CN105549340A - Photoetching method and device of roll to roll flexible substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a roll-to-roll flexible substrate lithography method and device. By designing the exposure ultraviolet transmission path and exposure mode, the lithography of the flexible substrate is realized without the traditional flexible substrate needing to be attached to the substrate. Process steps such as photolithography on the glass substrate and substrate stripping at the end of the process, on the one hand, save the cost of process equipment, and on the other hand, improve the yield rate and production tempo of production. The manufacturing process of the invention is simple, and can effectively improve the production tempo. Under the condition of low production cost, the rapid and high-quality photolithographic fabrication of flexible substrates is realized. The device of the invention is mainly composed of an ultraviolet light source, a flexible substrate conveying system and a photoresist coating device, and has simple structure, convenient use, maintenance and manufacture.

Description

Roll-to-roll flexible substrate photolithography method and apparatus

technical field

The invention relates to a method and device for manufacturing a TFT array substrate in the display field, in particular to a photolithography method and device for a TFT array, which are applied in the technical field of thin film transistor preparation based on roll-to-roll flexible substrate photolithography.

Background technique

The English full name of the thin film transistor is ThinFilmTransistor, abbreviated as TFT.

The English full name of roll-to-roll is RolltoRoll, abbreviated as R2R. The traditional R2R substrate film pattern manufacturing method is as follows:

Use screen printing, laser patterning, inkjet printing and other methods to realize the transfer of single-layer film patterning to flexible substrates, but the patterning achieved by the above methods can generally only realize the film layer with a large pattern line width , the line width of the lithography pattern of the film layer is usually tens of microns or larger, the patterning process of the film layer requires low precision, and the film layer process does not have the high precision requirements for multi-layer alignment, but it is suitable for flexible applications in the display field. The fabrication of TFT array substrates cannot meet the requirements. In the traditional flexible substrate exposure process, the flexible substrate is first coated on the traditional glass substrate and cured. After the display process is completed, the flexible substrate is peeled off from the glass substrate by methods such as laser lift-off. On the one hand, the traditional method The process time of flexible display is increased, on the other hand, the cost of process equipment is increased, see Figure 1.

The production of flexible TFT array substrates requires more than 4 photolithography processes, and the more general photolithography process requires 5 photolithography processes. The display line width is small, reaching several microns, and the pattern alignment accuracy is high. It needs to be less than or equal to 1 micron, so the above-mentioned method cannot realize the patterning process of the TFT array substrate based on the roll-to-roll flexible substrate at present, so it is urgent to study a new photolithography method to realize the process requirement of the patterning.

Contents of the invention

In order to solve the problems of the prior art, the object of the present invention is to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art, and provide a roll-to-roll flexible substrate photolithography method and device, by adjusting the optical path of the light source, the flexible substrate is supported at the reel Accurate photolithography process is realized under the condition of

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose of invention and creation, the following technical solutions are adopted:

A roll-to-roll flexible substrate photolithography method, comprising the steps of:

a. After the flexible substrate is coated with photoresist, the flexible substrate part coated with photoresist is transferred to the substrate film pattern manufacturing position detector by driving the first orientation drive shaft, and the substrate film pattern manufacturing position is detected by the substrate film pattern manufacturing position detector. The device locates the position of the positioning mark set on the edge of the substrate. After the position is positioned, the flexible substrate coated with photoresist is transferred to the second orientation drive shaft;

b. Turn on the ultraviolet light source, make the exposure ultraviolet light irradiate on the substrate film pattern lens, set the substrate film pattern lens as the partial arc curved surface mirror of the surface cylindrical surface of the second directional transmission shaft in step a, the substrate film pattern lens The shape and size are the same as the lithographic pattern of the flexible substrate to be manufactured, the substrate film pattern lens is made of transparent material, and the ultraviolet transmittance of the substrate film pattern lens is above 95%;

