JP2012146529A - Thin film display device inspection/correction method and inspection/correction apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

【Task】
A thin film display element inspection and correction method and inspection correction apparatus that can perform inspection and correction with a single wavelength and high reliability even with a color filter type OLED panel and can improve the yield are provided.
[Solution]
A method for inspecting a light emitting state of a thin film display element having a metal electrode film formed on a light emitting layer and a transparent electrode film formed on the light emitting layer on the opposite side of the metal electrode film, and correcting a defective portion, and The device applies power to the metal electrode and the transparent electrode to cause the light emitting layer to emit light, and the light emission state of the light emitting layer is observed from the transparent electrode side with respect to the metal electrode, and the light emitting layer does not emit light. The metal electrode film above the position where the position is detected and the light is not emitted from the light emitting layer by irradiating the metal electrode with the laser from the side opposite to the transparent electrode based on the information of the position where the light emitting layer does not emit light Was configured to be removed.
[Selection] Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to an inspection correction method and an inspection correction apparatus for inspecting non-lighting pixels of an FPD and correcting the non-lighting pixels, and more particularly to inspection of thin film display elements such as OLED panels and inspection correction methods for thin film display elements suitable for integration. And an inspection correction apparatus.

  OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) panels used in organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display devices and lighting devices, which are one type of FPD (Flat Panel Display), are different from the top emission type and bottom emission type depending on the direction of light extraction. The top emission type generally has a panel structure as shown in FIG. That is, in the top emission type, a TFT layer (Thin Film Transistor) 802 is formed on a glass substrate 801, and a transparent electrode 803, an organic light emitting layer 804, a metal electrode 805, and an insulating layer 806 are laminated thereon, and a resin 807 Sealed with sealing glass 808. A voltage is applied between the transparent electrode 803 and the metal electrode 805, and light is emitted by combining electrons and holes inside the organic light emitting layer 804. In this configuration, the top emission type extracts light 810 from the side opposite to the glass substrate 808. On the other hand, the bottom emission type takes out light 820 from the glass substrate 801 side as shown in FIG. The bottom emission type shown in FIG. 2 has a low aperture ratio because it is necessary to take out light from a region other than the TFT circuit formation portion, but is a structure advantageous for an increase in size. On the other hand, the top emission type shown in FIG. 1 has a high aperture ratio because light is extracted on the side opposite to the TFT circuit forming portion, but it is difficult to increase the size. Therefore, the top emission type is often used for a small panel such as a mobile phone, and the bottom emission type is often used for a large panel such as a television.

  The thickness of the organic light emitting layer 804 is about 100 nm, and it is a feature of the OLED panel that it is very thin. If a foreign substance is mixed due to device dust generation during the manufacturing process and the transparent electrode 803 and the metal electrode 805 are short-circuited, the corresponding pixel is turned off. As the size of the OLED panel increases, the number of foreign objects per panel increases and the number of non-lighted pixels increases. Therefore, the need for correcting non-lighted pixels is increasing in order to improve the yield.

  As correction techniques for non-lighting pixels of the OLED panel, techniques described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 have been known so far.

  According to the technique described in Patent Document 1, a short generation region is removed by a laser from a metal electrode corresponding to a non-lighted pixel. As a result, the organic light emitting layer between the partially removed metal electrode and the transparent electrode can emit light, and non-lighted pixels are restored.

  According to the technique described in Patent Document 2, the position of a foreign substance in a non-lighted pixel is detected by an observation optical system, and the periphery of the foreign substance is removed in a belt shape by a laser. As a result, a foreign substance existing location is isolated, a short circuit is eliminated, and a non-lighted pixel is repaired.

  In both Patent Documents 1 and 2, even if the pixel is repaired, a portion that does not emit light is generated in the pixel due to laser irradiation, and thus it is necessary to reduce the area that does not emit light.

  On the other hand, there are roughly three types of display color display methods: a three-color method (FIG. 3), a color conversion method (FIG. 4), and a color filter method (FIG. 5). 3 to 5 are shown assuming a bottom emission type. The three-color system in FIG. 3 is a system in which an organic material film 8041 that emits red light 811, an organic material film 8042 that emits green light 812, and an organic material film 8043 that emits blue light 813 are separately applied. In order to improve, a color filter may be used together. The color conversion method of FIG. 4 uses a blue light emitting organic material film 8044 and passes the blue light 814 through a color conversion layer 8091 that converts color into red light and a color conversion layer 8092 that converts color into green light. 815 is a method for obtaining green light 816. 5 uses a white light-emitting organic material film 8045 and passes through a color filter 8093 for color conversion to red light, a color filter 8094 for color conversion to green light, and a color filter 8095 for color conversion to blue light. In this method, light 817, green light 818, and blue light 819 are obtained.

  In the three-color system shown in FIG. 3, it is necessary to coat three types of organic materials separately, and vacuum deposition is currently used for coating. However, vacuum deposition causes uneven film formation due to thermal expansion of the shadow mask, and it is difficult to cope with an increase in the panel size. There is also a printing technique as another coating method, but this is behind the development of a polymer blue light-emitting organic material. In the color conversion method shown in FIG. 4, it is difficult to develop a blue light emitting organic material as compared with red and green light emitting organic materials, and low color conversion efficiency is a problem. In the color filter system shown in FIG. 5, since only a white light emitting organic material is used, it is not necessary to remove the organic material. Although the light quantity loss occurs in the color filter, the technology cultivated in the liquid crystal panel can be diverted for the manufacturing process of the color filter, and it can be predicted that the color filter system will become the mainstream for the enlargement of the panel.

JP 2001-118684 A JP 2005-276600 A

  The color filters are red, green, and blue and have different spectral transmittances. FIG. 6 shows an example of the spectral transmittance of the color filter. Reference numeral 601 denotes a spectral transmittance characteristic of the red color filter 8093, 602 denotes a spectral transmittance characteristic of the green color filter 8094, and 603 denotes a spectral transmittance characteristic of the blue color filter 8095. Each of the color filters 8093, 8094, and 8095 has an extremely low transmittance except for the wavelength band of light to be transmitted. Although there are some differences in transmittance depending on the coating material and film thickness, the same tendency is shown. For example, when a laser 830 having a wavelength of 532 nm is used as shown in FIG. 7, the green color filter 8094 has high transmittance, so that light can reach the metal electrode 803 and the metal electrode 803 can be processed. In the red and blue color filters 8093 and 8095, most of the energy is absorbed by the color filters 8093 and 8095, and light cannot reach the metal electrode 803. Further, when the irradiation energy is increased in order to allow the high energy light to reach the metal electrode 803, the color filters 8093 and 8095 are melted earlier than the metal electrode 803.

  In the invention described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the metal electrode 803 is irradiated with laser from the transparent electrode 805 side, and a correction is made to delete a part of the metal electrode 803 corresponding to the defective portion. Yes. Even if one of the red, green, and blue color filters 8093 to 8095 uses a laser having a wavelength having a high transmittance, the other two color filters have a low transmittance, and the light from the transparent electrode 805 side is low. With laser irradiation, it is not possible to correct all pixels with a single wavelength laser.

