TWI663038B - Method of imprint lithography of conductive materials; stamp for imprint lithography, and apparatus for imprint lithograph - Google Patents

Abstract

A patterning method using embossing lithography, a stamp for embossing lithography, an imprinting roller of a roll-to-roll substrate processing apparatus, and a substrate processing apparatus are proposed. The method includes providing a layer of a conductive paste on a substrate, wherein the viscosity of the conductive paste is 0.3 Pa.s or more, particularly 1.5 pa.s or more; and an impression is stamped on the conductive paste Among these layers, a patterned layer is generated to produce a conductive paste; the patterned layer is completely or partially cured; and a stamp is released from the patterned layer.

Description

Method for embossing lithography of conductive material and die and embossing of embossing lithography Photolithography equipment

The invention relates to an embossed lithography, and more particularly to an embossed lithography of a conductive material. The embodiments of the present disclosure are particularly related to embossing lithography of conductive paste, a stamp for embossing lithography, and equipment using the method and equipment using the stamp.

Patterning of thin films is expected for a variety of applications, such as manufacturing of microelectronic devices, manufacturing of optoelectronic devices, or manufacturing of optical devices. Optical lithography can be used to pattern thin films in devices. However, photolithography techniques may be expensive and / or may reach their limits, especially for larger substrate sizes.

Especially for roll-to-roll processing, there are limitations to using conventional techniques to make small feature sizes without using expensive light lithography. Printing technology is, for example, screen printing, gravure, flexographic, inkjet, etc., for example, it is limited by the feature size, such as> 10 μm, which may not be small enough.

In addition, sheet-to-sheet processing can benefit from imprint lithography processing. Embossed lithography can provide a relatively inexpensive treatment of a patterned film to provide a patterned structure in a device.

Conductive features, that is, features made of conductive materials, can be used in electronic devices, microelectronic devices, optoelectronic devices, and optical devices.

It would be beneficial to improve the fabrication of conductive features.

In view of the foregoing, a method for patterning using embossed lithography, a stamp for embossed lithography, an embossing roller of a roll-to-roll substrate processing apparatus, and a substrate processing apparatus are proposed. Other aspects, advantages, and features of this disclosure are apparent in the scope of the attached patent application, the specification, and the accompanying drawings.

According to an embodiment, a patterning method using embossed lithography is proposed. The method includes: providing a layer of conductive paste on a substrate, wherein the viscosity of the conductive paste is 0.3 Pa.s or more, particularly 1.5 pa.s or more; and embossing a stamp ( stamp) in the layer of the conductive paste to produce a patterned layer of the conductive paste; completely or partially cure the patterned layer; and release a stamp from the patterned layer.

According to another embodiment, a stamp for lithography is proposed. The stamp includes: a base body; and a plurality of features for generating a pattern when the stamp is imprinted in a layer, wherein a plurality of features are supported by the base body, and at least 10% of the features have A feature width W and a feature depth D, and provide a ratio D / W of 1.5 or more, particularly 5 or more, to generate a plurality of hollow spaces during lithography.

According to another embodiment, an embossing roller of a roll-to-roll substrate processing apparatus is proposed. The embossing roller includes an impression. The stamp includes: a base body; and a plurality of features for generating a pattern when the stamp is imprinted in a layer, wherein the features are supported by the base body, and at least 10% of the features are Has a feature width W and a feature depth D, and provides a ratio D / W of 1.5 or more, particularly 5 or more, to generate a plurality of hollow spaces during lithography, among which the features It is provided on one surface of the roller.

According to another embodiment, a substrate processing apparatus is proposed. This equipment includes impressions. The stamp includes: a base body; and a plurality of features for generating a pattern when the stamp is imprinted in a layer, wherein the features are supported by the base body, and at least 10% of the features have a The feature width W and a feature depth D are provided, and a ratio D / W is 1.5 or more, particularly 5 or more, so as to generate a plurality of hollow spaces during the lithography.

