Display substrate and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a display substrate and a manufacturing method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of display. The display substrate comprises: a substrate (16); the first shading part (141) is positioned on the substrate (16), and the first shading part (141) extends along a first direction; the light filtering units and the second light shielding parts (142) are located on the side, away from the substrate (16), of the first light shielding parts (141), the light filtering units are arranged at intervals, gaps between the adjacent light filtering units are filled with the second light shielding parts (142), the second light shielding parts (142) extend in the second direction, and the first direction intersects with the second direction; the flat layer (17) is positioned on one side, far away from the substrate (16), of the plurality of light filtering units and the second light shielding part (142); and the spacer (242) is positioned on one side, far away from the substrate (16), of the flat layer (17). The cross color of the display substrate can be reduced, and the aperture opening ratio of the display substrate can be improved.

Description

Display substrate and manufacturing method thereof Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of display technology, and in particular to a display substrate and a manufacturing method thereof. Background Art

[0002] In LCD products, there is a problem of cross-color due to the certain distance between the backlight source and the light-emitting side. As the pixel density of LCD products increases, the pixel size becomes smaller and the risk of cross-color increases. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the width of the black matrix to reduce the risk of cross-color, resulting in a decrease in the aperture ratio of the LCD product.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide a display substrate and a manufacturing method thereof, which can reduce the color crosstalk of the display substrate and improve the aperture ratio of the display substrate.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide the following technical solutions:

[0006] In one aspect, a display substrate is provided, comprising:

[0007] substrate;

[0008] a first light shielding portion located on the base substrate, the first light shielding portion extending along a first direction;

[0009] a plurality of filter units and a second light shielding unit located on a side of the first light shielding unit away from the base substrate, the plurality of filter units being arranged at intervals, the second light shielding unit filling gaps between adjacent filter units, the second light shielding unit extending along a second direction, the first direction intersecting the second direction;

[0010] a flat layer located on a side of the plurality of filter units and the second light shielding portion away from the base substrate;

[0011] A spacer is located on a side of the flat layer away from the base substrate.

[0012] In some embodiments, the roughness of the surfaces of the plurality of filter units and the second light shielding portion on a side away from the base substrate is less than or equal to 0.5 micrometers.

[0013] In some embodiments, in a direction perpendicular to the base substrate and away from the base substrate, a height difference between the filter unit and an adjacent second light shielding portion is less than 0.5 micrometers.

[0014] In some embodiments, the thickness of the planar layer is less than 1 micron.

[0015] In some embodiments, the first light shielding portion is made of an inorganic material.

[0016] In some embodiments, the material of the first light shielding portion includes one or more elements selected from the group consisting of titanium, molybdenum, aluminum, silver, and copper.

[0017] In some embodiments, the display substrate further includes:

[0018] The light-shielding pattern is located between the spacer and the flat layer, and the orthographic projection of the spacer on the base substrate is located within the orthographic projection of the light-shielding pattern on the base substrate, and the distance between the boundaries of the orthographic projections of the two is in the range of 0-0.8 microns.

[0019] In some embodiments, an auxiliary pattern is further provided between the shading pattern and the spacer, the orthographic projection of the spacer on the base substrate is located within the orthographic projection of the auxiliary pattern on the base substrate, and the spacing between the boundaries of the orthographic projections of the two is in the range of 0-0.8 microns.

[0020] In some embodiments, a distance between boundaries of orthographic projections of the light-shielding pattern and the auxiliary pattern on the base substrate is in a range of 0-0.4 microns.

[0021] In some embodiments, the material of the light-shielding pattern includes one or more elements selected from the group consisting of titanium, molybdenum, aluminum, silver, and copper.

[0022] In some embodiments, the distance between the boundary of the orthographic projection of the first surface of the spacer on the side away from the base substrate and the orthographic projection of the second surface of the spacer on the side close to the base substrate is in the range of 0-0.4 microns, and the maximum width of the second surface is less than or equal to 2 microns.

[0023] In some embodiments, the ratio of the height to the maximum width of the spacer is greater than 1.5.

[0024] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a method for manufacturing a display substrate, comprising:

[0025] providing a substrate;

[0026] forming a first light shielding portion on the base substrate, wherein the first light shielding portion extends along a first direction;

[0027] A plurality of filter units are formed on a side of the first light shielding portion away from the base substrate, and the plurality of filter units are arranged at intervals;

[0028] forming a second light shielding portion filling a gap between adjacent filter units, wherein the second light shielding portion extends along a second direction, and the first direction intersects the second direction;

[0029] forming a flat layer on a side of the plurality of filter units and the second light shielding portion away from the base substrate;

[0030] A spacer is formed on a side of the planar layer away from the base substrate.

[0031] In some embodiments, the opposite substrate of the display substrate includes gate lines and data lines, the first direction is an extending direction of the data lines, and the second direction is an extending direction of the gate lines.

[0032] In some embodiments, forming the first light shielding portion includes:

[0033] forming a metal thin film on the substrate;

[0034] The metal thin film is patterned to form the first light shielding portion.

[0035] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0036] forming a light-shielding pattern between the spacer and the flat layer, wherein the orthographic projection of the spacer on the base substrate is located within the orthographic projection of the light-shielding pattern on the base substrate;

[0037] An auxiliary pattern is formed between the light-shielding pattern and the spacer.

[0038] In some embodiments, forming the spacer, the light-shielding pattern, and the auxiliary pattern specifically includes:

[0039] forming a light-shielding metal layer on the flat layer;

[0040] forming an inorganic insulating layer on the light-shielding metal layer;

[0041] forming a spacer material layer on the inorganic insulating layer;

[0042] forming a hard mask layer on the spacer material layer;

[0043] forming a photoresist layer on the hard mask layer;

[0044] exposing and developing the photoresist layer to form a photoresist pattern;

[0045] Using the pattern of the photoresist as a mask, etching the hard mask layer to form a first hard mask pattern;

[0046] Using the first hard mask pattern as a mask, etching the light-shielding metal layer, the inorganic insulating layer, and the spacer material layer to form the light-shielding pattern, the auxiliary pattern, and the spacer transition pattern, respectively;

[0047] Etching the photoresist pattern and the first hard mask pattern to reduce the size of the first hard mask pattern to form a second hard mask pattern;

[0048] Using the second hard mask pattern as a mask, etching the spacer transition pattern to form the spacer;

[0049] The second hard mask pattern and remaining photoresist are removed.

