Thermal treatment of electronic devices

Abstract

Apparatus and techniques are described herein for use in manufacturing electronic devices such as can include organic light emitting diode (OLED) devices. Such apparatus and techniques can include using one or more modules having a controlled environment. For example, a substrate can be received from a printing system located in a first processing environment, and the substrate can be provided a second processing environment, such as to an enclosed thermal treatment module comprising a controlled second processing environment. The second processing environment can include a purified gas environment having a different composition than the first processing environment.

Description

[0001] priority claim [0002] This patent application claims the benefit of priority to each of the following: [0003] (1) U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61 / 921,034, filed December 26, 2013, entitled "DISPLAY DEVICE FABRICATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNIQUES USING INERT ENVIRONMENT"; (2) Filed December 27, 2013, titled "DISPLAY DEVICE FABRICATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNIQUES USING INERT ENVIRONMENT", U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61 / 921,218; (3) U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61 / 921, filed February 26, 2014, entitled "DISPLAY DEVICE FABRICATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNIQUES USING INERT ENVIRONMENT" 929,668; (4) U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61 / 945,059, filed February 26, 2014, entitled "DISPLAY DEVICE FABRICATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNIQUES USING INERT ENVIRONMENT"; (5) filed March 14, 2014, entitled " DISPLAY DEVICE FABRICATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNIQUES USING INERT ENVIRONMENT” U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61 / 947,671; (6...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Such direct patterning via a shadow mask adds significant complexity to vacuum-based deposition techniques, which typically involve additional mechanisms and fixtures to accurately manipulate and position the mask relative to the substrate, further increasing material waste (due to waste of material deposited onto the mask) and further increases the need for maintenance to continually clean and replace the mask itself

Shadow mask technology also typically involves relatively thin masks to achieve the pixel-scale patterning required for display applications, and such thin masks are mechanically unstable over large areas, limiting the maximum size of substrates that can be processed

Improving stability remains a major challenge for OLED manufacturing, so such limitations on scalability can be significant

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