U.S. patent application number 16/304128 was filed with the patent office on 2021-08-19 for organic electroluminescent device and preparation method thereof.
This patent application is currently assigned to SUZHOU QINGYUE OFTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is SUZHOU QINGYUE OFTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Yanliu FAN, Yao HONG, Gaomin Li.
Application Number | 20210257566 16/304128 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005750103 |
Filed Date | 2021-08-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210257566 |
Kind Code |
A9 |
FAN; Yanliu ; et
al. |
August 19, 2021 |
ORGANIC ELECTROLUMINESCENT DEVICE AND PREPARATION METHOD
THEREOF
Abstract
An organic electroluminescent device includes a substrate, a
number of first electrodes disposed on the substrate, each of the
first electrodes used to form a light-emitting unit; an insulative
layer disposed on the substrate and used to define a pixel region
of the light-emitting unit; a number of second electrodes disposed
on the substrate, each of the second electrodes used to form a
light-emitting unit, wherein the second electrodes are spaced apart
from one another to form a number of isolation grooves each between
two adjacent second electrodes.
Inventors: |
FAN; Yanliu; (Kunshan,
CN) ; Li; Gaomin; (Kunshan, CN) ; HONG;
Yao; (Kunshan, CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SUZHOU QINGYUE OFTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. |
Kunshan |
|
CN |
|
|
Assignee: |
SUZHOU QINGYUE OFTOELECTRONICS
TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
Kunshan
CN
|
Prior
Publication: |
|
Document Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20200328362 A1 |
October 15, 2020 |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005750103 |
Appl. No.: |
16/304128 |
Filed: |
August 9, 2017 |
PCT Filed: |
August 9, 2017 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/CN2017/096646 PCKC 00 |
371 Date: |
November 21, 2018 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L 2251/5338 20130101;
H01L 51/56 20130101; H01L 2251/301 20130101; H01L 27/3246 20130101;
H01L 51/5206 20130101; H01L 51/001 20130101; H01L 51/0097 20130101;
H01L 2227/323 20130101; H01L 51/0023 20130101; H01L 2251/308
20130101; H01L 51/5221 20130101; H01L 51/0018 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H01L 51/00 20060101
H01L051/00; H01L 27/32 20060101 H01L027/32; H01L 51/52 20060101
H01L051/52; H01L 51/56 20060101 H01L051/56 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 11, 2016 |
CN |
201610656754.1 |
Claims
1. An organic electroluminescent device, comprising: a substrate; a
plurality of first electrodes disposed on the substrate to form a
plurality of first light emitting units; an insulative layer
disposed on the substrate and defining a pixel region of the first
light emitting unit; and a plurality of second electrodes disposed
on the substrate to form a plurality of second light emitting
units, wherein the second electrodes are spaced apart from each
other to form a plurality of isolation trenches, each isolation
trench being defined between the two adjacent second
electrodes.
2. The organic electroluminescent device of claim 1, wherein the
substrate comprises a glass substrate.
3. The organic electroluminescent device of claim 1, wherein a
material of the first electrodes comprises an indium tin oxide
film.
4. The organic electroluminescent device of claim 1, wherein a
material of the second electrodes comprises a metal.
5. The organic electroluminescent device of claim 4, wherein a
material of the second electrodes comprises aluminum or silver.
6. A method for manufacturing an organic electroluminescent device
comprising the following steps: providing a substrate provided with
a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of conductive
circuits thereon; forming a pattern of an insulative layer on the
substrate; evaporation plating an organic light emitting material
on the substrate having the plurality of first electrodes and the
pattern of the insulative layer; and evaporation plating a second
electrode material on the substrate to form a plurality of second
electrodes, with an isolation trench formed between the two
adjacent second electrodes.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein providing the substrate provided
with the plurality of first electrodes and the plurality of
conductive circuits thereon, comprises: providing a substrate
provided with a first electrode layer and a circuit layer; etching
the circuit layer to obtain the plurality of conductive circuits;
and etching the first electrode layer to obtain the plurality of
first electrodes.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein providing the substrate provided
with the plurality of first electrodes and the plurality of
conductive circuits thereon, comprises: providing a substrate
provided with a first electrode layer; etching the first electrode
layer to obtain the plurality of first electrodes; providing a
circuit layer on the substrate having the plurality of first
electrodes; and etching the circuit layer to obtain the plurality
of conductive circuits.
9. The method of claim 6, wherein forming the pattern of the
insulative layer on the substrate comprises: forming an organic
insulative material on the substrate continuously; exposing the
organic insulative material by using a photomask capable of forming
the pattern of the insulative layer; and then developing the
organic insulative material to form the pattern of the insulative
layer.
