Maskless Thin-Film Transistor Patterning via Digital Exposure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mask-based methods for manufacturing thin-film transistors in LCD panels are costly due to the use of expensive slit or halftone masks, and struggle with achieving uniform patterns at small widths, particularly in creating channels with widths less than 3 μm.
Innovation Solution
A method using a digital exposure device to form photoresist patterns without masks, where spot beams create specific thickness and width patterns for forming source and drain electrodes, allowing for maskless patterning of thin-film transistors on a substrate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional slit masks or halftone masks are used to form narrow channels, then pattern resolution is improved, but manufacturing cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the pattern definition function from the physical mask and transfers it to the digital exposure system. By using a digital maskless exposure apparatus with variable spot beam widths, the channel pattern is formed directly through controlled light exposure without requiring physical slit masks or halftone masks, thereby eliminating their high cost while maintaining precise channel width control
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the exposure parameters by using variable spot beam widths (different from the conventional fixed beam width) to directly form channels of different widths. By adjusting the spot beam width parameter in the digital exposure system, precise channel patterns can be formed without physical masks, resolving the contradiction between precision and cost
2Measurement precision
If slit masks with maximum resolution are used, then channel width precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical mask system (slit masks, halftone masks) with a digital exposure system. The physical mask is substituted by a digital pattern definition method using variable spot beams, eliminating the complexity of mask fabrication, alignment, and handling while achieving equal or superior channel width control precision
Solution Approach 2:
The digital exposure system serves multiple functions: it can form channels of different widths by adjusting spot beam parameters, define various pattern geometries, and control exposure dose precisely. This multi-functional capability replaces the need for multiple specialized masks, reducing device complexity while maintaining or improving measurement precision
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach reduces manufacturing costs by eliminating the need for expensive masks and improves the uniformity and resolution of channel formation in thin-film transistors, enhancing the productivity of LCD panel production.
Implementation Method 1
forming a first photoresist pattern including a first photo pattern and a second photo pattern using a digital exposure device generating a plurality of spot beams
Data Source
AI summary
An approach for patterning and etching without a mask is provided in a manufacturing a thin-film transistor, a gate electrode, a gate insulating layer, a semiconductor layer, an ohmic contact layer and source metal layer of a substrate. A first photoresist pattern including a first photo pattern and a second photo pattern is formed using a digital exposure device by generating a plurality of spot beams, the first photo pattern is formed to a first region of the base substrate and has a first thickness, and the second photo pattern is formed to a second region adjacent to the first region, and has a second thickness and a width in a range of about 50% to about 60% of a diameter of the spot beam. The source metal layer is patterned to form a source electrode and a drain electrode, and the source electrode and the drain electrode are spaced apart from each other in the first region of an active pattern.