing system 300 for manufacturing a hard coating system according to the embodiment described herein is shown in FIG. 7. In particular, FIG. 7 illustrates a roll-to-roll processing system assembled for performing a method for manufacturing a hard coating system in a continuous roll-to-roll process according to the embodiments described herein.

As shown in FIG. 7, the processing system 300 may include at least three chamber portions, such as a first chamber portion 302A, a second chamber portion 302B, and a third chamber portion 302C. In the third chamber portion 302C, one or more deposition sources 630 and selected etching stations 430 may be provided as processing tools. The soft substrate 101 is exemplified as the soft substrate described herein, and is disposed on the first roller 764 having a scroll. The soft substrate is unrolled from the first roller 764, as shown by the direction of movement of the substrate as indicated by arrow 108. The partition wall 701 is provided to partition the first chamber portion 302A and the second chamber portion 302B. The partition wall 701 may further be provided with a slit gate 740 to provide a soft substrate 101 to Its passed. The vacuum flange 312 disposed between the second chamber portion 302B and the third chamber portion 302C may be provided with an opening for taking out at least some processing tools.

The soft substrate 101 moves through a deposition area provided on the coating drum 710 and a position corresponding to the deposition source 630. During operation, the coating drum 710 rotates around the axis, so that the soft substrate 101 moves in the direction of the arrow 108. According to some embodiments, the soft substrate 101 is guided from the first roller 764 to the coating drum 710 via one, two, or more rollers and from the coating drum 710 to a second roller, for example, having a roller. 764 '. The soft substrate 101 is wound on the second roller 764 'after the processing.

According to some embodiments, the deposition source 630 may be assembled for depositing layers of a hard coating system as described herein. As an example, at least one deposition source may be suitable for depositing the adhesion promoting layer 111, and at least one deposition source may be suitable for depositing the inorganic hard coating layer 113. Furthermore, individual deposition sources can be provided, and the individual deposition sources are suitable for depositing the first layer 121, the second layer 122, the third layer 123, the fourth layer 124, and other adhesion promoting layers 112.

In some applications, the first chamber portion 302A is separated into an interleaf chamber portion unit 302A1 and a substrate chamber portion unit 302A2. For example, the mezzanine rollers 766/766 'and the mezzanine rollers 305 may be provided as module components of the processing system 300. The processing system 300 may further include a preheating unit 394 to heat the soft substrate. Furthermore, the pre-treatment plasma source 392 may be additionally or alternatively disposed to treat the substrate with the plasma before entering the third chamber portion 302C. The pre-treatment plasma source 392 is, for example, a radio frequency (RF) plasma source.

According to yet other embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, an optical measurement unit 494 and / or one or more ionization units may also be optionally provided 492. The optical measurement unit 494 is used to evaluate the result of substrate processing, and the ionization unit 492 is used to adapt the charge on the substrate.

According to some embodiments, the deposition material may be selected based on the deposition process and subsequent applications of the coated substrate. For example, the deposition material of the deposition source can be based on the adhesion promotion layer 111, the inorganic hard coating layer 113, the first layer 121, the second layer 122, the third layer 123, the fourth layer 124, and other adhesion promotion layers as described above. Individual material selection of 112.

Referring exemplarily to FIG. 8, according to one aspect of the present disclosure, a photovoltaic device 150 having a hard coating system 100 according to any of the embodiments described herein is proposed. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the hard coating systems described herein can be advantageously used in optical applications, such as the protection of OLEDs.

Exemplarily referring to FIG. 9, a method 200 for manufacturing a hard coating system in a continuous roll-to-roll process is illustrated. According to several embodiments that can be combined with any of the other embodiments described herein, method 200 includes providing (see box 210) a soft substrate to at least one first processing area and at least one second without breaking the vacuum. Processing area. Further, the method includes depositing (see box 220) an adhesion promoting layer on the soft substrate in the at least one first processing region, and depositing (see box 230) an inorganic hard-coating layer on the at least one second processing region. .

In particular, depositing the adhesion-promoting layer may include forming a covalent bond between the soft substrate and the adhesion-promoting layer. Furthermore, depositing the adhesion-promoting layer may include adapting the mechanical properties of the adhesion-promoting layer to the mechanical properties of the soft substrate. For example, the flexibility of the adhesion promoting layer can be applied to the mechanical properties of a soft substrate, and the flexibility is exemplified by the elastic modulus.

