Method for preparing optical filter pattern, optical filter and electronic equipment

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for preparing an optical filter pattern, an optical filter and electronic equipment. The method comprises the following steps: performing preliminary pattern etching on an optical filter base material to obtain an optical filter semi-finished product; obtaining a front-course structure parameter of the optical filter semi-finished product; determining a target structure parameter of the target pattern; screening out an etching formula capable of etching the previous structure parameter into a target structure parameter from a preset etching formula database; and etching the optical filter semi-finished product by using the etching formula to obtain the optical filter with the target pattern. According to the scheme of the embodiment of the invention, the mapping relation among the etching formula, the front-course structure parameter and the target structure parameter can be stored through the pre-constructed preset etching formula database, so that the corresponding etching formula can be automatically identified for different front-course etching results in a table look-up mode, and the production efficiency of the optical filter is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of optoelectronic display technology. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method for preparing a filter pattern, a filter and an electronic device. Background Art

[0002] Color filters are key materials for achieving color display in liquid crystal displays. They can accurately select a small range of light waves that are to be passed through, and reflect other light waves that are not to be passed through. The preparation process involves multiple steps such as photolithography, coating, exposure, development, drying, and coating.

[0003] In the existing process of manufacturing color filters, the production of spherical patterns requires that a spherical pattern of a specific height and spacing be produced in the previous process, and then the spherical pattern is further etched into specified structural parameters through a one-step etching method. This process has strict requirements on the height and spacing of the spherical pattern produced in the previous process. If the etching deviation in the previous process causes the spherical pattern to fail to reach the specific height and spacing, the structural parameters of the final spherical pattern will not meet the requirements. The current solution for spherical patterns that do not meet the requirements is to re-lay the photoresist and then re-make the spherical pattern, which will greatly extend the process time. In addition, if the material of the color filter changes, the height and spacing of the spherical pattern produced in the previous process will also change accordingly, and re-debugging will take a lot of time.

[0004] In view of this, there is an urgent need to provide a filter preparation solution so as to introduce an automated dynamic control mechanism in the etching process of the filter pattern, reduce rework caused by errors, and reduce the debugging time required for filter model changes, thereby improving production efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0005] In order to at least solve one or more of the technical problems mentioned above, the present disclosure proposes filter preparation solutions in multiple aspects.

[0006] In the first aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for preparing a filter pattern, including: performing preliminary etching of a filter base material into a pattern to obtain a filter semi-finished product; obtaining the front-end structural parameters of the filter semi-finished product; determining the target structural parameters of the target pattern; screening out an etching formula that can etch the front-end structural parameters into the target structural parameters from a preset etching formula database; and etching the filter semi-finished product using the etching formula to obtain a filter having a target pattern.

[0007] In some embodiments, the filter base material includes: a first photoresist and a second photoresist; before screening out an etching recipe that can etch the precursor structure parameters into target structure parameters in a preset etching recipe database, the method also includes: collecting etching rates of the first photoresist and the second photoresist for different etching recipes; calculating target structure parameters formed by each etching recipe for different precursor structure parameters based on the etching rates of the first photoresist and the etching rates of the second photoresist for different etching recipes; and associating the calculated target structure parameters with the corresponding precursor structure parameters and etching recipes to construct a preset etching recipe database.

[0008] In some embodiments, the etching recipe includes: etching temperature and composition of etching medium; the target pattern is spherical; the front-end structural parameters include: front-end spherical height; the target structural parameters include: target spherical height.

[0009] In some embodiments, selecting an etching recipe from a preset etching recipe database that can etch the precursor structure parameters into the target structure parameters includes: selecting alternative etching recipes from the preset etching recipe database based on the precursor structure parameters and the target structure parameters, the alternative etching recipes being able to etch the precursor structure parameters into the target structure parameters; and selecting an etching recipe that meets the conditions from the alternative etching recipes.

[0010] In some embodiments, filtering out an etching recipe that meets a condition from alternative etching recipes includes: filtering out an alternative etching recipe with a minimum required etching time from the alternative etching recipes; and in response to the number of alternative etching recipes with a minimum required etching time being equal to 1, determining the alternative etching recipe with a minimum required etching time as the etching recipe.

[0011] In some embodiments, after screening out the alternative etching recipes with the shortest required etching time, the method further includes: in response to the number of alternative etching recipes with the shortest required etching time being greater than 1, selecting the alternative etching recipe with the shortest target pattern spacing formed by etching as the etching recipe.

[0012] In some embodiments, the filter base material includes: a first photoresist and a second photoresist; before screening out an etching recipe that can etch the precursor structure parameters into target structure parameters in a preset etching recipe database, the method also includes: collecting etching rates of different etching recipes for the first photoresist and etching rates of the second photoresist; according to the etching rates of different etching recipes for the first photoresist and etching rates of the second photoresist, calculating the target structure parameters and required etching time formed by each etching recipe for different precursor structure parameters; and associating the calculated target structure parameters and required etching time with the corresponding precursor structure parameters and etching recipes to construct a preset etching recipe database.

[0013] In some embodiments, the filter base material includes: a first photoresist and a second photoresist; before screening out an etching recipe that can etch the precursor structure parameters into target structure parameters in a preset etching recipe database, the method also includes: collecting pattern spacing shrinkage rates, etching rates for the first photoresist, and etching rates for the second photoresist of different etching recipes; calculating the target structure parameters formed by each etching recipe for different precursor structure parameters according to the etching rates of the first photoresist and the etching rates of the second photoresist of different etching recipes; calculating the target pattern spacing formed by each etching recipe for different precursor structure parameters according to the pattern spacing shrinkage rates, precursor structure parameters and corresponding target structure parameters of different etching recipes; and associating the calculated target structure parameters and target pattern spacing with the corresponding precursor structure parameters and etching recipes to construct a preset etching recipe database.

