Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 95128593, filed Aug. 4, 2006. All disclosure of the Taiwan application is incorporated herein by reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a method of fabricating an active device array substrate, and more particularly, to a method of fabricating the active device array substrate by using a multi-tone mask. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    Nowadays, the multimedia technology has been well developed, which mostly benefits from the development of semiconductor devices or display apparatuses. As for the display, the thin-film transistor liquid crystal display having superior features, such as high definition, good space utilization efficiency, low power consumption and no radiation, has become the mainstream of the market. 
         [0006]    The thin-film transistor liquid crystal display mainly comprises a thin film transistor array substrate, a color filter plate and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the two substrates. The thin-film transistor array substrate is mainly formed by five mask processes. For example, in the conventional five mask processes, the first mask process mainly defines the gate and scan line; the second mask process mainly defines the channel layer; the third mask process mainly defines the source, drain, and data line; the fourth mask process mainly defines the passivation layer; and the fifth mask process mainly defines the pixel electrode. The number for performing the mask process directly influences the cost and tack time of fabricating the thin-film transistor array substrate such that companies in the industry all try to develop a method to reduce the number of the mask processes. In order to increase the throughput and lower the manufacturing cost, it is required to improve the manufacturing process of the thin-film transistor array substrate. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing an active device array substrate so as to solve the traditional problems such as higher manufacturing cost and time-consumption. 
         [0008]    To achieve the purpose as described above, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing an active device array substrate comprising the following steps. First, a substrate and a multi-tone mask are provided, wherein the multi-tone mask has at least four transparency areas. Second, a gate electrode is formed on the substrate. Then, a gate insulation layer is formed to cover the gate electrode, and a channel material layer is formed on the gate insulation layer. A metal material layer is formed on the channel material layer. Thereafter, a photoresist layer is formed on the metal material layer. Then, the photoresist layer is patterned through the multi-tone mask such that a patterned photoresist layer is formed. The patterned photoresist layer comprises a recess and a protrusion. The part of the metal material layer is exposed outside the patterned photoresist layer. The recess is above the gate electrode correspondingly and the protrusion is near the recess. Then, a channel layer is formed by removing the metal material layer and the channel material layer not covered by the patterned photoresist layer. Next, a first removing process is performed to the photoresist layer to remove the photoresist layer at the recess to form an opening and expose part of the metal material layer. Thereafter, the metal material layer exposed to an opening is removed to form a source, a drain and the part of channel layer can be exposed. Additionally, a second removing process is performed to the patterned photoresist layer, so as to remove the patterned photoresist layer except the protrusion such that the protrusion can be on the drain. Thereafter, a protection layer is formed on the substrate to cover the top of the protrusion, part of the gate insulation layer, the source, the drain and part of the channel layer. Moreover, a third removing process is performed to remove the protrusion and the protection layer above the protrusion so that a contact window exposing the drain is formed in the protection layer. Then, a pixel electrode is formed on the substrate to fill the contact window so as to electrically connect with the drain. 
         [0009]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, the multi-tone mask has a first transparent area, a second transparent area, a third transparent area, and a fourth transparent area. The transmittance of the first transparent area of the multi-tone mask is larger than that of the second transparent area. The transmittance of the second transparent area is larger than that of the third transparent area. The transmittance of the third transparent area is larger than that of the fourth transparent area. 
         [0010]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, after the photoresist layer is patterned through the multi-tone mask, the metal material corresponding to the first transparent area is exposed outside the patterned photoresist layer. The recess of the patterned photoresist layer is corresponding to the second transparent area. The third transparent area is corresponding to the patterned photoresist layer except the protrusion and the recess. The protrusion of the patterned photoresist layer is corresponding to the fourth transparent area. 
         [0011]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, the photoresist layer includes a positive photoresist. 
         [0012]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, the multi-tone mask has a first transparent area, a second transparent area, a third transparent area, and a fourth transparent area. The transmittance of the fourth transparent area of the multi-tone mask is larger than that of the third transparent area. The transmittance of the third transparent area is larger than that of the second transparent area. The transmittance of the second transparent area is larger than that of the first transparent area. 
         [0013]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, wherein the photoresist layer is patterned through the multi-tone mask, the metal material corresponding to the first transparent area is exposed outside the patterned photoresist layer, the recess of the patterned photoresist layer is corresponding to the second transparent area, the third transparent area is corresponding to the patterned photoresist layer except the protrusion and the recess, and the protrusion of the patterned photoresist layer is corresponding to the fourth transparent area. 
         [0014]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, the fourth transparent area has the largest transmittance in the multi-tone mask and the photoresist material layer may include negative photoresist. 