[0050] The embodiments of the present disclosure have the following beneficial effects:

[0051] In the above solution, the light-shielding portion structure of the display substrate is composed of a first light-shielding portion extending along a first direction and a second light-shielding portion extending along a second direction. The second light-shielding portion fills the gap between adjacent filter units. This can improve the flatness of the surface of the filter unit on the side away from the base substrate. There is no need to design the thickness of the flat layer to be large, and the thickness of the flat layer can be reduced, so that the optical path from the backlight to the light output side is shortened, reducing the cross-color effect of the display substrate. There is no need to increase the size of the light-shielding portion, and the size of the light-shielding portion can be reduced, thereby improving the aperture ratio of the display substrate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0052] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of pixel size of a high PPI display product;

[0053] Figures 2 and 3 are schematic diagrams showing the color crosstalk angle of the display product;

[0054] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an ideal shading portion;

[0055] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the actual morphology of the light shielding portion;

[0056] 6 to 11 are schematic diagrams of manufacturing a display substrate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0057] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a columnar spacer disposed on a color filter substrate;

[0058] FIG13 is a schematic diagram showing light leakage in a dark state of a display product;

[0059] Figures 14 and 15 are schematic diagrams showing the setting of shading patterns on a display product;

[0060] 16-28 are schematic diagrams of manufacturing a display substrate according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0061] Reference Signs 11 red filter unit 12 green filter unit 13 blue filter unit 14 light shielding portion 16 base substrate 17 planar layer 20 liquid crystal layer 21 buffer layer 22 light shielding metal layer 23 inorganic insulating layer 24 spacer material layer 25 hard mask layer 26 photoresist pattern 30 alignment layer 35 light shielding pattern 141 first light shielding portion 142 second light shielding portion 221 light shielding pattern 231 auxiliary pattern 241 spacer transition pattern 242 spacer 251 first hard mask pattern 252 second hard mask pattern DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0062] In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantages to be solved by the embodiments of the present disclosure more clear, they will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0063] Unless the context requires otherwise, in this disclosure, the term "comprise" and other forms such as the third person singular form "comprises" and the present participle form "comprising" are to be interpreted as open and inclusive, that is, "including, but not limited to". In the description of the specification, the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "exemplary embodiments", "example", "specific example" or "some examples" are intended to indicate that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics associated with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. The schematic representation of the above terms does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. In addition, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics may be included in any one or more embodiments or examples in any appropriate manner.

[0064] In the following, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood to indicate or imply relative importance or implicitly specify the number of the technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the embodiments of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, "plurality" means two or more.

[0065] In this disclosure, for convenience, words and phrases indicating orientation or positional relationships, such as "middle," "upper," "lower," "front," "back," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inside," and "outside," are used to illustrate the positional relationships of constituent elements with reference to the accompanying drawings. This is merely for the convenience of describing this specification and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operate in a specific orientation. Therefore, it should not be understood as a limitation of this disclosure. The positional relationships of constituent elements are appropriately changed according to the direction in which the constituent elements are described. Therefore, the words and phrases are not limited to those described in the specification and can be appropriately replaced according to the circumstances.

[0066] As used in this disclosure, "about," "substantially," or "approximately" includes the stated value and an average value that is within an acceptable range of deviation from the particular value, where the acceptable range of deviation is determined by one of ordinary skill in the art taking into account the measurements in question and the errors associated with the measurement of the particular quantity (i.e., the limitations of the measurement system).

[0067] As used in this disclosure, "parallel", "perpendicular", and "equal" include the situations described and situations similar to the situations described, and the range of the similar situations is within an acceptable deviation range, wherein the acceptable deviation range is as determined by a person of ordinary skill in the art taking into account the measurement in question and the errors associated with the measurement of the specific quantity (i.e., the limitations of the measurement system). For example, "parallel" includes absolute parallelism and approximate parallelism, wherein the acceptable deviation range of approximate parallelism can be, for example, a deviation within 5°; "perpendicular" includes absolute perpendicularity and approximate perpendicularity, wherein the acceptable deviation range of approximate perpendicularity can also be, for example, a deviation within 5°. "Equal" includes absolute equality and approximate equality, wherein the acceptable deviation range of approximate equality can be, for example, that the difference between the two equals is less than or equal to 10% of either one.

[0068] It will be understood that when a layer or element is referred to as being on another layer or substrate, it can be directly on the other layer or substrate, or intervening layers may be present therebetween.

[0069] The present disclosure describes exemplary embodiments with reference to cross-sectional views and / or plan views that are idealized exemplary drawings. In the drawings, the thickness of layers and the area of ​​regions are exaggerated for clarity. Therefore, variations in shape relative to the drawings due to, for example, manufacturing techniques and / or tolerances are contemplated. Therefore, the exemplary embodiments should not be construed as limited to the shapes of the regions shown herein, but rather include deviations in shape due to, for example, manufacturing. For example, an etched region shown as a rectangle will typically have curved features. Therefore, the regions shown in the drawings are schematic in nature, and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the actual shape of regions of the device and are not intended to limit the scope of the exemplary embodiments.

[0070] With the advancement of display technology, the resolution of LCD products has gradually increased from 200 PPI (pixel density) to 500 PPI, 1000 PPI, 1500 PPI, and even 2000 PPI. Based on a 2000 PPI resolution, as shown in Figure 1, each pixel is relatively large. For example, in a high-PPI VR device, each pixel has a length (b) of approximately 12.6 μm and a width (a) of approximately 4.2 μm.