[0014] In some embodiments, the filter base material includes: a first photoresist and a second photoresist; screening out the alternative etching recipe with the shortest etching time includes: calculating the etching time required for each alternative etching recipe to etch the precursor structure parameters into the target structure parameters based on the etching rate of the alternative etching recipe for the first photoresist and the etching rate of the second photoresist; and screening out the alternative etching recipe with the shortest etching time.

[0015] In some embodiments, the filter base material includes: a first photoresist and a second photoresist; selecting an alternative etching recipe with a minimum target pattern spacing formed by etching as the etching recipe includes: calculating the target pattern spacing formed after etching the precursor structure parameters into the target structure parameters based on the pattern spacing shrinkage rate of the alternative etching recipe with the minimum required etching time; and selecting the alternative etching recipe with the minimum target pattern spacing as the etching recipe.

[0016] In some embodiments, the forward structural parameters include: forward ball height; the target structural parameters include: target ball height; the calculation formula of the target ball height is as follows: ;in, It means the forward ball is high; represents the target ball height; x represents the number of the etching recipe; represents the etching rate of the first photoresist by the etching recipe labeled x; It represents the etching rate of the second photoresist by the etching recipe labeled x; in the filter with the target pattern, the first photoresist is stacked on the second photoresist and the first photoresist is spherical.

[0017] In some embodiments, the leading structural parameters include: leading ball height and leading bottom thickness; the target structural parameters include: target ball height and target bottom thickness; the calculation formula for the required etching time is as follows: ;in, It means the forward ball is high; represents the target ball height; x represents the number of the etching recipe; represents the etching rate of the first photoresist by the etching recipe labeled x; represents the etching rate of the second photoresist by the etching recipe labeled x; Indicates the thickness of the bottom of the front; Indicates the target bottom thickness.

[0018] In some embodiments, the forward structural parameters include: forward ball height, forward ball spacing, and forward bottom thickness; the target structural parameters include: target ball height and target bottom thickness; the target pattern spacing is the target ball spacing; the calculation formula for the target pattern spacing is as follows: ;in, Indicates the distance between target balls; Indicates the distance between the forward balls; Indicates the thickness of the bottom of the front; Indicates the target bottom thickness; represents the target ball height; x represents the number of the etching recipe; Represents the pattern pitch shrinkage rate of the etching recipe labeled x.

[0019] In a second aspect, the present disclosure provides a filter having a target pattern, wherein the target pattern is prepared by executing any method of the first aspect.

[0020] In a third aspect, the present disclosure provides an electronic device comprising: a processor; and a memory storing executable program instructions, which, when executed by the processor, enables the device to implement any method according to the first aspect.

[0021] In a fourth aspect, the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by one or more processors, implement the method of any one of the first aspects.

[0022] The unexpected technical effects of the present invention are: The disclosed embodiment pre-builds a preset etching formula database, which contains a variety of etching formulas to be called. When the filter pattern is prepared, it is only necessary to obtain the upstream structural parameters of the filter semi-finished product and determine the target structural parameters of the target pattern that needs to be etched out in the end, and then filter out the etching formula that can etch the upstream structural parameters into the target structural parameters in the preset etching formula database by table lookup. In the above process, since the etching formula is determined based on the upstream structural parameters and the target structural parameters, regardless of whether the filter model is changed, there is no need to control the upstream process to produce a spherical pattern of a specific height and spacing, thereby reducing the requirements for the upstream process error, greatly reducing the rework caused by errors, and improving the product yield. At the same time, it also reduces the debugging time required after the filter model is changed, thereby improving production efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] By reading the detailed description below with reference to the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will become readily understood. In the accompanying drawings, several embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in an exemplary and non-limiting manner, and the same or corresponding reference numerals represent the same or corresponding parts, wherein: Figure 1 An exemplary flow chart showing a method for preparing a filter pattern according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 2 A schematic diagram showing a process of etching a semi-finished optical filter using an etching recipe according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 3 An exemplary flow chart showing a method for constructing a preset etching recipe database according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 4 An exemplary flow chart showing a method for constructing a preset etching recipe database according to other embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 5 An exemplary flow chart showing a method for preparing a filter pattern according to other embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 6 An exemplary flow chart showing a method for screening candidate etching recipes according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 7 An exemplary flow chart showing a method for constructing a preset etching recipe database according to yet other embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 8 An exemplary structural block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0025] It should be understood that the terms "include" and "comprising" used in the specification and claims of the present disclosure indicate the presence of described features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and / or collections thereof.

[0026] It should also be understood that the terms used in this disclosure are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the disclosure. As used in this disclosure and claims, the singular forms of "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be further understood that the term "and / or" used in this disclosure and claims refers to any combination of one or more of the associated listed items and all possible combinations, including these combinations.

[0027] As used in this specification and claims, the term "if" can be interpreted as "when" or "upon" or "in response to determining" or "in response to detecting," depending on the context. Similarly, the phrases "if it is determined" or "if [described condition or event] is detected" can be interpreted as meaning "upon determination" or "in response to determining" or "upon detection of [described condition or event]" or "in response to detecting [described condition or event]," depending on the context.

[0028] The specific implementation of the present disclosure is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0029] Exemplary application scenarios In the filter manufacturing process, pattern etching is a key step, which involves transferring a specific pattern from a photoresist to a substrate or other material. In the color filter process, a photoresist method can be used to prepare a specific pattern, which involves exposure, development, and etching processes.