         [0015]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method of fabricating the active device array substrate further comprises forming an ohmic contact layer on the channel layer. 
         [0016]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, the protrusion is on the end of the drain far away from the gate electrode. 
         [0017]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first removing process includes ashing. 
         [0018]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, the second removing process includes ashing. 
         [0019]    According to one embodiment of the present invention, the third removing process includes lift-off. 
         [0020]    The photoresist layer is patterned through the multi-tone mask in the fabrication method of active device array substrate of the present invention, so that the patterned photoresist layer has three thicknesses. Thus, the method of fabricating active device array substrate in this present invention only takes three mask processes. The fabricating cost and tack time can be effectively reduced and the throughput is greatly improved. 
         [0021]    Reference will now be made to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0022]      FIGS. 1A-1H  and  1 J- 1 L are schematic cross-sectional views showing the fabricating process of the active device array substrate according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0023]      FIGS. 2A-2H  are schematic cross-sectional views showing the fabricating process of the active device array substrate according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0024]      FIGS. 3A-3H  are schematic cross-sectional views showing the fabricating process of the active device array substrate according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     First Embodiment 
       [0025]      FIG. 1A-1L  are schematic cross-sectional views showing the fabricating process of the active device array substrate according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 1A , a substrate  210  is provided and then a gate electrode  212  is formed thereon. Particularly, the gate electrode can be fabricated by performing a physical vapor deposition process (PVD) to deposit metal material on the substrate  210  and then the metal material is patterned through a mask process so as to form the gate electrode. The metal material can include low electrical resistance material such as aluminum, alloy thereof, gold, copper, molybdenum, alloy thereof, chromium or Ti. Generally, the scan line (not shown) and the gate electrode  212  can be formed by the same mask process. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 1B , a gate insulating layer  214  is formed on the substrate  210  so as to cover the gate electrode  212  and the scan line (not shown). Particularly, the gate insulation layer  214  material can use SiN or SiO formed by using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as reaction gas. 
         [0027]    Then, a channel material layer  216  is formed on the gate insulation layer  214 . The channel material layer  216  can be formed by depositing amorphous silicon on the gate insulation layer in a chemical vapor disposition (CVD). Generally, in order to reduce contact resistant between the channel material layer  216  and the metal material, in practice a doped semiconductor layer  217  can be formed on the channel material layer  216 . The material thereof may be an N-typed doped amorphous silicon, for example. Afterward, a metal material layer  218  is formed on the channel material layer  216 . 
         [0028]    Referring to  FIG. 1C , a photoresist layer  220  is formed on the metal material layer  218 . In this embodiment, the photoresist layer is positive photoresist. The photoresist layer certainly can be negative photoresist, which will be explained in detail in the third embodiment. Referring to  FIG. 1D , a multi-tone mask M 1  is provided, wherein M 1  has at least  4  transparent areas. For example, the multi-tone mask M 1  of the present invention may have a first transparent area T 1 , a second transparent area T 2 , a third transparent area T 3  and a fourth transparent area T 4 . The transmittance of the first transparent area T 1  of the multi-tone mask M 1  is larger than that of the second transparent area T 2 . The transmittance of the second transparent area T 2  is larger than that of the third transparent area T 3 . The transmittance of the third transparent area T 3  is larger than that of the fourth transparent area T 4 . In this embodiment, the fourth transparent area T 4  may be a non-transparent area. 
         [0029]    Then, the photoresist layer  220  is patterned by the multi-tone mask M 1  so as to form a patterned photoresist layer  222 . It should be noted that, the multi-tone mask M 1  has four different transmittance such that the photoresist layer  222  formed by patterning the photoresist layer  220  will have three different thicknesses. The transmittance of the first transparent area Ti is largest and the photoresist layer  220  is positive photoresist, such that the photoresist layer  220  corresponding to the first transparent area T 1  is removed after being patterned. Thus, the metal material  218  corresponding to the first transparent area T 1  is exposed outside the patterned photoresist layer  222 . On the other hand, the fourth transparent area T 4  is non-transparent in this embodiment, so the photoresist layer  220  corresponding to T 4  is not removed. 
         [0030]    Particularly, the patterned photoresist layer  222  has a recess  222   a  and a protrusion  222   b.  The recess  222   a  is above the gate electrode  212  correspondingly and the protrusion  222   b  is near the recess  222   a.    
         [0031]    As shown in  FIG. 1D , the second transparent area T 2  is corresponding to the recess  222   a  of the patterned photoresist layer  222 , the third transparent area T 3  is corresponding to the patterned photoresist layer  222  except the recess  222   a  and the protrusion  222   b,  and the protrusion  222   b  of the patterned photoresist layer  222  is corresponding to the fourth transparent area T 4 . 