[0071] As the pixel density of liquid crystal display products increases, the pixel size becomes smaller, and the risk of cross-color becomes greater. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the liquid crystal display product includes an array substrate and a color filter substrate arranged in opposite directions, and a liquid crystal layer 20 located between the array substrate and the color filter substrate. The color filter substrate includes a base substrate 16 and a red filter unit 11, a green filter unit 12, a blue filter unit 13, a light shielding portion 14, and a flat layer 17 located on the base substrate 16. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the factors affecting the angle of cross-color (including α and β) are the width of the light shielding portion 14 and the optical path (the distance traveled by the light). The longer the distance traveled by the light (from the backlight to the side surface of the filter unit close to the base substrate 16), the smaller the angle at which cross-color occurs.

[0072] In addition, in the related art, as shown in FIG3 , when manufacturing a color filter substrate, if the filter units are manufactured first and then the light shielding portion 14 is manufactured, the thickness of the light shielding portion 14 is relatively thin and cannot even out the step differences between the filter units. Therefore, the thickness of the flattening layer 17 needs to be increased. This results in a longer distance for the light to travel and a smaller angle for cross-talk, failing to achieve the desired effect of reducing cross-talk. Furthermore, an ideal light shielding grid is shown in FIG4 ; however, when the PPI of a liquid crystal display product is high, a smaller light shielding grid needs to be formed. Due to edge diffraction during exposure, a regular grid-like opening pattern cannot be formed, and the edges and corners of the light shielding grid have abnormal morphology. The resulting light shielding grid is shown in FIG5 , which results in a decrease in aperture ratio and poor light leakage. The reason for the light leakage is that the edges and corners of the light shielding portion are not aligned enough, and there is a certain angle with the polarization direction of the polarizer, resulting in light leakage in the dark state.

[0073] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a display substrate and a manufacturing method thereof, which can reduce color crosstalk in the display substrate and improve the aperture ratio of the display substrate.

[0074] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a display substrate, comprising:

[0075] substrate;

[0076] a first light shielding portion located on the base substrate, the first light shielding portion extending along a first direction;

[0077] a plurality of filter units and a second light shielding unit located on a side of the first light shielding unit away from the base substrate, the plurality of filter units being arranged at intervals, the second light shielding unit filling gaps between adjacent filter units, the second light shielding unit extending along a second direction, the first direction intersecting the second direction;

[0078] a flat layer located on a side of the plurality of filter units and the second light shielding portion away from the base substrate;

[0079] A spacer is located on a side of the flat layer away from the base substrate.

[0080] In this embodiment, the light-shielding portion structure of the display substrate is composed of a first light-shielding portion extending along a first direction and a second light-shielding portion extending along a second direction. The second light-shielding portion fills the gap between adjacent filter units. This can improve the flatness of the surface of the filter unit on the side away from the base substrate. There is no need to design the thickness of the flat layer to be large, and the thickness of the flat layer can be reduced, so that the optical path from the backlight to the light output side is shortened, reducing the cross-color effect of the display substrate. There is no need to increase the size of the light-shielding portion, and the size of the light-shielding portion can be reduced, thereby improving the aperture ratio of the display substrate.

[0081] In addition, this embodiment does not require the production of a grid-shaped shading portion pattern, but only requires the production of a straight-line shading portion, which can solve the edge diffraction problem during exposure and form a regular grid-shaped opening pattern, further improving the aperture ratio of the display substrate and improving the light leakage problem of the display product.

[0082] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG6 , a first light shielding portion 141 is first formed on the base substrate. The first light shielding portion 141 can extend along the data lines of the liquid crystal display product. Alternatively, the first light shielding portion 141 can extend along the gate lines of the liquid crystal display product. In this embodiment, to ensure good flatness after the filter unit is formed, the first light shielding portion can be made of metal. Compared with organic light shielding materials, metal has a smaller thickness and can provide better light shielding effects. The thickness of the first light shielding portion can be no greater than 500 angstroms. To reduce diffraction issues during exposure, the material of the first light shielding portion can include one or more of titanium, molybdenum, aluminum, silver, and copper, that is, one or more of a single metal, an alloy, and a metal oxide composed of each element.

[0083] Next, as shown in Figures 6 and 7 (Figure 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the AA direction in Figure 6), filter units are formed on the base substrate. The filter units may include a red filter unit 11, a green filter unit 12, and a blue filter unit 13. Gaps exist between adjacent filter units, with the gaps extending parallel to the second direction. During the formation of the filter units, the surfaces of the filter units facing away from the base substrate 16 are flush. Preferably, the surfaces of the filter units facing away from the base substrate 16 are also flush in the region where the filter units overlap with the first light shielding portion 141. In this embodiment, optical proximity correction (OPC) compensation is used to ensure that the edges of the filter units extending along the second direction are straight and have good edge straightness. In some embodiments, an OPC compensation amount of 0.8 microns can achieve good edge straightness.

[0084] After the filter units are formed, as shown in FIG8 and FIG9 ( FIG9 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the AA direction of FIG8 ), second light shielding portions 142 are formed in the gaps between adjacent filter units. The second light shielding portions 142 extend in a direction parallel to the second direction and fill the gaps between adjacent filter units. The thickness of the second light shielding portions 142 is the same as that of the filter units. The surface roughness Ra of the filter units and the second light shielding portions 142 on the side away from the base substrate is less than or equal to 0.5 microns. Alternatively, the height difference between the filter units and the adjacent second light shielding portions in a direction perpendicular to and away from the base substrate is less than 0.5 microns, and can further be less than 0.2 microns. This allows the surfaces of the filter units and the second light shielding portions 142 on the side away from the base substrate 16 to be substantially flush, resulting in a flat surface on the sides of the filter units and the second light shielding portions 142 away from the base substrate 16, reducing the thickness requirement for the planarization layer. Subsequently, the planarization layer 17 is formed. In related technologies, the thickness of the flat layer is generally above 2 microns. In this embodiment, the thickness of the flat layer 17 can be less than 1 micron, for example, it can be 0.6 microns to 1 micron. This can reduce the thickness of the flat layer, thereby reducing the optical path from the backlight to the light-emitting side and reducing the cross-color effect of the display substrate. In this way, there is no need to increase the size of the shading portion to reduce the cross-color effect of the display substrate, and the size of the shading portion can be reduced, thereby increasing the aperture ratio of the display substrate.