[0030] In the existing color filter manufacturing process, the production of spherical patterns requires that spherical patterns of specific height and spacing be produced in the previous process, and then the spherical patterns are further etched into specified structural parameters through a one-step etching method. If the etching deviation in the previous process causes the spherical pattern to fail to reach the specific height and spacing, the structural parameters of the final spherical pattern will not meet the requirements. At this time, the photoresist needs to be re-applied and the spherical pattern needs to be re-made, which will greatly extend the process time.

[0031] In addition, if the material of the color filter changes, the height and spacing of the spherical pattern produced by the previous process will also change accordingly, and the previous process will need to be re-adjusted, resulting in a significant increase in the process time.

[0032] Exemplary Application Scenarios In view of this, the disclosed embodiment provides a filter preparation solution, which stores the mapping relationship between etching formulas, precursor structure parameters and target structure parameters through a pre-constructed preset etching formula database, so as to automatically identify the corresponding etching formula for different precursor etching results through a table lookup, thereby improving the production efficiency of the filter.

[0033] Figure 1 An exemplary flow chart of a method 100 for preparing a filter pattern according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 1 As shown, in step S101, the filter base material is initially etched to obtain a filter semi-finished product. In some embodiments, the filter base material includes: a first photoresist and a second photoresist, wherein the first photoresist and the second photoresist are different photoresist materials, and the first photoresist is stacked on the second photoresist.

[0034] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the filter pattern to be prepared is spherical. In order to prepare the filter pattern, the first photoresist needs to be etched into a spherical shape, and the second photoresist needs to be etched to reduce the thickness of the second photoresist. If the filter pattern to be prepared is spherical, step S101 can be to perform preliminary etching of the spherical pattern on the filter base material. In the obtained filter semi-finished product, the first photoresist is etched into a spherical shape, and the thickness of the second photoresist is reduced.

[0035] In step S102, the front-end structural parameters of the filter semi-finished product are obtained. Since step S101 performs the front-end process, the structural parameters of the filter semi-finished product formed by it are different from the target structural parameters of the target pattern. In order to ensure that the structural parameters of the target pattern finally produced meet the requirements, it is necessary to detect the current structural parameters of the filter semi-finished product, that is, the front-end structural parameters. Step S102 can be understood as being used to determine the initial form of the product in the subsequent etching process.

[0036] Further, in some embodiments, the filter pattern to be prepared is spherical, and the front-end structural parameters include: front-end spherical height. Specifically, the spherical height refers to the distance from the bottom of the sphere to the top of the sphere in the stacking direction, which can also be understood as the thickness of the first photoresist.

[0037] In step S103, target structural parameters of the target pattern are determined. On the basis of determining the initial form of the product in the subsequent etching process, the final form of the product needs to be determined in order to determine the etching recipe suitable for the subsequent etching process.

[0038] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the filter pattern to be prepared is spherical, that is, the target pattern is spherical, and the target structure parameters include: target spherical height.

[0039] It should be noted that step S102 and step S103 may be performed in any execution sequence, for example, step S103 may be performed before step S102 or in parallel with step S102. In addition, step S103 may also be performed before step S101 or in parallel with step S101.

[0040] In step S104, an etching recipe that can etch the precursor structure parameters into the target structure parameters is selected from the preset etching recipe database. In some embodiments, the preset etching recipe database includes multiple etching recipes, and for each etching recipe, it is associated with a number of precursor structure parameters and target structure parameters that can be formed by the precursor structure parameters under the etching action of the etching recipe.

[0041] For ease of understanding, the etching recipe data table stored in the preset etching recipe database is exemplarily shown below:

[0042] In the above table, etching formula A can etch the semi-finished filter with the front-end structural parameter A1 into a filter with the target structural parameter A1', etching formula A can also etch the semi-finished filter with the front-end structural parameter A2 into a filter with the target structural parameter A2', etching formula B can etch the semi-finished filter with the front-end structural parameter B1 into a filter with the target structural parameter B1', and so on.

[0043] It should be noted that the above table is only an exemplary expression of the data storage format in the preset etching recipe database. In actual application, other storage formats can also be used to store the association between the etching recipe, the precursor structure parameter, and the target structure parameter. It should also be noted that the above description of the number of etching recipes is only an example in this embodiment, and the preset etching recipe database actually used may include other numbers of etching recipes.

[0044] Further, in some embodiments, the etching recipe may include: etching temperature and the composition of the etching medium. The etching recipe data table stored in the preset etching recipe database may be exemplified as follows:

[0045] The above table shows that at an etching temperature of 1, component a contained in the etching medium can etch a semi-finished filter with a front-end structural parameter A1 into a filter with a target structural parameter A1", and so on.

[0046] Another etching recipe data table stored in the preset etching recipe database may be exemplified as follows:

[0047] The above table shows that at an etching temperature of 2, component a contained in the etching medium can etch a semi-finished filter with a front-end structural parameter A1 into a filter with a target structural parameter A1'", and so on.

[0048] When executing step S104, according to the preceding structural parameters acquired in step S102 and the target structural parameters determined in step S103, a matching data group is screened out in the preset etching recipe database, and the etching recipe in the data group is the etching recipe used in step S105.

[0049] In other embodiments, the preset etching recipe database includes a plurality of etching recipes, and each etching recipe is associated with an etching rate and / or etching selectivity ratio of the etching recipe for different photoresist materials in the filter base material.

[0050] For ease of understanding, the etching recipe data table stored in the preset etching recipe database is exemplarily shown below, see the following table:

[0051] In the above table, the filter base material is composed of the first photoresist and the second photoresist, ER A1 It represents the etching rate of the first photoresist by etching formula A, ER B1 Represents the etching rate of the second photoresist by etching recipe A, ER A1 / ER B1 It represents the etching selectivity ratio of two different photoresist materials when etching formula A etches the filter base material, and so on.

