Method and apparatus for manufacturing display panel
View Patent ↗The whole surface of an insulating substrate having an amorphous silicon film formed thereon is scanned/irradiated with a solid-state pulsed laser beam shaped linearly or rectangularly, to form a uniform fine poly-crystalline silicon film for forming a pixel region. The periphery of the pixel region is scanned/irradiated with a time-modulated continuous-wave solid-state laser beam formed linearly. Thus, a peripheral circuit region including a drive circuit is formed as a poly-crystalline silicon film with crystals growing up in the scanning direction. Pixel portion thin film transistors are produced in the uniform fine poly-crystalline silicon film, while a drive circuit or an interface circuit is produced in the peripheral circuit region. One of substrates of a display panel is formed thus. A display panel including transistors with uniform properties in the pixel portion and transistors with excellent properties in the peripheral circuit portion including the drive circuit is obtained.
1. A method for manufacturing a display panel, comprising the steps of:
mounting an insulating substrate on a stage, said insulating substrate having an amorphous silicon film or a poly-crystalline silicon film formed in a main surface of said insulating substrate, said amorphous or poly-crystalline silicon film including a central portion which should serve as a pixel region having pixel active devices to thereby array a large number of pixels in a matrix, and a portion which is outside said pixel region and which should serve as a peripheral circuit region including a drive circuit portion, having drive portion active devices and disposed in the circumference of said insulating substrate; and
irradiating the whole surface of said amorphous or poly-crystalline silicon film on said insulating substrate with a solid-state pulsed laser beam, and then irradiating only said peripheral circuit region with a time-modulated solid-state continuous-wave laser beam, so as to apply laser annealing to said amorphous or poly-crystalline silicon film.
2. A method for manufacturing a display panel, comprising the steps of:
mounting an insulating substrate on a stage, said insulating substrate having an amorphous silicon film or a poly-crystalline silicon film formed in a main surface of said insulating substrate, said amorphous or poly-crystalline silicon film including a central portion which should serve as a pixel region having pixel active devices to thereby array a large number of pixels in a matrix, and a portion which is outside said pixel region and which should serve as a peripheral circuit region including a drive circuit portion, having drive portion active devices and disposed in the circumference of said insulating substrate; and
irradiating only said pixel region with a solid-state pulsed laser beam, and then irradiating only said peripheral circuit region with a time-modulated solid-state continuous-wave laser beam, so as to apply laser annealing to said amorphous or poly-crystalline silicon film.
3. A method for manufacturing a display panel, comprising the steps of:
mounting an insulating substrate on a stage, said insulating substrate having an amorphous silicon film or a poly-crystalline silicon film formed in a main surface of said insulating substrate, said amorphous or poly-crystalline silicon film including a central portion which should serve as a pixel region having pixel active devices to thereby array a large number of pixels in a matrix, and a portion which is outside said pixel region and which should serve as a peripheral circuit region including a drive circuit portion, having drive portion active devices and disposed in the circumference of said insulating substrate; and
irradiating only said periphery circuit region with a time-modulated solid-state continuous-wave laser beam, and then irradiating only a region where said pixel active devices are formed with a solid-state pulsed laser beam, so as to apply laser annealing to said amorphous or poly-crystalline silicon film.
4. A method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1 , wherein said solid-state pulsed laser beam is harmonics of an LD pumped Q-switch-pulsed YAG laser or harmonics of an LD pumped Q-switch-pulsed YVO 4 laser.
5. A method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1 , wherein said solid-state continuous-wave laser beam is harmonics of an LD pumped continuous-wave YAG laser or harmonics of an LD pumped continuous-wave YVO 4 laser.