[0085] Among them, the roughness Ra value is a commonly used surface roughness index, which represents the average surface roughness per unit length. The surface roughness can be obtained by one or more testing methods such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and roughness meter.

[0086] In this embodiment, the first light shielding portion 141 and the second light shielding portion 142 are manufactured in two steps. There is no need to form a grid-like light shielding portion pattern, which can solve the edge diffraction problem during exposure and form a regular grid-like opening pattern, further improving the aperture ratio of the display substrate.

[0087] In this embodiment, the first direction can be the extension direction of the data line of the liquid crystal display product, and the second direction can be perpendicular to the first direction and be the extension direction of the gate line of the liquid crystal display product; or, the first direction can also be the extension direction of the gate line of the liquid crystal display product, and the second direction can be perpendicular to the first direction and be the extension direction of the data line of the liquid crystal display product.

[0088] In this embodiment, the first light shielding portion 141 is linear in shape and has a small overlapping area with the filter unit. Therefore, after the filter unit is formed on the side of the first light shielding portion 141 away from the base substrate, the surface of the filter unit away from the base substrate can have good flatness.

[0089] Liquid crystal display products generally include a color filter substrate and an array substrate. The display substrate of this embodiment may be a color filter substrate in the liquid crystal display product.

[0090] In addition to the color filter substrate and array substrate, the LCD product also includes spacers to support the thickness of the liquid crystal cell. These spacers ensure a uniform liquid crystal cell. As shown in Figures 10 and 11 (Figure 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the AA line of Figure 10), the spacers 242 are located on the planar layer 17.

[0091] As shown in FIG12 , in the related art, the spacer 242 is generally a columnar structure. Since the spacer 242 has a certain thickness, after the orientation layer 30 is formed, as shown in FIG13 , the orientation layer 30 will accumulate around the spacer 242, resulting in disordered orientation of the liquid crystal around the spacer 242, and dark light leakage will occur at the position of the dotted box in FIG14 ; therefore, as shown in FIG14 and FIG15 , it is necessary to add a shading pattern 35 under the spacer 242 to ensure that the light leakage is not visible; and this will lead to a decrease in the aperture ratio of the display product, and ultimately reduce the brightness of the display product, affecting the quality of the display product.

[0092] When manufacturing display products, the size of the shading pattern 35 must be relatively large, larger than the critical size of the bottom of the spacer 242, leaving a certain process margin to ensure the deviation of the liquid crystal box alignment and the distance of light leakage; the increase in the size of the shading pattern 35 will affect the aperture ratio of the display product, resulting in a decrease in the transmittance of the display product.

[0093] In the structure shown in Figure 14,

[0094] Where BM CD is the critical dimension of the light-shielding pattern 35, PS Bottom CD is the critical dimension of the end of the spacer 242 closest to the color filter substrate, BM tol is the process variation of the light-shielding pattern 35, PS tol is the process variation of the spacer, and ol is the alignment deviation. It can be seen that the critical dimension of the light-shielding pattern 35 is relatively large.

[0095] In order to solve the problem that the critical dimension of the shading pattern 35 is large, thereby reducing the overall aperture ratio of the display product, a self-alignment process can be used to form a spacer: after forming a flat layer of the color filter substrate, a metal shading layer is formed on the flat layer, a spacer material layer is formed on the metal shading layer, a hard mask layer is formed on the spacer material layer, a photoresist pattern is formed on the hard mask layer, the photoresist pattern is used as a mask to etch the hard mask layer to form a hard mask pattern, and the hard mask pattern is used as a mask to dry-etch the spacer material layer and the metal shading layer to form a spacer and a shading pattern. In this way, the alignment process of the shading pattern and the spacer can be eliminated, a smaller shading pattern size can be achieved, and the aperture ratio of the display device can be improved.

[0096] According to the existing ol=0.6 micron and PS tol=0.5 micron, BM CD can be reduced by 2*0.43=0.86 micron.

[0097] However, in current high-PPI (PPI no less than 2000) display products, the maximum width of the spacer is generally designed to be less than 1 micron, while the height of the spacer is greater than 1.6 microns, resulting in a height-to-width ratio (i.e., aspect ratio) greater than 1.5. When the spacer is subjected to an oblique force during the pre-alignment layer cleaning process (brush cleaning to remove large surface particles and improve the surface properties of the flat layer to ensure anchoring of the alignment layer), the spacer is prone to falling off, making it impossible to form a stable liquid crystal cell. This is because the spacer is too narrow and too high, so when subjected to lateral force, the pressure is too high, and the adhesion between the spacer and the light-shielding pattern is relatively poor, which easily leads to the spacer falling off.

[0098] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG28 , the display substrate includes: a light shielding pattern 221 located between the spacer 242 and the flat layer 17 , wherein the orthographic projection of the spacer 242 on the base substrate is located within the orthographic projection of the light shielding pattern 221 on the base substrate;

[0099] To prevent the spacers from falling off, the display substrate also includes an auxiliary pattern 231 located between the light-shielding pattern 221 and the spacers 242. This auxiliary pattern 231 increases the adhesion between the spacers 242 and the display substrate, preventing them from falling off during the pre-alignment layer cleaning process. The auxiliary pattern 231 can be made of silicon nitride or silicon oxide, materials commonly used in display substrate manufacturing. When using silicon nitride or silicon oxide, the auxiliary pattern can be formed using existing film layer equipment used for display substrates, reducing the production cost of the display substrate. Testing has shown that when using silicon nitride or silicon oxide for the auxiliary pattern 231, the adhesion between the spacers and the auxiliary pattern can reach 5B, preventing them from falling off after the pre-alignment layer cleaning process.