In order to have a better understanding of the above and other aspects of the present invention, the following specific examples are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

100‧‧‧ substrate

101, 402, 503, 512‧‧‧ arrows

102‧‧‧Layer of conductive paste

104‧‧‧Patterned layer

110‧‧‧ impression

112‧‧‧ base body

114‧‧‧ Features

121‧‧‧ bottom surface

122‧‧‧Top surface

123‧‧‧side surface

214‧‧‧Hollow Space

221‧‧‧ surface

314‧‧‧ opening

502, 510‧‧‧ roller

504, 514‧‧‧ axis

532‧‧‧curing unit

533‧‧‧launch

534‧‧‧Second curing unit

535‧‧‧second launch

544‧‧‧sedimentation unit

Boxes 602, 604, 606‧‧‧‧

D‧‧‧ Depth

F‧‧‧force

W‧‧‧Width

The embodiments of the present disclosure are briefly summarized above and further detailed below, which can be understood by referring to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the accompanying drawings depict only typical embodiments of the disclosure, and therefore should not be considered as limiting its scope, as the disclosure may be applied to other equally effective embodiments.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic diagrams illustrating a process of embossing a thin film on a substrate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure and a schematic diagram of a mold for embossing a lithography according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a stamp for lithographic lithography according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another impression for lithography according to the present disclosure.

4A and 4B are schematic diagrams illustrating a process of embossing a lithographic film on a substrate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for providing a pattern in a metal paste layer using the embodiment described herein.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a method for embossing lithography.

To facilitate understanding, wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used to refer to the same elements that are common to the figures. Please note that elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further detailed description.

The embodiment of the present disclosure provides a patterning method using embossed lithography. The method includes: providing a layer of conductive paste on a substrate, wherein the viscosity of the conductive paste is 1.5pa.s or higher; and stamping a stamp in the layer of conductive paste to produce A patterned layer of the conductive paste; fully or partially curing the patterned layer; and releasing the stamp from the patterned layer. The present disclosure further proposes and / or uses a stamp for lithography. The stamp includes a base body; and a plurality of features for generating a pattern when the stamp is imprinted in a layer, wherein the features are supported and supported by the base body, at least 10% of which The feature has a feature width W and a feature depth D, and provides a ratio D / W of 1.5 or more, particularly 5 or more, to generate a plurality of hollow spaces during lithography.

The roll-to-roll (R2R) embossed lithography can reach a resolution of about 1 μm or less, for example, even a sub-micro resolution. Therefore, embodiments using embossing lithography in accordance with the present disclosure may allow small features to be fabricated on a flexible substrate.

There are two modes for imprinting using geography. The film can be deposited and embossed. The embossed material can be used as an etching mask for subsequent etching. Alternatively, the film may be deposited and embossed. Imprint materials, such as resist materials, can be a permanent part of the product and form a deposited film. By using a stamp embossing material layer, the lithography lithography that can be used in the disclosed embodiments pattern the film into a desired or predetermined shape.

According to the embodiments described in this disclosure, embossed lithography can be particularly beneficial for R2R processes. The R2R process can achieve high productivity during film deposition and manufacture patterned films. For example, a film, such as a thin film, can be deposited and patterned in an R2R process, that is, a material layer having a thickness of several nanometers to tens of microns. Films can be provided on plastic substrates such as PET, PEN, COP, PI, TAC (Triacetyl cellulose), and other similar substrates.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, the deposition and patterning of thin films can also be applied to metal or thin glass substrates, such as Corning's Willow Glass. For example, a thin film can be manufactured in a sheet-to-sheet process. This can be applied to a glass substrate or a plastic substrate attached to a glass carrier. Other embodiments may involve metal substrates, organic substrates, such as glass composite substrates for printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing, such as for integrated circuits circuit (IC) packaged ABF (Ajinomoto combined film), and other rigid substrates.

Figures 1A and 1B illustrate a patterning method with embossed lithography and a stamp 110 for embossed lithography. A layer 102 of conductive paste is provided on the substrate 100. According to the disclosed embodiment, the conductive paste has a viscosity of 1.5 pa.s or higher. According to some embodiments of the disclosure that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the conductive paste may be a copper paste or a silver paste.

