CN114077160A

CN114077160A - Transfer roller and manufacturing method thereof, and optical film and manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN114077160A
Application number: CN202010852115.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 林刘恭
Original assignee: K Laser Technology Inc
Current assignee: K Laser Technology Inc
Priority date: 2020-08-21
Filing date: 2020-08-21
Publication date: 2022-02-22

Abstract

The invention discloses a transfer printing roller and a manufacturing method thereof, and an optical diaphragm and a manufacturing method thereof. The transfer roller manufacturing method includes: coating a photoresist layer on the outer surface of the metal roller; forming a plurality of exposure patterns on the outer surface of the photoresist layer, wherein the depth of any exposure pattern is less than the thickness of the photoresist layer; developing the photoresist layer, removing the photoresist layer material of the exposure pattern, so that a plurality of concave parts and a plurality of convex parts are formed on the photoresist layer; etching the photoresist layer by anisotropic etching to completely remove the photoresist layer of the plurality of concave portions and not completely remove the photoresist layer of the plurality of convex portions to form a patterned photoresist layer; etching the metal roller by using the patterned photoresist layer as a shield through an anisotropic etching means, and forming a plurality of imprinted patterns on the metal roller; the patterned photoresist layer is removed to form a transfer roller.

Description

Transfer roller and manufacturing method thereof, and optical film and manufacturing method thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a roller and an optical film, and more particularly, to a transfer roller and a method for manufacturing the same, and an optical film and a method for manufacturing the same.

Background

In a conventional method for manufacturing an optical film, an optical microstructure is transferred on the optical film by a transfer roller imprinting method, so as to form an optical film. However, the conventional transfer roller needs to form a transfer microstructure on the surface of the metal roller through a special process (for example, an electroforming method is used to manufacture a transfer master mold, and then the transfer master mold is used to form the metal roller with the microstructure on the surface).

Therefore, how to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks by designing and improving the manufacturing method of the transfer roller has become one of the important issues to be solved by the industry.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiments of the present invention provide a transfer roller and a manufacturing method thereof, and an optical film and a manufacturing method thereof, which can effectively overcome the defects possibly generated by the conventional transfer roller manufacturing method.

One embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for manufacturing a transfer roller, which includes: a coating step: coating a photoresist layer surrounding 360 degrees on the outer surface of a metal roller, wherein the photoresist layer has a thickness; an exposure step: irradiating the outer surface of the light resistance layer by a patterning light source to form a plurality of exposure patterns on one side of the outer surface of the light resistance layer, wherein the exposure depth of the light resistance layer is less than the thickness of the light resistance layer, and the depth of any one exposure pattern is less than the thickness of the light resistance layer; a developing step: removing the material of the exposure patterns on the photoresist layer to form a plurality of concave parts corresponding to the exposure patterns and a plurality of convex parts outside the range of the concave parts; a photoresist etching step: etching the photoresist layer by an anisotropic etching means, wherein the etching depth of the photoresist etching step is greater than the thickness of any one of the concave parts and less than the thickness of any one of the convex parts, so that the photoresist layer of the plurality of concave parts is completely removed to form a plurality of hollowed-out parts, and the photoresist layer of the plurality of convex parts is not completely removed to form a plurality of shielding parts which are shielded on the outer surface of the metal roller, thereby forming a patterned photoresist layer; a roller etching step: etching the outer surface of the metal roller by using the patterned photoresist layer as a shield through a non-isotropic etching means, and forming a plurality of imprinted patterns on the outer surface of the metal roller; and a patterned photoresist removing step: removing the patterned photoresist layer from the outer surface of the metal cylinder to form a transfer roller.

Preferably, the photoresist layer has a thickness of between 3 micrometers (μm) and 25 μm.

Preferably, in the exposing step, the depth of any one of the exposure patterns is between 1/3 and 2/3 of the thickness of the photoresist layer.

Preferably, the depth of any one of the embossed patterns is between 0.2 and 0.6 microns, and the width of any one of the embossed patterns is between 0.3 and 0.8 microns.

