U.S. patent application number 12/566924 was filed with the patent office on 2011-03-31 for patterning method for carbon-based substrate.
This patent application is currently assigned to INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE. Invention is credited to Chia-Chiang Chang, Wen-Tung Hsu, Chih-Ming Hu, Shu-Jiuan Huang, Shin-Liang Kuo, Chin-Jyi Wu.
Application Number | 20110073563 12/566924 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43779141 |
Filed Date | 2011-03-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110073563 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chang; Chia-Chiang ; et
al. |
March 31, 2011 |
Patterning Method for Carbon-Based Substrate
Abstract
A patterning method for a carbon-based substrate is provided.
The patterning method for the carbon-based substrate includes the
following steps. The carbon-based substrate is provided. An
atmospheric pressure plasma is produced from a plasma gas under an
open air environment. The plasma gas includes oxygen. The
carbon-based substrate is etched by the atmospheric pressure
plasma.
Inventors: |
Chang; Chia-Chiang;
(Sinjhuang City, TW) ; Wu; Chin-Jyi; (Kaohsiung
City, TW) ; Huang; Shu-Jiuan; (Taipei City, TW)
; Hsu; Wen-Tung; (Xinpu Town, TW) ; Hu;
Chih-Ming; (Hsinchu City, TW) ; Kuo; Shin-Liang;
(Taipei City, TW) |
Assignee: |
INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH
INSTITUTE
Hsinchu
TW
|
Family ID: |
43779141 |
Appl. No.: |
12/566924 |
Filed: |
September 25, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
216/44 ; 216/41;
216/67 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B82Y 30/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
216/44 ; 216/67;
216/41 |
International
Class: |
C23F 1/00 20060101
C23F001/00 |
Claims
1. A patterning method for a carbon-based substrate, comprising:
providing a carbon-based substrate; producing an atmospheric
pressure plasma from a plasma gas under an open air environment,
wherein the plasma gas comprises oxygen; and etching the
carbon-based substrate by the atmospheric pressure plasma.
2. The patterning method according to claim 1, wherein in the step
of providing the carbon-based substrate, the carbon-based substrate
is a transparent carbon nanostructure-based thin film.
3. The patterning method according to claim 1, wherein before the
step of producing the atmospheric pressure plasma, the patterning
method further comprises: providing a hard mask having a hollowed
pattern; and attaching the hard mask to the carbon-based substrate,
wherein the hollowed pattern exposes a portion of the carbon-based
substrate.
4. The patterning method according to claim 3, wherein in the step
of providing the hard mask, the hard mask is made from metal,
ceramic or glass.
5. The patterning method according to claim 3, wherein in the step
of providing the hard mask, the hollowed pattern is formed by way
of a mechanical cutting.
6. The patterning method according to claim 3, wherein in the step
of providing the hard mask, the hollowed pattern is formed by way
of a laser cutting.
7. The patterning method according to claim 3, wherein after the
step of etching the carbon-based substrate, the patterning method
further comprises: removing the hard mask from the carbon-based
substrate.
8. The patterning method according to claim 1, wherein in the step
of producing the atmospheric pressure plasma, the plasma gas
further comprises nitrogen.
9. The patterning method according to claim 1, wherein in the step
of producing the atmospheric pressure plasma, the plasma gas is a
clean dry air (CDA).
10. The patterning method according to claim 1, wherein in the step
of producing the atmospheric pressure plasma, the atmospheric
pressure plasma is produced from an arc jet plasma generator.
11. The patterning method according to claim 1, wherein in the step
of producing the atmospheric pressure plasma, the atmospheric
pressure plasma is produced from a nonthermal dielectric barrier
discharges (DBD) plasma generator.
12. The patterning method according to claim 1, wherein in the step
of producing the atmospheric pressure plasma, the atmospheric
pressure plasma is a dotted plasma.
13. The patterning method according to claim 1, wherein in the step
of producing the atmospheric pressure plasma, the atmospheric
pressure plasma is a linear plasma.
14. The patterning method according to claim 1, wherein in the step
of etching the carbon-based substrate, the atmospheric pressure
plasma etches the carbon-based substrate through scanning.