The stamper 110 is embossed in this layer 102 of the conductive paste to generate a pattern in the patterned layer 104, as shown in FIG. 1B. The stamp 110 includes a base body 112 and a plurality of features 114. The features of the stamp can be formed, for example, by recesses in the stamp 110, wherein the recesses in the stamp result in protrusions in the patterned layer 104. The convex portion in the patterned layer corresponding to the stamp feature may be referred to as a patterned feature.

Each feature 114 of the stamp 110 has a feature width W and a feature depth D. The features of the stamp are formed by a bottom surface 121, a side surface 123, and one or more adjacent top surfaces 122. Exemplarily, FIG. 1A illustrates a cross-section of the stamp 110, in which the characteristic width W is drawn. According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the feature has a second feature W ′ in a direction that is not parallel to the paper plane in FIG. 1A, for example, in a direction perpendicular to the feature width W shown in FIG. 1A.

According to the disclosed embodiments, a plurality of features may be provided, wherein the plurality of features include: a side surface, a bottom surface, and a top surface. For example, each feature may include one or more side surfaces, a bottom surface, and may be surrounded by a top surface. The multi-level dies may further include more than one bottom surface. According to one that can be combined with other embodiments described herein In some embodiments, at least one of the side surface, the bottom surface, and the top surface is coated with a coating.

According to some embodiments, the plurality of features 114 of the stamp 110 may have the same feature width and the same feature depth. Additionally or alternatively, different features of the stamp may have different feature geometries, that is, different feature widths and different feature depths. In addition, two or more features having different sizes may be placed next to each other in a repeating manner to form a repeating pattern.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the patterning feature may be selected from the group consisting of: line, pole, trench, hole, circle, square, rectangle, triangle, Other polygons, pyramids, plateaus, and combinations or arrays thereof. Generally speaking, patterned features may include multiple shapes for circuit manufacturing. The features of the stamp may have corresponding geometries, where convex portions correspond to concave portions and vice versa. The patterned features may include a mask for manufacturing conductive lines in a circuit.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the embossed lithography patterning method may be used to fabricate a wire grid polarizer, where, for example, lines are provided as patterned features. For example, the line may have a half page of 100 nm or less, such as 50 nm to 100 nm.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the stamper 110 and the substrate 100 are removed relative to each other, so that this layer 102 of the conductive paste is embossed to form a patterned layer 104. For example, the stamp 110 may be lowered onto the substrate, that is, relative to the substrate. Alternatively, the substrate 100 may be moved relative to the stamp 110. Based on alternatives Method, the substrate 100 and the stamp 110 can be moved to stamp the stamp 110 into this layer 102 of conductive material.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, as exemplarily described with reference to FIG. 5, the stamper 110 may be a part of the stamping roller, or the stamper may be mounted on the roller, wherein the stamping may be performed in an R2R process. For the lithographic lithography in the R2R process, the roller can rotate around the rotation axis, and the substrate is moved on the surface of the rotor, such as a cylindrical surface. For example, the substrate conveying speed v may correspond to the formula v = r. The roller angular velocity w of w, where r is the outer diameter of the roller. That is, the substrate conveying speed is similar to the cross-radial speed of the roller, that is, the tangential speed of the roller.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the imprint lithography process may also be a self-aligned imprint lithography (SAIL) process. For SAIL processing, that is, a multi-level imprint lithography process, the recesses in the stamp may have two or more characteristic depths of different parts of the micro. This can be very effective in generating patterns in thin films. Therefore, the SAIL process includes multiple quasi impressions. The manufacture of wiring, such as embossed lithographic processing (such as SAIL processing), allows for narrow width and short distance lines between lines.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, and as exemplarily shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a conductive paste is provided on the substrate 100 to form a layer 102. The conductive paste is embossed with a stamper 110 to form a desired structure. The conductive material is cured, for example, by light, such as ultraviolet (UV) light, or by heating. The curing may be provided in whole or in part before the imprint stamp is separated or released from the substrate. For example, curing may be incomplete, but provide sufficient structural stability so that the imprint stamp can release the paste without damaging the imprint structure.