[0100] In this embodiment, since the adhesion between the spacer 242 and the auxiliary pattern 231 is greatly increased, the aspect ratio of the spacer 242 can be designed to be relatively large. In some embodiments, the ratio of the height to the maximum width of the spacer 242 can be greater than 1.5, which can reduce the size of the spacer 242, and then reduce the size of the shading pattern 221, increase the aperture ratio of the display substrate, and maximize the aperture ratio of the display substrate; and, the critical dimension of the spacer 242 can be less than or equal to 1.0 micron, and the height can be greater than or equal to 1.6 microns, which can meet the needs of high PPI display products.

[0101] In this embodiment, the shading pattern 221 needs to block the light leakage around the spacer (the dark light leakage shown in the dotted box in Figure 13). Therefore, as shown in Figure 28, the critical dimension d1 of the shading pattern 221 needs to be larger than the critical dimension d2 of the spacer 242, that is, the orthographic projection of the spacer on the base substrate is located within the orthographic projection of the shading pattern on the base substrate. In some embodiments, the distance between the boundary of the orthographic projection of the spacer on the base substrate and the orthographic projection of the shading pattern on the base substrate is in the range of 0-0.8 microns. In this way, the shading pattern 221 can effectively block the light leakage around the spacer 242.

[0102] In some embodiments, the orthographic projection of the spacer 242 on the base substrate is located within the orthographic projection of the auxiliary pattern 231 on the base substrate, and the spacing range of the boundaries of the orthographic projections of the two is 0-0.8 microns. Furthermore, the spacing range of the boundaries of the orthographic projections of the shading pattern 221 and the auxiliary pattern 231 on the base substrate can be 0-0.4 microns, which can ensure the adhesion between the spacer 242 and the auxiliary pattern 231.

[0103] In this embodiment, the material of the light-shielding pattern 221 includes one or more of titanium, molybdenum, aluminum, silver, and copper, i.e., one or more of a single metal, an alloy, and a metal oxide composed of each element. For example, the light-shielding pattern 221 can be made of Mo, which can achieve good light-shielding effects at a relatively low thickness. To reduce the overall thickness of the display substrate, the thickness of the light-shielding pattern 221 can be no greater than 500 angstroms. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the light-shielding pattern 221 can be formed using dry etching, and Mo is a metal that is relatively easily dry-etched.

[0104] In some embodiments, the distance between the orthographic projection of the first surface of the spacer 242 on the side away from the base substrate and the orthographic projection of the second surface of the spacer 242 on the side close to the base substrate is in the range of 0-0.4 microns, and the maximum width of the second surface is less than or equal to 2 microns. In this way, the orthographic projection of the first surface of the spacer 242 on the side away from the base substrate and the orthographic projection of the second surface of the spacer 242 on the side close to the base substrate can overlap or approximately overlap, which can effectively reduce the size of the spacer 242 on the side close to the base substrate, thereby reducing the size of the light-shielding pattern 221 and improving the aperture ratio of the display substrate.

[0105] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a display device including the display substrate described above.

[0106] The display device includes, but is not limited to, components such as a radio frequency unit, a network module, an audio output unit, an input unit, a sensor, a display unit, a user input unit, an interface unit, a memory, a processor, and a power supply. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the structure of the above-mentioned display device does not constitute a limitation on the display device, and the display device may include more or fewer of the above-mentioned components, or a combination of certain components, or a different arrangement of components. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the display device includes, but is not limited to, a monitor, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a television, a wearable electronic device, a navigation display device, and the like.

[0107] The display device can be any product or component with a display function, such as an LCD TV, an LCD monitor, a digital photo frame, a mobile phone, or a tablet computer. The display device further includes a flexible circuit board, a printed circuit board, and a backplane.

[0108] In addition to the display substrate described above, the display device of this embodiment also includes an array substrate aligned with the display substrate, and a liquid crystal layer located between the display substrate and the array substrate. The array substrate may include a base substrate, a thin film transistor array layer located on the base substrate, a pixel electrode layer, a common electrode layer, etc. The thin film transistor array layer includes an active layer, a gate insulating layer, a gate electrode layer, a source / drain metal layer, and an interlayer insulating layer.

[0109] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a method for manufacturing a display substrate, for manufacturing the above-mentioned display substrate, the manufacturing method comprising:

[0110] providing a substrate;

[0111] forming a first light shielding portion on the base substrate, wherein the first light shielding portion extends along a first direction;

[0112] A plurality of filter units are formed on a side of the first light shielding portion away from the base substrate, and the plurality of filter units are arranged at intervals;

[0113] forming a second light shielding portion filling a gap between adjacent filter units, wherein the second light shielding portion extends along a second direction, and the first direction intersects the second direction;

[0114] forming a flat layer on a side of the plurality of filter units and the second light shielding portion away from the base substrate;

[0115] A spacer is formed on a side of the planar layer away from the base substrate.

[0116] In this embodiment, the light-shielding portion structure of the display substrate is composed of a first light-shielding portion extending along a first direction and a second light-shielding portion extending along a second direction. The second light-shielding portion fills the gap between adjacent filter units. This can improve the flatness of the surface of the filter unit on the side away from the base substrate. There is no need to design the thickness of the flat layer to be large, and the thickness of the flat layer can be reduced, so that the optical path from the backlight to the light output side is shortened, reducing the cross-color effect of the display substrate. There is no need to increase the size of the light-shielding portion, and the size of the light-shielding portion can be reduced, thereby improving the aperture ratio of the display substrate.

[0117] In addition, this embodiment does not require the production of a grid-shaped shading portion pattern, but only requires the production of a straight-line shading portion, which can solve the edge diffraction problem during exposure and form a regular grid-shaped opening pattern, further improving the aperture ratio of the display substrate and improving the light leakage problem of the display product.

[0118] In some embodiments, the method for manufacturing the display substrate of this embodiment includes the following steps:

[0119] As shown in FIG6 , a metal film is first formed on a base substrate and then etched to form a first light shielding portion 141. The first light shielding portion 141 can extend along the data lines of the liquid crystal display product. Alternatively, the first light shielding portion 141 can extend along the gate lines of the liquid crystal display product. In this embodiment, to ensure good flatness after the filter unit is formed, the first light shielding portion is made of metal. The material of the first light shielding portion can include one or more of titanium, molybdenum, aluminum, silver, and copper, that is, one or more of a single metal, an alloy, and a metal oxide composed of these elements. Compared to organic light shielding materials, a smaller metal thickness can provide a better light shielding effect. The thickness of the first light shielding portion can be no greater than 500 angstroms. To reduce diffraction issues during exposure, the first light shielding portion can be made of a metal with a low degree of depolarization, such as Ti or Mo.

