Roll-to-Roll Processes for the Manufacturing of Patterned Conductive Electrodes on Flexible Substrates
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Roll-to-Roll Processes for the Manufacturing of Patterned Conductive Electrodes on Flexible Substrates Y.S. Chaug, Jeanne E. Haubrich, Mike Sereda, and R.C. Liang SiPix Imaging, Inc., 47485 Seabridge Dr., Fremont, CA 94538 ABSTRACT Simple, cost-effective roll-to-roll processes for the manufacturing of patterned conductor films have been developed. The technique involves printing proprietary masking patterns, depositing conductive material, and stripping away undesired areas. In one approach, a pattern is printed on the plastic substrate with a masking coating. Then, conductive material is deposited on the patterned substrate and the undesired areas are stripped away, leaving behind the patterned electrode structures. In another approach, a first masking pattern is printed, followed by a second masking coating which is repelled by the first masking layer and forms the negative pattern. The first masking pattern is stripped off, a conductive layer is deposited, and the second masking pattern is stripped off, leaving a high resolution conductor pattern on the web. No photolithographic exposure, development or chemical etching is needed. These processes are useful for producing rolls of electrodes with features as small as 25 microns for the roll-to-roll manufacturing of flexible display applications. INTRODUCTION A flexible and durable reflective display with low power consumption, high contrast, fast response time, thin and lightweight materials, and low manufacturing costs has been pursued for many years for applications such as cell phones, PDAs, e-signs, e-boards, and e-books. Among various reflective display technologies, electrophoretic display (EPD) technologies have been considered to have great potential, and have been pursued by several groups.1-5 SiPix Imaging Inc. has recently disclosed a format flexible, roll-to-roll EPD manufacturing process based on novel Microcup® and top-sealing technologies.6-13 Patterned flexible electrodes are required as a starting point to produce the image in the device. To make a passive matrix or direct drive flexible display by a roll-to-roll process, the outer substrates of the display must act as flexible electrodes between which the switchable display materials are sandwiched. The electrode can be made by patterning a thin film of a conducting material on the substrate, or by printing a conducting ink on the substrate. For passive matrix devices, transparent patterned electrodes are needed for the top of the display. A conventional approach to fabricating the electrode layers for flexible displays involves the use of photolithographic techniques and chemical etching.14-16 Electrodes are formed by first coating or laminating a flexible substrate with a conductive film such as copper, aluminum or other conductive material such as indium-tin oxide (ITO). The conductive film is overcoated with a photoresist which is then imagewise exposed and developed. The conductive film in the unwanted areas is etched away and the remaining resist is stripped to uncover the patterned
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