The conductive material may undergo subsequent curing to completely cure the conductive material. In some events, residual material may remain on the substrate and be located on a portion of the stamp 110 corresponding to one or more top surfaces 122 of the stamp, and an etching process may be provided to remove the residual material. For example, photo-etching may be provided to remove procedural conductive paste material between patterned structures. This etch may be a wet etch or a dry etch.

The embodiments described herein refer to a patterned layer directly imprinted on a substrate by a stamp. That is, the patterned layer forms a permanent part of the product and forms a deposited film, which will be part of the layer stack of the manufacturing device. According to the disclosed embodiment, the patterned layer 104 forms a functional layer in the device. The conductive paste is cured to form the conductive structure of the device, which will not be removed, for example, after the etching process.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, regarding the portion of the stamp corresponding to the one or more top surfaces 122 of the stamp, the hollow space 214 may allow the residual photoresist or the remaining layer of the conductive paste material to remain here Thinning. In contrast, not having a characteristic depth large enough to provide a hollow space to hold air (displacement when the stamp is embossed with conductive paste), and, for example, gases (which may evolve) will be present in the conductive paste This layer 102 may become thicker, resulting in excess residual material. The impression according to the present disclosure results in reducing or even avoiding receiving material on the substrate.

FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the stamper 110 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. The stamp 110 includes a base body 112 and features 114. The feature has a width W (and another width W ′, which is not shown in the cross section, that is, FIG. 2), and a depth D. As shown in FIG. 2, the stamp 110 may have the feature of depth D, and the depth is large enough to provide a hollow space 214 between the bottom surface 121 of the feature 114 of the stamp 110 and the surface 221 of the patterned layer 104.

One aspect of the use of conductive paste for lithographic processing is that the conductive paste will emit gas during the curing process (partially or fully cured). The hollow space 214 provided by the depth of the features 114 of the stamp 110 results in embossed lithography, where the material does not completely fill the features in the stamp. Therefore, the gas has a volume, and the gas is discharged therein.

The amount of gas that can be discharged from the conductive paste can be adjusted by at least one of the following: the viscosity of the conductive paste, the boiling temperature of the material in the conductive paste, the volume of the hollow space, the degree of curing, and additional structural features of the stamp (See the example in Figure 3), and combinations thereof.

For example, materials can be added to the conductive paste, which can increase or decrease viscosity. This can result in adjustments to the curing time that can or will be provided before the stamp is released. A low boiling point solvent may be added to the photoresist, for example, the low boiling point solvent may be titrated to the photoresist to increase the amount of gas emitted during curing. The increase in the volume of the hollow space 214 may increase the time until a pressure is built up in the hollow space, which may have a counter-act on gas emissions. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, feature 114 may have an opening 314 perforated to allow gas to escape from the stamp. As another example, curing can be performed under vacuum conditions, such as technical vacuum, which can further affect the gas pressure in the hollow space, especially in the presence of openings or perforations.

In accordance with the disclosed embodiments, the vented gas is used as a way to help release the stamp. For example, there will be some interaction between (1) the time when the exhaust gas is released and (2) the degree of curing at the time of release. Other aspects that interact to influence the release of the impression are described above and are selected from the group consisting of At least one of the elements: the viscosity of the conductive paste, the boiling point of the material in the conductive paste, the volume of the hollow space, the degree of curing, the additional structural characteristics of the stamp (see the example in Figure 3), and combinations thereof.

FIG. 2 exemplarily illustrates an embodiment of a stamp 110 having features 114, wherein the depth of the features is provided to produce a hollow space 214 when the stamp is stamped into the layer 102 of conductive paste. Therefore, an impression system is provided. The stamp includes a base body and a plurality of features for generating a graphic when the stamp is imprinted on the layer, wherein the plurality of features are supported by the base body, and at least 10% of the features have a feature width W and a feature depth D, A ratio D / W of 5 or more is provided to generate a hollow space during the lithography. According to another embodiment, which can be combined with other embodiments described in this disclosure, the pattern of the conductive material provided with the embossed lithography described herein can be subjected to further plating manufacturing processes. Electroplating can grow or further deposit conductive materials on the features of the pattern. Therefore, the pattern produced by embossing lithography can be seeded for further manufacturing processes.