[0052] Further, in some embodiments, the etching recipe may include: etching temperature and the composition of the etching medium. The etching recipe data table stored in the preset etching recipe database may be exemplified as follows:

[0053] Similarly, in the above table, the filter base material is composed of the first photoresist and the second photoresist, ER A1 It represents the etching rate of the first photoresist by component a contained in the etching medium at etching temperature 1, ER B1 It represents the etching rate of the second photoresist by component a in the etching medium at etching temperature 1, ER A1 / ER B1 It indicates the etching selectivity ratio of two different photoresist materials at etching temperature 1 when component a contained in the etching medium etches the filter base material, and so on.

[0054] When executing step S104, the etching rate and other information stored in the preset etching recipe database can be used to calculate the target structure parameters that can be etched by each etching recipe based on the previous structure parameters obtained in step S102, and then matched according to the target structure parameters of the target pattern determined in step S103 to find the corresponding etching recipe.

[0055] In step S105, the filter semi-finished product is etched using the etching recipe to obtain a filter having a target pattern. In some embodiments, etching the filter semi-finished product using the etching recipe can be divided into two stages: Figure 2 FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a process of etching a semi-finished optical filter using an etching recipe according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 2 As shown, in the first stage, the etching medium in the etching recipe etches the second photoresist along the stacking direction of the photoresist material in the filter base material, and while thinning the thickness of the second photoresist, the first photoresist is also etched to remove it from the front sphere height H G1 Etched into a half-spherical height H G2 In the second stage, the etching medium in the etching formula continues to etch the second photoresist along the arrangement direction of the spheres and the stacking direction of the photoresist material, while reducing the thickness of the second photoresist and shortening the ball spacing in the first photoresist. In addition, the ball height of the first photoresist is further increased from the half-range ball height H G2 Change to target ball height H G3 After the above two stages, the thickness of the second photoresist is also increased from the bottom thickness H ML1 becomes the target bottom thickness H ML2 .

[0056] It should be noted that, in actual application, the first stage and the second stage are not strictly separated, and there is actually a certain overlap between the two stages. In the late stage of the first stage, the etching amplitude of the ball height of the first photoresist can be ignored. At this time, this embodiment is defined as entering the second stage. The main function of the second stage is to etch to shorten the ball spacing and continue to thin the thickness of the second photoresist.

[0057] Further, in some embodiments, the half-range ball height can be calculated according to the formula Calculate, where It means the forward ball is high; represents the half-range ball height; x represents the number of the etching recipe; represents the etching rate of the first photoresist by the etching recipe labeled x; It represents the etching rate of the second photoresist by the etching recipe labeled x.

[0058] Since the etching amplitude of the first photoresist by the etching medium in the etching recipe is negligible in the second stage, the calculation formula of the target ball height can be formed: ,in, Indicates that the target ball is high.

[0059] It should be noted that, as an example, in order to facilitate numerical calculations by computers, the calculation formula for the target ball height can be directly defined as As another example, an error range e1 of the target ball height can be set in the computer, so that the calculation formula of the target ball height is defined as .

[0060] The above describes a method for selecting an etching recipe using a preset etching recipe database to complete the preparation of a filter pattern. In some embodiments, a preset etching recipe database needs to be constructed before executing the method. Figure 3 A method for constructing a preset etching recipe database is described.

[0061] Figure 3 An exemplary flow chart of a method 300 for constructing a preset etching recipe database according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 3 As shown, in step S301, the etching rates of the first photoresist and the second photoresist under different etching recipes are collected. In this embodiment, the first photoresist and the second photoresist are made of different photoresist materials, and the same etching recipe has different etching rates for different photoresist materials.

[0062] In step S302, the target structural parameters formed by each etching recipe for different front-end structural parameters are calculated. In this embodiment, for one etching recipe, it can be applied to the semi-finished optical filter products with different front-end structural parameters to form finished optical filter products with different target structural parameters, which depends on the difference between the etching rate of the first photoresist and the etching rate of the second photoresist of the different etching recipes.

[0063] Specifically, according to the etching rates of the first photoresist and the second photoresist of different etching recipes, the target structural parameters formed by each etching recipe for different front-end structural parameters can be calculated according to the following formula: .

[0064] As an example, in order to facilitate numerical calculations by computers, the calculation formula for the target ball height can be directly defined as As another example, an error range e1 of the target ball height can be set in the computer, so that the calculation formula of the target ball height is defined as .

[0065] For each etching recipe, the target structural parameters corresponding to different forward structural parameters can be calculated according to the above calculation formula, and then the target structural parameters formed for different forward structural parameters under several etching recipes are obtained, and several data groups in the preset etching recipe database are obtained.

[0066] In step S303, the corresponding target structure parameters, the preceding structure parameters and the etching recipe are associated. In this step, the calculated target structure parameters are associated with the preceding structure parameters and the etching recipe corresponding thereto, so that a preset etching recipe database can be constructed.

[0067] Further, the etching recipe may include: etching temperature and etching medium composition, and a data group in the preset etching recipe database may reflect that a filter having a certain target structural parameter is formed by etching a certain etching medium composition at a certain temperature with a certain forward structural parameter. The etching recipe data table stored in the preset etching recipe database may refer to the content of step S104 in the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0068] Furthermore, the data set in the preset etching recipe database may also include: required etching time, which is used to indicate the time taken by the etching recipe to etch the front-end structure parameters into the target structure parameters. Adaptively, the front-end structure parameters also include: front-end bottom thickness, which is used to indicate the thickness of the second photoresist in the semi-finished filter. Adaptively, the target structure parameters also include: target bottom thickness, which is used to indicate the final thickness of the second photoresist in the finished filter.

