LASER PROCESSING OF DISPLAY COMPONENTS FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICES

• US 20120200812A1
• Filed: 02/04/2011
• Published: 08/09/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Qi, Jun, Fu, Wayne H., Wang, Chenhui, Lin, Kuanying, Gupta, Nathan K., Yin, Victor H.
• Granted Patent: US 8,482,713 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 349/106
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 2103/42 Plastics B23K2103/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 2103/50 Inorganic material, e.g. metals, not provided for in B23K2103/02 – B23K2103/26
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/0876 in at least two axial directions
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/103 the laser beam rotating around the fixed workpiece B23K26/28 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/38 by boring or cutting
• CPC Class Codes: B23K 26/402 involving non-metallic material, e.g. isolators
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 2793/0027 Cutting off
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 38/105 on edges
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/108 Flash, trim or excess removal
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1348 Work traversing type

Abstract

Electronic devices may be provided with display structures such as glass and polymer layers in a liquid crystal display. The glass layers may serve as substrates for components such as a color filter layer and thin-film transistor layer. The polymer layers may include films such as a polarizer film and other optical films. During fabrication of a display, the polymer layers and glass layers may be laminated to one another. Portions of the polymer layers may extend past the edges of the glass layers. Laser cutting techniques may be used to trim away excess portions of the polymer layer that do not overlap underlying portions of the glass layers. Laser cutting may involve application of an adjustable infrared laser beam.

Claims

1. A method of forming electronic device display structures, comprising:

obtaining at least one display layer; and

laser cutting through the display layer to form the electronic device display structures.

2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein obtaining the at least one display layer comprises obtaining at least one polymer display layer and wherein laser cutting through the display layer comprises laser cutting through the polymer display layer.

3. The method defined in claim 1 wherein obtaining the at least one display layer comprises obtaining multiple display layers that are attached to each other and wherein laser cutting through the display layer comprises simultaneously laser cutting through each of the multiple display layers.

4. The method defined in claim 3 further comprising laminating each of the multiple display layers together.

5. The method defined in claim 3 wherein each of the multiple display layers comprises polymer.

6. The method defined in claim 3 wherein the multiple display layers include a polarizer layer.

7. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the display layer comprises a layer selected from the group consisting of:

a polarizer layer, a touch sensor substrate layer, an antireflection layer, and a display cover layer.

8. The method defined in claim 1 wherein laser cutting through the display layer comprises applying an infrared laser beam having a wavelength in the range of 1 to 20 microns to the display layer.

9. The method defined in claim 1 wherein laser cutting through the display layer comprises applying a laser beam with a spot diameter of 100 microns to 500 microns to the display layer.

10. The method defined in claim 1 wherein laser cutting through the display layer comprises applying a laser beam with an elongated spot shape to the display layer.

11. The method defined in claim 1 wherein laser cutting through the display layer comprises applying a laser beam with a shape that changes as a function of position on the display layer when cutting the display layer.

12. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the electronic device display layers comprise at least one glass layer and wherein laser cutting through the display layer comprises laser cutting through the display layer without cutting the glass layer.

13. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the at least one display layer comprises at least one polymer layer, wherein electronic device display layers comprise at least one glass layer that is attached to the at least one polymer layer, and wherein laser cutting through the display layer comprises cutting the at least one polymer layer without cutting the at least one glass layer.

14. The method defined in claim 13 wherein the at least one glass layer comprises a glass layer selected from the group consisting of:

a liquid crystal display color filter array layer, a liquid crystal display thin-film-transistor layer, and a cover glass layer and wherein the at least one polymer layer comprises a polymer layer selected from the group consisting of;

a polarizer layer, an antireflection layer, and a polymer touch sensor substrate layer.

15. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the electronic device display layers comprises at least one glass layer having an edge and wherein laser cutting the display layer comprises laser cutting along the edge to trim away excess portions of the display layer that do not overlap the glass layer.

16. The method defined in claim 15 further comprising:

laminating the glass layer and the display layer together using adhesive before laser cutting along the edge to trim away the excess portions of the display layer.

17. A display comprising:

at least one glass layer; and

at least one laser-trimmed polymer layer on the glass layer.

18. The display defined in claim 17 wherein the at least one glass layer comprises a liquid crystal display glass layer selected from the group consisting of:

a liquid crystal display color filter array layer, a liquid crystal display thin-film-transistor layer, and a cover glass layer and wherein the at least one laser-trimmed polymer layer comprises a polymer layer selected from the group consisting of;

a polarizer layer, an antireflection layer, and a polymer touch sensor substrate layer that has been trimmed with an infrared laser to remove excess portions of the polymer layer that do not overlap the liquid crystal display glass layer.

19. The display defined in claim 17 wherein the glass layer comprises a rectangular glass structure having four edges and wherein the laser-trimmed polymer layer comprises a rectangular laser-trimmed polymer layer that has four trimmed edges in alignment with the four edges of the rectangular glass structure.

20. The display defined in claim 19 wherein the rectangular glass structure and the rectangular laser-trimmed polymer layer have curved corners.

21. A method, comprising:

forming display structures including at least one glass substrate layer and at least one display layer having portions that overlap the glass substrate layer and having portions that do not overlap the glass substrate layer; and

with a laser, laser cutting away the portions of the display layer that do not overlap the glass substrate layer.

22. The method defined in claim 21 wherein laser cutting away the portions of the display layer comprises applying an infrared laser beam with a spot having at least one lateral dimension of 100 to 500 microns to the display layer.

23. The method defined in claim 22 wherein the display layer comprises a polymer display layer and wherein laser cutting away the portions of the display layer comprises laser cutting away the portions of the polymer display layer.

24. The method defined in claim 23 wherein the glass layer comprises a color filter layer having edges and wherein laser cutting away the portions of the polymer display layer comprise applying the infrared laser beam to the polymer display layer along the edges of the color filter layer.

25. The method defined in claim 24 further comprising:

laminating the polymer display layer to the color filter layer with adhesive before laser cutting away the portions of the polymer display layer.

26. The method defined in claim 21 wherein laser cutting away the portions of the display layer comprises laser cutting away the portions of the display layer using a laser beam with a non-Gaussian intensity profile.