  On the other hand, for a color filter type OLED panel, if a foreign object is detected from the transparent electrode 805 side with respect to the metal electrode 803 and laser irradiation is performed on the metal electrode 803 from the opposite side of the transparent electrode 805, the color filter The metal electrode 803 can be processed ignoring the spectral transmittance of 8093 to 8095. However, simply connecting the foreign matter detection means and the laser processing means makes it difficult to match the foreign matter detection position detected by the foreign matter detection means and the laser processing position by the laser processing means in units of microns. Furthermore, in order to perform laser irradiation from the metal electrode 803 side after detecting the foreign matter with the foreign matter detection means with the transparent electrode 805 side of the OLED panel facing upward, it is necessary to turn the OLED panel over and then perform laser irradiation. Yes, the equipment becomes complicated and large, and the line tact is extended. Further, since the foreign matter cannot be detected from the metal electrode 803 side, the OLED panel is mechanically moved to the coordinates determined in advance. However, the OLED panel cannot be moved to a desired position due to a positional deviation or a stage movement error that occurs when the OLED panel is turned over, and the number of cases where the laser irradiation position is shifted and the correction fails increases. There was a problem.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and even with a color filter type OLED panel, it is possible to perform inspection and correction with a single wavelength and with high reliability, and to perform inspection and correction of a thin film display element capable of improving the yield. It is an object to provide a method and an inspection correction apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, in the present invention, light emission of a thin film display element having a metal electrode film formed on a light emitting layer and a transparent electrode film formed on the side of the light emitting layer opposite to the metal electrode film. In the method of inspecting the state of the defect and correcting the defective portion, power is applied to the metal electrode and the transparent electrode to cause the light emitting layer to emit light, and the light emitting state of the light emitting layer is changed from the transparent electrode side to the metal electrode. The position where light is not emitted from the light emitting layer is observed and light is emitted from the light emitting layer by irradiating the metal electrode with a laser from the side opposite to the transparent electrode based on the information on the position where light is not emitted from the detected light emitting layer. The metal electrode film above the position where it was not removed was removed.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, in the present invention, a thin film display element having a metal electrode film formed on a light emitting layer and a transparent electrode film formed on the light emitting layer on the side opposite to the metal electrode film. A device for inspecting the state of light emission and correcting a defective portion, applying power to the metal electrode and the transparent electrode of the thin film display element to cause the light emitting layer to emit light, and applying power by the power application unit A light emission state observation means for observing the light emission state of the light emitting layer of the thin film display element from the transparent electrode side with respect to the metal electrode and detecting a position where the light emission layer does not emit light, and the light emission state observation means Thin film removing means for removing the metal electrode film above the position where the light emitting layer does not emit light by irradiating the metal electrode with a laser from the side opposite to the transparent electrode based on the information on the position where the light emitting layer does not emit light And configured.

  According to the present invention, in a color filter type OLED panel structure, a non-lighted pixel can be corrected with a single wavelength laser, which can contribute to maintaining high productivity and improving yield.

It is sectional drawing of the structure of top emission type OLED. It is sectional drawing of the structure of bottom emission type OLED. It is sectional drawing of the structure of OLED of a 3 color system. It is sectional drawing of the structure of OLED of a color conversion system. It is sectional drawing of the structure of OLED of a color filter system. It is a graph which shows the spectral transmittance characteristic of a general color filter. It is sectional drawing of the structure of OLED when performing laser irradiation to a color filter system OLED panel. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the test | inspection correction apparatus of the thin film display apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a top view of an OLED substrate. It is the block diagram which looked at the schematic structure of the lighting test | inspection part which has a rectangular notch in a table with the test | inspection correction apparatus of the thin film display apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention from the front. It is the block diagram which looked at the table which has the rectangular notch of the lighting inspection part from the upper surface in the inspection correction apparatus of the thin film display apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is the block diagram which looked at the schematic structure of the lighting test | inspection part which has a slit-shaped notch in a table with the test | inspection correction apparatus of the thin film display apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention from the front. It is explanatory drawing of the scanning method at the time of the block diagram lighting test | inspection which looked at the table which has the slit-shaped notch of the lighting test | inspection part from the upper surface in the test | inspection correction apparatus of the thin film display apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of a lighting test | inspection part. It is a top view of the OLED board which shows an example of a lighting inspection result. (A) A plan view of a non-lighted pixel of an OLED substrate in which a defect before correction is located in the center of a visual field of a defect inspection unit, (b) a cross-sectional view of a non-lighted pixel of an OLED structure including the defect before correction, (c) ) A plan view of the non-lighted pixel of the OLED substrate where the defect after the ring-shaped processing is corrected at the center of the visual field of the defect inspection portion, (d) the defect after the correction is performed by applying the ring-shaped processing It is sectional drawing of the structure of OLED containing. (A) A plan view of a non-lighted pixel of an OLED substrate in which a defect before correction is located in the center of a visual field of a defect inspection unit, (b) a cross-sectional view of a non-lighted pixel of an OLED structure including the defect before correction, (c) ) A plan view of the non-illuminated pixel of the OLED substrate in which the defect after the correction is performed by applying a circular process to the center of the visual field of the defect inspection part, (d) including the defect after the correction is performed by applying a ring-shaped process It is sectional drawing of the structure of OLED. It is a top view of the non-lighting pixel of an OLED substrate which shows the state which has two defects in a pixel. It is a top view of the non-lighting pixel of an OLED board | substrate which shows the state which processes a ring shape in the area | region containing a defect. It is a front view of the defect inspection part and correction part explaining the adjustment method for making the optical axis and focus position of the defect inspection part and correction part of the inspection correction apparatus of the thin film display device which concerns on the Example of this invention correspond. It is a front view of the defect inspection part and correction part explaining the adjustment method for making the optical axis and focus position of a defect inspection part and a correction part correspond. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process of the defect inspection part which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a top view of an OLED substrate, and an enlarged view of a non-lighting pixel and its peripheral part. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the correction | amendment propriety determination based on the Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of operation | movement of the correction part which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of operation | movement of the whole test | inspection correction apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a front view of the display screen which displays the result of the process of the test | inspection correction apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a front view of the display screen which displays a time-dependent change of the result processed with the inspection correction device concerning the example of the present invention. It is a front view which shows the structure of the outline of an inspection correction part at the time of comprising the defect inspection part of the inspection correction apparatus which concerns on the Example of this invention by dark field illumination.

An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an FPD inspection / correction apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, an FPD inspection / correction apparatus 100 includes a lighting inspection unit 101, an inspection correction unit 102, a loader 103, and a system control unit 104. The inspection correction unit 102 further includes a defect inspection unit 105 and a correction unit 106. ing.
In the FPD inspection / correction apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, first, the lighting inspection unit 101 detects a defect from the transparent electrode side by lighting inspection of the OLED substrate 1 and stores the position information in the system control unit 104, and then The OLED substrate 1 that has been inspected for lighting is transported to the inspection correction unit 102 via the loader 103, and the position is determined by using the position information of the defect detected by the lighting inspection unit 101 stored in the system control unit 104 in the inspection correction unit 102. The defect inspection unit 105 detects the defect previously detected by the lighting inspection unit from the transparent electrode side, and then the metal electrode of the defective portion of the OLED substrate 1 detected by the correction unit 106 is opposite to the transparent electrode. Irradiate the laser to correct.