10. The method of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises
packaging the substrate having the plurality of first electrodes
and the plurality of second electrodes.
Description
FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of flat panel
display technology, and particularly relates to an organic
electroluminescent device and a manufacturing method thereof.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Conventional organic electroluminescent devices (such as,
organic light emitting display and OLED) are classified into active
organic electroluminescent device (AMOLED) and passive organic
electroluminescent device (PMOLED). However, a photolithography
process, i.e., etching by using a photomask, is generally used in
the patterning of some layers, whether in a manufacturing process
of AMOLED or PMOLED.
[0003] At present, four photolithography steps are generally
required in the manufacturing process of PMOLED. For a conventional
process flow, the layers to be subjected to the photolithography
processes in sequence are as follows: PM (metal layer)->PT (ITO
layer)->PI (insulative layer)->PR (isolation pillar layer).
For a post-plating process flow, the layers to be subjected to the
photolithography processes in sequence are as follows: PT (ITO
layer)->PM (metal layer)->PI (insulative layer)->PR
(isolation pillar layer). In all of these photolithography
processes, a photomask is required to etch a pattern. After the
manufacture of these layers is completed, evaporation plating
processes of organic material and cathodes are performed, followed
by a packaging process, and finally a module flow. A similar
manufacturing method may be found in Chinese patent No.
CN200810227260.7.
[0004] However, when the organic electroluminescent device
manufactured by the above process flow is bent, PR (isolation
pillar) is prone to collapse, breakage, and connection between
rows. In addition, the height of an isolation pillar has an effect
on film packaging and on the reliability and bendability of a
flexible screen.
SUMMARY
[0005] Based on this, it is necessary to provide an organic
electroluminescent device with good flexibility.
[0006] An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an organic
electroluminescent device, comprising: a substrate; a plurality of
first electrodes disposed on the substrate to form a plurality of
first light emitting units; an insulative layer disposed on the
substrate and configured to define a pixel region of the first
light emitting unit; and a plurality of second electrodes disposed
on the substrate to form a plurality of second light emitting
units, wherein the second electrodes are spaced apart from each
other to form a plurality of isolation trenches, each isolation
trench being defined between the two adjacent second
electrodes.
[0007] In the above organic electroluminescent device, the
isolation trench is formed between the second electrodes, and the
isolation pillar is eliminated when compared with the conventional
technology, thereby improving the flexibility of the organic
electroluminescent device. Further, a screen body manufactured with
the organic electroluminescent device has better flexibility and
meets the requirement for flexible and bendable display well.
[0008] In one embodiment, the substrate is a glass substrate.
[0009] In one embodiment, a material of the first electrodes is an
indium tin oxide film.
[0010] In one embodiment, a material of the second electrodes is a
metal.
[0011] In one embodiment, a material of the second electrodes is
aluminum or silver.
[0012] Another aspect of the present disclosure is to further
provide a method for manufacturing an organic electroluminescent
device, comprising the following steps:
[0013] providing a substrate provided with a plurality of first
electrodes and a plurality of conductive circuits;
[0014] forming a pattern of an insulative layer on the
substrate;
[0015] evaporation plating an organic light emitting material on
the substrate having the plurality of first electrodes and the
pattern of the insulative layer;
[0016] evaporation plating a second electrode material on the
substrate, on which the light emitting material has been
evaporation plated, to form a plurality of second electrodes,
wherein an isolation trench is formed between the second
electrodes.
[0017] In one embodiment, the step of providing the substrate
having the surface provided with the plurality of first electrodes
and the plurality of conductive circuits comprises:
[0018] providing a substrate, the substrate being provided with a
first electrode layer and a circuit layer;
[0019] etching the circuit layer to obtain the plurality of
conductive circuits;
[0020] etching the first electrode layer to obtain the plurality of
first electrodes.
[0021] In one embodiment, the step of providing the substrate
having the surface provided with the plurality of first electrodes
and the plurality of conductive circuits comprises:
[0022] providing a substrate, the substrate being provided with a
first electrode layer;
[0023] etching the first electrode layer to obtain the plurality of
first electrodes;
[0024] providing a circuit layer on the substrate having the
plurality of first electrodes;
[0025] etching the circuit layer to obtain the plurality of
conductive circuits.
