JP2000260309A - Method of manufacturing gas discharge panel - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To realize a display panel with good display quality. SOLUTION: A partition forming step for defining a discharge space includes a first step (b) of forming a photosensitive coating layer 104 on a substrate 103, and a step of forming a groove 1 having a predetermined pattern on the photosensitive coating layer.
Step (c, d) for forming the first and second grooves
06, a third step (f) of forming a partition material to a predetermined height inside, and a fourth step (g) of removing a photosensitive coating layer to obtain a partition 107 having a predetermined shape. In front of the,
The method includes a step (e) of cleaning the inside of the groove 106 using ozone or the like.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a gas discharge panel for forming a partition such as a plasma display panel used for a display device or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a plasma display panel, which has attracted attention as a thin display device, has, for example, a structure shown in FIG. The plasma display panel includes a front substrate 300 arranged opposite to each other.
And a back substrate 301. On the front substrate 300, display electrodes 302 and 303, a dielectric layer 304, and an MgO dielectric protection layer 305 are sequentially formed. An address electrode 306 and a dielectric layer 307 are formed on the rear substrate 301, and a partition 308 is further formed thereon, and a phosphor layer 309 is applied on side surfaces of the partition 308. ing.

A discharge gas 310 (for example, a mixed gas of Ne—Xe) is provided between the front substrate 300 and the rear substrate 301.
Is sealed at a pressure of 500 to 600 Torr.
The discharge gas 310 is discharged between the display electrodes 302 and 303 to generate ultraviolet rays, and the ultraviolet rays are applied to the phosphor layer 3.
By irradiating 09, image display including color display becomes possible.

[0004] The partition wall 308 has a color (G, B,
R) is a partition for forming a discharge cell by forming a minute discharge space, and the partition wall 308 makes it possible to control discharge for each cell, thereby preventing erroneous discharge and erroneous display. . The size of the partition wall 308 is typically
In a 40-inch NTSC panel, the partition pitch is 360 μm per color, and the width of the partition top is 50 μm to 100 μm.
μm, and the partition height is 100 μm to 150 μm.

[0005] As a conventional method of forming a partition, (1) a printing method of forming a partition using a screen printing technique,
(2) After applying the partition wall material to the entire surface of the rear substrate, a photosensitive film layer is formed on the coated partition wall material, a predetermined pattern is formed by a photographic method, and unnecessary portions of the partition wall material are removed by sandblasting. A sand blast method of peeling off the photosensitive film layer to form a partition, (3) a photo paste method of applying a photosensitive paste and removing unnecessary portions by a photographic method to form a partition, or (4) exposing a substrate. After forming the conductive film layer, a predetermined pattern is formed by a photographic method, a paste is buried in the groove of the pattern, the photosensitive film is peeled off, and then the paste is baked in a baking process. Method).

[0006]

However, these conventional methods for forming barrier ribs have problems, respectively.
A method has been proposed in which after forming a photosensitive film layer on a substrate, a predetermined pattern is formed by a photographic method, the partition wall material is buried in the groove portions of the pattern by thermal spraying, and then the photosensitive film is peeled off (Japanese Patent Application No. 10-1998). No. 258991).

When a partition is formed by using the photosensitive film layer, a predetermined pattern is formed by a photographic method using exposure and development. However, the film material at the bottom of the groove to be removed during the development process is not sufficient. It may not be completely removed and may remain on the surface of the dielectric layer 307 on the rear substrate at a monolayer level.

[0008] When thermal spraying is performed in such a state, the adhesion between the dielectric material layer 307 and the paste material or the molten film embedded as the partition wall material is impaired.

[0009] The film side wall of the groove portion also
There has been a problem that the dispersion of the film surface state is large and the peelability when the photosensitive film is peeled becomes unstable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned problems, and has the following objects. (1) When forming a partition by thermal spraying, the partition is formed at low cost and with high accuracy. Provided is a method of manufacturing a plasma display panel that enables high-quality display. (2) Realizing a plasma display panel that has high-precision partition walls manufactured at low cost and with high accuracy and that can perform high-quality display. It is to be.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the step of forming a partition defining a discharge space includes a first step of forming a photosensitive coating layer on a substrate, and a step of forming a predetermined pattern on the photosensitive coating layer. A second step of forming a groove, a third step of forming a partition material to a predetermined height inside the groove, and a fourth step of removing the photosensitive coating layer to obtain the partition having a predetermined shape. And a step of cleaning at least the inside of the groove portion before the third step.