c. Drive the second orientation transmission shaft, the flexible substrate is transported to the position of the substrate film pattern lens, the exposure ultraviolet rays in step b are transmitted through the substrate film pattern lens, and the coating that has been transmitted to the second transmission shaft The flexible substrate of the photoresist is exposed to form a photolithographic pattern of the flexible substrate;

d. After the exposure in step c is completed, turn off the ultraviolet light source, continue to drive the second transmission shaft, and transfer the unexposed other flexible substrate parts to the position of the substrate film pattern lens of the second directional transmission shaft, then turn on the ultraviolet light source, continue Exposing the flexible substrate to form a photolithographic pattern of the flexible substrate;

e. The working process of step d is carried out in a cycle, and the photolithographic pattern of the flexible substrate is continuously manufactured according to the set production process beat.

As a preferred technical solution of the present invention, in step b, the exposure ultraviolet rays are first reflected by the first mirror surface, and then the ultraviolet rays are transmitted through the mask and projected onto the second mirror surface, and then the ultraviolet rays are focused and emitted through the second mirror surface , and then incident on the substrate thin film graphic lens of the second oriented drive shaft.

A roll-to-roll flexible substrate lithography device, mainly composed of an ultraviolet light source, a flexible substrate conveying system and a photoresist coating device, the photoresist coating device coats photoresist on the flexible substrate, and the flexible substrate The bottom conveying system is mainly composed of the first directional drive shaft, the second directional drive shaft and the corresponding drive shaft driver. After the photoresist is coated on the flexible substrate, the flexible substrate coated with photoresist is wound to the first On the surface of a directional transmission shaft, the flexible substrate part coated with photoresist is transferred to the substrate film pattern manufacturing position detector by driving the first directional transmission shaft, and the substrate film pattern manufacturing position detector is The positioning Mark mark set on the edge of the substrate is used for position positioning. After the position is positioned, the flexible substrate part coated with photoresist is transferred to the second directional drive shaft. At least part of the cylindrical surface of the second directional drive shaft uses ultraviolet rays The transmittance of the transparent material is more than 95%, and the transparent cylindrical part of the second directional transmission shaft forms an arc-shaped curved mirror, which is used as a substrate film pattern lens, and the shape and size of the substrate film pattern lens are the same as those to be manufactured. The photolithographic pattern of the flexible substrate is the same, and the ultraviolet light source is turned on, so that the exposure ultraviolet light can be irradiated on the substrate film pattern lens, and the second directional drive shaft is driven to transfer the flexible substrate part coated with photoresist to the substrate film pattern lens At the position, make the exposed ultraviolet rays pass through the substrate film pattern lens, and expose the flexible substrate part coated with photoresist that has been transmitted to the second transmission shaft to form a flexible substrate photolithographic pattern. After the exposure is completed Afterwards, turn off the ultraviolet light source, continue to drive the second transmission shaft, and transfer the unexposed other flexible substrate parts to the position of the substrate film pattern lens of the second directional transmission shaft, and then turn on the ultraviolet light source to continue exposing the flexible substrate , form the flexible substrate lithographic pattern, control the transmission and exposure work process cycle, and continuously manufacture the lithographic pattern of the flexible substrate according to the set production process beat.

As a preferred technical solution of the device of the present invention, the exposure ultraviolet rays are first reflected by the first mirror, and then the ultraviolet rays are transmitted through the mask and projected onto the second mirror, and then the ultraviolet rays are focused and emitted by the second mirror, and then incident To the substrate film graphic lens of the second orientation drive shaft.

As a further preferred technical solution of the above technical solution, the second mirror is a mirror whose surface has been modulated.

As a further preferred technical solution of the above technical solution, the tact of the production process is adjusted through the controller to control the lithographic manufacturing speed of the lithographic pattern on the flexible substrate.