[0026] In one embodiment, the step of forming the pattern of the
insulative layer on the substrate comprises:
[0027] forming an organic insulative material on the substrate
continuously; exposing the organic insulative material by using a
photomask capable of forming the pattern of the insulative layer;
and
[0028] then developing to form the pattern of the insulative
layer.
[0029] In one embodiment, the method further comprises a step of
packaging the substrate having the plurality of first electrodes
and the plurality of second electrodes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0030] FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram illustrating an
organic electroluminescent device according to one embodiment of
the present disclosure;
[0031] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a substrate
provided with a first electrode layer and a circuit layer before
starting to etch according to one embodiment of the present
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0032] Embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail
with reference to the accompanying drawings, so that the above
objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will be
more apparent and understandable. In the following description,
numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a
thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, the
present invention may be carried out in many other ways than those
described herein, and similar improvement can be made by those
skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present
disclosure. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the
specific embodiments disclosed below.
[0033] It will be understood that when a feature or element is
herein referred to as being "on" another feature or element, it can
be directly on the other feature or element or a intervening
feature and/or element may be present. In contrast, when a feature
or element is referred to as being "directly on" another feature or
element, there are no intervening feature or element present. It
will also be understood that, when a feature or element is referred
to as being "connected" to another feature or element, it can be
directly connected to the other feature or element or a intervening
feature or element may be present. In contrast, when a feature or
element is referred to as being "directly connected" to another
feature or element, there is no intervening feature or element
present.
[0034] Spatially relative terms, such as "under", "below", "lower",
"over", "upper" and the like, may be used herein for ease of
description to describe one element or feature's relationship to
another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It
will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended
to encompass different orientations of the device in use or
operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures.
For example, if a device in the figures is inverted, elements
described as "under" or "beneath" other elements or features would
then be oriented "over" the other elements or features. Thus, the
exemplary term "under" can encompass both an orientation of over
and under. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees
or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors
used herein interpreted accordingly. Similarly, the terms
"upwardly", "downwardly", "vertical", "horizontal" and the like are
used herein for the purpose of explanation only unless specifically
indicated otherwise.
[0035] Although the terms "first" and "second" may be used herein
to describe various features/elements, these features/elements
should not be limited by these terms, unless the context indicates
otherwise. These terms may be used to distinguish one
feature/element from another feature/element. Thus, a first
feature/element discussed below could be termed a second
feature/element, and similarly, a second feature/element discussed
below could be termed a first feature/element without departing
from the scope of the present disclosure.
[0036] Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be
described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
[0037] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, an
organic electroluminescent device (OLED) is provided. As shown in
FIG. 1, the organic electroluminescent device (OLED) comprises a
substrate 110, a plurality of first electrodes 122, a conductive
circuit 132, an insulative layer 140, and a plurality of second
electrodes 150. The plurality of first electrodes 122 and the
conductive circuit 132 are disposed on the substrate 110, each of
the first electrodes 122 form a light emitting unit. The insulative
layer 140 is disposed on the substrate 110 and configured to define
a pixel region of the light emitting unit. The plurality of second
electrodes 150 are disposed on the substrate 110 and located above
the first electrodes 122 and the conductive circuit 132, each of
the second electrodes 150 form a light emitting unit, wherein the
second electrodes are spaced apart from each other to form an
isolation trench 160. An organic light emitting material is further
disposed under the second electrodes 150, but is omitted and not
shown in the figure.
[0038] In this embodiment, the substrate 110 is a glass substrate,
a material of the first electrodes 122 is an indium tin oxide film,
and a material of the second electrodes 150 is a metal. Preferably,
the material of the second electrodes 150 is aluminum or
silver.
[0039] Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing the organic
electroluminescent device (OLED) according to one embodiment of the
present disclosure will be described in detail. The above OLED can
be manufactured by this method comprising the following steps:
[0040] Step 1: providing a substrate, the substrate being provided
with a plurality of first electrodes and a conductive circuit. Each
of the first electrodes form a light emitting unit.
[0041] The above substrate having the plurality of first electrodes
and the conductive circuit can be manufactured by the following
method (by a first method).
[0042] Referring to FIG. 2, a substrate 110 is provided firstly. A
first electrode layer 120 and a circuit layer 130 have been already
disposed on the substrate 110, but have not yet been subjected to a
photolithography; that is, patterns of the first electrodes and the
conductive circuit have not yet been formed.
[0043] The substrate 110 having the first electrode layer 120 and
the circuit layer 130 may be available by purchase or may be
self-made. When the substrate is self-made, it is not limited to a
particular method.