The cleaning step is characterized by using sputtering with a gas containing ozone, oxygen plasma or an inert gas, or hitting fine powder particles by a sandblast method. Further, the fine powder particles include at least an inorganic material. Further, the photosensitive coating layer is a negative type photosensitive resist or a positive type photosensitive resist. Further, the partition wall is a thermal sprayed film formed by thermal spraying of a partition wall material. The partition is formed by embedding a paste-like partition material.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Specifically, an embodiment of the present invention in which a partition wall of a plasma display panel is formed by a thermal spraying method will be described below, taking as an example a case where a plasma spraying method, which is a kind of thermal spraying method, is used.

(Configuration of Plasma Spraying Apparatus) FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a plasma spraying apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2, a plasma spraying torch 200 included in the plasma spraying apparatus has a water-cooled cathode 201 and a water-cooled anode 202. A DC voltage is applied between the electrodes 201 and 202 from a DC power supply 203 to generate an arc discharge 204.
Generate.

A plasma working gas 206 is supplied from a gas port 205 attached to the rear of the plasma spray torch 200.
Is supplied. The supplied plasma working gas 206 is
Arc discharge 2 generated between electrode 201 and electrode 202
The plasma is jetted from the nozzle 208 as a plasma jet 207. Plasma working gas 2
As 06, argon, helium, nitrogen, hydrogen and the like can be used. In this embodiment, argon or a mixed gas of argon and helium is used.

A thermal spray material 209 serving as a material for the partition wall is placed in a carrier gas from a supply port 210 in a powder state and blown into a plasma jet 207. The supplied thermal spray material 209 is heated and melted by the plasma jet 207 and collides with the substrate 211 (thickness: t) on which the pattern of the photosensitive coating layer 212 is formed at a high speed. As a result, a coating (sprayed film) 213 is deposited on the surface of the substrate 211.

Preferably, the cooling gas port 214
Is installed, and at the same time as the thermal spraying of the plasma jet 207,
A cooling gas is blown onto the substrate 211. However, description and illustration of a specific piping configuration of the cooling gas port 214 are omitted here for simplification.

(Partition Forming Process) Next, referring to FIG. 1, a partition forming process using the thermal spraying method in the present invention will be described. 1A to 1H are cross-sectional views showing each step of the above process.

First, as shown in FIG. 1A, an address electrode 101 is formed on a glass substrate 100. As the glass substrate 100, for example, soda glass or high strain point glass having a thickness of 2.8 mm is used. Address electrode 1
01, the underlayer 1 made of, for example, dielectric glass
02 is formed.

In the following description, the configuration including the glass substrate 100, the address electrodes 101, and the underlayer 102 will be generally referred to as a substrate 103 for convenience. Also, in the following description, similarly, a configuration including a substrate and an address electrode and a base layer formed thereon may be generally referred to as a substrate.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, a photosensitive coating layer 104 is formed on the formed substrate 103. In this embodiment, a photosensitive dry film resist (hereinafter, referred to as “DFR”) is used as the photosensitive coating layer 104, and two DFRs each having a thickness of 60 μm are stacked on each other to a thickness of 120 μm.
Thickness.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1C, exposure is performed by irradiating with ultraviolet light (UV light) using a photomask 105 having a predetermined pattern width and a predetermined pitch. The amount of exposure is optimized according to the pattern width and pitch of the photomask 105.

In the step shown in FIG. 1D, development is performed after exposure. As a developing solution, a 1% aqueous solution of sodium carbonate is used. After exposure and development processes, a groove (opening portion) 106 having a predetermined pattern in a stripe shape is formed in the DFR 104. The size of the groove 106 is typically such that the upper opening width is 80 μm and the pitch is 360 μm.
m.

After the formation of the pattern of the groove 106, FIG.
As shown in (e), a cleaning process using ozone is performed from above the substrate 103. This ozone can dissociate the organic bonds of organic residues and organic contaminants inside the groove, and can efficiently remove them by reaction.

