Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a display panel and manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly to a transistor array substrate structure of a display panel and a manufacturing method thereof.
Description of the Related Art
Electronic products with display panel, such as smart phones, tablets, notebooks, monitors, and TVs, have become indispensable necessities to modern people no matter in their work, study or entertainment. Particularly, the liquid crystal display (LCD) panel having the advantages of lightweight, compactness, portability and low price is one of the most commonly used electronic products. The LCD panel has a diversified range of selection such as size, shape, and resolution.
Copper process is a most commonly used technology in the manufacturing process of a large-sized display panel. In the substrate of the display panel, semiconductor (formed of such as indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO)), is generally used as the active layer of the thin-film transistor (such as IGZO TFT). Due to the high field effect mobility and feasibility in the large area process, semiconductor has great advantages when used in the large-size display. However, when the metal wires are formed of copper, due to the poor adhesion between copper and the underlying insulating film, an intermetallic layer (such as molybdenum) needs to be disposed between copper and the insulating layer to increase the adhesion between metal and the insulating layer. On the other hand, the intermetallic layer can be used as a diffusion blocking layer to avoid copper ions entering the active layer and decreasing element reliability. Examples of most commonly used compositions of the metal wires and the intermetallic layer include: copper/molybdenum (Cu/Mo), copper/titanium (Cu/Ti), and copper/molybdenum titanium alloy (Cu/Mo:Ti). When the IGZO layer is used as the active layer in transistors, metal (such as molybdenum or titanium) contacts IGZO and may easily bond with oxygen in IGZO and cause the conductivity of the active layer to change. Therefore, in the current process, after the second metal layer is defined (that is, after the source/drain is formed) but before the passivation layer (formed of such as silicon oxide (SiOx)) is deposited on the second metal layer, a surface treatment using nitrogen oxide (N2O) plasma will be performed on the active layer to supplement the oxygen. However, such treatment will cause severe oxidation on the surface of the copper wires.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a display panel is provided. The display panel includes a first substrate, a second substrate disposed opposite to the first substrate, and a display medium layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. The first substrate includes a plurality of first conductive lines, a plurality of second conductive lines intersected with the first conductive lines, and a plurality of transistors disposed over a base plate, wherein the first conductive lines, the second conductive lines and the transistors together define a plurality of pixel regions, and the first conductive lines extend along a first direction and the second conductive lines extend along a second direction. In the pixel regions, at least one of the transistors includes a gate electrode disposed over the base plate, a first insulating layer disposed over the gate electrode, an active layer disposed over the first insulating layer, and a first electrode and a second electrode disposed over the active layer and electrically connected to the active layer. The active layer includes a channel region disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode. The first electrode is composed of double layers of transparent conductive material including a first transparent conductive material layer disposed over the active layer and a second transparent conductive material layer disposed over the first transparent conductive material layer. In each pixel region, at least one of the second conductive lines is connected to the first electrode, and the at least one second conductive line includes a third transparent conductive material layer, a metal layer and a fourth transparent conductive material layer. The metal layer is disposed between the third transparent conductive material layer and the fourth transparent conductive material layer. In one embodiment, in each pixel region the first transparent conductive material layer and the second transparent conductive material layer of the first electrode extend to the corresponding metal layer of the second conductive line and encapsulate the metal layer to form the third transparent conductive material layer and the fourth transparent conductive material layer, respectively.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a manufacturing method of a display panel is provided. The manufacturing method includes: forming a first substrate; providing a second substrate and further assembling the second substrate with the first substrate; providing a display medium layer between the first substrate and the second substrate. The step of forming the first substrate includes: forming a first metal layer on a base plate, patterning the first metal layer to form a plurality of first conductive lines and a plurality of gate electrodes, wherein the first conductive lines extend along a first direction and connect corresponding gate electrodes; forming a first insulating layer to cover the gate electrodes and the first conductive lines; forming a plurality of active layers on the first insulating layer; forming a first transparent conductive material layer on the first insulating layer; forming a plurality of metal layers on the first transparent conductive material layer; forming a second transparent conductive material layer on the metal layers and the first transparent conductive material layer; patterning the first transparent conductive material layer and the second transparent conductive material layer to form a plurality of second conductive lines extending along a second direction, a plurality of first electrodes, and a plurality of second electrodes on the base plate, wherein each second conductive line comprises a first transparent conductive layer formed of the first transparent conductive material layer, the metal layer, and a second transparent conductive layer formed of the second transparent conductive material layer, and the second conductive lines are intersected with the first conductive lines to define a plurality of pixel region; wherein, in each pixel region, the first electrode and the second electrode are disposed over the active layer, the channel region is disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode, and the first electrode is formed of the first transparent conductive material layer and the second transparent conductive material layer.