         [0032]    Referring to  FIG. 1E , the metal material layer  218 , doped semiconductor layer  217  and channel material layer  216  which are not covered by the patterned photoresist layer  222  are removed by an etching process so as to form a channel layer  216   a.  Referring to  FIG. 1F , a first removing process is performed to the patterned photoresist layer  222 . The process is ashing, for example, to remove the patterned photoresist layer  222  at the recess  222   a  so as to form an opening A exposing part of the metal material layer  218 . Particularly, the method for removing photoresist material may have a dry photoresist removing method and a wet photoresist removing method. In the present invention, an ashing process is performed in the first removing process that is a dry photoresist removing method. In the dry photoresist removing method, the oxygen or C—F based gas is used as a reaction gas and a bias voltage is applied so as to produce a plasma. The patterned photoresist layer  222  can be removed in anisotropic way by using the plasma. 
         [0033]    Referring to  1 G, an etching process is performed to remove the metal material layer  218  exposed to the opening A and part of the doped semiconductor layer  217  so that a source  218   a,  a drain  218   b  and an ohm contact layer  217   a  are formed. Generally, the data line (not shown), the source  218   a  and drain  218   b  can be fabricated together. In addition, the opening A can expose part of the channel layer  216   a.    
         [0034]    Referring to  FIG. 1H , a second removing process is performed to the photoresist layer  222  to remove the patterned photoresist layer  222  outside the protrusion  222   b  so that the protrusion  222   b  is formed on the drain  218   b.  The second removing process may be the ashing process. It should be noted that, the increase of the bias voltage in the ashing process can make the side wall of the protrusion vertical approximately. Referring to  FIG. 1J , a protection layer  230  is formed on the substrate  210  to cover the top of the protrusion  222   b,  part of the gate insulation layer  214 , the source  218   a,  the drain  218   b  and part of the channel layer  216   a.  It should be noted that, the side wall of the protrusion  222   b  is vertical approximately and high enough such that the protection layer  230  is hard to be formed on the side wall of the protrusion  222   b.    
         [0035]    Referring to  FIG. 1K , a third removing process is performed to remove the protrusion  222   b  and at the same time to remove the protection layer  230  above the protrusion  222   b  so as to form a contact window C 1  in the protection layer  230 , and then part of the drain  218   b  can be exposed. The third removing method may be lift-off process. It should be noted that, the protection layer  230  is hard to be formed on the side wall of the protrusion  222   b  such that the side wall thereof can be exposed outside. The protrusion  222   b  can be effectively removed by the application of appropriate photoresist remover. In other words, there is no photoresist residue nearly in the contact window C 1 . That can make the pixel electrode formed subsequently to fill the contact window C 1  effectively so as to avoid the contact fault between the pixel electrode and the drain  218   b.    
         [0036]    Particularly, in the present invention, the multi-tone mask M 1  is used in the method of fabricating an active device array substrate, such that the channel layer  216   a,  the source  218   a,  the drain  218   b  and the protection layer  230  can be formed by performing a mask process only as shown in  FIGS. 1B-1K . Traditionally, three mask process are needed to complete manufacturing the channel layer  216   a,  the source  218   b  and the protection layer  230 . However, the method of fabricating active device array substrate of the presentation invention can reduce the manufacturing cost greatly and tack time so as to enhance the throughput. 
         [0037]    Referring to  FIG. 1L , a pixel electrode  240  is formed on the substrate  210  to cover the protection layer  230 . Additionally, the pixel electrode  240  fills the contact window C 1  and is electrically connected with the drain  218   b.  Particularly, the material such as ITO, IZO or AZO can be deposited on the protection layer  230  and filled the contact window C 1 . Thereafter, a mask process is performed to the material, and then the pixel electrode can be fabricated. In summary, the active device array substrate  200  of the present invention can be fabricated by performing only three mask processes with the proper removing process. 
       Second Embodiment 
       [0038]    The second embodiment is similar to the first embodiment. The main difference is that the arrangement of the transparent area of the multi-tone mask used in the second embodiment differs from that of the multi-tone mask shown in ID. Referring to  FIGS. 1A-1C , in this embodiment the initial fabricating steps are similar to those described in  FIGS. 1A-1C . The description of the steps is omitted. 
