Electron‐beam curing of color filters for flexible‐display applications

Abstract

Abstract— Color filters spin‐coated on plastic and glass substrates have been cured by electron‐beam radiation instead of by the conventional thermal‐heating method. The electron‐beam curing of the color filters has many advantages over the thermal curing method. Electron‐beam curing is, in principle, a non‐thermal method where low‐temperature (<100°C) curing of color filters on plastic substrates can be realized for the manufacturing process of flexible display panels. A color‐filter resist having a 1.5‐μm thickness was spin‐coated on plastic (polycarbonate) and glass (corning 1737) substrates. The effect of the electron‐beam radiation conditions, such as electron‐beam energy (0.3–1.0 keV), radiation dosage (10–200 kGy), and ambient oxygen has been characterized. The degree of curing was analyzed by using the characteristic absorption peaks at 808 and 1405 cm−1 in the FT‐IR spectrum. These two peaks originate from the carbon double bonds (>C=C<) of the multi‐functional acrylate monomer which exist in the color‐filter resist. By electron‐beam radiation, the spin‐coated color filter can be effectively polymerized at <Tg (glass transition temperature) of the plastic substrates. The electron beam can solve the problems of the conventional thermal curing method, such as thermal deformation of a plastic substrate and difficulty in achieving dimensional control of a color‐filter pattern due to a large coefficient of thermal expansion (20–70 ppm/°C) compared to that of a glass substrate.