Preferably, the distance between any two adjacent embossed patterns is between 0.6 micrometers and 1.6 micrometers.

Preferably, the photoresist etching step is performed by plasma etching.

Preferably, the roller etching step is performed by a reactive ion etching method using a high density plasma source.

One embodiment of the invention discloses a transfer printing roller which is manufactured by the transfer printing roller manufacturing method.

One embodiment of the present invention further discloses a method for manufacturing an optical film, which includes: a roller manufacturing step: to manufacture a transfer roller by the above-mentioned method; and an optical film transfer step: and the transfer printing roller is continuously rolled on a light-transmitting film, so that the light-transmitting film is provided with a plurality of optical microstructures with the shapes complementary to the plurality of embossed patterns, and the light-transmitting film forms an optical diaphragm.

The embodiment of the invention also discloses an optical film, which is manufactured by the manufacturing method of the optical film.

One of the advantages of the present invention is that the transfer roller, the manufacturing method thereof, the optical film and the manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention can form a plurality of concave portions and a plurality of convex portions on the photoresist layer through the exposure step and the development step, form the patterned photoresist layer through the photoresist etching step, and then etch the outer surface of the metal roller using the patterned photoresist layer as a mask through the anisotropic etching means to form a plurality of the imprinted patterns, and further form a plurality of the imprinted patterns for transfer printing on the outer surface of the transfer roller through the etching means, so as to greatly reduce the manufacturing time and the manufacturing cost of the transfer roller.

For a better understanding of the features and technical content of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, which are provided for purposes of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the invention.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a transfer roller according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a photoresist coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a metal roller coated with a photoresist layer according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of forming an exposure pattern by irradiating the photoresist layer with a patterned light source according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a photoresist layer after being developed by a developing step according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the formation of a patterned photoresist layer by a photoresist etching step according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the operation of forming an imprinted pattern on the surface of a metal cylinder by a cylinder etching step according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of a metal roller after removing a photoresist layer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 and 10 are schematic views illustrating the operation of the transfer roller embossing the light-transmitting film to form the optical film according to the embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 11 is a partially enlarged sectional view taken from a section XI of fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is a partially enlarged sectional view taken from the XII portion of fig. 10.

Detailed Description

The following description is provided by way of specific embodiments of the present disclosure regarding the implementation of the transfer roller and the manufacturing method thereof and the optical film and the manufacturing method thereof, and those skilled in the art can understand the advantages and effects of the present disclosure from the disclosure of the present disclosure. The invention is capable of other and different embodiments and its several details are capable of modifications and various changes in detail, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The drawings of the present invention are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be drawn to scale. The following embodiments will further describe the related art of the present invention in detail, but the disclosure is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

It will be understood that, although the terms "first," "second," "third," etc. may be used herein to describe various components or signals, these components or signals should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used primarily to distinguish one element from another element or from one signal to another signal. In addition, the term "or" as used herein should be taken to include any one or combination of more of the associated listed items as the case may be.

Fig. 1 to 12 are schematic views of an embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that the corresponding figures and related numbers and shapes mentioned in the present embodiment are only used for describing the implementation method of the present invention in detail, so as to facilitate the understanding of the content of the present invention, and not to limit the scope of the present invention.

The embodiment of the invention discloses a transfer printing roller 100 and a manufacturing method thereof, and an optical film 600 transferred by the transfer printing roller 100 and a manufacturing method thereof. In order to facilitate understanding of the configuration of the transfer roller 100, a method of manufacturing the transfer roller 100 (i.e., the roller manufacturing step S1) will be described below, and then the configuration of the transfer roller 100, a method of manufacturing the optical film sheet 600 manufactured by the transfer roller 100, and the configuration of the optical film sheet 600 will be described.

