CN111123594B

CN111123594B - Display panel and manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN111123594B
Application number: CN201911216027.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘国和
Original assignee: Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-02
Filing date: 2019-12-02
Publication date: 2023-05-02
Anticipated expiration: 2039-12-02
Also published as: CN111123594A

Abstract

A display panel and a manufacturing method thereof are provided, wherein the display panel comprises a substrate, a thin film transistor, a metal wire, a transparent electrode layer, an insulating layer, a passivation layer and an organic insulating film. The substrate defines a laser cut region. The thin film transistor is arranged on the substrate and comprises a metal layer. The metal line is disposed on the substrate, and a portion of the metal line is disposed in the laser cut region. Transparent electrode layers are respectively arranged on the metal wires in the laser cutting areas. The insulating layer is disposed on the metal line. The passivation layer is disposed on the insulating layer. An organic insulating film is disposed on the passivation layer outside the laser cut region. The manufacturing method of the display panel is used for manufacturing the display panel. The display panel has only a metal wire and transparent electrode layer two-layer structure in the laser cutting area, so that lower energy can be used when laser is used for cutting, and the residue of an organic insulating film can be avoided.

Description

Display panel and manufacturing method thereof

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of display, in particular to a display panel with a transparent electrode layer arranged on a metal wire in a laser cutting area and a manufacturing method thereof.

Background

With the development and maturity of display technology, display panels, particularly thin film transistor liquid crystal display panels, are developed in the directions of large size, high resolution, and the like. However, as the size of the panel increases and the resolution increases, the display quality of the panel is easily affected by factors such as uniformity of the thickness of the film and parasitic capacitance, and uneven display brightness (mura) is generated, which causes various marks and crosstalk.

In order to solve the above problems, an improvement method is often introduced into the organic insulating film technology. The organic insulating film has good flatness characteristics, and can well solve the problem of uneven display brightness caused by uneven film thickness. In addition, the organic insulating film has a small dielectric constant, typically about 3.5, and a film thickness of typically 1.2um to 1.5um, whereas the conventional passivation layer is about 0.1um to 0.2um. Thus according to the capacitance formula: C=εA/d can be obtained that the parasitic capacitance in the panel can be significantly reduced after the organic insulating film is used, so that the problems of insufficient brightness, crosstalk and the like can be effectively improved.

However, the use of the organic insulating film technique also brings about some problems which are difficult to solve. The solution of these problems often requires adjustment of the process and even modification of the equipment, but the modification of the equipment causes an increase in cost. One of the more difficult problems of the display panel having the organic insulating film is that the organic insulating film remains after being cut cleanly using laser in a laser cutting area for a short bar test, and a point discharge is easily generated during use, thereby causing an electrostatic discharge (ESD) to cause abnormality or damage of the device.

In addition, the reason why the panel having the organic insulating film is not cut cleanly by using the laser of 1064nm or 532nm which is commonly used is that: since the organic insulating film generally has a high transmittance near these two wavelengths, for example, approximately 100%, the organic insulating film does not substantially absorb laser light when cut with laser light, and it is difficult to achieve an effect of effectively removing the organic insulating film without residue using 1064nm or 532nm laser light.

Therefore, the conventional structure of the display panel having the metal line, the insulating layer, the passivation layer and the organic insulating film in the laser cut region is disadvantageous in that the organic insulating film can be effectively removed without residue by using the 1064nm or 532nm laser.

The methods for solving the above problems are mainly three methods: 1. the process is changed, the energy of the laser is increased or the cutting speed is reduced, but the method is easy to cause damage to the glass. 2. The wavelength of the laser, such as 355nm laser, can be changed to achieve good cutting effect, but extra cost is added to change the equipment, and 355nm laser is positioned in the wavelength region of ultraviolet light, so that the equipment and personnel are greatly damaged. 3. Design change, change the design of the laser cutting position in order to achieve the effect of achieving the clean cutting without making the process and equipment change. However, none of the above methods can be used in the conventional laser cutting process. Accordingly, there is a need for a display panel and a method of manufacturing the same to solve the problems of the prior art.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, an object of the present application is to provide a display panel and a method for manufacturing the same, in which the display panel has only a two-layer structure of metal wires and transparent electrode layers in a laser cutting area, so that the structure of the display panel is simplified greatly compared with the conventional display panel having metal wires, insulating layers, passivation layers and organic insulating films in the laser cutting area, thereby enabling the use of lower energy when cutting by laser, and completely avoiding the residual problem of the organic insulating films.