15. The patterning method according to claim 1, wherein in the step
of etching the carbon-based substrate, the atmospheric pressure
plasma and the carbon-based substrate generate a chemical reaction,
so that a portion of the carbon-based substrate contacting the
atmospheric pressure plasma forms a vaporizable air.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates in general to a patterning method for
a substrate, and more particularly to a patterning method for a
carbon-based substrate.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] The carbon-based substrate, having the features of high
conductive, high strength and high bendability, has attracted great
attention in recent years. The multi-touch effect can be achieved
if a circuit pattern like a transistor array is marked on the
carbon-based substrate so as to form a transparent carbon
nanostructure-based thin film. The transparent carbon
nanostructure-based thin film, having achieved the standards of 85%
transmittance and 200 .OMEGA./sq impedance, can be used in the
touch panel of various electronic products.
[0005] The traditional IC processes use a photo resistor in a
lithography step and a wet etching step to form the circuit
pattern. However, the strong anti-corrosion of the carbon-based
substrate makes the manufacturing process thereof complicated and
time-consuming. Thus, the manufacturing cost of the carbon-based
substrate is hard to be reduced and the carbon-based substrate
cannot be widely used in various electronic products.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The invention is directed to a patterning method for a
carbon-based substrate. The carbon-based substrate is etched by an
oxygen-contained plasma at an atmospheric pressure, so that the
process of patterning the carbon-based substrate is more efficient
and more convenient.
[0007] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a
patterning method for a carbon-based substrate is provided. The
patterning method for the carbon-based substrate includes the
following steps. The carbon-based substrate is provided. Under an
open air environment, an atmospheric pressure plasma is produced
from a plasma gas that includes mostly usually gas like oxygen,
nitrogen, argon, clean dry air or mixed gas of them. The
carbon-based substrate is etched by the atmospheric pressure
plasma.
[0008] The invention will become apparent from the following
detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiments.
The following description is made with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of a patterning method for a
carbon-based substrate; and
[0010] FIGS. 2-7 respectively show the steps of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The invention is exemplified by an embodiment below.
However, the embodiment is for exemplification only, not for
limiting the scope of protection of the invention. Besides,
secondary elements are omitted in the embodiment for highlighting
the technical features of the invention.
[0012] Referring to FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2-7. FIG. 1 shows a flowchart
of a patterning method for a carbon-based substrate 100. FIGS. 2-7
show the respective steps of FIG. 1.
[0013] Firstly, the method begins at step S102, as indicated in
FIG. 2, a carbon-based substrate 100 is provided. In the present
embodiment of the invention, the carbon-based substrate 100 is
exemplified by a transparent carbon nanostructure-based thin film
like carbon nanotube or nano-graphite. The optical properties of
the transparent carbon nanostructure-based thin film are similar to
that of the indium tin oxide film (ITO film). The transparent
carbon nanostructure-based thin film having high electron
conductivity can be used to form a conductive film with high
transparency. Therefore, the transparent carbon nanostructure-based
thin film can be used in electronic devices such as displays and
solar batteries, which require a transparent electrode, or used in
photo-electrical elements such as transistors and sensors.
[0014] Next, the method proceeds to step S104, as indicated in FIG.
3, a hard mask 300 is provided. The hard mask 300 has a hollowed
pattern 310. The hard mask 300 is made from metal, ceramic or
glass. The hollowed pattern 310 is a predetermined etching pattern
of the carbon-based substrate 100, wherein, the hollowed pattern
310 penetrates an upper surface 300a and a lower surface 300b of
the hard mask 300, and an inner-sidewall 310a of the hollowed
pattern 310 is a steep sidewall so that the atmospheric pressure
plasma 500 (illustrated in FIG. 5) of the subsequent step can
conveniently penetrate through.
[0015] In step S104, the inner-sidewall 310a of the hollowed
pattern 310 is a steep sidewall; therefore, the hollowed pattern
310 of the hard mask 300 can be formed by ways of mechanical or
chemical process, such as mechanical cutting, laser cutting, knife
cutting, electric discharge machining or photo-etching.