  In this embodiment, the structure of the OLED substrate 1 is the bottom emission structure shown in FIG. 5, and the color display method is a color filter method. The size of the OLED substrate 1 is, for example, 1300 mm × 1500 mm. In addition, an example in which the lighting inspection unit 101, the inspection correction unit 102, and the loader 103 are present in the same casing 180 and the process for performing the inspection correction is a process before being sealed with resin and glass will be described. ing. Since the surfaces of the metal electrode 803 and the organic light emitting layer 804 are exposed before being covered with the resin layer 807 at the stage before sealing, the atmosphere inside the housing 180 is the organic light emitting layer. In order to prevent the deterioration, it is filled with an inert gas such as dry nitrogen supplied from the gas supply unit 181.

  A schematic configuration of the lighting inspection unit 101 will be described with reference to FIG. The lighting inspection unit 101 holds and moves the OLED substrate 1, the power supply probe units 3 a and 3 b that supply power to the OLED substrate 1 to light all pixels, the reduction optical system 4, the color line sensor 5, and the drive units 90 a and 90 b. It has.

  The upper surface of the stage 2a and a part of the surface of the OLED substrate 1 on the glass substrate 801 side face each other. The stage 2a is an air levitation type stage, and air supply ports are present at regular intervals on the upper surface of the stage 2a (not shown). The dry LED supplied from these air supply ports, or the dry nitrogen supplied to the inside of the casing (not shown) was sucked from this air supply port, so that the OLED substrate 1 was held and floated. Move it to any place. The power feeding probe units 3a and 3b are driven by the drive unit 90a and move along the surface of the stage 2a.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of a plan view of the OLED substrate 1. In this example, four panels 25 a to 25 d are formed on one OLED substrate 1. A display area 120, a gate LSI mounting area 121, and a source LSI mounting area 122 are formed in the panels 25a to 25d, respectively. The OLED substrate 1 further includes a gate power supply wiring 123 for lighting inspection, a gate power supply electrode pad 124, a source power supply wiring 125, a source power supply electrode pad 126, a second electrode power supply wiring 127, and a second electrode power supply wiring 127. An electrode pad 128 for electrode feeding is formed. The feeding probe unit 3a touches the gate part feeding electrode pad 124, and the feeding probe unit 3b feeds the source part feeding electrode pad 126 and the second electrode feeding electrode pad 128 from above the stage 2a. All pixels of the OLED substrate 1 are turned on. Based on the OLED board information input to the system control unit 104, the power feeding probe units 3a and 3b automatically set the number of probes to be touched and the stylus coordinates of the probes. When the probe units 3a and 3b touch the gate portion feeding electrode pad 124, the source portion feeding electrode pad 126, and the second electrode feeding electrode pad 128, they are arms (not shown) installed at the tip of the probe. Fixed to the OLED substrate 1. The OLED substrate 1 is moved only in the X axis / Y axis direction or only in the X axis direction by the stage 2a. Since the power supply probe units 3a and 3b are fixed to the OLED substrate 1 by the arm during the lighting inspection, the power supply probe units 3a and 3b are also synchronized with the OLED substrate 1 by the drive unit 90a when the OLED substrate 1 moves. Then move in the X-axis / Y-axis direction or the X-axis direction.

  In the peripheral portion of the OLED substrate 1, alignment marks 95 serving as a reference for positioning are provided at a plurality of locations.

  The optical magnification of the reduction optical system 4 is 0.5 times. The color line sensor 5 may be a line sensor camera: TLC-7500CL manufactured by Takenaka System Equipment Co., Ltd. The color line sensor 5 has 7500 pixels and a pixel size of 9.3 μm × 9.3 μm. Since the OLED substrate 1 has a bottom emission structure and the light emitting surface is on the glass substrate 801 side in the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the state of light emission in the inspection area of the OLED substrate is shown below the stage 2a in order to perform a lighting inspection. There is a notch 20 for observation. The reduction optical system 4 and the color line sensor 5 are arranged vertically below the OLED substrate 1 and the notch 20, and the light receiving surface of the color line sensor 5 is conjugated with the organic light emitting layer 805 of the OLED substrate 1 with respect to the reduction optical system 4. It is arranged in the position. The reduction optical system 4 and the color line sensor 5 are moved in the X-axis / Y-axis or Y-axis direction by the driving unit 90b. The reduction optical system 4 and the color line sensor 5 are also moved in the Z-axis direction by the drive unit 90b during initial adjustment or maintenance.

The scanning method of the OLED substrate 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10A and 10B and FIGS. 11A and 11B.
In the case of FIG. 10A and B, the rectangular notch 20a exists in the area | region which mounts the OLED board | substrate 1 of the stage 2a. FIG. 10A is a front view, and FIG. 10B is a plan view. As shown in FIG. 10B, the size of the notch 20a is, for example, 200 mm in the X-axis direction and 300 mm in the Y-axis direction. While the OLED substrate 1 is held by the stage 2a, the reduction optical system 4 and the color line sensor 5 are moved in the X-axis / Y-axis directions by the driving unit 90b, thereby passing through the notch 20a of the stage 2a as shown in FIG. 10A. The OLED substrate 1 is scanned to detect non-lighting pixels.
When the inspection of the region that can be inspected through the notch 20a of the stage 2a is completed, the OLED substrate 1 is moved on the stage 2a so that the unscanned region of the OLED substrate 1 can be inspected through the notch 20a. By repeating this, the entire surface of the OLED substrate 1 is scanned. At the time of lighting inspection, the power supply probe units 3a and 3b move while being fixed to the OLED substrate 1 with an arm. It is desirable that the number of movements of the feeding probe units 3a and 3b is small. As described above, by mainly moving the reduction optical system 4 and the color line sensor 5 to scan the OLED substrate 1, it is possible to reduce the number of times the OLED substrate 1 and the power feeding probe units 3a and 3b are moved. .

  In the case of FIGS. 11A and 11B, the stage 2a has a slit-shaped notch 20b. FIG. 11A is a front view, and FIG. 11B is a plan view. As shown in FIG. 11B, the size of the notch 20b is 20 mm in the X-axis direction and 1700 mm in the Y-axis direction, which is larger than the dimension 1500 mm in the Y-axis direction of the OLED substrate 1. The OLED substrate 1 is driven on the stage 2a to move in the X-axis direction, and the reduction lens 4 and the color line sensor 5 are driven by the driving unit 90b to move in the Y-axis direction. By moving the OLED substrate 1 and the reduction lens 4 / color line sensor 5 in directions orthogonal to each other, the entire surface of the OLED substrate 1 can be scanned. 10A and 10B, it is necessary to move the OLED substrate 1 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, so that the area of the stage 2a is widened. In the case of FIGS. 11A and 11B, the movement direction of the OLED substrate 1 is X Since only the axial direction is provided, the area of the stage 2a can be reduced. That is, the footprint of the apparatus can be reduced.