In view of the above, the present application provides a display panel including a substrate, a plurality of thin film transistors, a plurality of metal lines, a plurality of transparent electrode layers, an insulating layer, a passivation layer, and an organic insulating film. The substrate defines a laser cut region. The thin film transistors are arranged on the substrate, and the thin film transistors comprise a plurality of metal layers. The metal wires are arranged on the substrate, and a part of the metal wires are arranged in the laser cutting area and are electrically connected with the thin film transistors. A plurality of transparent electrode layers are respectively arranged on a plurality of the metal wires in the laser cutting area. An insulating layer is disposed on a plurality of the metal lines. A passivation layer is disposed on the insulating layer. An organic insulating film is disposed on the passivation layer outside the laser cut region.

Preferably, each metal layer comprises a gate.

Preferably, each metal line includes a gate line, and the gate line is connected to the gate electrode.

Preferably, the width of the plurality of transparent electrode layers is greater than the width of the plurality of metal lines.

Preferably, a plurality of the transparent electrode layers are disposed at intervals from each other and are not connected to each other.

Preferably, the laser cutting region of the display panel is cut by a laser, and the wavelength of the laser is 1064nm or 532nm.

In view of the above, the present application further provides a method for manufacturing a display panel, which includes the following steps:

and arranging a plurality of thin film transistors and a plurality of metal wires on the substrate, defining a laser cutting area, wherein the thin film transistors comprise a plurality of metal layers, and the metal wires are electrically connected with the thin film transistors.

An insulating layer is disposed over a plurality of the metal lines.

A passivation layer is disposed on the insulating layer.

And an organic insulating film is arranged outside the laser cutting area and is arranged on the passivation layer.

The insulating layer is etched in an etching manner in the laser cut region.

And respectively forming a plurality of transparent electrode layers on a plurality of metal wires in the laser cutting area.

And cutting the display panel by laser in the laser cutting area.

Preferably, each metal layer comprises a gate.

Preferably, the wavelength of the laser is 1064nm or 532nm.

In order to make the above-described matters of the present disclosure more comprehensible, preferred embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view of a display panel of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the display panel of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a first schematic view of the display panel of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a first cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a second schematic view of the display panel of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a second cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a third schematic view of the display panel of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a third cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart of a method of manufacturing a display panel of the present application.

Detailed Description

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the disclosure, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, directional terms, such as upper, lower, top, bottom, front, rear, left, right, inner, outer, side, surrounding, center, horizontal, transverse, vertical, longitudinal, axial, radial, uppermost or lowermost, etc., as used in this disclosure are merely referring to the directions of the drawings. Accordingly, directional terms are used to illustrate and understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

In the drawings, like structural elements are denoted by like reference numerals.

Referring to fig. 1 and fig. 2, fig. 1 and fig. 2 are schematic plan views of a display panel of the present application and a partial cross-sectional view of the display panel in fig. 1, respectively. The display panel 10 of the present application may include a substrate 100, a plurality of thin film transistors 200, a plurality of metal lines 300, a plurality of transparent electrode layers 400, an insulating layer 500, a passivation layer 600, and an organic insulating film 700. Further, the display panel 10 of the present application may have various aspects, and the present application is described with respect to the thin film transistor manufactured by using the five-layer mask process and the back channel etching process, it should be understood that the present application is not limited to the thin film transistor manufactured by such a process, for example, the thin film transistor may be manufactured by an etch-stop (etch-stop) process or a back channel etching (back channel etching, BCE) process, and the number of masks may be four to eight layers according to actual requirements.

The substrate 100 defines a laser cutting area 11 for cutting by a laser cutting device. In addition, in one embodiment, the substrate 100 may be a glass substrate or a substrate made of other transparent materials, which is not limited.

A plurality of the thin film transistors 200 may be disposed on the substrate 100, and the plurality of the thin film transistors 200 include a plurality of metal layers 210. Further, in one embodiment, the plurality of metal layers 210 may include the gate electrode 211 and the source/drain electrode 212, and the metal layers 210 may include copper and be formed on the substrate 100 by a semiconductor process such as deposition, photolithography, etching, etc.

The metal lines 300 may be disposed on the substrate 100, and a portion of the metal lines 300 is disposed in the laser cutting region 11 and electrically connected to the thin film transistors 200. Further, in one embodiment, the plurality of metal lines 300 may include a plurality of gate lines 310 and a plurality of data lines 320, and the plurality of metal lines 300 may include copper and be formed on the substrate 100 in a semiconductor process such as deposition, photolithography, etching, etc. In one embodiment, the gate electrode 211 is connected to the gate line 310, and the source/drain electrode layer 212 is connected to the data line 320.