As described herein, the feature width in one direction is the largest dimension in this direction. Similarly, the feature depth is the maximum depth of the feature. For multi-level quasi-impression designs, a feature can have two or more widths in the same direction and two or more depths. For example, the width of a cylindrical feature is typically a diameter, and the depth of a cylindrical feature will typically be the height of an individual cylinder. As another example, the width and height for a rectangular feature can typically be provided by the size of the corresponding cuboid.

FIG. 3 illustrates another example of the stamper 110 according to the embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates the patterned layer 104 on the substrate 100 after the stamp 110 has been embossed in the conductive paste. The feature depth in the stamp 110 is large enough to represent the surface of the patterned layer 104. There is a hollow space 214 between the face and the bottom surface of the feature. According to some embodiments disclosed herein that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, the hollow space 214 may be in fluid communication with another area through the opening 314. For example, the opening 314 may be perforated, especially in the base body of the stamp. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the openings, such as a plurality of openings in the base body, may be configured so that airflow can flow out of or into the hollow space.

The openings 314 or perforations allow gas released from the conductive paste to be released upon curing. According to some embodiments, the opening 314 may extend through the base body of the stamp 110. Thus, the opening may provide fluid communication between the hollow space 214 and a region outside the stamp 110. For example, for patterning performed under a technical vacuum, the area outside the stamp may have a pressure of 10 mbar or less, or 1 mbar or less.

According to some embodiments, the size of the opening 314 (or perforation) may be in a range of 50 μm to 500 μm. According to a further embodiment, the corresponding hollow space 214 corresponding to the feature has two or more openings 314 in fluid communication, which can be opened to a common channel, or a common another hollow space, in particular An additional hollow space having a volume that is at least 100 times (or even 10,000 times) larger than the volume of the characteristic hollow space 214.

As mentioned above, there are a variety of options that can affect the gas emissions of the conductive paste that occurs during the lithographic lithography process during curing or pre-curing of the embossed layer. These options can be combined with other options to allow the outgas of the conductive paste to be adjusted to provide the desired patterned layer, for example, regarding feature shape, material composition, or the like. In addition, as shown in Figures 4A and 4B, these options may be additionally or alternatively combined to allow for facilitating the release of the impression from the substrate.

FIG. 4A illustrates a stamper 110 having a base body 112. The stamp 110 is partially embossed in a layer of conductive paste to produce a patterned layer 104. For example, the patterned layer 104 may be provided on a substrate. According to some embodiments that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, a layer or patterned layer of a conductive paste may be provided on the substrate or provided above the substrate. In particular, the layers may be provided in direct contact with the substrate, or one or more additional layers may be provided between the substrate and a layer of conductive paste (the patterned layer of the generating device).

As shown in FIG. 4A, a hollow space 214 is provided above the patterned layer 104. The recess of the stamp feature is not completely filled with the conductive paste. FIG. 4A illustrates a case where there is a small space between the top surface of the stamp and the substrate. FIG. 4B illustrates a case where the stamper 110 having the base body 112 is completely embossed in the conductive paste. The top surface of the stamp is in contact with the structure or layer under the conductive paste, such as the substrate 100 shown in FIG. 4B. In addition, the case shown in FIG. 4B has a hollow space 214 between the conductive paste and the stamp 110. The hollow space 214 allows gas to be discharged from the conductive paste into the hollow space. The discharge of gas increases the pressure in the hollow space 214. For example, the pressure caused by the gas emission generated by the conductive paste increases the hollow space of the impression feature by at least 10%, especially the impression feature by at least 50%, and more particularly the impression feature by at least 90%. The pressure in the hollow space causes a force as shown by arrow 402, which can help release the stamp from the substrate, or the stamp 110 can be released from the substrate 100.