         [0039]    Referring to  FIG. 2A , a multi-tone mask M 2  is provided, wherein the fourth transparent area T 4  with the lowest transmittance is disposed outside the third transparent area T 3 ; and the fourth transparent area T 4  is next to the first transparent area T 1  with the highest transmittance. Accordingly, the protrusion  222   c  is formed on the outside of the patterned photoresist layer  222  after the photoresist layer  220  has been patterned. 
         [0040]    Referring to  FIG. 2B , an etching process is performed so that the metal material layer  218 , the doped semiconductor layer  217  and the channel material layer  216  which are not covered by the patterned photoresist layer  222  are removed so as to form a channel layer  216   a.  It is noted that in the removing process, over etching is occurred in the channel layer  216   a,  the doped semiconductor layer  217  and the metal material layer  218 . As shown in  FIG. 2B , overhead occurs on the edge of the patterned photoresist layer  222 . 
         [0041]    Referring to  FIG. 2C , a first removing process is performed to the patterned photoresist layer  222 . The process may be ashing to remove the patterned photoresist layer  222  at the recess  222   a  so that an opening A is formed. Additionally, part of the metal material layer  218  is exposed to the opening A. 
         [0042]    Referring to  2 D, an etching process is performed to remove the metal material layer  218  exposed to the opening A and part of the doped semiconductor layer  217  so that a source  218   a,  a drain  218   b  and an ohm contact layer  217   a  are formed. Generally, the data line (not shown), the source  218   a  and the drain  218   b  can be fabricated together. Also, part of the channel  216   a  can be exposed to the opening A. 
         [0043]    Referring to  FIG. 2E , a second removing process is performed to the patterned photoresist layer  222 . For example an ashing process can be adopted to remove the patterned photoresist layer  222  except the protrusion  222   c  so that the protrusion  222   c  is formed on the one end of the drain  218   b  far away from the gate electrode  212 . It should be noted that the increase of the bias voltage in the ashing process can make the side wall of the protrusion vertical approximately. 
         [0044]    Referring to  FIG. 2F , a protection layer  230  is formed on the substrate  210  to cover the top of the protrusion  222   c,  part of the gate insulation layer  214 , the source  218   a,  the drain  218   b  and part of the channel layer  216   a.  It should be noted that, the side wall of the protrusion  222   c  is quite vertical and the protrusion  222   c  is formed on the outside of the drain  218   b  such that there will be a quite difference in height between the protrusion  222   c  and the protection layer  230  located on the gate insulation layer  214 . Thus, the protection layer  230  is hard to be attached to the side wall of the protrusion  222   c,  which is good for performance of the subsequent lift-off process. 
         [0045]    Referring to  FIG. 2G , a third removing process is performed to remove the protrusion  222   c  and at the same time to remove the protection layer  230  above the protrusion  222   c  so that a contact window C 2  is formed in the protection layer  230  and part of the drain  218   b  is exposed. The third removing process may be a lift-off process. The protection layer  230  is hard to be attached on the side wall of the protrusion  222   c  such that the side wall thereof is exposed outside. The protrusion  222   c  can be effectively removed by using the proper photoresist remover. In this way, the photoresist will not remain in the contact window C 2 . 
         [0046]    Referring to  FIG. 2H , a pixel electrode  240  is formed on the substrate  210  to cover the protection layer  230  and fills the contact window C 2  so that the drain  218  is electrically connected. Because the photoresist is hard to remain in the contact window C 2 , the pixel electrode  240  can effectively fills in the contact window C 2  to further avoid the contact fault between the pixel electrode  240  and the drain  218   b.    
         [0047]    Particularly, the material such as ITO, IZO or AZO can be deposited on the protection layer  230 . Thereafter, a mask process is performed to the material, and then the pixel electrode  240  can be fabricated. 
       Third Embodiment 
       [0048]    The third embodiment is similar to the first embodiment. The difference is that in the third embodiment the material for the photoresist layer  220  is the negative photoresist. Furthermore, the transmittance of each transparent area of the accompanying multi-tone mask is properly adjusted. First, referring to  FIGS. 1A-1C . In this embodiment, the initial fabricating steps are similar to those described in  FIGS. 1A-1C . The description of the steps is omitted. 
         [0049]    Referring to  FIG. 3A , a multi-tone mask M 3  is provided, wherein the multi-tone mask M 3  has a first transparent area U 1 , a second transparent area U 2 , a third transparent area U 3  and a fourth transparent area U 4 . The transmittance of fourth transparent area U 4  of multi-tone mask M 3  is larger than that of the third transparent area U 3 . The transmittance of the third transparent area U 3  is larger than that of the transparent area U 2 . The transmittance of the transparent area U 2  is larger than that of the first transparent area U 1 . In this embodiment, the first transparent area U 1  may be a non-transparent area. Next, the photoresist layer  220  is patterned through the multi-tone mask M 3  such that the metal material  218  corresponding to the first transparent area U 1  is exposed outside the patterned photoresist layer  222 . Moreover, the recess  222   a  of the patterned photoresist layer  222  is corresponding to the second transparent area U 2 , the third transparent area U 3  is corresponding to the patterned photoresist layer  222  except the recess  222   a  and the protrusion  222   d.  The protrusion  222   d  thereof is corresponding to the fourth transparent area U 4 . 