Referring now to fig. 3 to 8, and referring to fig. 1 and 2 together, a plurality of transparent electrode layers 400 may be disposed on a plurality of thin film transistors 200. In the laser cutting region 11, a plurality of transparent electrode layers 400 may be disposed on the plurality of metal lines 300, respectively, and an insulating layer 500 may be disposed on the plurality of metal lines 300, a passivation layer 600 may be disposed on the insulating layer 500, and an organic insulating film 700 may be disposed on the passivation layer 600 outside the laser cutting region 11. In an embodiment, the laser cutting area 11 of the display panel 10 may be cut by a laser, and the laser with a wavelength of 1064nm or 532nm and a wavelength of 1064nm or 532nm is commonly used to cut the display panel 10 without the organic insulation film 700, so that the laser cutting device is beneficial to cut the display panel 10 of the present application because the organic insulation film 700 is not present in the laser cutting area 11 of the display panel 10 of the present application.

Further, in an embodiment, in the laser cutting region 11, after the insulating layer 500 is disposed on the plurality of metal lines 300 and the passivation layer 600 is disposed on the insulating layer 500, the passivation layer 600 and the insulating layer 500 in the laser cutting region 11 may be etched and removed, for example, by dry etching, so that the plurality of metal lines 300 in the laser cutting region 11 are exposed, and then the plurality of transparent electrode layers 400 are disposed on the plurality of metal lines 300.

Further, in one embodiment, the transparent electrode layer 400 is disposed on the metal lines 300 in a manner including deposition, photolithography, wet etching, photoresist stripping, and the like. Additionally, in another embodiment, the transparent electrode layer 400 may include indium tin oxide and other materials from which the transparent electrode layer 400 may be made.

Further, in an embodiment, the width of the transparent electrode layers 400 is greater than the width of the metal lines 300, and the transparent electrode layers 400 are spaced apart from each other and are not connected to each other.

Referring now to fig. 9, and referring to fig. 1 to 8 together, a method for manufacturing a display panel of the present application includes the following steps:

s1: a plurality of thin film transistors 200 and a plurality of metal lines 300 are disposed on the substrate 100 and define the laser cutting area 11, and the plurality of thin film transistors 200 include a plurality of metal layers 210, and the plurality of metal lines 300 are electrically connected to the plurality of thin film transistors 200.

S2: an insulating layer 500 is disposed on a plurality of the metal lines 300.

S3: a passivation layer 600 is disposed on the insulating layer 500.

S4: an organic insulating film 700 is disposed on the passivation layer 600 outside the laser cut region 11.

S5: the insulating layer 500 and the passivation layer 600 are etched in an etching manner in the laser cut region 11.

S6: a plurality of transparent electrode layers 400 are respectively formed on the plurality of metal lines 300 in the laser cut region 11.

S7: the display panel 10 is cut with a laser in the laser cutting region 11, and the wavelength of the laser may be 1064nm or 532nm.

In one embodiment, the metal layer 210 may include the gate electrode 211 and the source/drain electrode 212, the metal line 300 may include the gate lines 310 and the data lines 320, and the metal layer 210 and the metal line 300 may include copper and be formed on the substrate 100 by deposition, photolithography, etching, and the like. And the gate electrode 211 is connected to the gate line 310, and the source/drain electrode layer 212 is connected to the data line 320.

Further, in step S1, the gate electrode 211 and the gate lines 310 may be disposed on the same layer in the same process, for example, the gate electrode 211 and the gate lines 310 may be formed on the substrate 100 by deposition.

Further, in one embodiment, the etching in step S5 may include a dry etching, so that the insulating layer 500 and the passivation layer 600 may be etched and removed by dry etching, so that the metal lines 300 in the laser cutting region 11 are exposed, and then the transparent electrode layers 400 are disposed on the metal lines 300, for example, on the gate lines 310, through the semiconductor processes of deposition, photolithography, wet etching, photoresist stripping, etc. in step S6. In addition, in the etching process of step S5, the via 800 of fig. 1 may be formed for subsequent testing or other processes.

However, the present application is not limited thereto, and in one embodiment, a plurality of transparent electrode layers 400 may be disposed on a plurality of data lines 320, and the positions of the laser cutting areas 11 may be defined according to the positions of the desired cutting.