The operation flow of the lighting inspection unit 101 will be described with reference to FIG.
When the OLED substrate 1 is loaded on the lighting inspection unit 101 (S130), alignment is performed (S131). An image of a plurality of alignment patterns 95 carved on the OLED substrate 1 is detected by the color line sensor 5, and alignment is performed based on the coordinates of the alignment patterns 95 obtained from the detected images. The power supply probe units 3a and 3b are moved by the drive unit 90a, and the power supply electrode pad 124, the source part power supply electrode pad 126, the second electrode power supply electrode pad 128 and the second electrode power supply electrode pad 128 are touched to supply power to the OLED substrate 1. To turn on all pixels (S132). The OLED substrate 1 and the reduction optical system 4 / color line sensor 5 are moved to scan the OLED substrate 1 (S133) and acquire an image of the OLED substrate 1. A non-lighted pixel is detected by performing a predetermined threshold process on the detected image (S134).

  FIG. 13 is an example of a lighting inspection result. Panels 25a to 25d are formed in the OLED substrate 1, and the non-lighted pixels 26 in each panel are displayed. At this time, the lighting inspection may be performed for each panel, or four panels may be inspected simultaneously. The lighting inspection unit 101 and the inspection correction unit 102 share the coordinates via the system control unit 104, and the coordinates of the non-lighting pixels 26 detected by the lighting inspection unit 101 are stored in the non-lighting pixels 26 in the inspection correction unit 102. This is used to specify the position of a defect existing in Here, the defect refers to a defect that causes a short circuit between the electrodes due to foreign matter mixed between the transparent electrode and the metal electrode shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 due to dust generation during the process.

  The system control unit 104 determines whether or not the number of defects detected based on the result of the lighting inspection unit 101 is greater than a preset specified value A (S135). If there are a plurality of non-illuminated pixels, it takes more time to inspect and correct the panel. For example, if the line tact is 300 seconds and the inspection correction time per non-illuminated pixel is 5 seconds, the number of non-illuminated pixels is set to 60 as the specified value A, and the inspection correction is performed when the number of non-illuminated pixels is 60 or less. If the number of non-illuminated pixels is 61 or more, the panel cannot be processed in the line tact, and the panel is discarded.

  As described above, when the number of non-lighted pixels is equal to or greater than the specified value A calculated based on the line tact / inspection correction time, the panel is discarded as a defective panel, and only the panel that can be corrected undergoes the subsequent processing. . Of the OLED substrates whose number of non-lighted pixels is determined to be 60 or less, the number of non-lighted pixels is small. For example, if the number is 5 or less per panel, it can be used as a product without modification. Accordingly, it is next determined whether or not the non-lighted pixels are equal to or greater than the specified value B (S136). If the number of non-lighted pixels is less than the specified value B, the process proceeds to the next manufacturing process without performing inspection correction. , B or more OLED substrates 1 are conveyed to the inspection correction unit 102 by the loader 103.

  A schematic configuration of the defect inspection unit 105 and the correction unit 106 will be described with reference to FIG. The defect inspection unit 105 includes an area sensor 6a, an imaging lens 7a, a half mirror 8a, an objective lens 9a, a lamp 10, and a drive unit 90c. A correction unit 106 includes a light source 11, an expander 12, a homogenizer 13, a mask 14, It comprises a mask stage 15, imaging lenses 7b and 7c, a half mirror 8b, an objective lens 9b, an area sensor 6b, and a drive unit 90d.

  The stage 2b is an air levitation type stage, and moves the OLED substrate 1 in the X-axis and Y-axis directions. In addition, a notch 20c exists at the lower part of the stage 2b, the defect detection unit 105 passes through the notch 20c, and is disposed vertically downward of the OLED substrate 1, and the correction unit 106 is provided on the OLED substrate 1. It is arranged vertically upward. The optical axis of the defect detection unit 105 and the optical axis of the correction unit 106 are approximately the same, and the focal position is approximately the same in the organic light emitting layer of the OLED substrate 1. The area sensors 6 a, 6 b, and mask 14 are disposed at positions conjugate with the organic light emitting layer of the OLED substrate 1. As will be described later, the half mirror 8b may be arranged only at the time of initial adjustment for making the optical axis and the focus position of the defect detection unit 105 and the correction unit 106 coincide with each other or at the time of regular maintenance.

  The defect inspection unit 105 is moved in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions by the drive unit 90c, and the correction unit 106 is moved by the drive unit 90d. At this time, the drive units 90c and 90d move the defect inspection unit 105 and the correction unit 106 in synchronization so that the optical axes and focal positions of the defect inspection unit 105 and the correction unit 106 coincide with each other. At this time, the defect inspection unit 105 and the correction unit 106 may move by open loop control, or may move by closed loop control while measuring displacement by a laser displacement meter (not shown). Further, when a deviation of the optical axis occurs as a result of the measurement by the laser displacement meter, it is only necessary to feed back and move the deviation amount. For example, if the optical axis of the defect inspection unit 105 is deviated by “+1 μm” in the X-axis direction with respect to the optical axis of the correction unit 106, the movement coordinate of the defect inspection unit 105 is corrected by “−1 μm”. And move it.

  For the area sensors 6a and 6b, a Sony color CCD camera: XCL-5005CR or the like may be used. The number of pixels is 2448 × 2050, and the pixel size is 3.45 μm × 3.45 μm. The NA of the objective lens 9a is 0.9, and the optical magnification is 100 times. The lamp 10 is a halogen lamp.

  The light source 11 is a pulsed laser having a wavelength of 532 nm and a pulse width of 10 ns. The NA of the objective lens 9b is 0.4, and the optical magnification is 50 times. The laser beam 200 irradiated from the light source 11 is expanded by the expander 12, converted to a substantially uniform intensity distribution by the homogenizer 13, and irradiated to the mask 14. When the mask 14 is irradiated, the diameter of the laser beam 200 is 3 mm. The pattern carved in the mask 14 is reduced and projected onto the OLED substrate 1 through the imaging lens 7b and the objective lens 9b. The driving direction of the mask stage 15 is the X axis / Y axis direction, and the mask 14 is moved in the X axis / Y axis direction. The mask 14 has openings having different shapes and sizes such as a circular shape and a ring shape, and the shape and size of the image to be reduced and projected on the OLED substrate 1 can be changed by moving the mask 14 by the mask stage 15. Can do. For example, in the case of a defect having a size of about .theta.0.3 .mu.m, a ring-shaped opening having an outer diameter of 250 .mu.m and an inner diameter of 150 .mu.m is selected. In the case of a defect having a size of about θ2 μm, a ring-shaped opening having an outer diameter of 500 μm and an inner diameter of 400 μm is selected, and a ring-shaped opening having an outer diameter of about 10 μm and an inner diameter of about 8 μm is selected for the non-lighting pixel 26 of the OLED substrate 1. Processing.