[0069] Based on this, Figure 4 An exemplary flow chart of a method 400 for constructing a preset etching recipe database according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 4 As shown, in step S401, the etching rates of the first photoresist and the second photoresist under different etching recipes are collected. In this embodiment, the specific content of step S401 is consistent with step S301 in the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0070] In step S402, target structural parameters and required etching time of each etching recipe for different front-end structural parameters are calculated according to the etching rate. In this embodiment, the calculation method of the target structural parameters can refer to step S302 in the above embodiment.

[0071] Further, in some embodiments, the required etching time can be calculated according to the following formula: ; in, It means the forward ball is high; represents the target ball height; x represents the number of the etching recipe; represents the etching rate of the first photoresist by the etching recipe labeled x; represents the etching rate of the second photoresist by the etching recipe labeled x; Indicates the thickness of the bottom of the front; Indicates the target bottom thickness.

[0072] because , so the calculation formula for the required etching time can be simplified to: As an example, in order to facilitate numerical calculations by computer, the calculation formula for the required etching time can be directly defined as As another example, an error range e1 of the target ball height can be set in the computer, so that the calculation formula of the target ball height is defined as , correspondingly, the calculation formula for the required etching time can be simplified to .

[0073] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the process of etching the semi-finished filter using the etching recipe is based on the thickness of the second photoresist, so as to control the timing of the end of the process, thereby ensuring that the semi-finished filter with the front-end bottom thickness is etched into the finished filter with the target bottom thickness. It can be understood that the front-end bottom thickness is a kind of front-end structural parameter, and the target bottom thickness is a kind of target structural parameter, but the target bottom thickness does not need to be calculated based on the front-end bottom thickness. In actual operation, the preparation of the filter with the target bottom thickness can be achieved by controlling the duration.

[0074] Furthermore, in actual operation, due to the existence of process errors, the actual value of the target bottom thickness prepared may have a certain error from the theoretical value of the target bottom thickness.

[0075] In step S403, the target structure parameters, the required etching time, the preceding structure parameters and the etching recipe are associated to construct a preset etching recipe database. In this step, the target structure parameters need to be calculated based on the preceding structure parameters and the etching recipe, and the required etching time needs to be calculated based on the target structure parameters, the preceding structure parameters and the etching recipe. After the calculation is completed, the calculated target structure parameters and the required etching time are associated with the preceding structure parameters and the etching recipe corresponding thereto, so that a preset etching recipe database can be constructed.

[0076] Similar to step S303 in the previous embodiment, the etching recipe data table stored in the preset etching recipe database can refer to the content of step S104 in the previous embodiment, which will not be described again here.

[0077] In some embodiments, there may be multiple etching recipes in the preset etching recipe database that can etch the precursor structure parameters into the target structure parameters. In other words, in practical applications, there may be multiple usable etching recipes. Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method for preparing a filter pattern, which can select an optimal etching recipe from multiple usable etching recipes for use.

[0078] Figure 5 An exemplary flow chart of a method 500 for preparing a filter pattern according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 5 As shown, in step S501, the filter substrate is initially etched to obtain a semi-finished filter. In step S502, the front-end structural parameters of the semi-finished filter are obtained. In step S503, the target structural parameters of the target pattern are determined.

[0079] In this embodiment, the contents of step S501 to step S503 are consistent with step S101 to step S103 in the previous embodiment, and will not be further described here.

[0080] In step S504, according to the preceding structural parameters and the target structural parameters, an alternative etching recipe is screened out from the preset etching recipe database. Specifically, in this embodiment, step S504 can screen out several etching recipes that can etch the preceding structural parameters into the target structural parameters from the preset etching recipe database, and these screened etching recipes are called alternative etching recipes. In practical applications, any of these etching recipes can be used to etch the semi-finished filter, and a finished filter with the target structural parameters can be obtained.

[0081] In step S505, an etching recipe that meets the conditions is selected from the candidate etching recipes. In this embodiment, considering factors such as process cost, an optimal etching recipe can be selected from the above-mentioned several candidate etching recipes.

[0082] In some embodiments, the optimal etching recipe can be selected based on the required etching time. The minimum required etching time can speed up the preparation process of the filter to the greatest extent and increase the number of finished products produced in a single cycle.

[0083] In some cases, the required etching time can be used to select a single optimal etching recipe from a number of candidate etching recipes. In other cases, there may be multiple candidate etching recipes with the shortest required etching time. In this case, a second screening condition needs to be designed to perform a secondary screening of these candidate etching recipes. In this case, the target pattern spacing can be used as a reference. Furthermore, if the target pattern is spherical, the target pattern spacing is the target sphere spacing.

[0084] In step S506, the filter semi-finished product is etched using an etching recipe to obtain a filter having a target pattern. In this embodiment, the content of step S506 is consistent with step S105 in the above embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0085] Figure 6 FIG. 6 is an exemplary flow chart showing a method 600 for screening an alternative etching recipe according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. It can be understood that the method for screening an alternative etching recipe is a specific implementation of the aforementioned step S505. Figure 5 The features described can analogously apply here.

[0086] like Figure 6 As shown, in step S601, the candidate etching recipe with the shortest required etching time is selected from the candidate etching recipes. In some embodiments, the required etching time can be pre-calculated and stored in a preset etching recipe database. The method for constructing the preset etching recipe database can refer to the above combined with Figure 4 Described embodiments.

[0087] In other embodiments, the required etching time can also be calculated in real time, and step S601 can specifically include: according to the etching rate of the first photoresist and the etching rate of the second photoresist of the alternative etching recipe, calculating the required etching time for each alternative etching recipe to etch the preceding structural parameters into the target structural parameters, and then screening out the alternative etching recipe with the shortest required etching time. Further, the calculation formula for the required etching time can refer to step S402 in the previous embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0088] In step S602, it is determined whether the number of the candidate etching recipes with the minimum required etching time is 1. If so, step S603 is executed. The purpose of this step is to determine whether a unique optimal etching recipe can be screened out according to the required etching time. Since the number of candidate etching recipes is limited, at least one candidate etching recipe that meets the condition can be screened out according to the condition of the minimum required etching time.