[0016] Then, the method proceeds to step S106, as indicated in FIG.
4, the hard mask 300 is attached to the carbon-based substrate 100,
wherein the hollowed pattern 310 exposes a portion of the
carbon-based substrate 100. Whether the hard mask 300 contacts the
carbon-based substrate 100 depends on the accuracy of the
subsequent etching process. When the hard mask 300 contacts the
carbon-based substrate 100, the hard mask 300 can be fixed by a
detachable adhesive (or a tape) or by a mechanical fixing
element.
[0017] As disclosed in steps S104 and S106, the material of the
hard mask 300 is not the patterned photoresist or the patterned
silicon nitride adopted in the semiconductor process. Moreover, the
hard mask 300 already forms the hollowed pattern 310 before, not
after, being attached to the carbon-based substrate 100.
[0018] Thus, after the etching process of the hollowed pattern 310
of the hard mask 300 is completed, the same hard mask 300 can be
repeated used in several carbon-based substrates 100.
[0019] Afterwards, the method proceeds to step S108, as indicated
in FIG. 5, an atmospheric pressure plasma 500 is produced from a
plasma gas under an open air environment such as an atmospheric
pressure or close to an atmospheric pressure.
[0020] The atmospheric pressure plasma 500 has cost advantage. In
terms of equipment cost, the atmospheric pressure plasma 500 can do
without the use of expensive and clumsy vacuum equipment. During
the manufacturing process, the to-be-processed object is not
subjected to the vacuum cavity, and is thus applicable to continual
process. These features all contribute to reducing the
manufacturing cost.
[0021] In terms of the components of the plasma gas for producing
the atmospheric pressure plasma 500, the plasma gas at least
includes oxygen, such as pure oxygen, mixed gas of nitrogen and
oxygen, mixed gas of argon and oxygen and clean dry air (CDA).
[0022] In terms of the device for producing the atmospheric
pressure plasma 500, the atmospheric pressure plasma 500 is
produced from an arc jet plasma generator or a nonthermal
dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) plasma generator for
example.
[0023] In terms of the form of the atmospheric pressure plasma 500,
the atmospheric pressure plasma 500 is a dotted atmospheric
pressure plasma or a linear atmospheric pressure plasma for
example.
[0024] Then, the method proceeds to step S110, as indicated in FIG.
6, the carbon-based substrate is etched by the atmospheric pressure
plasma 500. The etching process uses the hard mask 300 as a shield,
and only the portion of the carbon-based substrate 100 exposed on
the hollowed pattern 310 is etched.
[0025] As disclosed above, the atmospheric pressure plasma 500 of
the present embodiment of the invention is dotted or linear
atmospheric pressure plasma. Thus, during the etching process, the
carbon-based substrate 100 is etched by the atmospheric pressure
plasma 500 through scanning.
[0026] As the atmospheric pressure plasma 500 of the present
embodiment of the invention is produced from oxygen-based plasma
gas, the atmospheric pressure plasma 500 contains oxygen plasma
ions. When the oxygen plasma ions contact the carbon-based
substrate 100, a chemical reaction is generated by oxygen ions and
the carbon-based substrate 100 to form a vaporizable air (such as
carbon dioxide). The carbon-based substrate 100 is etched by the
chemical reaction. Thus, in the present embodiment of the
invention, the etching between the atmospheric pressure plasma 500
and the carbon-based substrate 100 is mainly done through a dry
chemical reaction rather than through a wet chemical reaction or an
ion bombardment. Therefore, the etching method of the present
embodiment of the invention has very high etching selectivity and
very high etching rate as well.
[0027] Then, the method proceeds to step S112, as indicated in FIG.
7, the hard mask 300 is removed form the carbon-based substrate
100. As the hard mask 300 is not removed by destructive methods,
and the atmospheric pressure plasma 500 will not destroy the hard
mask 300 either, the hard mask 300 can be repeatedly used in
several steps of etching the carbon-based substrate 100.
[0028] While the invention has been described by way of example and
in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the
invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended
to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and
procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should
be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such
modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
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