Excimer laser projection photoablation and lift-off process for patterning of indium-tin-oxide for cost-effective fabrication of flat-panel displays

Junghun Chae; Sreeram Appasami; Kanti Jain

doi:10.1117/12.767827

29 January 2008 Excimer laser projection photoablation and lift-off process for patterning of indium-tin-oxide for cost-effective fabrication of flat-panel displays

Junghun Chae, Sreeram Appasami, Kanti Jain

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6911, Emerging Liquid Crystal Technologies III; 69110P (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.767827
Event: Integrated Optoelectronic Devices 2008, 2008, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

Indium-Tin-Oxide (ITO), which is commonly used in the flat-panel display industry as a transparent conductive oxide, was patterned cleanly by a non-photolithographic process. For the patterning of ITO on a silicon nitride substrate, the substrate was coated with photoresist which was patterned by the photoablation process using a KrF (wavelength of 248nm) excimer laser with low fluence conditions. ITO was then deposited on the patterned photoresist by sputtering, and the final ITO pattern was produced by lift-off. The resulting ITO pattern was clean even though it was patterned without a conventional photoresist development step and a conventional ITO etching step. This process technology does not require a developing process and an etching process to make a pattern on the substrate. A reduction of two process steps will result in substantial cost savings in high-volume production. The production time for the fabrication cycle and the equipment maintenance will also be decreased. Besides the application of this process to ITO patterning in TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) fabrication, it can also be used for patterning other materials and device structures. It is attractive for a variety of applications in the fabrication of flat-panel displays, other microelectronic devices and device packaging, because it enables low cost and high throughput.

Citation Download Citation

Junghun Chae, Sreeram Appasami, and Kanti Jain "Excimer laser projection photoablation and lift-off process for patterning of indium-tin-oxide for cost-effective fabrication of flat-panel displays", Proc. SPIE 6911, Emerging Liquid Crystal Technologies III, 69110P (29 January 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.767827

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