Next, after the cleaning process of the pattern of the groove 106, as shown in FIG. 1F, plasma spraying is performed from above the substrate 103, and a sprayed film (partition material) is formed in the groove 106 of the DFR 104. 107 is deposited. Specifically, a cooling gas port 110 is provided in the plasma spraying torch 108, and a cooling gas 111 is sprayed on the substrate 103 simultaneously with the spraying of the plasma jet 109.

As the cooling gas 111, a nitrogen gas is used. Due to the action of the cooling gas 111, D
Damage to the FR 104 is reduced, and a highly accurate partition wall can be formed. Further, in this spraying step, the sprayed film 107 is formed.
Is mainly deposited inside the groove 106 of the DFR 104 and is deposited so as to rise upward from the surface of the DFR 104. However, the thermal spray film hardly deposits (adheres) on the surrounding DFR 104.

Next, as shown in FIG.
The portion of the thermal sprayed film 107 protruding from the surface of the substrate 04 is removed by polishing, and the surface of the thermal sprayed film 107 deposited inside the groove 106 of the DFR 104 is planarized.

Next, as shown in FIG.
3 in a stripping solution, for example, 5% aqueous sodium hydroxide solution.
The DFR 104 is peeled off by soaking for 0 minutes. Thus, the partition wall 107 having a predetermined shape is formed as a pattern of the thermal spray film 107 having a stripe shape.

As described above, according to this embodiment, removal of a trace (substantially a monolayer) residue of the photosensitive coating layer at the bottom of the pattern opening and removal of organic contaminants on the side wall of the groove are achieved. The surface of the photosensitive coating film can be stabilized at the same time.

As a result, the adhesion between the dielectric layer formed on the rear substrate and the barrier ribs can be improved, and the photosensitive coating layer can be easily removed stably, thereby realizing a display device with higher display quality.

Further, since the partition walls are formed by the thermal spraying method, the partition walls can be formed without using a firing step. Furthermore, since a partition having a large area and no defect can be formed,
A low-cost, high-quality plasma display panel can be realized.

In the step of cleaning the inside of the groove, oxygen plasma may be used. By the active oxygen radicals generated by the oxygen plasma, organic residues and organic contaminants inside the groove in the groove can be efficiently removed by reaction.

In the step of cleaning the inside of the groove, sputtering with an inert gas may be used.

By the sputtering of the inert gas atoms generated by the plasma in the vacuum, organic residues and organic contaminants in the open groove can be efficiently removed by reaction.

In the step of cleaning the inside of the groove, fine particles may be beaten by a sand blast method. Also according to this method, the organic residue and organic contaminants in the groove can be efficiently removed by the blast effect of the fine powder particles.

The average particle size of the fine particles is preferably not more than 1/3 of the opening width of the partition wall or not more than 30 micrometers. By setting the average particle size of the fine particles according to the width and depth of the groove, removal of organic residues and organic contaminants inside the groove can be optimized.

Further, the fine powder particles preferably contain at least an inorganic material. The use of fine powder particles containing an inorganic material can easily remove organic residues and organic contaminants inside the groove, and even if there is a slight amount of blast residue, the effect that the possibility of deteriorating the quality is extremely low is obtained. .

As the photosensitive coating layer, a negative photosensitive resist or a positive photosensitive resist can be used. In any case, fine, high-quality, high-precision partition walls can be easily formed.

When the partition walls are formed by thermal spraying of the partition wall material, low-cost, high-precision partition walls can be easily formed. In this case, plasma spraying can be used.

When the partition is formed by embedding a paste-like partition material, low-cost and high-precision partition can be easily formed.

The groove preferably has a trapezoidal cross section in which the bottom is wider than the top. This is because the shape accuracy of the partition and the adhesion to the substrate are made uniform, and the loss of the partition at the time of photosensitive separation can be reduced.

Ozone may be generated by irradiating oxygen to ultraviolet rays. By irradiating oxygen with ultraviolet rays, active oxygen radicals are positively generated, and organic residues and organic contaminants inside the groove can be efficiently removed.

Incidentally, as schematically shown in FIG. 4, a heating and heat retaining mechanism for heating and retaining the substrate from the back surface may be provided.

Specifically, the substrate 401 is
And fixed by a fixing jig 403. Under the plate 402, a heating plate 405 connected to the heater 404 is placed, thereby heating and keeping the temperature of the substrate 401. The heating plate 405 may be directly installed on the stage 406, but if it is installed on the stage 406 via the heat insulating plate 407, the heating and heat retaining efficiency is improved.