         [0050]    As shown in  FIG. 3A , the protrusion  222   d  of the patterned photoresist layer  222  may be an inverted triangle shaped. That is because the material of the patterned photoresist layer is the negative typed photoresist and in the patterning process the photoresist layer  220  is influenced by diffraction. 
         [0051]    Referring to  FIG. 3B , an etching process is performed so that the metal material layer  218 , the doped semiconductor layer  217  and the channel material layer  216  which are not covered by the patterned photoresist layer  222  are removed so as to form a channel layer  216   a.    
         [0052]    Referring to  FIG. 3C , a first removing process is performed to the patterned photoresist layer  222 . The process may be ashing to remove the patterned photoresist layer  222  at the recess  222   a  so that an opening A is formed. Additionally, part of the metal material layer  218  is exposed to the opening A. Then, referring to  3 D, an etching process is performed to remove the metal material layer  218  exposed to the opening A and part of the doped semiconductor layer  217  so that a source  218   a,  a drain  218   b  and an ohm contact layer  217   a  are formed. Generally, the data line (not shown), the source  218   a  and the drain  218   b  can be fabricated together. Also, part of the channel  216   a  can be exposed to the opening A. 
         [0053]    Referring to  FIG. 3E , a second removing process is performed to the photoresist layer  222  to remove the patterned photoresist layer  222  outside the protrusion  222   d  so that the protrusion  222   d  is formed on the drain  218   b.  The second removing process may be the ashing process. It should be noted that, in the ashing process a lower bias voltage is applied to so the protrusion  222   d  in the inverted triangle shape can be maintained. In this embodiment, each transparent area of the multi-tone mask M 3  in the method of fabricating active device array substrate may be adjusted so that the protrusion  222   d  is formed on the one end of the drain  218   b  far away from the gate electrode  212 . 
         [0054]    Referring to  FIG. 3F , a protection layer  230  is formed on the substrate  210  to cover the top of the protrusion  222   d,  part of the gate insulation layer  214 , the source  218   a,  the drain  218   b  and part of the channel layer  216   a.  It should be noted that the protrusion  222   d  is an inverted triangle so that the protection layer  230  is hard to be attached to the side wall of the protrusion  222   d,  which is good for performance of the subsequent lift-off process. 
         [0055]    Referring to  FIG. 3G , a third removing process, the lift-off process, is performed to remove the protrusion  222   d  and at the same time to remove the protection layer  230  above the protrusion  222   d  so that a contact window C 2  is formed in the protection layer  230  and part of the drain  218   b  is exposed. The protrusion  222   d  is inverted triangle shaped such that the protection layer  230  is hard to be formed on the side wall of protrusion  222   d.  Thus, the side wall of the protrusion  222   d  is exposed outside. Some proper photoresist remover can be used to effectively remove the protrusion  222   d  so that the photoresist does not remain in the contact window C 2 . 
         [0056]    Referring to  FIG. 3H , a pixel electrode  240  is formed on the substrate  210  to cover the protection layer  230 . Additionally, the pixel electrode  240  fills the contact window C 2  and is electrically connected with the drain  218   b.  The photoresist is hard to remain in the contact window C 2  such that the pixel electrode  240  can be effectively filled the contact window C 2  to further avoid the contact fault between the pixel electrode  240  and the drain  218   b.  Particularly, material such as ITO, IZO or AZO can be deposited on the protection layer  230 . Thereafter, a mask process is performed to the material, and then the pixel electrode  240  can be fabricated. 
         [0057]    In summary, the photoresist layer is patterned through the multi-tone mask in the fabrication method of active device array substrate of the present invention, so that the patterned photoresist layer has three thicknesses. Then, the channel layer, the source and the protection layer can be fabricated in one mask process with the proper removing process. Thus, the method of fabricating an active device array substrate according to the present invention only takes three mask processes. In this way, the fabricating cost and tack time can be effectively reduced so as to improve the throughput. 
         [0058]    The above description provides a full and complete description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. Various modifications, alternate construction, and equivalent may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the above description and illustrations should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims.

Technology Category: h