According to several embodiments of this method that can be combined with any of the other embodiments described herein, depositing the adhesion promotion layer and the deposited inorganic hard coat overcoat layer may include using a PECVD process and / or hot filament chemical vapor deposition (Hot Wire Chemical Vapor) Deposition, HWCVD) process. Furthermore, depositing the anti-reflection layer stack 120 may also include using a PECVD process and / or a HWCVD process. For example, the adhesion promoting layer and / or the inorganic hard coating upper layer and / or the anti-reflection layer stack 120 described herein may be deposited using a low-temperature microwave PECVD process.

According to other embodiments of this method that can be combined with any of the other embodiments described herein, depositing the adhesion promoting layer includes using at least one precursor selected from the group consisting of HMDSO Hexamethyldisiloxane; PpHMDSO plasmapolymer Hexamethyldisiloxane; tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane (C ₄ H ₁₆ O ₄ Si ₄ ) (TOMCATS Tetramethyl Cyclotetrasiloxane (C ₄ H ₁₆ O ₄ Si ₄ )); hexamethyldisiloxane Nitrosane ([(CH ₃ ) ₃ Si] ₂ NH) (HMDSN Hexamethyldisilazane ([(CH ₃ ) ₃ Si] ₂ NH))); and tetraethoxysilane (Si (OC ₂ H ₅ ) ₄ ) (TEOS Tetraethyl Orthosilicate (Si (OC ₂ H ₅ ) ₄ )).

Furthermore, depositing the inorganic hard coating upper layer may also include using at least one precursor selected from the group consisting of HMDSO; ppHMDSO; tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane (C ₄ H ₁₆ O ₄ Si ₄ ) (TOMCATS Tetramethyl Cyclotetrasiloxane (C ₄ H ₁₆ O ₄ Si ₄ )); hexamethyldisilazane ([(CH ₃ ) ₃ Si] ₂ NH) (HMDSN Hexamethyldisilazane ([(CH ₃ ) ₃ Si] ₂ NH))); and tetraethoxysilane ( Si (OC ₂ H ₅ ) ₄ ) (TEOS Tetraethyl Orthosilicate (Si (OC ₂ H ₅ ) ₄ )). In particular, depositing the adhesion promoting layer and the deposited inorganic hardness upper layer may include using the same precursor.

In particular, depositing the adhesion-promoting layer may further include using at least one reagent selected from the group consisting of peroxides, especially tributylphosphine oxide (TBPO (tert-butyl peroxide)); acrylate monomers ), Especially ethyl-hexyl acrylate; and a crosslinking agent, especially butanediol-diacrylate (BDDA). Therefore, by using at least one agent selected from the above group, the adhesion ability of the adhesion promotion layer can be improved. Furthermore, the use of at least one agent selected from the group can be beneficial to improve the structural stability of the hard coating system described herein.

In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the several embodiments described herein provide improved hard coating systems and methods for making such improved hard coating systems, particularly for use in photovoltaic devices. . The optoelectronic device is an example of a touch panel.

In summary, although the present invention has been disclosed as above with the embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Those with ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be determined by the scope of the attached patent application.

In particular, this written description uses several examples including the best mode to disclose this disclosure, and also enables anyone with ordinary knowledge in this technical field to implement the stated subject matter, including the manufacture and use of any device or system and implementation Any method of incorporation. When several specific embodiments have been disclosed in the foregoing, the non-exclusive features of the above embodiments may be combined with each other. Patentable scope If the scope of the patent application has structural elements that are not different from the literal language of the scope of the patent application, or if the scope of the patent application includes equivalent structural elements and the equivalent language of the equivalent structural element and the literal language of the scope of the patent application are non-essential In the case of differences, other examples are intended to be included in the scope of the patent application.

Claims (14)