In addition, in step S7, the laser cutting area 11 of the display panel 10 may be cut by a laser, and the wavelength of the laser is 1064nm or 532nm. The laser with the wavelength of 1064nm or 532nm is commonly used for cutting the display panel 10 without the organic insulation film 700, and the laser cutting area 11 of the display panel 10 does not have the organic insulation film 700, so that the laser cutting device is beneficial to cutting the display panel 10 of the application, and performing subsequent repair, cutting, or short-circuit bar testing and other processes.

Therefore, after the passivation layer 600 and the insulating layer 500 are removed by the etching process, the display panel 10 of the present application is further processed by the transparent electrode layers 400, and the display panel 10 shown in fig. 7 and 8 is formed after the processes of film, yellow light, wet etching, photoresist stripping, and the like. Each metal line 300, which is originally exposed to air, is entirely covered with the transparent electrode layer 400. Further, since the width of each transparent electrode layer 400 is larger than the width of each metal line 300 and is not connected to each other, a short circuit is not generated. In addition, since the transparent electrode layers 400 cover the metal lines 300, oxidation and corrosion of the metal lines 300 can be prevented, thereby effectively improving the problems of poor lighting due to poor conductivity of the metal lines in the prior art.

In summary, the display panel 10 of the present application has only the two-layer structure of the metal line 300 and the transparent electrode layer 400 in the laser cutting area, so that the structure is simplified greatly compared with the conventional structure having the metal line, the insulating layer, the passivation layer and the organic insulating film in the laser cutting area of the display panel, thereby using lower energy when cutting by laser and completely avoiding the residual problem of the organic insulating film.

Although the disclosure has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. The present disclosure includes all such modifications and alterations and is limited only by the scope of the following claims. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components, the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs the specified function of the described component (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations of the specification. Furthermore, while a particular feature of the subject specification may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for a given or particular application. Moreover, to the extent that the terms "includes," including, "" has, "" containing, "or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term" comprising.

The foregoing is merely a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, and it should be noted that modifications and adaptations to those skilled in the art may be made without departing from the principles of the present disclosure, which are intended to be comprehended within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A display panel, comprising:

a substrate defining a laser cutting region;

a plurality of thin film transistors disposed on the substrate, wherein the thin film transistors comprise a plurality of metal layers;

a plurality of metal wires arranged on the substrate, wherein a part of the metal wires are arranged in the laser cutting area and are electrically connected with the thin film transistors;

a plurality of transparent electrode layers respectively disposed on the plurality of metal lines in the laser cutting region; an insulating layer disposed on the plurality of metal lines;

a passivation layer disposed on the insulating layer; and

an organic insulating film disposed on the passivation layer outside the laser cut region, wherein the organic insulating film is formed only on the passivation layer outside the laser cut region such that the organic insulating film is not present in the laser cut region;

the laser cutting region is cut by a laser, and the wavelength of the laser is 1064nm or 532nm, so that the laser cutting region where the organic insulating film is not provided is cut by the laser having the wavelength of 1064nm or 532nm.

2. The display panel of claim 1, wherein each metal layer comprises a gate electrode.

3. The display panel of claim 2, wherein each metal line comprises a gate line, and the gate line is connected to the gate electrode.

4. The display panel of claim 1, wherein a width of a plurality of the transparent electrode layers is greater than a width of a plurality of the metal lines.

5. The display panel of claim 1, wherein a plurality of the transparent electrode layers are disposed at intervals from each other and are not connected to each other.

6. A method of manufacturing a display panel, comprising:

setting a plurality of thin film transistors and a plurality of metal wires on a substrate, defining a laser cutting area, wherein the thin film transistors comprise a plurality of metal layers, and the metal wires are electrically connected with the thin film transistors;

providing an insulating layer on a plurality of the metal lines;

disposing a passivation layer on the insulating layer;

an organic insulating film is arranged outside the laser cutting region on the passivation layer, wherein the organic insulating film is formed only on the passivation layer outside the laser cutting region, so that the organic insulating film is not present in the laser cutting region;

etching the insulating layer and the passivation layer in the laser cut region by etching;

forming a plurality of transparent electrode layers on a plurality of the metal lines in the laser cutting region, respectively; and

the display panel is cut with a laser in the laser cutting region, wherein the laser has a wavelength of 1064nm or 532nm, and the laser cutting region where the organic insulating film is not disposed is cut by the laser having a wavelength of 1064nm or 532nm.

7. The method of manufacturing of claim 6, wherein each metal layer comprises a gate.

8. The method of manufacturing of claim 7, wherein each metal line comprises a gate line, and wherein the gate line is connected to the gate.