As a further preferred technical solution of the above technical solution, the substrate thin film graphic lens is made of quartz.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following obvious outstanding substantive features and significant advantages:

In the traditional flexible substrate exposure process, the flexible substrate is first coated on the traditional glass substrate and cured. After the display process is completed, the flexible substrate is peeled off from the glass substrate by methods such as laser lift-off. On the one hand, the traditional method The process time of flexible display is increased, including the coating and curing time of flexible materials, and the stripping process time after the display process is completed. On the other hand, the cost of process equipment is increased, including laser stripping equipment, flexible substrate curing process equipment, etc.; However, the present invention adopts the R2R method for the display screen-related exposure process of the flexible substrate, and does not need the curing process and stripping process of the flexible substrate material. On the one hand, the cost of process equipment is saved, and on the other hand, the yield rate and production cycle of production are improved. , the manufacturing process of the present invention is simple, can effectively improve the production tempo, and realize the fast and high-quality manufacturing of the flexible substrate under the condition of lower production cost.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional manufacturing process of a display screen based on a flexible substrate.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a roll-to-roll flexible substrate photolithography process flow in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a roll-to-roll flexible substrate lithography apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail as follows:

In this embodiment, referring to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, a roll-to-roll flexible substrate photolithography device is mainly composed of an ultraviolet light source 50, a flexible substrate conveying system and a photoresist coating device. The device coats photoresist 80 on the flexible substrate 10, and the flexible substrate conveying system is mainly composed of the first directional drive shaft 20, the second directional drive shaft 21 and the corresponding drive shaft drivers. After distributing photoresist 80, one side of flexible substrate 10 coated with photoresist 80 is wound onto the surface of first orientation transmission shaft 20, and the flexible substrate 10 coated with photoresist 80 will be coated by driving first orientation transmission shaft 20. The substrate 10 is partially sent to the substrate thin film pattern manufacturing position detector 30, and the positioning mark 40 set on the edge of the substrate is positioned by the substrate thin film pattern manufacturing position detector 30. After the position is positioned, the coated The flexible substrate 10 covered with photoresist 80 is partially transferred to the second directional transmission shaft 21. At least part of the cylindrical surface of the second directional transmission shaft 21 is made of transparent quartz material with a transmittance of ultraviolet rays above 95%. Quartz has High transmittance, the transparent cylindrical part of the second orientation drive shaft 21 forms an arc-shaped curved surface mirror, as the substrate film graphic mirror 62, the shape and size of the substrate thin film graphic mirror 62 are photoetched with the flexible substrate 10 to be manufactured The pattern is the same, and the ultraviolet light source 50 is turned on, so that the exposure ultraviolet light can be irradiated on the substrate film pattern lens 62, and the second directional drive shaft 21 is driven to transfer the flexible substrate 10 part coated with photoresist 80 to the substrate film pattern lens At the position of 62, the exposed ultraviolet light passes through the substrate film graphic lens 62, and the flexible substrate 10 part of the coated photoresist 80 that has been transferred to the second transmission shaft 21 is exposed to form a flexible substrate photolithography Graphics, after the exposure is completed, turn off the ultraviolet light source 50, continue to drive the second transmission shaft 21, and transfer the unexposed other flexible substrate parts 90 to the substrate film graphic lens 62 position of the second orientation transmission shaft 21, and then open The ultraviolet light source 50 continues to expose the flexible substrate 10 to form a photolithographic pattern on the flexible substrate, and controls the transmission and exposure process to be carried out in a cycle. According to the set production process beat, the photolithographic pattern of the flexible substrate 10 is continuously manufacture.

In this embodiment, referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the exposure ultraviolet rays are first reflected by the first mirror 60, and then the ultraviolet rays pass through the mask and are projected onto the second mirror, and then the ultraviolet rays are focused and emitted by the second mirror. out, and then incident on the substrate film graphic mirror 62 of the second orientation drive shaft 21, wherein the second mirror is a mirror whose surface has been modulated. The device in this embodiment is mainly composed of an ultraviolet light source, a flexible substrate conveying system and a photoresist coating device. It has a simple structure, is easy to use, and is convenient for maintenance and manufacture.

In this embodiment, referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , the production process takt is adjusted through the controller to control the lithographic manufacturing speed of the lithographic pattern on the flexible substrate 10 .

