Ultra-thin touch panel and method of fabricating the same

An ultra-thin touch panel, comprising:

• a flexible substrate having a polygonal mesh structure;
• a plurality of first sensing electrodes arranged in a first direction on the flexible substrate;
• an adhesive insulating layer formed on the flexible substrate and the first sensing electrodes;
• a plurality of second sensing electrodes arranged in a second direction, which intersects the first direction, and formed on the flexible substrate;
• and
• a metal bridge layer formed on the flexible substrate, the adhesive insulating layer, and the second sensing electrodes, the metal bridge layer contacting the flexible substrate, the adhesive insulating layer, and the second sensing electrodes,
• wherein the flexible substrate is patterned in a shape corresponding to the first and second sensing electrodes by oxygen plasma etching to form the polygonal mesh structure,
• wherein the polygonal mesh structure of the flexible substrate includes rows and columns and concave polygonal holes formed between the rows and the columns,
• wherein the flexible substrate, the first sensing electrodes and the second sensing electrodes absorb deformation due to a bending of the ultra-thin touch panel based on the concave polygonal holes between the rows and the columns of the polygonal mesh structure,
• wherein the polygonal mesh structure is one of a tetragonal mesh structure, a hexagonal mesh structure, and an auxetic mesh structure, and
• wherein the metal bridge layer physically separates the plurality of first sensing electrodes and the adhesive insulating layer from the plurality of second sensing electrodes and electrically connects the plurality of first sensing electrodes and the adhesive insulating layer to the plurality of second sensing electrodes.

A method of fabricating an ultra-thin touch panel, the method comprising:

• forming a flexible substrate on a metal substrate;
• forming a plurality of first sensing electrodes, which is arranged in a first direction, on the flexible substrate;
• forming an adhesive insulating layer on the flexible substrate and the first sensing electrodes;
• forming a plurality of second sensing electrodes arranged in a second direction, which intersects the first direction, on the flexible substrate and the adhesive insulating layer using a wet transfer method;
• and
• oxygen-plasma-etching the flexible substrate to be patterned into a polygonal mesh structure corresponding to the first sensing electrodes and the second sensing electrodes by oxygen plasma etching,
• wherein the polygonal mesh structure of the flexible substrate includes rows and columns and concave polygonal holes formed between the rows and the columns,
• wherein the flexible substrate, the first sensing electrodes and the second sensing electrodes absorb deformation due to a bending of the ultra-thin touch panel based on the concave polygonal holes between the rows and the columns of the polygonal mesh structure,
• wherein the polygonal mesh structure is one of a tetragonal mesh structure, a hexagonal mesh structure, and an auxetic mesh structure,
• wherein the adhesive insulating layer includes a shielding layer for the plurality of first sensing electrodes, and
• wherein the shielding layer for the plurality of first sensing electrodes physically separates the plurality of first sensing electrodes from the plurality of second sensing electrodes and electrically connects the plurality of first sensing electrodes to the plurality of second sensing electrodes.

A method of fabricating an ultra-thin touch panel, the method comprising:

• forming a flexible substrate on a metal substrate;
• forming a plurality of first sensing electrodes, which is arranged in a first direction, on the flexible substrate;
• forming an adhesive insulating layer on the flexible substrate and the first sensing electrodes;
• forming a plurality of second sensing electrodes in a second direction, which interests the first direction, on the flexible substrate to be spaced from the adhesive insulating layer;
• forming a metal bridge layer on the flexible substrate, the adhesive insulating layer, and the second sensing electrodes, the metal bridge layer contacting the flexible substrate, the adhesive insulating layer, and the second sensing electrodes;
• and
• oxygen-plasma-etching the flexible substrate to be patterned into a polygonal mesh structure corresponding to the first sensing electrodes and the second sensing electrodes by oxygen plasma etching,
• wherein the polygonal mesh structure of the flexible substrate includes rows and columns and concave polygonal holes formed between the rows and the columns,
• wherein the flexible substrate, the first sensing electrodes and the second sensing electrodes absorb deformation due to a bending of the ultra-thin touch panel based on the concave polygonal holes between the rows and the columns of the polygonal mesh structure,
• wherein the polygonal mesh structure is one of a tetragonal mesh structure, a hexagonal mesh structure, and an auxetic mesh structure, and
• wherein the metal bridge layer physically separates the plurality of first sensing electrodes and the adhesive insulating layer from the plurality of second sensing electrodes and electrically connects the plurality of first sensing electrodes and the adhesive insulating layer to the plurality of second sensing electrodes.