[0120] Next, as shown in Figures 6 and 7 (Figure 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the AA direction in Figure 6), filter units are formed on the base substrate. The filter units may include a red filter unit 11, a green filter unit 12, and a blue filter unit 13. Gaps exist between adjacent filter units, with the gaps extending parallel to the second direction. During the formation of the filter units, the surfaces of the filter units facing away from the base substrate 16 are flush. Preferably, the surfaces of the filter units facing away from the base substrate 16 are also flush in the region where the filter units overlap with the first light shielding portion 141. In this embodiment, optical proximity correction (OPC) compensation is used to ensure that the edges of the filter units extending along the second direction are straight and have good edge straightness. In some embodiments, an OPC compensation amount of 0.8 microns can achieve good edge straightness.

[0121] After the filter units are formed, as shown in FIG8 and FIG9 ( FIG9 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the AA direction of FIG8 ), second light shielding portions 142 are formed in the gaps between adjacent filter units. The second light shielding portions 142 extend in a direction parallel to the second direction and fill the gaps between adjacent filter units. The thickness of the second light shielding portions 142 is the same as that of the filter units. The surface roughness Ra of the plurality of filter units and the second light shielding portions 142 on the side away from the base substrate is less than or equal to 0.5 microns. Alternatively, the height difference between the filter units and the adjacent second light shielding portions in a direction perpendicular to and away from the base substrate is less than 0.5 microns, and may further be less than 0.2 microns. This allows the surfaces of the plurality of filter units and the second light shielding portions 142 on the side away from the base substrate 16 to be substantially flush. This allows a flat surface to be formed on the sides of the filter units and the second light shielding portions 142 away from the base substrate 16, reducing the thickness requirement for the planarization layer. Subsequently, the planarization layer 17 is formed. In related technologies, the thickness of the flat layer is generally above 2 microns. In this embodiment, the thickness of the flat layer 17 can be less than 1 micron, for example, it can be 0.6 microns to 1 micron. This can reduce the thickness of the flat layer, thereby reducing the optical path from the backlight to the light-emitting side and reducing the cross-color effect of the display substrate. In this way, there is no need to increase the size of the shading portion to reduce the cross-color effect of the display substrate, and the size of the shading portion can be reduced, thereby increasing the aperture ratio of the display substrate.

[0122] Among them, the roughness Ra value is a commonly used surface roughness index, which represents the average surface roughness per unit length. The surface roughness can be obtained by one or more testing methods such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and roughness meter.

[0123] In this embodiment, the first light shielding portion 141 and the second light shielding portion 142 are manufactured in two steps. There is no need to form a grid-like light shielding portion pattern, which can solve the edge diffraction problem during exposure and form a regular grid-like opening pattern, further improving the aperture ratio of the display substrate.

[0124] In this embodiment, the first direction can be the extension direction of the data line of the liquid crystal display product, and the second direction can be perpendicular to the first direction and be the extension direction of the gate line of the liquid crystal display product; or, the first direction can also be the extension direction of the gate line of the liquid crystal display product, and the second direction can be perpendicular to the first direction and be the extension direction of the data line of the liquid crystal display product.

[0125] In this embodiment, the first light shielding portion 141 is linear in shape and has a small overlapping area with the filter unit. Therefore, after the filter unit is formed on the side of the first light shielding portion 141 away from the base substrate, the surface of the filter unit away from the base substrate can have good flatness.

[0126] In some embodiments, the method further comprises:

[0127] forming a light-shielding pattern between the spacer and the flat layer, wherein the orthographic projection of the spacer on the base substrate is located within the orthographic projection of the light-shielding pattern on the base substrate;

[0128] In order to prevent the spacer from falling off, the method further includes:

[0129] An auxiliary pattern is formed between the light-shielding pattern and the spacer. This auxiliary pattern enhances the adhesion between the spacer and the display substrate, preventing the spacer from falling off during the pre-alignment layer cleaning process. The auxiliary pattern can be made of silicon nitride or silicon oxide, materials commonly used in display substrate manufacturing. When using silicon nitride or silicon oxide for the auxiliary pattern, the auxiliary pattern can be formed using existing film layer equipment for display substrates, reducing the production cost of the display substrate. Testing has shown that when using silicon nitride or silicon oxide for the auxiliary pattern, the adhesion between the spacer and the auxiliary pattern is strong enough to prevent the spacer from falling off after the pre-alignment layer cleaning process.

[0130] In some embodiments, the method for manufacturing the display substrate of this embodiment includes the following steps:

[0131] As shown in FIG16 , a base substrate 16 is provided, and a light shielding portion 14 is formed on the base substrate 16 ;

[0132] As shown in FIG17 , a filter unit is formed on a base substrate 16 , and the filter unit may include a red filter unit 11 and a green filter unit 12 ;

[0133] As shown in FIG18 , a flat layer 17 is formed on a side of the filter unit away from the base substrate 16 ;

[0134] As shown in FIG19 , a buffer layer 21 is formed on the planar layer 17 . The buffer layer 21 can protect the planar layer 17 from being damaged in subsequent processes. The buffer layer 21 can be made of silicon nitride or silicon oxide, and its thickness can be no greater than 500 angstroms.

[0135] As shown in FIG20 , a light-shielding metal layer 22 is formed on the buffer layer 21 . The light-shielding metal layer 22 may be made of Mo and may have a thickness of no more than 500 angstroms.

[0136] As shown in FIG21 , an inorganic insulating layer 23 is formed on the light-shielding metal layer 22 . The inorganic insulating layer 23 may be made of silicon nitride or silicon oxide.