In this embodiment, referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a roll-to-roll flexible substrate photolithography method includes the following steps:

a. First, the photoresist 80 is coated on the flexible substrate 10, and then the flexible substrate 10 part coated with the photoresist 80 is sent to the substrate film pattern manufacturing position detector 30 by driving the first orientation drive shaft 21, Substrate film pattern manufacturing position detector 30 performs position positioning on the positioning mark 40 set on the edge of the substrate. After the position is positioned, the flexible substrate 10 coated with photoresist 80 is transferred to the second orientation drive shaft 21 ;

b. Turn on the ultraviolet light source 50, make the exposure ultraviolet ray irradiate on the substrate film pattern eyeglass 62, set the substrate film pattern eyeglass 62 as the partial arc curved surface mirror of the surface cylindrical surface of the second orientation drive shaft 21 in step a, the substrate The shape and size of the thin film graphic lens 62 are the same as the lithography pattern of the flexible substrate 10 to be manufactured, and the substrate thin film graphic lens 62 is made of a transparent material, and the ultraviolet transmittance of the substrate thin film graphic lens 62 is more than 95%. ;

c. Drive the second directional drive shaft 21, the flexible substrate 10 is delivered to the position of the substrate film graphic mirror 62, so that the exposure ultraviolet rays in step b can pass through the substrate film graphic mirror 62, and will have been delivered to the second transmission shaft 21, the flexible substrate 10 coated with photoresist 80 is exposed to form a photolithography pattern of the flexible substrate 10;

d. After the exposure in step c is completed, turn off the ultraviolet light source 50, continue to drive the second transmission shaft 21, and transfer the unexposed other flexible substrate parts 90 to the substrate film graphic lens 62 position of the second orientation transmission shaft 21, and then Turn on the ultraviolet light source 50, continue to expose the flexible substrate 10, and form the photolithography pattern of the flexible substrate 10;

e. The working process of step d is carried out in a cycle, and continuous exposure is performed according to the set production process beat, and the photolithography pattern of the flexible substrate 10 is continuously manufactured.

In this embodiment, referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , the roll-to-roll flexible substrate lithography method and device in this embodiment realize the lithography of flexible substrates by designing the exposure ultraviolet transmission path and exposure mode, and There is no need for traditional flexible substrates to be attached to glass substrates, such as photolithography and substrate peeling at the end of the process. On the one hand, the cost of process equipment is saved, and on the other hand, the yield rate and production cycle of production are improved. The manufacturing process of the present invention The method is simple, can effectively improve the production rate, and realizes rapid and high-quality lithography manufacturing of flexible substrates under the condition of lower production costs.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various changes can also be made according to the purpose of the invention of the present invention. The changes, modifications, substitutions, combinations or simplifications should be equivalent replacement methods, as long as they meet the purpose of the invention, as long as they do not deviate from the technical principle and inventive concept of the roll-to-roll flexible substrate photolithography method and device of the present invention , all belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (7)

1. a volume to volume flexible substrate photoetching method, is characterized in that, comprises the steps:

A. after flexible substrate coating photoresist, by driving the first directed transmission shaft, the flexible substrate part of coating photoresist is sent to substrate film figure and manufactures position detector place, manufacture the location Mark of position detector to the setting of edges of substrate by described substrate film figure and carry out location, position, after having good positioning in position, then the flexible substrate of coating photoresist is sent to the second directed transmission shaft;

B. ultraviolet source is opened, make exposure Ultraviolet radiation on substrate film figure eyeglass, the part arc curved mirror that described substrate film figure eyeglass is the surperficial face of cylinder of the second directed transmission shaft in described step a is set, the shape and size of described substrate film figure eyeglass are identical with flexible substrate litho pattern to be manufactured, described substrate film figure eyeglass adopts transparent material to make, and the ultraviolet transmitance of described substrate film figure eyeglass is more than 95%;

C. described second directed transmission shaft is driven, flexible substrate is sent to the position of described substrate film figure eyeglass, make the exposure ultraviolet in described step b through described substrate film figure eyeglass, the flexible substrate of the coating photoresist be sent on described second driving shaft is exposed, forms flexible substrate litho pattern;

D. after having exposed in described step c, close ultraviolet source, continue to drive described second driving shaft, other flexible substrate part unexposed is sent to the described substrate film figure lens position place of described second directed transmission shaft, open ultraviolet source again, continue to expose flexible substrate, form flexible substrate litho pattern;

E. make the course of work of described steps d circulate to carry out, according to the production technology beat of setting, the litho pattern of flexible substrate is manufactured continuously.