According to the embodiment of the disclosure, by reducing the volume of the hollow space, reducing the viscosity of the conductive paste, increasing the curing time, adding a low boiling point solvent to the conductive paste, reducing the size of the perforations (or not providing perforations), or a combination Can increase the pressure and thus the force acting in the release direction that releases the stamp from the substrate. According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, by increasing The volume of large hollow spaces, increasing the viscosity of conductive pastes, reducing curing time, reducing the amount of low boiling solvents in conductive pastes, increasing the size of perforations (or providing perforations), or a combination thereof, can reduce pressure and therefore Reduces the force acting in the release direction that releases the stamp from the substrate. In view of the above, the embodiments of the present disclosure allow providing a predefined or desired release force to act on the stamp, thereby improving the lithography process.

An embossing lithography process, such as a SAIL process, which may be additionally or alternatively provided, is shown in detail in FIG. 5 by way of example. According to the embodiments described herein that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, the method of embossing lithography and the stamp for embossing a micro mold can be included and / or used in an R2R process. The embossing station may include a roller 510 that may rotate about an axis 514 of the roller 510. The rotation method shown in FIG. 5 is shown by arrow 512. When the roller 510 is rotated, the pattern attached to the roller or the stamp 110 as a part of the roller is embossed in the layer 102 of the conductive paste.

As shown in FIG. 5, the roller 510 has a stamp 110 provided on the roller 510 or as a part of the roller. When the substrate 100 moves through the space between the roller 510 and another roller 502, for example, the pattern of the stamp 110 is embossed in the layer 102. This results in a patterned layer 104. The arrow 503 indicates the rotation manner of the other roller 502 about the axis 504 of the other roller 502. The arrow 101 in FIG. 5 indicates the movement of the substrate 100 through the space between the roller 510 and the roller 502. The rollers rotate as shown by arrows 512 and 503. For example, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the substrate transfer speed along arrow 101 is similar to the lateral radial speed of the roller, that is, the tangential speed of the roller.

According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the R2R device can be provided in the embossed lithography, in which the conductive paste is involved in the embossed lithography, especially where the conductive paste is to be manufactured Functional layers in your device. The conductive paste is provided on or above the substrate before embossing or using a stamp relief pattern, or embossing rollers in the layer of conductive paste.

FIG. 5 illustrates a deposition unit 544 for applying a conductive paste on or above the substrate 100. An application of a conductive paste is provided for a layer 102 of a conductive material. For example, one or more of the deposition units 544 may use Meniscus coating, slot die coating, doctor blade coating, gravure coating, flexographic ) Coating, spray coating. After the layer 102 of conductive paste has been deposited, the stamp 110 is used to emboss the pattern in the layer 102 to produce a patterned layer 104.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure that can be combined with other embodiments disclosed herein, the embossed conductive paste is cured using a curing unit 532. The curing unit 532 may be selected from the group consisting of a light emitting unit and a heating unit configured to cure the layer when an impression is imprinted in the layer, in which an emission 533 is generated. For example, the light emitting unit may emit ultraviolet light (UV light), particularly in a wavelength range of 410 nm to 190 nm. Another example is that the emitting unit can emit infrared light (IR light), especially in the wavelength range of 9-11 microns (CO2 laser). Another example is that the emission unit can emit a wide range of light from infrared to ultraviolet, especially in the wavelength range from 3 microns to 250nm. This emission can be filtered and only a portion of the blackbody emission is selected using an optical filter.

According to yet other embodiments that can be combined with other embodiments described herein, optionally, an optical measurement unit can also be provided for evaluating the results of substrate processing.

FIG. 5 shows a curing unit 532. The curing unit 532 is configured to partially or completely cure the conductive paste when the stamp 110 is imprinted into the layer of the conductive paste. According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the degree of curing can be adjusted by the intensity of the curing unit (such as light intensity or heat emission intensity). Additionally or alternatively, the degree of curing can be adjusted by the rotation speed of the roller 510 and the substrate 100.