As shown in fig. 1, the roller manufacturing step S1 in this embodiment includes the following steps: a coating step S11, an exposure step S12, a developing step S13, a photoresist etching step S14, a roller etching step S15 and a patterned photoresist removing step S16, but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, in other embodiments not shown in the present disclosure, the roller manufacturing step S1 may further include a Soft baking step (Soft baker) connected to the coating step S11, and a Hard baking step (Hard baker) connected to the developing step S13 or the photoresist etching step S14.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the coating step S11: a metal cylinder 1 is provided and a photoresist layer 300 is coated on an outer surface 12 of the metal cylinder 1 by a coating apparatus 200 around 360 degrees.

In this embodiment, the metal cylinder 1 can define a central axis 11, the outer surface 12 of the metal cylinder 1 is cylindrical, and at least a portion of the outer surface 12 of the metal cylinder 1 is made of a metal material or an alloy material of nickel metal, chromium metal, copper metal, or the like.

The coating apparatus 200 used in this embodiment includes a coating mechanism 2, a rotating module 3 disposed below the coating mechanism 2, a linear driving module 4, and a carrying platform 5 disposed below the rotating module 3. The metal roller 1 is arranged on the rotating module 3, the rotating module 3 drives the metal roller 1 to rotate around the central axis 11 thereof, the coating mechanism 2 is arranged on the linear driving module 4, and the linear driving module 4 can drive the coating mechanism 2 to reciprocate along the direction of the central axis 11. When the metal cylinder 1 is driven to rotate by the rotating module 3, the coating mechanism 2 is driven by the linear driving module 4 to linearly displace along the central axis 11, so as to coat the photoresist material on the outer surface 12 of the metal cylinder 1, thereby forming the photoresist layer 300.

As shown in fig. 2, in the embodiment, the coating mechanism 2 is a spraying coating mechanism, but the invention is not limited thereto. The coating mechanism 2 may be a wire bar coating mechanism, a double-side forming coating mechanism, a closed blade coating mechanism, or other coating mechanisms that employ different coating techniques, for example.

As shown in fig. 3, after the photoresist material is coated on the surface of the metal cylinder 1, the photoresist layer 300 is formed to surround the outer surface 12 of the metal cylinder 1 by 360 degrees, and the thickness T of the photoresist layer 300 is in a range of 3 micrometers (μm) to 25 micrometers. In particular, the coating step S11 of the present invention is performed in a manner to maintain the uniformity of the thickness of the photoresist layer 300, so the photoresist layer 300 does not need to be limited to a thinner thickness.

As shown in fig. 4, the exposure step S12: a patterned light source 302 is provided to irradiate a patterned light 303 on an outer surface of the photoresist layer 300. In this embodiment, the photoresist layer 300 is a positive photoresist layer, and a plurality of exposure patterns 301 are formed on the exposed portion of the outer surface of the photoresist layer 300 irradiated by the patterned light 303, and the depth h of any one of the exposure patterns 301 is between 1/3 and 2/3 of the thickness T of the photoresist layer 300. In particular, in the exposure step S12 of the present invention, since the photoresist layer 300 has a larger thickness for better uniformity, the exposure depth of the photoresist layer 300 is smaller than the thickness T of the photoresist layer 300, so that the depth h of any one of the exposure patterns 301 is smaller than the thickness T of the photoresist layer 300. In other words, the plurality of exposure patterns 301 do not completely penetrate the photoresist layer 300, such that the unexposed photoresist layer 300 remains in the direction of any one of the exposure patterns 301 toward the side of the metal cylinder 1.

In this embodiment, the patterned light source 302 can be formed by a light source device (e.g., an LED or a laser diode) that transmits light through a mask, but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, the patterned light source 302 can also be a laser light source or a patterned light source formed by focusing an ultraviolet LED through a micro-prism.

As shown in fig. 5, the developing step S13: the material of the plurality of exposure patterns 301 on the photoresist layer 300 is removed, such that a plurality of concave portions 304 corresponding to the plurality of exposure patterns 301 and a plurality of convex portions 305 outside the plurality of concave portions 304 are formed on the photoresist layer 300. In more detail, in the present embodiment, the developing step S13 can be performed by using a developer corresponding to the material of the photoresist layer 300, when the developing step S13 is performed, the material of the plurality of exposure patterns 301 on the photoresist layer 300 can be dissolved and removed by the developer, thereby forming a plurality of concave portions 304, while the material of the photoresist layer 300 outside the range of the plurality of exposure patterns 301 is not dissolved by the developer, thereby forming a plurality of convex portions 305.