The above and other aspects of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description of the non-limiting embodiment (s). The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A display panel is provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. According to the special structural design of the transistor array substrate of the display panel, the lateral surfaces of the conductive lines (formed of such as copper) of the transistor array substrate are covered with a transparent conductive material. The manufactured conductive lines (such as data lines) can avoid oxidation of the copper. Moreover, in each pixel region, the electrodes (such as a source electrode and a drain electrode) are composed of the transparent conductive materials, such that copper will not diffuse into the active layer and change the electrical properties of the display panel. Several embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed below with reference to accompanying drawings. The embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to a display panel whose transistor array substrate can have different implementations, such as an LCD panel with a back channel etch-type (BCE-type) TFT array substrate or an etch stop-type TFT array substrate. It should be noted that the structures and contents disclosed in the embodiments are for exemplary and explanatory purposes only. The present disclosure does not illustrate all possible embodiments, and anyone skilled in the technology field of the invention will be able to make suitable modifications or changes based on the specification disclosed below to meet actual needs without breaching the spirit of the invention. The present disclosure is applicable to other implementations not disclosed in the specification. In addition, the drawings are simplified such that the content of the embodiments can be clearly described, and the shapes, sizes and scales of elements are schematically shown in the drawings for explanatory and exemplary purposes only, not for limiting the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
Besides, the ordinal numbers, such as “the first”, “the second”, and “the third”, are used in the specification and the claims for modifying claim elements only, neither implying nor indicating that the claim elements have any previous ordinal numbers. The ordinal numbers do not indicate the sequence between one claim element and another claim element or the sequence in the manufacturing method. The ordinal numbers are used for clearly differentiating two claim elements having the same designation.
The first embodiment is exemplified by a display panel with a back channel etch type (BCE-type) TFT array substrate. Please refer to
As indicated in
As shown in
As indicated in
The structure of the present disclosure is not limited to that illustrated in
According to the present disclosure, in the display region of the display panel, the first electrode E1 (such as a source electrode) and the second electrode E2 (such as a drain electrode) are formed of a transparent conductive material. The conductive line, such as a data line DL, connected to one of the two electrodes is composed of a metal layer and double layers of transparent conductive material. In the first embodiment, the first electrode E1 (such as a source electrode) is composed of double layers of transparent conductive material including a first transparent conductive material layer 151 formed on the active layer 14 and a second transparent conductive material layer 152 formed on the first transparent conductive material layer 151. The second conductive line, such as the data line DL, connected to the first electrode E1 includes a third transparent conductive material layer, a metal layer 16 and a fourth transparent conductive material layer, wherein the metal layer 16 is disposed between the third transparent conductive material layer and the fourth transparent conductive material layer. In an embodiment, in each pixel region, the first transparent conductive material layer 151 and the second transparent conductive material layer 152 of the first electrode E1 extend to the corresponding metal layer 16 of the second conductive line and encapsulate the metal layer 16 to form the third transparent conductive material layer and the fourth transparent conductive material layer, respectively. As indicated in
As shown in
In an embodiment, the first transparent conductive material layer 151 and the second transparent conductive material layer 152 comprises metal oxide, and can be realized by an IZO layer or an ITO layer, but not limited to the materials mentioned above. The first transparent conductive material layer 151 and the second transparent conductive material layer 152 can be formed of the same or different transparent conductive materials. In an embodiment, the metal layer 16 can be realized by a copper layer. Thus, in each pixel region, the source electrode and the drain electrode are consisting of a transparent conductive material (such as IZO), that is, no metal material layer is disposed over the active layer 14, but the data line DL is formed of copper encapsulated with the transparent conductive material (such as IZO/Cu/IZO).