A hard coating system (100) suitable for use in a touch screen panel. The hard coating system includes: a soft substrate (101); and a layer stack (110) disposed on the soft substrate (101). ), Wherein the layer stack (110) includes an adhesion promotion layer (111), an inorganic hard coating upper layer (113), and an anti-reflection layer stack (120), and the adhesion promotion layer (111) is disposed on the soft substrate (101), the anti-reflection layer stack (120) includes NbO _x disposed between the adhesion promotion layer (111) and the inorganic hard coating upper layer (113); wherein the adhesion promotion layer (111) is assembled to be covalent A mechanical property of bonding to the surface of the soft substrate and the adhesion promoting layer (111) to an interface (102) of the soft substrate (101) is suitable for one of the soft substrate (101) Mechanical properties, wherein the adhesion promoting layer (111) has flexible properties. The hard coating system (100) according to item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the adhesion promotion layer (111) has a thickness of 100 nm T _APL One thickness of 800 nm (T _APL ). The hard coating system (100) according to item 1 or 2 of the patent application scope, wherein the inorganic hard coating layer (113) has a thickness of 100 nm T _HTL One thickness of 1 μm (T _HTL ). The hard coating system (100) according to item 1 or 2 of the patent application scope, wherein the adhesion promotion layer (111) comprises silicon oxycarbide SiO _x C _y . The hard coat application system (100) of the first two patents, or range, wherein the adhesion promoting layer (111) consists of carbon-based silicon oxide SiO _x C _y components. The hard coat application system (100) of the first two patents, or range, wherein the inorganic hard coat layer (113) comprises a silicon oxide or SiO _x wherein the inorganic hard coat layer (113) comprises silicon carbide SiC. The hard coating system (100) according to item 1 or 2 of the patent application scope, wherein the inorganic hard coating upper layer (113) is composed of silicon oxide SiO _x or the inorganic hard coating upper layer (113) is composed of silicon carbide SiC composition. The hard coating system (100) according to item 1 or 2 of the patent application scope, wherein the inorganic hard coating upper layer has a pencil hardness from 2H to 9H. A hard coating system (100) is suitable for use in a touch screen panel. The hard coating system includes: a soft substrate (101) selected from the group consisting of polycarbonate and polyethylene terephthalate. Polyethylene terephthalate, poly (methacrylic acid methyl ester), triacetyl cellulose, cyclo olefin polymer, poly (ethylene terephthalate) ) (poly (ethylene naphthalate)); and a layer stack (110) disposed on the soft substrate (101), wherein the layer stack (110) includes an adhesion promotion layer (111), an inorganic layer A hard-coated upper layer (113) and an anti-reflection layer stack (120), the adhesion promotion layer (111) is disposed on the soft substrate (101), and the anti-reflection layer stack (120) includes NbO _x disposed on the adhesion promotion Between the layer (111) and the inorganic hard coating upper layer (113); wherein the adhesion promoting layer (111) is assembled and covalently bonded to the surface of the soft substrate, and the hardness of the adhesion promoting layer (111) It is assembled to gradually increase from the soft substrate to the inorganic hard coating layer (113), wherein the inorganic hard coating The coating layer (113) has a pencil hardness from 2H to 9H. A photovoltaic device (150) having a hard coating system (100) as described in any one of claims 1 to 9 of the scope of patent application. A method (200) for manufacturing a hard coating system in a continuous roll-to-roll process, the method comprising: providing (210) a soft substrate to at least one first processing area without breaking a vacuum And at least a second processing region; depositing (220) an adhesion promoting layer on the soft substrate in the at least one first processing region; and depositing (230) an inorganic hard coating in the at least one second processing region Upper layer; wherein depositing (220) the adhesion promotion layer includes forming a covalent bond between the soft substrate and the adhesion promotion layer, and depositing (220) the adhesion promotion layer further includes mechanical properties of the adhesion promotion layer Suitable for mechanical properties of the soft substrate, wherein the adhesion promoting layer has flexible properties. The method (200) according to item 11 of the scope of patent application, wherein depositing (220) the adhesion promoting layer and depositing (230) the inorganic hard coating upper layer includes using an Plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process and / or a hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) process. The method (200) as described in claim 11 or 12, wherein depositing (220) the adhesion-promoting layer further comprises using at least one precursor selected from hexamethyldisilaxane (HMDSO); four Methylcyclotetrasiloxane (C ₄ H ₁₆ O ₄ Si ₄ ) (TOMCATS Tetramethyl Cyclotetrasiloxane (C ₄ H ₁₆ O ₄ Si ₄ )); Hexamethyl disilazane ([(CH ₃ ) ₃ Si] ₂ NH) (HMDSN Hexamethyldisilazane ([(CH ₃ ) ₃ Si] ₂ NH)); and tetraethoxysilane (Si (OC ₂ H ₅ ) ₄ ) (TEOS Tetraethyl Orthosilicate (Si (OC ₂ H ₅ ) ₄ )) The formed group, and depositing (220) the adhesion promoting layer further comprises using at least one reagent selected from a plurality of peroxides as a plurality of initiators; a plurality of acrylate monomers; and A group of crosslinking agents. The method (200) according to item 13 of the application, wherein the peroxides as the initiators include tributylphosphine oxide (TBPO (tert-butyl peroxide)), wherein the acrylate monoesters The body includes ethyl-hexyl acrylate, and the cross-linking agent includes butanediol-diacrylate (BDDA).