2. volume to volume flexible substrate photoetching method according to claim 1, it is characterized in that: in described step b, exposure ultraviolet is first after the first mirror-reflection, make ultraviolet through mask plate again and project on the second minute surface, then by the second minute surface ultraviolet focused on and launch, then inciding on the substrate film figure eyeglass of described second directed transmission shaft.

3. a volume to volume flexible substrate lithographic equipment, primarily of ultraviolet source (50), flexible substrate transfer system and photoresist apparatus for coating composition, described photoresist apparatus for coating is coated with photoresist (80) in flexible substrate (10), it is characterized in that: described flexible substrate transfer system is primarily of the first directed transmission shaft (20), second directed transmission shaft (21) and corresponding transmission shaft driver composition, after flexible substrate (10) is coated with photoresist (80), flexible substrate (10) one side scribbling photoresist (80) is wound up on the surface of described first directed transmission shaft (20), by driving described first directed transmission shaft (20), flexible substrate (10) part being coated with photoresist (80) is sent to substrate film figure and manufactures position detector (30) place, by described substrate film figure manufacture position detector (30), (40) are identified to the location Mark of the setting of edges of substrate and carry out location, position, after having good positioning in position, again flexible substrate (10) part being coated with photoresist (80) is sent on described second directed transmission shaft (21), described second directed transmission shaft (21) at least partly periphery adopts the transparent material of ultraviolet transmitance more than 95% to make, the transparent column face portion of described second directed transmission shaft (21) forms arc-shaped curved surface mirror, as substrate film figure eyeglass (62), the shape and size of described substrate film figure eyeglass (62) are identical with flexible substrate to be manufactured (10) litho pattern, open described ultraviolet source (50), exposure Ultraviolet radiation can be made on described substrate film figure eyeglass (62), drive described second directed transmission shaft (21), flexible substrate (10) part being coated with photoresist (80) is sent to the position of described substrate film figure eyeglass (62), make at exposure ultraviolet through described substrate film figure eyeglass (62), the flexible substrate (10) of the coating photoresist (80) be sent on described second driving shaft (21) part is exposed, form flexible substrate litho pattern, after exposure completes, close described ultraviolet source (50), continue to drive described second driving shaft (21), other flexible substrate part (90) unexposed is sent to described substrate film figure eyeglass (62) position of described second directed transmission shaft (21), open described ultraviolet source (50) again, continue to expose flexible substrate (10), form flexible substrate litho pattern, control transmits and exposure work process cycle carries out, according to the production technology beat of setting, the litho pattern of flexible substrate (10) is manufactured continuously.

4. volume to volume flexible substrate lithographic equipment according to claim 3, it is characterized in that: exposure ultraviolet is first after the first minute surface (60) reflection, make ultraviolet through mask plate again and project on the second minute surface, then by the second minute surface ultraviolet focused on and launch, then inciding on the described substrate film figure eyeglass (62) of described second directed transmission shaft (21).

5. volume to volume flexible substrate lithographic equipment according to claim 4, is characterized in that: described second minute surface adopts surface through the minute surface of ovennodulation.

6. according to volume to volume flexible substrate lithographic equipment described in any one in claim 3 ~ 5, it is characterized in that: by controller, adjustment production technology beat, controls the photolithographic fabrication speed of the litho pattern of flexible substrate (10).

7. according to volume to volume flexible substrate lithographic equipment described in any one in claim 3 ~ 5, it is characterized in that: described substrate film figure eyeglass (62) adopts quartz to make.