[0137] As shown in FIG22 , a spacer material layer 24 is formed on the inorganic insulating layer 23 , and the entire surface of the spacer material layer 24 is exposed;

[0138] As shown in FIG23 , a hard mask layer 25 is formed on the spacer material layer 24 . The material of the hard mask layer 25 is determined by the material of the light-shielding metal layer 22 and the material of the inorganic insulating layer 23 . This is because the subsequent dry etching process needs to be able to etch the light-shielding metal layer 22 and the inorganic insulating layer 23 but cannot etch the hard mask layer 25 . When the light-shielding metal layer 22 is made of Mo and the inorganic insulating layer 23 is made of silicon nitride or silicon oxide, the hard mask layer 25 can be made of ITO.

[0139] Then, a photoresist layer is formed on the hard mask layer 25, and the photoresist layer is exposed and developed to form a photoresist pattern;

[0140] As shown in FIG24 , the hard mask layer 25 is etched using the photoresist pattern 26 as a mask to form a first hard mask pattern 251 . The position of the first hard mask pattern 251 corresponds to the position of the spacer to be formed.

[0141] As shown in Figure 25, the first hard mask pattern 251 is used as a mask to etch the light-shielding metal layer 22, the inorganic insulating layer 23 and the spacer material layer 24 to form the light-shielding pattern 221, the auxiliary pattern 231 and the spacer transition pattern 241 respectively; in this embodiment, dry etching can be used to etch the light-shielding metal layer 22, the inorganic insulating layer 23 and the spacer material layer 24, and the etching atmosphere used is O2 and Cl2, and the time is about 50s+40s, that is, first use O2 to etch for 50s, and then use Cl2 to etch for 40s.

[0142] In order to make the size of the spacer smaller than the size of the light shielding pattern 221, as shown in FIG. 26 , the photoresist pattern 26 and the first hard mask pattern 251 are etched to reduce the size of the first hard mask pattern 251 to form a second hard mask pattern 252;

[0143] As shown in FIG. 27 , the spacer transition pattern 241 is etched using the second hard mask pattern 252 as a mask to form the spacer 242 . Specifically, the spacer transition pattern 241 can be etched using O 2 for about 100 seconds.

[0144] As shown in FIG. 28 , the second hard mask pattern 252 and the remaining photoresist are removed.

[0145] In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 28, the display substrate includes an auxiliary pattern 231 positioned between the light-shielding pattern 221 and the spacer 242. The auxiliary pattern 231 enhances the adhesion between the spacer 242 and the display substrate, preventing the spacer 242 from falling off during the pre-alignment layer cleaning process. The auxiliary pattern 231 can be made of silicon nitride or silicon oxide, both of which are commonly used in display substrate manufacturing processes. When the auxiliary pattern 231 is made of silicon nitride or silicon oxide, the auxiliary pattern can be formed using existing film-forming equipment for display substrates, reducing the production cost of the display substrate. Testing has shown that when the auxiliary pattern 231 is made of silicon nitride or silicon oxide, the adhesion between the spacer and the auxiliary pattern can reach 5B, and the spacer does not fall off after the pre-alignment layer cleaning process.

[0146] In this embodiment, since the adhesion between the spacer 242 and the auxiliary pattern 231 is greatly increased, the aspect ratio of the spacer 242 can be designed to be relatively large. In some embodiments, the ratio of the height to the maximum width of the spacer 242 can be greater than 1.5. This can reduce the size of the spacer 242, and then reduce the size of the shading pattern 221, thereby increasing the aperture ratio of the display substrate and maximizing the aperture ratio of the display substrate.

[0147] In this embodiment, the shading pattern 221 needs to block the light leakage around the spacer (the dark light leakage shown in the dotted box in Figure 13). Therefore, as shown in Figure 28, the critical dimension d1 of the shading pattern 221 needs to be larger than the critical dimension d2 of the spacer 242, that is, the orthographic projection of the spacer on the base substrate is located within the orthographic projection of the shading pattern on the base substrate. In some embodiments, the distance between the boundary of the orthographic projection of the spacer on the base substrate and the orthographic projection of the shading pattern on the base substrate is in the range of 0-0.8 microns. In this way, the shading pattern 221 can effectively block the light leakage around the spacer 242.

[0148] In some embodiments, the orthographic projection of the spacer 242 on the base substrate is located within the orthographic projection of the auxiliary pattern 231 on the base substrate, and the spacing range of the boundaries of the orthographic projections of the two is 0-0.8 microns. Furthermore, the spacing range of the boundaries of the orthographic projections of the shading pattern 221 and the auxiliary pattern 231 on the base substrate can be 0-0.4 microns, which can ensure the adhesion between the spacer 242 and the auxiliary pattern 231.

[0149] In this embodiment, the material of the light-shielding pattern 221 includes one or more of titanium, molybdenum, aluminum, silver, and copper, i.e., one or more of a single metal, an alloy, and a metal oxide composed of each element. For example, the light-shielding pattern 221 can be made of Mo, which can achieve good light-shielding effects at a relatively low thickness. To reduce the overall thickness of the display substrate, the thickness of the light-shielding pattern 221 can be no greater than 500 angstroms. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the light-shielding pattern 221 can be formed using dry etching, and Mo is a metal that is relatively easily dry-etched.

[0150] In some embodiments, the distance between the orthographic projection of the first surface of the spacer 242 on the side away from the base substrate and the orthographic projection of the second surface of the spacer 242 on the side close to the base substrate is in the range of 0-0.4 microns, and the maximum width of the second surface is less than or equal to 2 microns. In this way, the orthographic projection of the first surface of the spacer 242 on the side away from the base substrate and the orthographic projection of the second surface of the spacer 242 on the side close to the base substrate can overlap or approximately overlap, which can effectively reduce the size of the spacer 242 on the side close to the base substrate, thereby reducing the size of the light-shielding pattern 221 and improving the aperture ratio of the display substrate.