By installing the heating and heat retaining mechanism as described above, it is possible to promote a reaction for efficiently removing organic residues and organic contaminants in the groove by reaction.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, the photosensitive coating layer surface is removed by removing a trace residue of the photosensitive coating layer at the bottom of the pattern opening and by removing organic contaminants on the side walls of the groove. This makes it possible to improve the adhesion between the dielectric layer formed on the rear substrate and the barrier ribs, facilitate the stable removal of the photosensitive coating layer, and realize a display device with higher display quality. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIGS. 1A to 1H are cross-sectional views showing each step of a partition wall forming process using a thermal spraying method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a plasma spraying apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a plasma display panel.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a mechanism for heating and keeping a substrate from the back surface in another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Glass substrate 101 Address electrode 102 Underlayer 103 Substrate 104 Photosensitive coating layer (DFR) 105 Photomask 106 Groove (open groove part) 107 Thermal spray film (partition material) 108 Plasma spray torch 109 Plasma jet 110 Cooling gas port 111 Cooling gas 200 Plasma spraying torch 201 Cathode 202 Anode 203 DC power supply 204 Arc discharge 205 Gas port 206 Plasma working gas 207 Plasma jet 208 Nozzle 209 Thermal spray material 210 Supply port 212 Photosensitive coating layer 211 Substrate 213 Thermal spray film 214 Cooling gas port 300 Front substrate 301 Back substrate 302, 303 Display electrode 304 Dielectric layer 305 Dielectric protection layer 306 Address electrode 307 Dielectric layer 308 Partition wall 309 Phosphor layer 310 Discharge gas 40 Substrate 402 plate 403 fixed jig 405 heating plate 404 heater 406 stage 407 heat insulating plate

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G09F 9/313 G09F 9/313 A H01J 11/02 H01J 11/02 B H04N 5/66 101 H04N 5/66 101A (72) Inventor Taku Watanabe 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Inside Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. 1006 Odakadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Katsuyoshi Yamashita 1006 Odakadoma, Kadoma, Osaka-shi DA06 DB14 DC21 EA45 5C027 AA09 5C040 GB08 GF19 JA02 JA07 JA15 JA17 JA20 JA23 MA23 MA24 5C058 AA11 AB08 BA35 5C094 AA02 AA31 AA43 AA55 BA31 CA19 DA13 EA05 EB02 EC03 EC04 FB15 GB10

Claims (15)

[Claims] A first step of forming a photosensitive coating layer on a substrate; and a second step of forming a groove in a predetermined pattern in the photosensitive coating layer. Forming a partition material to a predetermined height inside the groove;
And a fourth step of removing the photosensitive coating layer to obtain the partition having a predetermined shape, including a step of cleaning at least the inside of the groove before the third step. A method for manufacturing a gas discharge panel, comprising: 2. The step of cleaning the inside of the groove portion,
The method according to claim 1, wherein a gas containing ozone is used. 3. The step of cleaning the inside of the groove portion,
The method for manufacturing a gas discharge panel according to claim 1, wherein oxygen plasma is used. 4. The step of cleaning the inside of the groove portion,
The method for manufacturing a gas discharge panel according to claim 1, wherein sputtering using an inert gas is used. 5. The step of cleaning the inside of the groove portion,
2. The method for manufacturing a gas discharge panel according to claim 1, wherein the fine powder particles are beaten by a sand blast method. 6. An average particle size of the fine powder particles is 1/1/1 of the partition wall opening width.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the thickness is 3 or less or 30 micrometers or less. 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the fine powder particles contain at least an inorganic material. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the photosensitive coating layer is a negative photosensitive resist. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the photosensitive coating layer is a positive type photosensitive resist. 10. The method for manufacturing a gas discharge panel according to claim 1, wherein the partition is a thermal sprayed film formed by spraying a material of the partition. 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the thermal spraying is plasma thermal spraying. 12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the partition is formed by embedding a paste-like partition material. 13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the groove has a trapezoidal cross section whose bottom is wider than the top. 14. The method according to claim 2, wherein ozone is generated by irradiating oxygen to ultraviolet rays. 15. The method for manufacturing a gas discharge panel according to claim 1, wherein in the step of cleaning the inside of the groove, the substrate is heated.