  An example of the state when the non-lighting pixel 26 is processed by irradiating the non-lighting pixel 26 with laser will be described with reference to FIG. 14A is an image obtained by observing the defect 30 existing in the non-lighted pixel 26 before the laser irradiation from the defect inspection unit 105, and FIG. 14B is a cross-section of a portion including the defect 30 of the OLED substrate 1 before the laser irradiation. c) shows an image obtained by observing the defect 30 existing in the non-illuminated pixel 26 after the laser irradiation from the defect inspection unit 105, and (d) shows a cross section of a portion including the defect 30 of the OLED substrate 1 after the laser irradiation. .

  As shown in FIG. 14A, the defect 30 is located at the center of the visual field 31 of the defect inspection unit 105. Since the optical axis and the focal position of the correction unit 106 and the defect inspection unit 105 are approximately matched, if the defect 30 is moved to the center of the visual field of the defect inspection unit 105, the defect 30 is positioned at the visual field center of the correction unit 106. It will be. The opening of the mask 14 to be reduced and projected onto the non-lighted pixels 26 has a ring shape with an outer diameter of 250 μm and an inner diameter of 150 μm, and the irradiation energy is 0.1 mJ / pulse. When one pulse of laser is irradiated under the above illumination conditions, as shown in FIG. 14C, a processing trace 33 having an outer diameter of about 5 μm and an inner diameter of about 3 μm is formed in the non-lighting pixel 26. The portion where the defect 30 is present is not processed by the laser irradiation, and the metal electrode 803 immediately above the foreign material 30 is processed into a ring shape by a shock wave generated by the pulse laser irradiation as shown in FIG. By appropriately setting the irradiation energy density of the laser, the organic light emitting layer 804 becomes a laser stopper layer, and only the uppermost metal electrode 803 is processed. As a result, the metal electrode 803 that is in contact with the defect 30 can be isolated from the surroundings, so that the short circuit between the electrodes due to the defect 30 is eliminated and the pixel is relieved. Since the defect 30 itself is not processed, it can be avoided that the scattered defect becomes another defect factor.

  Another example in which the non-lighted pixels 26 are processed by irradiating the non-lighted pixels 26 with laser will be described with reference to FIG. 15A is an image obtained by observing the defect 30 existing in the non-lighted pixel 26 before laser irradiation from the defect inspection unit 105, and FIG. 15B is a cross-section of a portion including the defect 30 of the OLED substrate 1 before laser irradiation. c) shows an image obtained by observing the defect 30 existing in the non-illuminated pixel 26 after the laser irradiation from the defect inspection unit 105, and (d) shows a cross section of the OLED substrate 1 after the laser irradiation.

  FIG. 15A is an image obtained by observing a state in which the defect 30 is positioned at the center of the field of view 31 of the defect inspection unit 105. Since the optical axis and the focal position of the correction unit 106 and the defect inspection unit 105 are approximately matched, if the defect 30 is moved to the center of the visual field of the defect inspection unit 105, the defect 30 is positioned at the visual field center of the correction unit 106. It will be. What is the opening of the mask 14 to be reduced and projected onto the non-lighted pixel 26? It has a circular shape of 150 μm, and the irradiation energy is 0.1 mJ / pulse. When one pulse of laser is irradiated under the above illumination conditions, as shown in FIG. A processing mark 35 of about 3 μm is formed. By laser irradiation, the portion directly above the defect 30 of the metal electrode 803 as shown in FIG. 15B is removed by laser irradiation as shown in FIG. And the pixel is relieved. When circular processing is performed as shown in FIG. 15D, the processing dimensions can be reduced compared to the case of ring processing as shown in FIG. An increase in area can be suppressed.

  FIG. 16 shows a case where two different defects 30 and 36 exist in the non-lighted pixel 26. If the defect 30 is located at a position relatively close to the center of the non-illuminated pixel 26, the defect 30 is moved to the center of the visual field of the defect inspection unit 105 as described with reference to FIGS. However, in the case of a defect at the end of the non-illuminated pixel 26 like the defect 36, the defect 36 is moved to the center of the visual field of the defect inspection unit 105, and the laser is irradiated. If it is attempted to generate the processing trace 37 by irradiation, a part of the laser may be detached from the non-illuminated pixel 26, and there is a possibility of damaging the pixel driving circuit and the wiring pattern portion.

  FIG. 17 is an example of an image obtained by observing the defect 36 from the defect inspection unit 105. In such a case, an appropriate mask shape is selected from the size and coordinates of the defect, and the defect 36 is shifted from the center of the visual field of the defect inspection unit 105 by a distance calculated based on the coordinates and size of the defect. The processing trace 38 may be formed by moving the laser beam and performing laser irradiation. For example, what is the size of the defect 36? If it is 0.3 μm and exists at a position 2 μm away from the edge of the pixel, the defect 36 is located at a position shifted by +1 μm in the X-axis direction from the center of the field of view, and the outer diameter is 5 μm and the inner diameter is 3 μm. What is necessary is just to form the ring-shaped process trace 38 of a grade.

  In order to make the optical axes and the focal points of the defect inspection unit 105 and the correction unit 106 coincide with each other, the following adjustment is performed at the time of initial shipment or regular maintenance. FIG. 18 shows only the inspection correction unit 102. The transparent OLED substrate 70 is conveyed to the stage 2a, and the transparent OLED substrate 70 is turned on to adjust the optical axis and focus. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a general OLED substrate has an organic light emitting layer sandwiched between a transparent electrode and a metal electrode, and light is taken out from the transparent electrode side. However, the transparent OLED substrate 70 emits organic light between the transparent electrodes. Since the layers are sandwiched, light can be extracted in both directions.

  From the correction unit 106 side, the transparent OLED substrate 70 is observed through the observation optical system 107 including the half mirror 8b, the imaging lens 7c, and the area sensor 6b. While checking the images of the area sensors 6a and 6b, the defect inspection unit 105 and the correction unit 106 are moved in the Z direction, and the focal position is adjusted to the organic light emitting layer of the transparent OLED substrate 70. Further, in order to make the optical axes coincide with each other, the defect inspection unit 105 and the correction unit 106 are moved in the X-axis / Y-axis directions and adjusted so as to detect the same region of the transparent OLED substrate 70. At this time, if a plurality of pixels having different sizes or different shapes are formed on the transparent OLED substrate 70, it is easy to confirm that the detection areas of the defect inspection unit 105 and the correction unit 106 match.

  At the time of adjustment, it is necessary to put the half mirror 8b of the observation optical system 107 in the optical path of the laser 200 in order to acquire an image also from the correction unit 106 side. The half mirror 8b is retracted from the optical path of the laser 200 using a drive mechanism (not shown) except for the above.

  Even if the transparent OLED substrate 70 is not used, the optical axis and the focal position may be adjusted using a sample in which a pattern is formed with chromium or the like on a glass substrate.

  FIG. 19 shows an adjustment method that does not use the transparent OLED substrate 70. A point image 71 by the laser 22 emitted from the laser light source 11 with reduced energy is formed by the objective lens 9b of the correction unit 106. The drive unit 90c moves the defect inspection unit 105 in the X-axis / Y-axis / Z-axis directions so that the focal position of the defect inspection unit 105 matches the coordinates of the point image 71, thereby matching the optical axis / focus position. It doesn't matter. In this method, it is not necessary to prepare the transparent OLED substrate 70, and the observation optical system 107 including the area sensor 6b, the imaging lens 7c, and the half mirror 8b for acquiring an image of the transparent OLED substrate 70 is not necessary. The apparatus configuration can be simplified.

