Array structure, manufacturing method thereof, array substrate and display device

• US 10,229,937 B2
• Filed: 06/20/2014
• Issued: 03/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Beijing BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd. (BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.), BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Beijing BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd. (BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.), BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Shi, Dawei, Ji, Xinyou, Li, Fuqiang, Guo, Jian
• Primary Examiner(s): Nadav, Ori
• Application Number:
  US14/409,316
• Publication Number:
  US 20160276367A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,726 Days
• Field of Search: 257 72
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13458 Terminal pads
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/136227 Through-hole connection of the pixel electrode to the active element through an insulation layer
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1368 in which the switching element is a three-electrode device G02F1/136277 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/10 Bump connectors; Manufacturing methods related thereto
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/124 with a particular composition, shape or layout of the wiring layers specially adapted to the circuit arrangement, e.g. scanning lines in LCD pixel circuits wiring structures per se H01L23/52
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1248 with a particular composition or shape of the interlayer dielectric specially adapted to the circuit arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1259 Multistep manufacturing methods
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/41733 for thin film transistors with insulated gate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/42384 for thin film field effect transistors, e.g. characterised by the thickness or the shape of the insulator or the dimensions, the shape or the lay-out of the conductor

Abstract

An array structure and a manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. The method for manufacturing the array structure includes: forming a gate insulating layer on a glass substrate; and etching the gate insulating layer at a position corresponding to a source/drain signal access terminal, and forming a through-hole structure provided with an outward-inclined side wall in the gate insulating layer. Conductive films in the source/drain signal access terminal and a gate signal access terminal which have wires thereof alternate with each other have a same height, so that the forces applied to conductive balls can be more uniform, and hence the conductivity can be improved.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing an array structure, the array structure comprising a gate signal access terminal and a source/drain signal access terminal, wherein the method comprises:

forming a gate insulating layer on a substrate;

forming a source/drain metal layer on the gate insulating layer, etching the source/drain metal layer to form a through-hole structure provided with an outward-inclined side wall in the source/drain metal layer at a position corresponding to the source/drain signal access terminal; and

forming a conductive film at a position corresponding to the gate signal access terminal and forming a conductive film at the position corresponding to the source/drain signal access terminal,

wherein the etching the source/drain metal layer to form the through-hole structure provided with the outward-inclined side wall in the source/drain metal layer at the position corresponding to the source/drain signal access terminal comprises;

forming a layer of photoresist, provided with an opening, which comprises an inclined side wall and corresponds to the source/drain signal access terminal, on the source/drain metal layer;

performing a wet etching to the source/drain metal layer to form an opening, which comprises a vertical side wall, in the source/drain metal layer at a position corresponding to the opening of the photoresist, wherein the opening, which comprises a vertical side wall, in the source/drain metal layer is aligned with the opening, which comprises the inclined side wall, in the photoresist;

performing a dry etching to both of the photoresist and the source/drain metal layer to form the through-hole structure provided with the outward-inclined side wall in the source/drain metal layer and at the position corresponding to the source/drain signal access terminal, and to remove the inclined side wall of the opening in the photoresist and obtain an opening, which comprises a vertical side wall, in the photoresist, wherein the vertical side wall of the opening in the photoresist is aligned with an upper edge of the outward-inclined side wall of the through-hole structure in the source/drain metal layer; and

removing the photoresist.

2. The method for manufacturing an array structure according to claim 1, after removing the photoresist, further comprising:

forming a passivation layer on the source/drain metal layer, forming a through-hole structure provided with an outward-inclined side wall in the passivation layer at a position corresponding to the through-hole structure in the source/drain metal layer, and finally forming the conductive film at the position corresponding to the source/drain signal access terminal on the through-hole structure of the passivation layer.

3. The method for manufacturing an array structure according to claim 1, wherein the photoresist provided with the opening, which comprises the inclined side wall and corresponds to the source/drain signal access terminal is formed by a mask comprising a main hole and compensation holes formed on both sides of the main hole;

the compensation holes are smaller than the main hole;

the main hole is fully-transparent; and

the compensation holes are not fully-transparent.

4. The method for manufacturing an array structure according to claim 1, wherein the photoresist provided with the opening, which comprises the inclined side wall and corresponds to the source/drain signal access terminal, is formed by a mask comprising a main hole and half-transparent films formed on both sides of the main hole;

the main hole is fully-transparent; and

the half-transparent films are not fully-transparent.

5. The method for manufacturing an array structure according to claim 4, wherein each of the half-transparent films includes a plurality of second half-transparent films with different transmittances;

and the transmittances of the second half-transparent films are progressively decreased from the main hole as a start and in a direction facing away from the main hole.

6. The method for manufacturing an array structure according to claim 1, wherein the conductive film at the position corresponding to the gate signal access terminal and the conductive film at the position corresponding to the source/drain signal access terminal are respectively connected to adjacent IC pins through conductive balls, and the conductive film at the position corresponding to the gate signal access terminal has a same height as the conductive film at the position corresponding to the source/drain signal access terminal on the substrate.

7. The method for manufacturing an array structure according to claim 1, wherein the conductive film at the position corresponding to the source/drain signal access terminal passes through the through-hole structure provided with the outward-inclined side wall in the source/drain metal layer to directly contact the substrate.