In the case of partial curing by the curing unit 532, a second curing unit 534 may be provided downstream of the curing unit 532, wherein the second emission 535 is generated. The second curing unit 534 can completely cure the partially cured patterned layer 104.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the conductive paste is embossed by embossing lithography. The embossed material, such as a photoresist material, can be a permanent part of the product and form a deposited film. The embodiments described herein refer to a patterned layer on a substrate directly imprinted by a stamp. That is, the patterned layer forms a permanent part of the product and forms a deposited film, which will be part of the layer stack of the device being manufactured. According to the disclosed embodiment, the patterned layer 104 forms a functional layer in the device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a patterning method using embossed lithography according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in block 602, a layer of conductive paste is provided. The viscosity of the conductive paste is 0.3Pa. s or more. The conductive paste is configured to form a functional layer in a device manufactured by this method. As shown in block 604, the method includes embossing or using a stamp relief pattern in a layer of conductive paste to generate a patterned layer of conductive paste. Block 606 further depicts a fully or partially cured patterned layer. According to some embodiments of the disclosure that can be combined with other embodiments of the disclosure, the stamp is released from the patterned layer, wherein, in particular, The gas pressure discharged from the conductive paste into the hollow space of the stamp feature during curing can help release the stamp from the patterned layer of the substrate, or can release the stamp from the patterned layer of the substrate, respectively. According to yet another embodiment that may be combined with other embodiments described herein, block 604 may include embossing or using a stamp relief pattern in a layer of conductive paste, partially curing the conductive paste, and removing the stamp from The layer of conductive paste is released.

The disclosed embodiments have multiple advantages, including: embossing conductive paste using embossing lithography to form, for example, a functional layer of a device, which can provide a small feature size; by considering the hollow space to provide feature depth, in Allowing gas to be discharged from the conductive paste during the curing of the patterned layer; designing the hollow space and / or openings in fluid communication with the hollow space to allow increasing or decreasing the pressure of the gas discharged into the hollow space, especially for adjusting and / Or control the gas pressure in the hollow space; provide the release force of the stamp, or help release the stamp due to the pressure in the hollow space; reduce the residual material after the patterning layer is cured; allow patterning of conductive materials with high aspect ratio ; Allow small features to be fabricated on flexible substrates, especially with high yields; and / or allow the manufacture of self-aligned conductive layers.

In summary, although the present invention has been disclosed as above with the embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Those with ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be determined by the scope of the attached patent application.

Claims (13)

A patterning method using embossed lithography includes: providing a layer of conductive paste on a substrate, wherein the viscosity of the conductive paste is 1.5 Pa.s or more; and stamping a stamp (stamp ) In the layer of the conductive paste to produce a patterned layer of the conductive paste; completely or partially cure the patterned layer; and release the stamp from the patterned layer. The method according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein the viscosity of the conductive paste is 100 Pa.s or more. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the stamp has a plurality of features to generate the pattern, and at least 10% of the features have a feature depth greater than the thickness of the conductive paste of the layer. The method of claim 3, wherein the feature depth provides a hollow space between the conductive paste and the stamp. The method as described in item 3 of the scope of patent application, wherein at least 10% of the features each have an opening configured to reduce a gas pressure generated by completely or partially curing the patterned layer. The method as described in item 4 of the scope of patent application, wherein at least 10% of the features each have an opening configured to reduce the pressure of the gas generated by completely or partially curing the patterned layer. The method according to item 4 of the scope of patent application, wherein the plurality of openings are configured to reduce the pressure of the gas in the hollow spaces provided. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the gas pressure generates a force to help release the stamp from the patterned layer. The method of claim 3, wherein the gas pressure generates a force to help release the stamp from the patterned layer. The method of claim 4 in which the gas pressure generates a force to help release the stamp from the patterned layer. The method as described in claim 5, wherein the gas pressure generates a force to help release the stamp from the patterned layer. The method of claim 6, wherein the gas pressure generates a force to help release the stamp from the patterned layer. The method of claim 7 in which the gas pressure generates a force to help release the stamp from the patterned layer.