The operation flow of the defect inspection unit 105 will be described with reference to FIG.
When the OLED substrate 1 is transported to the stage 2b of the defect inspection unit 105, the alignment pattern 95 of the OLED substrate 1 is detected and the OLED substrate 1 is aligned (S40). At this time, the objective lens 9a is replaced with a lens having an optical magnification of 10 times and NA of 0.28 to widen the field of view. Based on the command from the system control unit 104, the OLED substrate 1 and the defect inspection unit 105 / correction unit 106 are moved so that the periphery of the non-illuminated pixel 26 is substantially within the field of view of the defect inspection unit 105 (S41). The lens 9a is replaced with a lens having NA of 0.9 and an optical magnification of 100, and fine alignment is performed (S42). At this time, the OLED substrate 1, the defect inspection unit 105, and the correction unit 106 may move in the X direction and the Y direction, respectively, or may move only in one axial direction orthogonal to each other. FIG. 21 is a plan view of the OLED substrate 1 and an enlarged view of the non-illuminated pixels 26 present in the panel 25a and the periphery thereof. In the case of FIG. 21, the red (R) light emitting pixel 26 is not lit, the green (G) light emitting pixel 27 and the blue (B) light emitting pixel 28 are adjacent to each other, and the normal red light emitting pixel 26 ′, A green light emitting pixel 27 ′ and a blue light emitting pixel 28 ′ are arranged in parallel. Here, the pixel sizes are all red, green, and blue light emitting pixels of 80 μm × 240 μm. The non-lighted pixel 26 has a defect 30.

  An image of the red light-emitting pixel 26 ′ having the same emission color as that of the non-lighting pixel 26 is acquired (S 43), and then the OLED so that the non-lighting pixel 26 or its peripheral part is generally within the visual field of the defect inspection unit 105. The substrate 1 and the defect inspection unit 105 / correction unit 106 are moved (S44), and an image of the non-lighted pixels 26 is acquired (S45). Since the field of view of the area sensor 6a on the OLED substrate 1 is about 85 μm × 70 μm, as shown in FIG. 21, one pixel of the panel 25a is divided into four detection ranges 29a to 29d to acquire images and merge them. Then, an image for one pixel may be generated. Four images are obtained individually by positioning so that the non-illuminated pixel 26 is approximately at the center of the merged image. At this time, an image of an area other than the non-lighted pixels 26 may be acquired.

  Next, the system control unit 104 aligns the acquired image of the non-illuminated pixel 26 and the image of the red light emitting pixel 26 '(S46), and takes the difference image (S47) to emphasize the defect 30. be able to. A predetermined threshold process is performed on the difference image (S48), and a luminance value equal to or higher than the threshold value is extracted as a defect (S49). In the example of FIG. 21, the red, green, and blue light emitting pixels are all the same size, but the pixel size may differ depending on the red, green, and blue light emitting pixels. It is desirable to obtain a difference image between the pixels.

  The system control unit 104 determines whether or not the non-lit pixel 26 can be corrected based on the inspection result of the defect inspection unit 105. The correction possibility determination flow will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the presence / absence of a defect in the non-lighted pixel 26 is confirmed (S50). That is, it is confirmed whether or not a defect is extracted in S49. At this time, if no defect is detected, it is determined that the pixel cannot be corrected because the pixel is not lit due to a factor other than contamination such as a defect in the TFT layer forming process.
Next, when a defect is extracted in S49, the location of the defect is confirmed (S51). As described with reference to FIG. 16, depending on the position of the defect, there is a possibility that the laser hits a part such as a pixel driving circuit or a wiring pattern when laser irradiation is performed. Damage can occur and other defects resulting from the circuit can occur. The presence of a defect is confirmed, and even when a defect caused by a circuit occurs due to laser irradiation, it is determined that the corresponding pixel cannot be corrected.

  Next, the defect is classified based on the detected image and the difference image (S52), and sizing for obtaining the size and length of the defect is performed (S53). Depending on the defect type and size, there is a case where the correction cannot be made, and even when the defect is definitely fatal, it is determined that the corresponding pixel cannot be corrected (S54).

When there are a plurality of defects in the non-lighted pixels 26, laser irradiation is performed on all the defects, so that the non-light emitting area of the non-lighted pixels 26 increases. Further, when the defect size is large, if the defect size is large, it is necessary to process the non-illuminated pixel 26 in a large shape in order to eliminate the short-circuit between electrodes, and in this case also, the area that does not emit light increases. . The non-light emitting area when the processing trace of θ5 μm is formed is 19.6 μm ² , and the non-light emitting area when the processing trace of θ10 μm is formed is 78.5 μm ² . When the allowable value of the non-light-emitting area by laser irradiation is specified to be 0.5% or less of the entire pixel, when the pixel size is 80 μm × 240 μm, the corresponding pixel cannot be corrected if the non-light-emitting area exceeds 96 μm ² Is determined.

  As described above, it is necessary to suppress the non-light-emitting area to a certain value or less. Therefore, even when the non-light-emitting area in the pixel by laser irradiation is equal to or greater than the specified value C, the correction of the corresponding pixel is not possible. It is determined that it is possible (S55).

  If it is determined by the correction possibility determination flow that the pixel can be corrected, the correction process shown below is performed (S56).

The operation flow of the correction unit 106 will be described with reference to FIG.
The shape / size of the mask 14 is determined based on information such as the coordinates and size of the defect 30 (S60). The defect 30 is moved to the center of the visual field of the defect inspection unit 105 (S61). Illumination conditions such as irradiation energy are determined (S62), and laser irradiation is performed (S63). For example, if the mask 14 has a ring shape with an outer diameter of 250 μm and an inner diameter of 150 μm, laser illumination is performed with an irradiation energy of 0.1 mJ / pulse, and if the mask 14 has a ring shape with an outer diameter of 500 μm and an inner diameter of 400 μm. Laser illumination is performed with an irradiation energy of 0.2 mJ / pulse. Irradiation energy loss occurs due to the non-aperture of the mask 14 and the transmittance of the imaging lens 7b and the objective lens 9b, but the irradiation energy density on the non-illuminated pixel 26 surface is 2.0 J / cm ^{2 to} 10.0 J /. adjusting the irradiation energy to be in the range of cm ^2. If there are a plurality of defects in the pixel, it is determined whether all the defects have been corrected (S64). If there is an uncorrected defect, "S60 to 63" is performed again for another defect ( S65). If all the defects have been corrected, inspection correction is performed on the next non-lighted pixel (S66).