[0044] A transparent glass is preferably used for the substrate
110. The first electrodes formed by the first electrode layer 120
may be an anode or a cathode, and ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) film is
preferably used as a material of the first electrodes. Generally, a
metal, such as MoAlMo (molybdenum aluminum molybdenum), is used as
the material of the circuit layer 130.
[0045] The circuit layer 130 is firstly etched to obtain the
conductive circuit 132, and then the first electrode layer 120 is
etched to obtain the first electrodes 122. The final result is as
shown in FIG. 1.
[0046] In addition, the above substrate having the plurality of
first electrodes and the conductive circuit can also be
manufactured by the following method (by a second method):
[0047] providing a substrate 110, the substrate being only provided
with a first electrode layer 120, and then etching the first
electrode layer 120 to obtain the first electrodes 122;
[0048] then, providing a circuit layer 130 on the substrate having
the first electrodes 122, etching the circuit layer 130 to obtain
the conductive circuit 132.
[0049] Step 2: forming a pattern of an insulative layer on the
substrate. The pattern of the insulative layer 140 define a pixel
region and may be obtained by any suitable method.
[0050] For example, the pattern of the insulative layer can be
obtained by forming an organic insulative material continuously on
the substrate 110, exposing the organic insulative material by
using a photomask capable of forming the pattern of the insulative
layer, and then developing. The organic insulative material may be
a photoresist.
[0051] It should be noted that the pattern of the insulative layer
given in step 2 is only an example. The insulative layer 140
defines a shape of the pixel region of the light emitting unit,
thus there are different patterns of the insulative layer due to
different design requirements for pixel regions of different
OLEDs.
[0052] After a pattern of the insulative layer is formed, the step
of evaporation plating an organic light emitting material on the
pixel region is carried out. The organic light emitting material is
omitted and not shown in FIG. 1.
[0053] Step 3: evaporation plating a second electrode material on
the substrate, on which the organic light emitting material has
been evaporation plated, by using a mask plate, to form a plurality
of second electrodes 150 and a plurality of isolation trenches.
Every isolation trench 160 is formed between the two adjacent
second electrodes 150, as shown in FIG. 1. The second electrodes
150 form a light emitting unit. The material of the second
electrodes 150 is a metal, for example, a stable pure metal, such
as aluminum, silver, and the like, or an alloy. Similarly, the
second electrodes 150 may be a cathode or an anode.
[0054] Specifically, evaporation plating is normally carried out
after step 2 is completed. However, when a pattern of the second
electrodes 150 is formed by evaporation plating, a certain distance
is reserved between the second electrodes 150 of each pixel unit to
form the isolation trench 160. In other words, in step 3, the
isolation trench 160 is formed simultaneously, i.e. synchronously,
with the evaporation plating.
[0055] The isolation trench 160 functions as electrode isolation.
For example, when the second electrodes 150 serve as a cathode, two
adjacent cathodes are isolated by the isolation trench 160. The
isolation trench 160 is formed simultaneously while the second
electrodes 150 are formed by evaporation plating. The isolation
trench 160 is not a protrusion, so it will affect neither a
subsequent film packaging nor bending of organic electroluminescent
device, thus ensuring the flexibility of the screen body
manufactured by using the organic electroluminescent device and a
flexible display effect.
[0056] This step has the following advantages: firstly, no extra
step is required to form the isolation pillar; secondly, the
isolation trench 160 is formed between the second electrodes 150
without a protruding pillar-shaped object, and therefore will not
affect the subsequent film packaging; thirdly, using the isolation
trench 160 as an isolator, the screen body, when bent subsequently,
is bent at the isolation trench 160, therefore, unlike the
conventional solution, the case of breakage of the isolator (i.e.
the isolation pillar) is not prone to occur.
[0057] Step 4: packaging the substrate 110 having the first
electrodes and the second electrodes. Techniques, such as film
packaging and the like, which may be used to package the OLED, will
not be describe in detail herein because it is not an significant
improvement of the present disclosure.
[0058] Various technical features of the above embodiments can be
combined in any manner. For clarity of description, not all of
possible combinations of various technical features of the above
embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no
contradiction in the combination of these technical features, all
should be considered as within the scope described in the present
specification.
[0059] The foregoing examples are merely specific embodiments of
the present disclosure, which are described in detail, but they
should not be construed as limiting the protection scope of the
present disclosure. It should be noted that various changes and
modifications can be made to the embodiments described herein by a
person skilled in the art without departing from the scope and
spirit of the present disclosure. Such changes and modifications
are contemplated by the present disclosure, the scope of which
should only be defined by the appended claims.
* * * * *