| abstract |
(57) [Abstract] A method of surface treating a flat panel display substrate at various points in the manufacturing process. This method is necessary when the photoresist is removed after the photolithography step. It is also necessary to clean the glass substrate at the beginning of the manufacturing process. By this method, a layer in a device such as a color filter or a polyimide alignment layer can be patterned using a mask (54) during the surface treatment. A high intensity pulsed radiation beam (18) is applied over the treatment surface (21). At the same time, a reactive gas (24) is flowed over the surface and the beam hits this gas. In the washing or substance removal process, the radiation beam (18) reacts the substance with the gas to produce a gaseous product (26). This product leaves the surface. For example, a polyimide or spin-on dielectric, the radiation beam (60) crosslinks the polymer during the curing process. At the same time, the flowing gas (64) facilitates the reaction and removal of species exhausted during crosslinking. The processing of the substrate (74) can be performed by translating the substrate under a beam (60) wider than the substrate width. It can also be performed by scanning the surface a plurality of times or using a plurality of beams. |