Metal Nanowire Patterning via Pulsed Light Sintering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manufacturing conductive patterns in touch panels, such as electrostatic capacitance touch panels, face challenges in minimizing pattern visibility due to the need for narrow gaps between conductive and non-conductive regions, which is difficult to achieve with current photolithography techniques that require multiple steps and generate significant waste.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the formation of a metal nanowire layer on a substrate, where metal nanowires are sintered in specific patterns using pulsed light through a mask to create conductive regions and unsintered regions for non-conductivity, reducing the number of processing steps and waste, while maintaining low surface resistance for conductive areas and high insulation for non-conductive areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If photolithography is used to form narrow gaps between electrode patterns, then pattern visibility is prevented, but the number of processing steps increases and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the photosensitive layer and its associated processing steps (coating, developing, etching) from the conventional photolithography process. By directly patterning the conductive material without these intermediate layers, the method maintains narrow gap precision while significantly reducing processing steps and manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/chemical photolithography system with a direct patterning approach that eliminates the need for photosensitive materials and chemical development processes. This substitution reduces the number of processing steps while maintaining the ability to achieve narrow gaps between conductive patterns.
2Manufacturing precision
If photolithography with photosensitive layer is used, then narrow pitch patterns can be formed, but chemical waste and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the photosensitive layer and associated chemical processing steps from the fabrication process. By directly forming conductive patterns without photosensitive materials, the method achieves narrow pitch precision while eliminating the generation of chemical waste from resist coatings, developers, and etchants.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent eliminates the use of disposable photosensitive materials that generate waste. Instead, the method uses a direct patterning approach on the conductive material itself, avoiding the need for single-use resist layers and chemical processing agents that must be disposed of.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple photolithography steps are used for pattern formation, then conductive patterns can be created, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate photolithography steps (photosensitive layer coating, patterning, etching, and removal) into a single direct patterning step. This consolidation maintains the precision of pattern formation while significantly improving manufacturing efficiency by reducing the total number of processing steps and cycle time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables continuous patterning of conductive materials without the intermittent steps required in photolithography (coating, drying, developing, etching, stripping). The direct patterning method allows for uninterrupted processing, improving productivity while maintaining pattern formation 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 allows for the creation of conductive patterns with reduced pattern visibility by minimizing the optical difference between conductive and non-conductive regions, achieved through simple steps and efficient use of resources, resulting in effective conductivity and insulation properties.
Implementation Method 1
a step for irradiating light to the metal nanowire layer in a predetermined pattern to sinter the metal nanowires in the metal nanowire layer in a region of the predetermined pattern
Implementation Method 2
irradiating light to the metal nanowire layer in a predetermined pattern to sinter the metal nanowires
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~2
Figure 3(a)~4
Figure 5~6(b)
AI summary
Provided are a conductive pattern manufacturing method and a conductive pattern formed substrate, capable of easily achieving a narrow pitch. A metal nanowire layer 12 is formed on the entirety of a part of at least one of the main faces of a substrate 10, pulsed light is irradiated thereto through a mask 14 provided with a light transmission portion 14a formed in a predetermined pattern, and the metal nanowires in the metal nanowire layer 12 at the region having the above predetermined pattern were sintered, to thereby obtain conductivity at the predetermined patterned region. Accordingly, a substrate provided with a conductive pattern having any selected pattern can be produced by simple steps.