  The operation flow in the lighting inspection unit 101 (FIG. 12), the operation flow in the defect detection unit 105 (FIG. 20), the non-lighting pixel correction possibility determination flow (FIG. 22), and the operation flow in the correction unit 106 (FIG. 23). ) Was explained. The operation flow of the entire inspection / correction apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the lighting inspection unit 101, lighting inspection steps S130 to S136 such as the lighting inspection of the OLED substrate 1 described in FIG. The OLED substrate 1 determined to be corrected in S136 is transported to the inspection correction unit 102 via the loader 103, and the defect inspection steps S40 to S49 such as fine alignment and defect detection described in FIG. 20 are performed. In the system control unit 104, based on the inspection result of the defect inspection unit 105, the correction possibility determination steps S50 to S56 described with reference to FIG. For the non-lighted pixels 26 determined to be correctable in S55, the correction process described in the correction processes S60 to 66 described in FIG. 23 is performed in the correction unit 106 of the inspection correction unit 102.

  When the determination of whether or not all the non-lighting pixels 26 can be corrected is completed, the OLED substrate 1 is transported again to the lighting inspection unit 101, and the lighting inspection process described in the lighting inspection processes S130 to 136 described with reference to FIG. When the number of non-lighted pixels of the panel that has undergone the process is larger than the prescribed value A, the panel is discarded, and when the number of non-lighted pixels is smaller than the prescribed value B, the product is judged to pass. If the number of non-lighted pixels of the panel that has undergone the correction process is equal to or less than the specified value A and equal to or greater than the specified value B, the inspector determines whether to extract the line from the line and repeat the inspection correction process again. Even if it is determined that the panel is discarded at this stage, the inspection correction process can be repeated if the line tact has a margin.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which inspection and correction are performed in a process before the OLED substrate 1 is sealed with resin and glass has been described, but the inspection and correction may be performed in any process of the OLED manufacturing process. For example, resin / glass sealing may be performed, and inspection correction may be performed after being cut for each panel. In this case, since the size of the handling substrate is reduced, the footprint of the apparatus can be reduced. However, in this case, a means (for example, a FIB (Focused Ion Beam) processing apparatus) for partially removing the resin or glass substrate existing on the defective portion and the above-mentioned partial portion after processing the defective portion. Means (for example, a laser CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) apparatus) for filling the removed resin or glass substrate with a material corresponding to the resin or glass substrate is required.

  In addition, when inspection and correction are performed before the resin / glass sealing step, it is possible to suppress the scattering of the molten scattered matter by wiping the laser irradiation portion with an assist gas such as He gas. Or a pipette can be arrange | positioned in the laser irradiation part vicinity, and a molten scattered matter can also be attracted | sucked. Since new flaws may occur when the molten scattered material scatters to the surroundings, the probability of new flaws occurring when the amount of the scattered material is reduced with an assist gas or the scattered material is sucked with a pipette. Can be lowered.

  In this embodiment, the lighting inspection unit 101 and the inspection correction unit 102 are described as being in the same casing, but they may be in separate casings. When the line is started up, the manufacturing process is not stable, the frequency of contamination of the OLED panel 1 is high, and the frequency of correction is high. In order to shorten the tact time, it is necessary to shorten the transport time of the OLED substrate 1 from the lighting inspection unit 101 to the inspection correction unit 102. In such a case, the lighting inspection unit 101 and the inspection correction unit 102 exist in the same housing. It is more effective to do this.

  On the other hand, when the manufacturing process matures, the frequency of device dust generation also decreases, and as a result of lighting inspection, non-lighting pixels become less than the prescribed value B, and the number of cases where correction is unnecessary increases. That is, the frequency with which the OLED substrate 1 is transported from the lighting inspection unit 101 to the inspection correction unit 102 is reduced, and the necessity of the lighting inspection unit 101 and the inspection correction unit 102 being in the same casing is reduced. When the inspection correction is performed before the resin sealing process, since the inside of the apparatus is filled with dry nitrogen, it is more costly to divide the lighting inspection unit 101 and the inspection correction unit 102 into separate housings and downsize the apparatus. It is effective for reduction.

  In the present embodiment, the lighting inspection after the inspection correction by the inspection correction unit 102 has been described as an example in which the OLED substrate 1 is transported again to the lighting inspection unit 101 and performed in the lighting inspection unit 101. You may do. In this case, a power supply probe unit is also provided in the inspection correction unit 102, and all pixels are always lit even during inspection correction. If the pixel is relieved by the correction, light is emitted when the correction is completed. Therefore, the area sensor 6a of the defect inspection unit 105 can check whether or not the pixel is lit. The system control unit 104 records the number of non-lit pixels detected by the lighting test unit 101 by the lighting test and the number of pixels relieved by the test correction unit 102, and determines the final number of non-lit pixels. Count. If this is compared with the prescribed value B and if it is equal to or greater than the prescribed value B, it is determined to be discarded as a defective panel. In the inspection correcting unit 102, if the lighting inspection is performed, the conveyance of the OLED substrate 1 can be omitted, so that the line tact can be shortened.

  FIGS. 25A and 25B show an example of a screen for outputting the result of inspection by the inspection correction apparatus described in the present embodiment.

  FIG. 25A shows an example of displaying the result of inspecting a certain OLED substrate. On the screen 2500, there is an ID number 2501 of the mother glass as the OLED substrate, a panel number 2502 in the OLED substrate, the number of non-illuminated pixels detected in the panel 2503, and the number of successful corrections as a result of processing by this inspection and correction device. 2504, the number of uncorrected pixels 2505 that have been excluded from correction, the final number of unlit pixels 2506, and the final pass / fail judgment result 2507 for the panel are displayed.

  On the other hand, FIG. 25B shows an example of a screen 2510 that displays the change over time of the result of the inspection by the inspection correction device in a graph. Defects in the OLED substrate manufacturing process are displayed by graphing changes over time in the number of non-lighted pixels 2511 and the final number of non-lighted pixels 2512 detected in each panel obtained by inspection with this inspection and correction apparatus. The situation of occurrence can be grasped, and it becomes possible to prevent the occurrence of abnormalities.

  In this embodiment, the description has been made on the assumption that the OLED substrate 1 has a bottom emission structure. However, the inspection and correction can be performed even with an OLED substrate having a top emission structure. When inspecting and correcting the OLED substrate having the top emission structure, in the lighting inspection unit, the reduction lens 4 and the color line sensor 5 for performing the lighting inspection are added to the configuration of the lighting inspection unit 101 shown in FIG. It should just be installed above. In the inspection correction unit, the defect inspection unit 105 may be installed above the OLED substrate and the correction unit 106 may be installed below the OLED substrate with respect to the configuration of the inspection correction unit 102 shown in FIG.

  Although the example in which the size of the OLED substrate 1 is 1300 mm × 1500 mm has been described, the size of the glass substrate is not necessarily limited to this.

  The defect inspection unit 105 has been described with reference to an example in which the defect detection method is a bright field in FIG. 8, but the defect detection may be performed by dark field detection as shown in FIG. In the configuration shown in FIG. 26, the light irradiated from the light source 80 is condensed on the OLED substrate 1 by the condenser lens 81, and scanned in the X axis direction and the Y axis direction by the galvanometer mirrors 82a and 82b. Scattered light from the defect is detected by the area sensor 6a via the objective lens 9a and the imaging lens 7a.

  By detecting the defect in the dark field, the scattered light from the foreign matter irradiated with the illumination light can be detected with relatively high sensitivity, and a smaller defect can be detected.

