Abstract
Described in this paper are photosensitive column spacer materials used for patterning columnar structures to control the cell gap of LCD panels. The negative-tone photosensitive materials are comprising [meth]acrylatate copolymer, multi-functional acrylic crosslinker, photo-initiator, and organic solvent. The column spacer patterns are obtained from the coated material film using photolithography on a proximity aligner with a high pressure mercury lamp, and post-baked to achieve three-dimensional network prearranged in the unique material design. The column spacers are evaluated on a broad range of characteristics. The highly-crosslinked network structure brings several advantages as permanent component; i.e., excellent chemical resistance, good thermal durability, non-contamination to liquid crystal, and high recovery ratio of compression property. Also, there exists an obvious relation between lithographic conditions and compression property, which is affected by pattern size and shape of the column spacer. The obtained column spacer patterns showed excellent practical reliabilities and good potentials to be successfully utilized for the cell gap control for high definition TFT-LCD panels.
