Micro LED Chip Division via Metal Substrate Etching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for manufacturing micro light-emitting diode (LED) chips face challenges such as increased process difficulty and reduced cutting yield due to miniaturized spacing distances, with mechanical cutting being inefficient and laser cutting causing substrate portions to stick together.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a metal substrate with micro LED dies, where the substrate is etched to remove defined regions, allowing for the division of the substrate into micro LED chips, using a wet etching process with a release film and patterned photoresist to control the etching and prevent sticking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If mechanical cutting is used to divide the reflective and thermal-dissipative substrate, then the substrate can be divided into LED chips, but the process difficulty increases and the cutting yield is inferior due to miniaturized spacing distances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical cutting with laser cutting technology to divide the substrate into micro-LED chips. This substitution eliminates the mechanical contact and physical stress that cause process difficulties and low yield in mechanical cutting, while the laser's precision enables clean separation even at miniaturized spacing distances.
2Manufacturing precision
If laser cutting is used to divide the reflective and thermal-dissipative substrate, then the substrate can be divided with higher precision, but the thus divided substrate portions are liable to stick together due to miniaturized spacing distances
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a release film as an intermediary layer between the substrate and the divided portions. This release film prevents the substrate portions from sticking together after laser cutting by providing a non-adhesive surface, thereby maintaining high cutting yield while preserving the precision benefits of laser cutting.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies the release film to the substrate before performing the laser cutting operation. This preliminary action ensures that when the substrate is divided, the portions will not stick together, preventing yield loss and eliminating the need for subsequent separation steps.
3Length of moving object
If the spacing distance among micro-LED dies is reduced to achieve miniaturization, then the LED size is reduced to less than 100 micron, but the process difficulty increases and cutting yield decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses laser cutting instead of mechanical cutting to handle the miniaturized spacing distances. The laser's non-contact nature and precision allow it to effectively separate micro-LED dies with spacing less than 100 micron without the mechanical stress and tool interference that plague mechanical cutting methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The release film serves as a protective intermediary that prevents sticking between miniaturized substrate portions during and after laser cutting. This is particularly critical when spacing distances are reduced to achieve micro-LED sizes, as the smaller gaps increase the risk of adjacent portions adhering together.
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 method effectively increases the cutting yield and efficiency in producing micro LED chips by accurately dividing the substrate without the sticking issues associated with laser cutting, improving the manufacturing process for micro LEDs.
Implementation Method 1
etching the metal substrate to remove the to-be-etched region so as to divide the light-emitting component into a plurality of the micro light-emitting diode chips
Data Source
AI summary
A method for manufacturing micro light-emitting diode chips includes the steps of: providing a to-be-divided light-emitting component, which includes a metal substrate and a plurality of micro light-emitting diode dies disposed on the metal substrate to permit the metal substrate to define a to-be-etched region among the micro light-emitting diode dies; and etching the metal substrate to remove the to-be-etched region so as to divide the light-emitting component into a plurality of the micro light-emitting diode chips.