Dry etching apparatus and method for manufacturing touch screen panels using the same

Abstract

A dry etching apparatus for performing dry etching in manufacture of a set of touch screen panels on a mother substrate, including a chamber, an upper electrode in the chamber at an upper portion thereof, the upper electrode configured to apply a high-frequency power source (RF) to the interior of the chamber, a lower electrode in the chamber at a lower portion thereof, the lower electrode configured to apply the high-frequency power source to the interior of the chamber, a gas injection port configured to inject a compound mixture gas into the chamber, an exhaust port configured to exhaust a reactive gas produced in the interior of the chamber, and a shadow mask disposed above a location on the lower electrode for the mother substrate for the touch screen panels, the shadow mask having a plurality of exposure windows respectively corresponding to a plurality of exposure portions to be formed.

1 . A dry etching apparatus for performing dry etching in the manufacture of a set of touch screen panels on a mother substrate, the apparatus comprising:
 a chamber configured to maintain a high vacuum at an interior thereof;   an upper electrode in the chamber at an upper portion thereof, the upper electrode configured to apply a high-frequency power source (RF) to the interior of the chamber;   a lower electrode in the chamber at a lower portion thereof, the lower electrode configured to apply the high-frequency power source to the interior of the chamber;   a gas injection port configured to inject a compound mixture gas into the chamber;   an exhaust port configured to exhaust a reactive gas produced in the interior of the chamber; and   a shadow mask disposed above a location on the lower electrode for the mother substrate for the touch screen panels, the shadow mask having a plurality of exposure windows respectively corresponding to a plurality of exposure portions to be formed in individual touch screen panels of the mother substrate.   
     
     
         2 . The dry etching apparatus for performing dry etching in the manufacture of a set of touch screen panels on a mother substrate as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is configured to etch SiO 2  from a CVD layer of SiO 2  on the mother substrate. 
     
     
         3 . A method for manufacturing touch screen panels using a dry etching apparatus, the method comprising:
 forming patterns on a mother substrate for manufacturing a plurality of touch screen panels, the patterns including sensing cells and interconnections;   depositing SiO 2  on the mother substrate having the patterns formed thereon;   loading the mother substrate having the SiO 2  deposited thereon into a dry etching apparatus and performing a dry etching process using the dry etching apparatus, the dry etching apparatus having a shadow mask in which exposure windows are formed respectively corresponding to exposure portions of touch screen panels on the mother substrate; and   performing a scribing process with respect to the mother substrate after the dry etching process, the scribing process dividing the mother substrate into individual touch screen panels.   
     
     
         4 . The method as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein the forming of the patterns includes a first ITO patterning process, a metal line patterning process, an organic insulating film patterning process, and a second ITO patterning process. 
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein the SiO 2  is deposited on the mother substrate using a CVD method. 
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein:
 the exposure portions are formed at one side of each of the touch screen panels on the mother substrate so as to allow connection of the interconnections to an external device, and   the SiO 2  deposited in the depositing of the SiO 2  is removed from the exposure portions through the dry etching process.