[0089] In step S603, the candidate etching recipe with the shortest required etching time is determined as the etching recipe. If a unique optimal etching recipe can be screened out according to the required etching time, the etching recipe is subsequently used to etch the semi-finished filter.

[0090] Furthermore, in some embodiments, after executing step S602, there may be a situation where the number of alternative etching recipes with the shortest etching time required is greater than 1. In this case, the judgment structure of step S602 is no, and step S604 is executed.

[0091] In step S604, the alternative etching recipe with the smallest target pattern spacing formed by etching is selected as the etching recipe. If the only optimal etching recipe cannot be screened out according to the required etching time, in other words, if the alternative etching recipe with the smallest required etching time is greater than 1, it is necessary to perform a secondary screening according to the target pattern spacing.

[0092] In some embodiments, the target pattern spacing can be calculated in real time, and step S603 can specifically include: calculating the target pattern spacing formed after etching the previous structure parameters into the target structure parameters according to the pattern spacing shrinkage rate of the alternative etching recipe with the shortest etching time, and then selecting the alternative etching recipe with the shortest target pattern spacing as the etching recipe. The pattern spacing shrinkage rate refers to the etching rate of the etching recipe for the second photoresist in the direction perpendicular to the stacking direction, and the etching in this direction can shorten the target pattern spacing, for example: the target ball spacing.

[0093] Based on this, in some embodiments, a preset etching recipe database includes multiple etching recipes. For each etching recipe, in addition to being associated with the etching rate and / or etching selectivity of the etching recipe for different photoresist materials in the filter base material, it can also be associated with the pattern spacing shrinkage rate of the etching recipe.

[0094] For ease of understanding, the etching recipe data table stored in the preset etching recipe database is exemplarily shown below:

[0095] In the above table, the filter base material is composed of the first photoresist and the second photoresist, ER A1 It represents the etching rate of the first photoresist by etching formula A, ER B1 Represents the etching rate of the second photoresist by etching recipe A, ER A1 / ER B1 It indicates the etching selectivity ratio of two different photoresist materials when etching formula A etches the filter base material, ER GAP1 It represents the rate at which the pattern pitch of the second photoresist is contracted by etching recipe A, and so on.

[0096] Further, in some embodiments, the etching recipe may include: etching temperature and the composition of the etching medium. The etching recipe data table stored in the preset etching recipe database may be exemplified as follows:

[0097] Similarly, in the above table, the filter base material is composed of the first photoresist and the second photoresist, ER A1 It represents the etching rate of the first photoresist by component a contained in the etching medium at etching temperature 1, ER B1 It represents the etching rate of the second photoresist by component a in the etching medium at etching temperature 1, ER A1 / ER B1 It indicates the etching selectivity ratio of two different photoresist materials at etching temperature 1 when etching filter base material with component a in the etching medium. GAP1 It indicates the shrinkage rate of the pattern pitch of the second photoresist due to component a contained in the etching medium, and so on.

[0098] In addition to the instant calculation method, in other embodiments, the target pattern spacing can also be pre-calculated and stored in a preset etching recipe database. When executing step S603, the corresponding data group is directly called from the preset etching recipe database to determine the target pattern spacing corresponding to each alternative etching recipe. In this embodiment, the data group in the preset etching recipe database can also include: target pattern spacing. If the target pattern is spherical, the target pattern spacing is the target spherical spacing. Adaptively, the front-end structural parameters also include: front-end bottom thickness, which is used to indicate the thickness of the second photoresist in the semi-finished filter. Adaptively, the target structural parameters also include: target bottom thickness, which is used to indicate the final thickness of the second photoresist in the finished filter.

[0099] It should be noted that, in practical applications, the target pattern spacing may also be defined as one of the target structural parameters.

[0100] Combine the following Figure 7 The process of constructing a preset etching recipe database containing target pattern pitches is described. Figure 7 An exemplary flow chart of a method 700 for constructing a preset etching recipe database according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 7 As shown, in step S701, the pattern pitch shrinkage rate of different etching recipes, the etching rate of the first photoresist, and the etching rate of the second photoresist are collected.

[0101] In step S702, the target structural parameters formed by each etching recipe for different front-end structural parameters are calculated. In this step, the target structural parameters formed by each etching recipe for different front-end structural parameters can be calculated according to the etching rate of the first photoresist and the etching rate of the second photoresist of different etching recipes. The specific calculation formula can be referred to in the above combined with Figure 1 and / or Figure 3 The described embodiments will not be described in detail here.

[0102] In step S703, the target pattern spacing formed by each etching recipe for different front-end structural parameters is calculated. In this step, the target pattern spacing can be calculated according to the pattern spacing shrinkage rate of different etching recipes, the front-end structural parameters and the corresponding target structural parameters.

[0103] Further, if the target pattern is spherical, the target pattern spacing is the target ball spacing. Accordingly, the front-end structural parameters include: front-end ball height, front-end ball spacing and front-end bottom thickness. Accordingly, the target structural parameters include: target ball height and target bottom thickness. The calculation formula of the target ball spacing can be as follows: ; in, Indicates the distance between target balls; Indicates the distance between the forward balls; Indicates the thickness of the bottom of the front; Indicates the target bottom thickness; represents the target ball height; x represents the number of the etching recipe; Represents the pattern pitch shrinkage rate of the etching recipe labeled x.

[0104] It should be noted that the calculation formula for the target ball distance described above is also applicable to the instant calculation of the target ball distance.