As shown in fig. 6, the photoresist etching step S14: the photoresist layer 300 is etched by an anisotropic etching method (e.g., plasma etching), such that the photoresist layer 300 is etched to form a patterned photoresist layer 400. In more detail, in the photoresist etching step S14, the etching depth of the photoresist layer 300 is greater than the thickness of any one of the concave portions 304 and less than the thickness of any one of the convex portions 305, so that the photoresist layer 300 of the plurality of concave portions 304 is completely removed, and the photoresist layer 300 of the plurality of convex portions 305 is not completely removed and remains on the outer surface 12 of the metal roller 1, thereby forming the patterned photoresist layer 400. A plurality of hollow portions 401 are formed in the patterned photoresist layer 400 at positions corresponding to the plurality of concave portions 304, such that the outer surface 12 of the metal roller 1 is exposed from the plurality of hollow portions 401, and a plurality of shielding portions 402 covering the outer surface 12 of the metal roller 1 are formed in the patterned photoresist layer 400 at positions corresponding to the plurality of convex portions 305.

In the present embodiment, the photoresist etching step S14 uses a plasma etching method to etch the photoresist layer 300, but the invention is not limited thereto. For example, other anisotropic etching methods can be applied to perform the photoresist etching step S14.

Since the anisotropic etching means has the characteristic of controllable etching direction, so that the photoresist layer 300 can be etched substantially along the normal direction of the outer surface 12 of the metal roller 1, the shape correctness of the plurality of hollow portions 401 and the plurality of shielding portions 402 of the patterned photoresist layer 400 formed in the photoresist etching step S14 can be ensured, and the probability of defects generated in the patterned photoresist layer 400 is reduced.

As shown in fig. 7, the drum etching step S15: the outer surface 12 of the metal roller 1 is etched by anisotropic etching (e.g., plasma etching) using the patterned photoresist layer 400 as a mask, and a plurality of imprint patterns 13 are formed on the outer surface 12 of the metal roller 1 at positions corresponding to each of the hollow portions 401 of the patterned photoresist layer 400. As shown in fig. 8, in this embodiment, after the cylinder etching step S15 is completed, the depth d of any one of the embossed patterns 13 on the outer surface 12 of the metal cylinder 1 is between 0.2 micrometers (μm) and 0.6 micrometers, the width w of any one of the embossed patterns 13 is between 0.3 micrometers and 0.8 micrometers, and the pitch p between any two adjacent embossed patterns 13 is between 0.6 micrometers and 1.6 micrometers.

In particular, in the present embodiment, the roller etching step S15 is performed by Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) using a High Density Plasma (HDP) source. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto, for example, the roller etching step S15 can also adopt Magnetic Enhanced Reactive Ion Etching (MERIE) or pulsed electric field Enhanced technology to enhance the etching efficiency and control the etching direction.

As shown in fig. 8, the patterned photoresist removing step S16: after the cylinder etching step S15 is completed, the patterned photoresist layer 400 on the outer surface 12 of the metal cylinder 1 is removed, so that the metal cylinder 1 forms a transfer roller 100. As shown in fig. 9 to 11, the transfer roller 100 manufactured by the roller manufacturing step S1 has a plurality of the imprint patterns 13 formed by the foregoing steps on the outer surface thereof.