[0151] In the various method embodiments of the present disclosure, the serial numbers of the steps cannot be used to limit the order of the steps. For ordinary technicians in this field, without paying any creative work, changes to the order of the steps are also within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0152] It should be noted that the various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner. Similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to in conjunction with each other. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. In particular, since the embodiments are generally similar to the product embodiments, the description is relatively simple. For relevant parts, refer to the partial description of the product embodiments.

[0153] Unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used in this disclosure should have the usual meanings understood by persons of ordinary skill in the field to which this disclosure belongs. The words "first", "second" and similar terms used in this disclosure do not indicate any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. Words such as "include" or "comprise" mean that the elements or objects appearing before the word include the elements or objects listed after the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. Words such as "connect" or "connected" are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. "Up", "down", "left", "right" and the like are only used to indicate relative positional relationships. When the absolute position of the object being described changes, the relative positional relationship may also change accordingly.

[0154] It will be understood that when an element such as a layer, film, region, or substrate is referred to as being “on” or “under” another element, it can be “directly on” or “under” the other element or intervening elements may be present.

[0155] In the description of the above embodiments, specific features, structures, materials or characteristics may be combined in an appropriate manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

[0156] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present disclosure, but the scope of protection of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this disclosure should be included in the scope of protection of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present disclosure should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A display substrate, characterized in that: include: substrate substrate; A first light shielding portion located on the base substrate, the first light shielding portion extending along a first direction; A plurality of filter units and a second light shielding unit located on a side of the first light shielding unit away from the base substrate, the plurality of filter units are arranged at intervals, the second light shielding unit fills the gaps between adjacent filter units, the second light shielding unit extends along a second direction, and the first direction intersects the second direction; A flat layer located on a side of the plurality of filter units and the second light shielding portion away from the base substrate; A spacer is located on a side of the flat layer away from the base substrate.

2. The display substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that: The roughness of the surfaces of the plurality of filter units and the second light shielding portion on a side away from the base substrate is less than or equal to 0.5 micrometers.

3. The display substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that: In a direction perpendicular to the base substrate and away from the base substrate, a height difference between the filter unit and the adjacent second light shielding portion is less than 0.5 micrometers.

4. The display substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that: The thickness of the planar layer is less than 1 micron.

5. The display substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material of the first light shielding portion is an inorganic material.

6. The display substrate according to claim 5, characterized in that: The material of the first light shielding portion includes one or more elements selected from the group consisting of titanium, molybdenum, aluminum, silver, and copper.

7. The display substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The display substrate further comprises: The light-shielding pattern is located between the spacer and the flat layer, and the orthographic projection of the spacer on the base substrate is located within the orthographic projection of the light-shielding pattern on the base substrate, and the spacing range of the boundaries of the orthographic projections of the two is 0-0.8 microns.

8. The display substrate according to claim 7, characterized in that: An auxiliary pattern is also arranged between the shading pattern and the spacer, the orthographic projection of the spacer on the base substrate is located within the orthographic projection of the auxiliary pattern on the base substrate, and the spacing between the boundaries of the orthographic projections of the two is in the range of 0-0.8 microns.

9. The display substrate according to claim 8, characterized in that: The spacing between the boundaries of the orthographic projections of the light-shielding pattern and the auxiliary pattern on the base substrate is in the range of 0-0.4 micrometers.

10. The display substrate according to claim 7, characterized in that: The material of the light-shielding pattern includes one or more elements selected from titanium, molybdenum, aluminum, silver and copper.

11. The display substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spacing between the boundary of the orthographic projection of the first surface of the spacer away from the base substrate and the orthographic projection of the second surface of the spacer close to the base substrate on the base substrate is 0-0.4 microns, and the maximum width of the second surface is less than or equal to 2 microns.

12. The display substrate according to claim 11, characterized in that: The ratio of the height to the maximum width of the spacer is greater than 1.

5.

13. A method for manufacturing a display substrate, characterized in that: include: providing a substrate base plate; forming a first light shielding portion on the base substrate, wherein the first light shielding portion extends along a first direction; A plurality of filter units are formed on a side of the first light shielding portion away from the base substrate, and the plurality of filter units are arranged at intervals; forming a second light shielding portion filling a gap between adjacent filter units, wherein the second light shielding portion extends along a second direction, and the first direction intersects the second direction; forming a flat layer on a side of the plurality of filter units and the second light shielding portion away from the base substrate; A spacer is formed on a side of the planar layer away from the base substrate.

14. The method for manufacturing a display substrate according to claim 13, characterized in that: The opposite substrate of the display substrate includes gate lines and data lines. The first direction is an extending direction of the data lines, and the second direction is an extending direction of the gate lines.

15. The method for manufacturing a display substrate according to claim 13, characterized in that: The forming of the first light shielding portion comprises: forming a metal film on the substrate; The metal film is patterned to form the first light shielding portion.

16. The method for manufacturing a display substrate according to claim 13, characterized in that: The method further comprises: forming a light-shielding pattern between the spacer and the flat layer, wherein the orthographic projection of the spacer on the base substrate is located within the orthographic projection of the light-shielding pattern on the base substrate; An auxiliary pattern is formed between the light shielding pattern and the spacer.

17. The method for manufacturing a display substrate according to claim 16, wherein: Forming the spacer, the light shielding pattern and the auxiliary pattern specifically includes: forming a light-shielding metal layer on the flat layer; forming an inorganic insulating layer on the light-shielding metal layer; forming a spacer material layer on the inorganic insulating layer; forming a hard mask layer on the spacer material layer; forming a photoresist layer on the hard mask layer; exposing and developing the photoresist layer to form a photoresist pattern; Using the pattern of the photoresist as a mask, etching the hard mask layer to form a first hard mask pattern; Using the first hard mask pattern as a mask, etching the light-shielding metal layer, the inorganic insulating layer and the spacer material layer to form the light-shielding pattern, the auxiliary pattern and the spacer transition pattern respectively; Etching the pattern of the photoresist and the first hard mask pattern to reduce the size of the first hard mask pattern and form a second hard mask pattern; Using the second hard mask pattern as a mask, etching the spacer transition pattern to form the spacer; The second hard mask pattern and remaining photoresist are removed.

Images