[0105] In step S704, the target structure parameters, target pattern spacing, predecessor structure parameters and etching recipes are associated to construct a preset etching recipe database. In this step, the calculated target structure parameters and target pattern spacing can be associated with the corresponding predecessor structure parameters and etching recipes to construct a preset etching recipe database.

[0106] Furthermore, the above combined Figure 4 The described method can be used with Figure 7The method shown is combined to form a method for constructing a preset etching recipe database. The data group of the preset etching recipe database constructed by this method may include: front-end structure parameters, target structure parameters, etching recipes and required etching time, wherein the front-end structure parameters include the front-end pattern spacing, and the target structure parameters include the target pattern spacing. If the target pattern is spherical, the data group of the preset etching recipe database may include: front-end ball height, front-end ball spacing, front-end bottom thickness, target ball height, target ball spacing, target bottom thickness, etching recipe and required etching time.

[0107] It should be noted that when selecting an optimal etching recipe from multiple available etching recipes, some embodiments of the present disclosure may use the minimum required etching time as a screening condition. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the minimum target pattern spacing may be used as a screening condition. In still other embodiments of the present disclosure, the minimum target pattern spacing and the minimum required etching time may be used as screening conditions, and the priority of the required etching time is higher than the target pattern spacing. For specific screening methods, please refer to the above combined with Figure 5 The described embodiments will not be described in detail here.

[0108] In the method for selecting the optimal etching recipe, the target pattern spacing and the required etching time can be pre-calculated and stored in a preset etching recipe database, or the target pattern spacing and the required etching time can both be calculated in real time, or one of the target pattern spacing and the required etching time is calculated in real time, and the other is pre-calculated and stored in a preset etching recipe database. The calculation formula for the target pattern spacing and the required etching time and the method for constructing the preset etching recipe database have been described in detail in the previous embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0109] By executing the method for preparing a filter pattern provided in any of the above embodiments, a filter having a target pattern can be prepared. In some embodiments, the target pattern is spherical.

[0110] In summary, the present disclosure provides a method for preparing a filter pattern, which can use a pre-constructed preset etching formula database to introduce an automated dynamic control mechanism in the etching process of the filter pattern. Under this dynamic control mechanism, there is no need to control the front-end process to produce a spherical pattern of a specific height and spacing. It is only necessary to obtain the front-end structural parameters of the filter semi-finished product and determine the target structural parameters of the target pattern that needs to be etched out in the end. The etching formula that can etch the front-end structural parameters into the target structural parameters can be screened out in the preset etching formula database by table lookup. Since the requirements for the front-end process errors are reduced, this method can reduce rework caused by errors and improve product yield. At the same time, it also reduces the debugging time required after the filter model is changed, thereby improving production efficiency.

[0111] Some embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a method for preparing a filter pattern, which can use etching time and / or target pattern spacing to screen multiple alternative etching recipes, thereby selecting an optimal etching recipe from multiple available etching recipes for use, further improving production efficiency.

[0112] In order to implement the method steps described in the foregoing text of this disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings at the software and hardware level, the present disclosure also provides the following Figure 8 The electronic device shown. Specifically, Figure 8 An exemplary structural block diagram of an electronic device 800 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0113] like Figure 8 As shown, the electronic device 800 of the present disclosure may include a processor 810 and a memory 820. Specifically, the memory 820 stores executable program instructions. When the program instructions are executed by the processor 810, the electronic device implements the above-mentioned Figure 1-Figure 7 The method steps in .

[0114] It is understood that in order to clearly illustrate the solution of the present disclosure and avoid confusion with the prior art, Figure 8 The electronic device 800 only shows the components related to the embodiment of the present disclosure, and omits those components that may be necessary for implementing the embodiment of the present disclosure but belong to the scope of the prior art. Therefore, based on the content disclosed in the present disclosure, a person skilled in the art can clearly understand that the electronic device 800 of the present disclosure may also include components related to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 8 The constituent elements shown in are different from the common constituent elements.

[0115] In an exemplary implementation scenario, the above-mentioned processor 810 can control the overall operation of the electronic device 800. For example, the processor 810 can control the operation of the electronic device 800 by executing the program stored in the memory 820. In terms of implementation, the processor 810 of the present disclosure can be implemented by a central processing unit (CPU), an application processor (Application Processor, AP), an artificial intelligence processor chip (Intelligent Processing Unit, IPU), etc. provided in the electronic device 800. Further, the processor 810 of the present disclosure can also be implemented in any appropriate manner. For example, the processor 810 can take the form of a computer-readable medium, a logic gate, a switch, an application-specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a programmable logic controller, and an embedded microcontroller, etc., such as a microprocessor or a processor and a computer-readable program code (such as software or firmware) that can be executed by the (micro) processor.

[0116] In terms of storage content, the memory 820 can be used to store hardware of various data and instructions processed in the electronic device 800. For example, the memory 820 can store processed data and data to be processed in the electronic device 800. The memory 820 can store data sets that have been processed or to be processed by the processor 810. In addition, the memory 820 can store applications, drivers, etc. to be driven by the electronic device 800. For example: the memory 820 can store various programs related to model building and constraint setting to be executed by the processor 810. The memory 820 can be a DRAM, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. In terms of type, the memory 820 may include at least one of a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory may include a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, a phase change RAM (PRAM), a magnetic RAM (MRAM), a resistive RAM (RRAM), a ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), etc. The volatile memory may include dynamic RAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), PRAM, MRAM, RRAM, ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM), etc. In an embodiment, the memory 820 may include at least one of a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a high-density flash memory (CF), a secure digital (SD) card, a micro secure digital (Micro-SD) card, a mini secure digital (Mini-SD) card, an extreme digital (xD) card, caches, or a memory stick.