As shown in fig. 9 to 12, the embodiment of the invention also discloses a method for manufacturing an optical film 600, which includes manufacturing the transfer roller 100 through the roller manufacturing step S1, and performing an optical film transfer step S2 through the transfer roller 100. In the optical film transfer step S2, the transfer roller 100 is continuously rolled on a transparent film 500, so that the transparent film 500 is formed with a plurality of optical microstructures 601 having shapes complementary to the plurality of embossed patterns 13 on the transfer roller 100, and the transparent film 500 forms an optical film 600.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment, since the shapes of the plurality of optical microstructures 601 on the optical film 600 are complementary to the plurality of embossed patterns 13 on the transfer roller 100, any one of the optical microstructures 601 on the optical film 600 forms a protruding-shaped microstructure with a height of 0.2 to 0.6 micrometers and a width of 0.3 to 0.8 micrometers, and a pitch between any two adjacent optical microstructures 601 is between 0.6 to 1.6 micrometers.

More specifically, in the method for manufacturing a transfer roller provided by the present invention, the thickness of the photoresist layer can be greater than the depth of the plurality of exposure patterns, so that the photoresist layer can have a larger thickness (e.g., 3 to 25 μm), and the uniformity of the photoresist layer can be improved. And the ratio of the depth of the exposure patterns to the thickness of the photoresist layer (such as the thickness 1/3-2/3 of the photoresist layer) can be controlled, and an anisotropic plasma etching means is matched to form the patterned photoresist layer after the photoresist layer is etched, so that the pattern accuracy of the patterned photoresist layer can be improved, and the defects of the patterned photoresist layer can be reduced.

The disclosure is only a preferred embodiment of the invention and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, so that the invention is not limited by the disclosure of the specification and drawings.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a transfer roller, comprising:

a coating step: coating a photoresist layer surrounding 360 degrees on the outer surface of a metal roller, wherein the photoresist layer has a thickness;

an exposure step: irradiating the outer surface of the light resistance layer by a patterning light source to form a plurality of exposure patterns on one side of the outer surface of the light resistance layer, wherein the exposure depth of the light resistance layer is less than the thickness of the light resistance layer, and the depth of any one exposure pattern is less than the thickness of the light resistance layer;

a developing step: removing the material of the exposure patterns on the photoresist layer to form a plurality of concave parts corresponding to the exposure patterns and a plurality of convex parts outside the range of the concave parts;

a photoresist etching step: etching the photoresist layer by an anisotropic etching means, wherein the etching depth of the photoresist etching step is greater than the thickness of any one of the concave parts and less than the thickness of any one of the convex parts, so that the photoresist layer of the plurality of concave parts is completely removed to form a plurality of hollowed-out parts, and the photoresist layer of the plurality of convex parts is not completely removed to form a plurality of shielding parts which are shielded on the outer surface of the metal roller, thereby forming a patterned photoresist layer;

a roller etching step: etching the outer surface of the metal roller by using the patterned photoresist layer as a shield through a non-isotropic etching means, and forming a plurality of imprinted patterns on the outer surface of the metal roller; and

a patterned photoresist removing step: removing the patterned photoresist layer from the outer surface of the metal cylinder to form a transfer roller.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the photoresist layer has a thickness of 3 to 25 μm.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein in the exposing step, the depth of the exposure pattern is between 1/3 and 2/3 of the thickness of the photoresist layer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a depth of each of the embossed patterns is between 0.2 microns and 0.6 microns, and a width of each of the embossed patterns is between 0.3 microns and 0.8 microns.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein a pitch between any two adjacent embossed patterns is between 0.6 microns and 1.6 microns.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the photoresist etching step is performed by plasma etching.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the roller etching step is performed by a reactive ion etching method using a high density plasma source.

8. A transfer roller, characterized in that the transfer roller is manufactured by the transfer roller manufacturing method according to claim 1.

9. A method of manufacturing an optical film, comprising:

a roller manufacturing step: to manufacture a transfer roller by the method of claim 1;

an optical film transfer step: and the transfer printing roller is continuously rolled on a light-transmitting film, so that the light-transmitting film is provided with a plurality of optical microstructures with the shapes complementary to the plurality of embossed patterns, and the light-transmitting film forms an optical diaphragm.

10. An optical film, characterized in that it is produced by the method for producing an optical film according to claim 9.