Moreover, at the data line DL, a lateral surface 161 of the metal layer 16 is adjacent to the active layer 14, and a lateral surface 162 of the metal layer 16, opposite to the lateral surface 161, is farther away from the active layer 14. The first transparent conductive material layer 151 and the second transparent conductive material layer 152 overlap on the lateral surface 162 of the metal layer 16 and form an extension portion 15E having an extension width DE. In an embodiment, the extension width DE is about 0.1 μm-4 μm. Anyone skilled in related art would understand that the values and ranges exemplified herein are for reference and explanatory purposes only, and can be properly adjusted to fit production specifications. Therefore, the values and ranges are not for limiting the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
As indicated in
Then, the first transparent conductive material layer 151 (such as IZO) is formed on the entire surface and covers the first insulating layer and the active layer 14; then, a metal layer (such as copper) is formed and a metal trace area is defined. That is, metal is removed from the channel region, the pixel region and other regions not requiring the metal. Accordingly, the metal layers 16 forming conductive traces are defined, and the first transparent conductive material layer 151 is completely retained as shown in
Afterward, the second transparent conductive material layer 152 (such as IZO) completely coves the first transparent conductive material layer 151. The second transparent conductive material layer 152 further covers the metal layers 16. Then, the first transparent conductive material layer 151 and the second transparent conductive material layer 152 are patterned at the same time to define a metal trace area. A source area and a drain area of a thin-film transistor, the metal layer 16, and the lateral surfaces 161 and 162 of the metal layer 16 are also covered by the second transparent conductive material layer 152 as indicated in
Then, a second insulating layer 18 and a third insulating layer 19 (used as an insulating passivation layer) are formed on the second transparent conductive material layer 152, and a contact hole is defined. For example, a contact hole 19h penetrates the third insulating layer 19 and the second insulating layer 18 to expose the top surface of the second transparent conductive material layer 152 of the second electrode E2, as indicated in
A pixel electrode layer (formed of such as ITO) is formed and patterned to form a pixel electrode PE in each pixel region, as shown in
After manufacturing the first substrate S1, the first substrate S1 is further assembled with the second substrate S2 (
As indicated in
However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the contact widths DC1 and DC2 on the two sides of the channel region ACH can be different from each other.
The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that: in each pixel region, the transistor further includes an etch stop layer 17 disposed between the active layer 14 and the first electrode E1 and the second electrode E2. The etch stop layer 17 has a first opening 17h1 and a second opening 17h2 on corresponding positions of the first electrode E1 and the second electrode E2, respectively. In the second embodiment, the first electrode E1 contacts the active layer 14 through the first opening 17h1 and the second electrode E2 contacts the active layer 14 through the second opening 17h2. The widths of the two openings determine the contact width by which the first transparent conductive material layer 151 contacts the top surface 141 of the active layer 14. That is, a contact portion between the first transparent conductive material layer 151 of the first electrode E1 and the top surface 141 of the active layer 14 has a first contact width DC1 (corresponding to the size of the first opening 17h1); a contact portion between the first transparent conductive material layer 151 of the second electrode E2 and the top surface 141 of the active layer 14 has a second contact width DC2 (corresponding to the size of the second opening 17h2). Moreover, the thickness of the active layer 14 corresponding to the first opening 17h1 and the second opening 17h2 can be smaller than the thickness of the channel region ACH.
As indicated in
The structure and the manufacturing process (such as the bottom gate, five mask manufacturing process and the manufactured structure) are disclosed above for describing some embodiments of the present disclosure, not for limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Other embodiments with different implementations of the structure are still within the scope of the present disclosure. Examples of the implementations of structure include different types of switch such as TFT. Based on the process requirement, the edges of two transparent conductive material layers used as the source/drain electrode can be even or have level difference. The contact widths of the contact portions by which the first transparent conductive material layer of the two electrodes contacts the active layer, the position of the contact hole used for connecting the pixel electrode, and the positions and sizes of the openings at which the etch stop layer corresponds to the electrodes can be adjusted to meet the design requirements. Anyone ordinary skilled in the technology field of the present disclosure will understand that relevant structures and manufacturing process of the present disclosure can be adjusted or modified to meet the product requirements. However, after adjustment or modification is done, structures and manufacturing process of the present disclosure still need to comply with the operational specifications of the products (such as charging performance and capacitive load of the transistors still need to comply with ordinary product requirements) and maintain good electrical properties of the display panel.
According to the structural design of the transistor array substrate of the display panel of the present disclosure, the wires, such as copper layer, are encapsulated or covered by the transparent conductive material. For example, the top surface and the bottom surface of the metal layer 16 are respectively covered with the second transparent conductive material layer 152 and the first transparent conductive material layer 151, and the second transparent conductive material layer 152 also covers the lateral surfaces 161 and 162 of the metal layer 16. The manufactured conductive lines, such as the data lines DL (ex: each data line expressed by the material layers in an order such as IZO/Cu/IZO), can avoid oxidation of the copper surface in subsequent processes (for example, surface treatment using N2O plasma applied on the active layer 14 after defining the electrode but before depositing the passivation layer). Moreover, in each pixel region, the first electrode E1 (such as a source electrode) and the second electrode E2 (such as a drain electrode) are composed of a transparent conductive material (formed of such as IZO), that is, no metal material such as copper is formed on the active layer 14, such that copper will not diffuse into the active layer 14 (ex: a semiconductor material) and change the electrical properties of the display panel. Furthermore, the manufacturing process for the substrate as disclosed in the embodiment is simple and time saving, and is suitable for mass production.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the above embodiment (s), it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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105112454 | Apr 2016 | TW | national |
This application claims the benefits of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/264,353, filed Dec. 8, 2015, and Taiwan application Serial No. 105112454, filed Apr. 21, 2016, the subject matters of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62264353 | Dec 2015 | US |