[0117] In summary, the specific functions implemented by the memory 820 and the processor 810 of the electronic device 800 provided in the embodiments of this specification can be explained in comparison with the aforementioned embodiments in this specification, and can achieve the technical effects of the aforementioned embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0118] Additionally or optionally, the present disclosure may also be implemented as a non-temporary machine-readable storage medium (or computer-readable storage medium, or machine-readable storage medium) on which computer program instructions (or computer program, or computer instruction code) are stored. When the computer program instructions (or computer program, or computer instruction code) are executed by a processor of an electronic device (or electronic device, server, etc.), the processor executes part or all of the steps of the above-mentioned method according to the present disclosure.

[0119] Although multiple embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Those skilled in the art may think of many changes, modifications, and alternatives without departing from the thought and spirit of the present disclosure. It should be understood that in the process of practicing the present disclosure, various alternatives to the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein may be adopted. The attached claims are intended to define the scope of protection of the present disclosure, and therefore cover equivalents or alternatives within the scope of these claims.

Claims

1. A method for preparing a filter pattern, characterized in that: include: Performing preliminary etching of the pattern on the filter base material to obtain a semi-finished filter product; Obtaining the front-end structural parameters of the semi-finished optical filter; determining target structural parameters of the target pattern; Screening out an etching recipe capable of etching the preceding structural parameters into the target structural parameters from a preset etching recipe database; as well as The optical filter semi-finished product is etched using the etching recipe to obtain an optical filter having the target pattern.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The filter base material includes: a first photoresist and a second photoresist; before selecting an etching recipe capable of etching the preceding structural parameters into the target structural parameters from a preset etching recipe database, the method further includes: Collecting etching rates of the first photoresist and the second photoresist using different etching recipes; Calculating target structural parameters formed by each etching recipe for different forward structural parameters according to etching rates of the first photoresist and etching rates of the second photoresist of different etching recipes; and The calculated target structure parameters are associated with the corresponding predecessor structure parameters and etching recipes to construct the preset etching recipe database.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The etching recipe that can etch the preceding structural parameters into the target structural parameters is selected from the preset etching recipe database and includes: According to the preceding structural parameters and the target structural parameters, selecting an alternative etching recipe from a preset etching recipe database, wherein the alternative etching recipe can etch the preceding structural parameters into the target structural parameters; and An etching recipe that meets the conditions is selected from the candidate etching recipes.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The etching formulas that meet the conditions are selected from the alternative etching formulas, including: Among the candidate etching recipes, selecting the candidate etching recipe with the shortest required etching time; and In response to the number of candidate etching recipes with the shortest required etching time being equal to 1, determining the candidate etching recipe with the shortest required etching time as the etching recipe; and In response to the number of candidate etching recipes with the shortest required etching time being greater than 1, the candidate etching recipe with the shortest target pattern pitch formed by etching is selected as the etching recipe.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The filter base material comprises: a first photoresist and a second photoresist; Before selecting an etching recipe capable of etching the preceding structural parameters into the target structural parameters from a preset etching recipe database, the method further includes: Collecting etching rates of the first photoresist and the second photoresist using different etching recipes; Calculating target structural parameters and required etching time for each etching recipe for different front-end structural parameters according to the etching rates of the first photoresist and the etching rates of the second photoresist of different etching recipes; and Associating the calculated target structure parameters and the required etching time with the corresponding predecessor structure parameters and etching recipes to construct the preset etching recipe database; or, Before selecting an etching recipe capable of etching the preceding structural parameters into the target structural parameters from a preset etching recipe database, the method further includes: Collecting the pattern spacing shrinkage rate of different etching recipes, the etching rate of the first photoresist, and the etching rate of the second photoresist; Calculating target structural parameters formed by each etching recipe for different front-end structural parameters according to etching rates of the first photoresist and etching rates of the second photoresist of different etching recipes; Calculating the target pattern spacing formed by each etching recipe for different front-end structural parameters according to the pattern spacing shrinkage rate, front-end structural parameters and corresponding target structural parameters of different etching recipes; and The calculated target structure parameters and target pattern spacing are associated with the corresponding preceding structure parameters and etching recipes to construct the preset etching recipe database.

6. The method according to claim 2 or 5, characterized in that: The forward structural parameters include: forward ball height; the target structural parameters include: target ball height; the calculation formula of the target ball height is as follows: ； in, Indicates the forward ball height; represents the target ball height; x represents the number of the etching recipe; represents the etching rate of the first photoresist by the etching recipe labeled x; The etching rate of the second photoresist by the etching recipe labeled x is shown; in the filter having the target pattern, the first photoresist is stacked on the second photoresist and is spherical.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The forward structural parameters include: forward ball height and forward bottom thickness; the target structural parameters include: target ball height and target bottom thickness; The calculation formula for the required etching time is as follows: ； in, Indicates the forward ball height; represents the target ball height; x represents the number of the etching recipe; represents the etching rate of the first photoresist by the etching recipe labeled x; represents the etching rate of the second photoresist by the etching recipe labeled x; Indicates the bottom thickness of the front path; represents the target bottom thickness.

8. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The forward structural parameters include: forward ball height, forward ball spacing and forward bottom thickness; the target structural parameters include: target ball height and target bottom thickness; the target pattern spacing is the target ball spacing; The calculation formula of the target pattern spacing is as follows: ； in, represents the target ball distance; represents the distance between the front balls; Indicates the bottom thickness of the front path; represents the target bottom thickness; represents the target ball height; x represents the number of the etching recipe; The pattern pitch shrinkage rate of the etching recipe labeled x is shown.

9. A filter, characterized in that: It has a target pattern, and the target pattern is prepared by executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. An electronic device, characterized in that: include: processor; as well as A memory storing executable program instructions, which, when executed by the processor, enables the device to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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