  The lighting inspection unit 101 has been described with an example in which the magnification of the reduction optical system 4 is 0.5 times, the number of pixels of the color line sensor 5 is 7500, and the pixel size is 9.3 μm × 9.3 μm. There is no need to be done. Moreover, it is not necessary to be a line sensor, and an area sensor may be used. When the area sensor is used, a wide area can be inspected at a time.

  The defect inspection unit 105 will be described with an example in which the NA of the objective lens 9a is 0.9, the optical magnification is 100 times, the number of pixels of the area sensors 6a and 6b is 2448 × 2050, and the pixel size is 3.45 μm × 3.45 μm. Although done, it need not be limited to this.

  The correction unit 106 has been described with an example in which the wavelength of the light source 11 is 532 nm, the pulse width is 10 ns, the NA of the objective lens 9b is 0.4, and the optical magnification is 50 times. It is not necessary to be limited to this.

As described above, according to the present invention, in a color filter type OLED panel structure, non-lighted pixels can be corrected with a single wavelength laser, so that high productivity can be maintained and yield can be improved. I was able to contribute.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... OLED board 2a * 2b ... Stage 3a * 3b ... Feed probe unit 4 ... Reduction optical system 5 ... Color line sensor 6a * 6b ... Area sensor 7a * 7b * 7c * ··· Imaging lens 8a · 8b · Half mirror 9a · 9b · Objective lens 10 · · · Lamp 11 · 80 · · · Light source 12 · Expander 13 · · · Homogenizer 14 · · · Mask 15・ ・ ・ Mask stage 20, 20a, 20b, 20c ・ ・ ・ Cutter 25a ・ 25b ・ 25c ・ 25d ・ ・ ・ Panel 26 ・ ・ ・ Non-lit pixel 26 '・ ・ ・ Red light emitting pixel 27 ・ 27' ・ ・ ・Green light emitting pixels 28, 28 '... Blue light emitting pixels 30, 36 ... Defect 70 ... Transparent OLED substrate 71 ... Point image 81 .. Condensing lenses 82a, 82b ... Galvano mirrors 90a, 90b, 90c, 90d ... Drive unit 101 ... Lighting inspection unit 102 ... Inspection correction unit 103 ... Loader 104 ... System control unit 105 ... Defect inspection part 106 ... Correction part 120 ... Display area 121 ... Gate LSI mounting area 122 ... Source LSI mounting area 123 ... Gate part power supply wiring 124 ... Gate part power supply Electrode pad 125... Source part power supply wiring 126... Source part power supply electrode pad 127... Second electrode power supply wiring 128... Second electrode power supply electrode pad 130 to 137. 200 ... Laser beam

Claims (10)

Inspecting the light emission state of a thin film display element having a metal electrode film formed on the light emitting layer and a transparent electrode film formed on the light emitting layer on the opposite side of the metal electrode film, corrects the defective portion. A method,
Applying electric power to the metal electrode and the transparent electrode to cause the light emitting layer to emit light,
Observing the light emission state of the light emitting layer from the transparent electrode side with respect to the metal electrode to detect a position where the light emitting layer does not emit light,
The metal electrode film above the position where the light emitting layer does not emit light by irradiating the metal electrode with a laser from the side opposite to the transparent electrode based on the detected position information where the light emitting layer does not emit light A method for inspecting and correcting a thin film display element, wherein   A defect detected by optically inspecting the position where light is not emitted from the transparent electrode side based on information where a position where light is not emitted from the light emitting layer is detected, and detecting the defect detected by the optical inspection 2. The metal electrode film above the position where the light emitting layer does not emit light is removed by irradiating the metal electrode with a laser from the opposite side of the transparent electrode using the information of the above. Inspection and correction method for thin film display element.   3. The method for inspecting and correcting a thin film display element according to claim 2, wherein the information on the defect detected by optical inspection includes position information of the defect and information on the size of the defect.   Optically inspecting the position where light is not emitted from the detected light emitting layer from the transparent electrode side based on information observed from the transparent electrode side and detecting the position where light is not emitted from the light emitting layer, When a foreign object defect is detected at a position where the light emitting layer does not emit light, information on the detected foreign object defect is used to irradiate the metal electrode with a laser from the side opposite to the transparent electrode, and above the foreign object defect. 2. The thin film display according to claim 1, wherein the metal electrode film is removed and processed as a defect that cannot be corrected when no foreign matter defect is detected at a position where the light emitting layer does not emit light. Element inspection correction method. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein detecting a position where the light emitting layer does not emit light and removing the metal electrode film are performed in an atmosphere of an inert gas such as dry nitrogen. The inspection correction method of the thin film display element of description. Inspecting the light emission state of a thin film display element having a metal electrode film formed on the light emitting layer and a transparent electrode film formed on the light emitting layer on the opposite side of the metal electrode film, corrects the defective portion. A device,
A power applying means for applying power to the metal electrode and the transparent electrode of the thin film display element to cause the light emitting layer to emit light;
Light emission for detecting a position where light is not emitted from the light emitting layer by observing the light emission state of the light emitting layer of the thin film display element to which power is applied by the power applying means from the transparent electrode side with respect to the metal electrode. State observation means;
Based on the information on the position where the light emitting layer does not emit light detected by the light emitting state observation means, the metal electrode is irradiated with a laser from the side opposite to the transparent electrode and above the position where the light emitting layer does not emit light. A thin film display element inspection / correction device comprising: a thin film removal processing means for removing the metal electrode film.   The light emitting state observing means observes the thin film display element from the transparent electrode side and emits light from the detected light emitting layer from the transparent electrode side based on information on detecting a position where light is not emitted from the light emitting layer. An optical detection means for optically inspecting a position that is not detected to detect a defect is further provided, wherein the thin film removal processing means uses the information on the defect optically inspected and detected by the optical detection means to detect the metal electrode. 7. The inspection and correction apparatus for a thin film display element according to claim 6, wherein the metal electrode film above the position where the light emitting layer does not emit light is removed by irradiating a laser beam from the side opposite to the transparent electrode. .   8. The inspection and correction of a thin film display element according to claim 7, wherein the defect information detected by optical inspection by the optical detection means includes positional information of the defect and information on the size of the defect. apparatus.   The light emission state observing means observes the thin film display element from the transparent electrode side and emits light from the detected light emitting layer from the transparent electrode side based on information obtained by detecting a position where the light emitting layer does not emit light. Optical detection means for optically inspecting a non-existing position, and information on the detected foreign substance defect by the thin film removal processing means when the optical detection means detects a foreign substance defect at a position where the light emitting layer does not emit light. A defect determination means for determining a defect that cannot be corrected when the optical detection means does not detect a foreign matter defect at a position where the light emitting layer does not emit light. 7. The inspection / correction device for a thin film display element according to claim 6, further comprising:   The apparatus further comprises housing means for accommodating the power application means, the light emission state observation means, and the thin film removal processing means, and gas supply means for filling the inside of the housing means with an inert gas such as dry nitrogen. 10. The apparatus for inspecting and correcting a thin film display element according to claim 6,

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